The festival returns this year, presenting a digital program of science fiction and fantasy films to audiences across Australia from October 15 to 31.This year's program features 80 genre works - 13 features and 67 shorts curated from 28 countries including Japan, China, Canada, the US, Russia, Sweden, Spain and Brazil. Among them is Say Yes Again, a Taiwanese film in which a young man relives the day of his proposal over and over again until he gets the response he wants. In 12 Months of Kai, a lonely web developer becomes pregnant to her personal care humanoid (PCH). The only documentary feature in the festival's line-up is the Canadian Steampunk Connection. It follows the creative and philosophical journey of three steamers who are inspired by science fiction and the Industrial Revolution. The festival is screening via online platform Hyvio. Tickets are on sale now and start at $8 per session or $29.99 for 20 sessions. See: scififilmfestival.com.

COVID permitting, the Japanese Film Festival (JFF) will return to Palace Electric and the National Film and Sound Archive in Canberra for its 25th year from October 28 to November 2, 2021. There will be 15 recent films ranging from action to anime, drama, documentaries and more. Opening the Festival is Hokusai, Hajime Hashimoto's biopic about Japanese ukiyo-e artist Katsushika Hokusai. Award-winning dramas include Chicago International Film Festival Best International Feature and Audience Choice Award winner Under the Open Sky, about a hardened ex-yakuza who sets out to find his long-lost mother after 13 years behind bars and Japan's submission for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, the family drama True Mothers. Masked Ward is a tense hostage thriller and The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window is an occult mystery following a crime-solving duo who investigate grisly murders both human and otherworldly. JFF will also screen an online program of five films over seven days for audiences across Australia from November 15 to 21. See: japanesefilmfestival.net.

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra has announced all of its spring programming (until November) has been cancelled because of the COVID-19 situation in the ACT. Among the cancellations: Llewellyn Four: Transformations (November 3 and 4); Sally Walker in Recital (November 7); Australian Series: Reclaiming the Night (November 18); and Reimagined Winds (October 17). Ticket holders have been contacted directly about refunds and tax-deductible donations. The CSO hopes its CSO Summer Prom can go ahead on December 3. cso.org.au.

On Tuesday, October 5 at 7pm, curators from the National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Portrait Gallery, London will discuss their institutions' respective photographic prize exhibitions - the Hold Still/Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize (NPG, London) and Living Memory: National Photographic Portrait Prize (NPG, Australia) - and how each reflect their nation's identity and our shared human experiences. portrait.gov.au.