Holy Week 2026 — eight days, eight films, zero cost
Holy Week 2026 runs from Palm Sunday on 29 March through Easter Sunday on 5 April. Good Friday (3 April) and Easter Sunday are both public holidays in Australia — which means your congregation has more time, and your community is more available, than on almost any other occasion during the year.
Jesus Film Project has produced free film-based resources for every day of Holy Week. You can use them in services, midweek gatherings, youth events, school programs, or as a daily email series to your congregation. Everything is on YouTube — no downloads, no licences, no registration required.
Holy Week 2026 — key dates
The 8-day Holy Week film series
The Holy Week series from Jesus Film Project gives you one short clip per day from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Each clip runs 5–8 minutes and is taken from the JESUS Film, covering a specific moment or event from the final week of Jesus' life. Use them as a pre-service opener, a midweek programme focal point, or a daily resource shared by email or social media with your congregation through the week.
Simplest way to use the series: Share one YouTube link per day with your congregation by email or in your church app from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Include one sentence of context and one discussion question. It takes five minutes to set up and gives your congregation a daily anchor through the week without building a whole program around it.
My Last Day — your Good Friday anchor
Good Friday is a public holiday in Australia. That means your congregation is available, your community is available, and you have the time to do something that actually lands. My Last Day is built for this moment.
It is a 30-minute anime short film that tells the crucifixion from the perspective of the repentant thief crucified beside Jesus. The anime format does something that conventional church content rarely manages: it reaches people emotionally before their defences go up. Young people who would disengage from a traditional service engage fully with this. People who have heard the crucifixion story their whole lives are often surprised to find it affecting them again.
One of the most used JFP resources worldwide for Good Friday events — works equally for a church service, a youth event, a community film night, an SRE class, or a school chaplaincy gathering.
The crucifixion through the eyes of the repentant thief. Anime format removes the usual barriers. Consistently the most effective film JFP produces for Good Friday services, youth events, and SRE with senior students.
View film page →How to introduce it: Don't say you're showing a film about the crucifixion. Just say you're watching a 30-minute short. After it finishes, sit in the silence for 30 seconds before saying anything. Then ask one question: "What stayed with you from that?" The conversation takes care of itself.
Discussion questions after My Last Day
- What moment in the film stayed with you most?
- The thief did nothing to deserve what he received. What do you make of that?
- What does Jesus' response say about who Jesus is?
- Is there something you find hard to accept forgiveness for?
- If that story is true, what does it actually change?
NUA — for youth events and outreach through Holy Week
The NUA series from Jesus Film Project is built for young adults who are somewhere between curious and sceptical about faith. Each episode is short, high quality, and designed to open discussion without requiring a prepared curriculum. For youth groups running programs through Holy Week, NUA episodes work as a weekly series running into Easter, or as standalone outreach content for events that include young people who don't yet have a faith background.
Built for young Australians asking honest questions about God, identity, and whether faith makes sense. Works for youth outreach events, Alpha groups, and any gathering that includes people who are genuinely exploring.
Browse all NUA episodes →A quick guide — what to show and when
- Palm Sunday service: Holy Week series Day 1 (Triumphal Entry) as a service opener or teaching introduction. 5–8 minutes.
- Midweek programme (Mon–Wed): One Holy Week clip per gathering. Share the corresponding clip with your congregation each morning by email.
- Maundy Thursday service: Holy Week series Last Supper clip, or a section from the JESUS Film covering the same events.
- Good Friday (public holiday): My Last Day (30 min). Works for services, youth events, community film nights, or SRE. Suitable from age 13.
- Holy Saturday (optional): A quiet gathering with a short reflective clip. No program required.
- Easter Sunday service: Holy Week series resurrection clip as an opener, or the full JESUS Film for a community screening event.
SRE and school chaplaincy during Easter term
Holy Week falls during the school term in most Australian states. My Last Day works well for an SRE class or chaplaincy gathering in the week leading up to Good Friday — the anime format engages senior students who would disengage from conventional Christian content, and the 30-minute runtime fits within a standard class period. The Holy Week short clips (5–8 minutes) are more suited to shorter SRE slots or assembly presentations.
No licence or registration is required for any school use of Jesus Film Project content.
For a broader range of Easter resources including a full program guide and discussion materials, see the Easter resources for Australian churches page. For youth group and school chaplaincy content, see the free Christian films for youth groups Australia page.