Building the brand voice for Adelaide Film Festival 2025

Cinema doesn’t shout, it lingers. Adelaide Film Festival is one of the city’s most vital cultural events. It’s a space where bold stories, new voices, and global cinema converge. It’s more than just a program of films; it’s a celebration of how cinema can provoke, move, and connect us.

Crafting a campaign voice for modern audiences

For the 2025 festival, the supporting headline-led component to the larger ‘Visual Space Junk’ campaign was created to extend this impact beyond cinema. Each line needed to feel as cinematic as the films themselves: intelligent, resonant, and tailored to each medium it inhabits. Rather than a call-to-action campaign, it invites audiences to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what makes cinema different.

Brand positioning through copywriting

Through carefully chosen language, the campaign reframes cinema as more than entertainment, reminding audiences that the power of cinema often lies in its ability to surprise and resonate long after the credits roll.

The headlines take a clever and pointed dig at modern life. In a world of constant scrolling, endless notifications, and fleeting attention span, the campaign encourages audiences to slow down and rediscover the depth of cinema.

The campaign positions Adelaide Film Festival as more than just a program of film screenings, it frames it as a cultural moment. In a landscape dominated by disposable content, it reaffirms the festival as a place to rediscover depth and immersion.

The festival stands as an antidote to the noise of modern life and the short attention spans shaped by technology. Lines like “This isn’t content. This is cinema.” flip the realities of overstimulation, positioning the festival as a chance to pause and reconnect. The voice speaks to younger audiences, it’s sharp and culturally fluent, but never try-hard.

Storytelling that resonates across mediums

From limited-edition café covers to old-school campaign headlines, the copy treats every medium as a stage. Lines like “This book stays. The stories move.” and “Don’t just watch. Witness.” position the language not as promotion, but as storytelling in its own right.

There was something deliberately traditional about the process. Writing for a range of mediums, from the showreel, stills, to printed program, each headline and copy required care, it had to justify its place while telling the story rather than filler. Our approach to copywriting aimed to modernise the voice and align with AFF’s positioning and trajectory. In doing so, the campaign highlighted Cul-de-sac’s strength in brand positioning and storytelling through writing, carrying the festival’s identity forward while fostering change to keep it relevant, resonant, and fresh.
Adelaide Film Festival 2025 shows how a clear brand voice can cut through noise and connect with audiences. If your organisation is ready to refresh its voice, Cul-de-sac can help turn strategy into storytelling. See more of our branding work or reach out to start the conversation.

Aryani Singh, September 2025