'Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man' To Premiere At Melbourne International Film Festival

Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man is among the collection of films and documentaries that will be showcased at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF), receiving its world premiere.

A highlight of this year’s documentary programming, fans can watch the documentary at The Astor Theatre on Thursday, 21 August, or at Hoyts 11 on Saturday, 23 August, both playing at 6 pm AEST.

Described as a “moving, fascinating tell-all” documentary, Working Class Man follows Mark Joffe’s Working Class Boy, which premiered at MIFF 2018. The follow-up was directed by Andrew Farrell, who served as executive producer on the previous film, and picks up where Working Class Boy left off.

The documentary is based on Jimmy Barnes’s 2017 memoir, Working Class Man. It tracks his successes and the “slippery slopes” of adulthood as he rapidly navigates the music world, with family and substance abuse always close by. Jimmy Barnes: Working Class Man spotlights the singer’s trademark brutal honesty—this isn’t your typical mythologising rock documentary.

Jimmy Barnes is an Australian music icon, having led the legendary rock band Cold Chisel and having an impressive solo career. The film will follow the period in Barnes’ life when everything looked rosy: he was far removed from his rough childhood, married, and had #1 albums.

But financial difficulties, drug use, heavy touring, and being unable to crack the US while still reckoning with childhood trauma didn’t simply disappear overnight. The documentary promises an open and honest Barnesy that will affect any viewer.

You can find more information about the screenings on the MIFF website.

MIFF has unveiled its full program, which includes Australian films, movies from the Asia Pacific, animated films, documentaries, cinema from Europe and the UK, Latin America, and much more.

Along with Jimmy Barnes in the Music On Film category are titles including Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth and Nothing Butt, Pavements, It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley, Marlon Williams: Two Worlds - Ngā Ao E Rua, and more. Check out the category here and explore the MIFF 2025 program here.

In a recent interview with The Music, Jimmy Barnes outlined how writing books has assisted his songwriting. “I’m enjoying writing at the moment. I think writing books, not only has it helped me get in touch with myself so I can write more honest and better lyrics, I think the actual writing books has made me a better lyricist as well.

“Working Class Boy was so liberating for me. There was all this trauma and pain that was killing me, and it was blocking me emotionally as a writer. I could only get in one state to perform, and writing that book liberated me. I felt free after doing it.”

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