The Sydney Film Festival kicks off this week with an impressive roster of cinema work to celebrate its 70th year.
A 12-day event happening from June 7 to 18, the world-renowned film fest gathers once again thought-provoking and quality films from talented creators in Australia and abroad, which will be featured in the various program strands.
© Sydney Film Festival - The Rocks, Sydney, Australia
Among those to be showcased is a special presentation of the Wes Anderson feature Asteroid City, which stars Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks.
Part of the lineup as well are work by established creatives like Jane Campion, who will be presenting a retrospective of her work; Wim Wenders (Perfect Days), and documentarian Frederick Wiseman (A Couple).
In coming up with the 2023 program, Sydney Film Festival director Nashen Moodley said they were guided by the strong tradition of the festival to present exceptional cinema work across Australia and around the world to Sydney audiences.
“The 2023 program will expand on this legacy, promising to ignite stimulating dialogues and present powerful ideas that will broaden audience perspectives,” he said as he spoke of this year’s edition of the festival in the lead-up.
Vying for the top prize in the Official Competition are:
- Afire (Feature), a tragicomic movie about four young people trapped at a holiday house as a fire draws near.
- Art College 1994 (Feature), a slacker comedy-drama about a group of art students in China in the eventful ’90s.
- Bad Behaviour (Feature), a dark comedy about spiritual retreats and a turbulent mother-daughter relationship starring Jennifer Connelly.
- Cobweb (Feature), a deliriously funny and clever film about a director obsessed with re-shooting the end of his completed film.
- The Dark Emu Story (Documentary), a thought-provoking, revelatory and inspiring documentary telling the story of Bruce Pascoe’s Dark Emu.
- Fallen Leaves (Feature), a compassionate comedy about two lonely people meeting by chance and then trying, in turbulent times, to find love.
- Joram (Feature), a survival thriller that weaves political intrigue with propulsive cinematic sensibility.
- Monster (Feature), an intense, mysterious and morally complex drama from Kore-eda Hirokazu told through multiple perspectives.
- The Mother Of All Lies (Documentary), an audacious feature that combines fact, fiction and captivating figurines to lay bare a hidden personal and national history.
- The New Boy (Feature), Warwick Thornton’s film about spirituality and survival set in 1940s Australia starring Cate Blanchett.
- Past Lives (Feature), a film about two school friends exploring a lingering, deep connection that appears to transcend time and distance.
- Scrapper (Feature), a film that follows a 12-year-old girl who lives happily alone until her estranged father turns up.
The 12 titles will be judged by the competition jury, with the winner awarded the Sydney Film Prize and a $60,000 cash prize.
Apart from the titles in the Official Competition, audiences can also feast on those available in other program strands, namely, Special Presentations (14 films), Documentary Australia Award (10 films), and Features (45 films).
The Sydney Film Festival was established in 1954 and has become a highly anticipated event for quality cinematic offerings.
To date it has brought more than 10,000 films to Australian audiences.
For more information on this year’s film lineup and other particulars about the Sydney Film Festival, visi www.sff.org.au.
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