Grab the popcorn, Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is back this June, and the program has finally dropped. You’re in for a bumper line-up of films from around the world, an opening night gala and plenty of the filmmakers stopping by as guest speakers, there’s surely something to excite film fans of all candy stripes.
Cannes contenders
Four features competing to take home the Palme d’Or at the 77th Cannes Film Festival this year will also make their Australian debut at SFF. Poor Things director Yorgos Lanthimos reunites with Emma Stone for Kinds of Kindness, a triptych fable that’s another likely Oscar contender. Meanwhile, All We Imagine as Light, a tale of two connecting relationships from director Payal Kapadia, is also the first Indian film to make it into the competition in three decades. Laugh along during Marcello Mio as the meta comedy pays homage to the great Marcello Mastronianni or catch the latest film from director Miguel Gomes Grand Tour, which chronicles a romantic pursuit across Asia.
Hot Hollywood hits
From Hollywood, The Bikeriders is a crime-thriller starring Austin Butler and Tom Hardy that follows a Midwestern motorcycle club as they evolve over the course of a decade. Set in the misty forests of North America, Sasquatch Sunset is a no-dialogue film about a family of sasquatches embarking on an absurd and epic journey, starring an unrecognisable Jesse Eisenberg and Riley Keough.
The line-up also includes The Outrun starring Saorise Ronan; the fantasy epic Alienoid; the horror-mystery Cuckoo set in the German Alps; the Irish comedy Kneecap; A24’s new supernatural film I Saw The TV Glow; an adaption of the stage play La Cocina, set in a busy NYC restaurant and filmed entirely in black and white; Green Border, a harrowing film about migration from Polish director Agnieszka Holland; and House of The Seasons, a tender Korean film set in a tofu factory.
Aussie icons on screen
This year’s Opening Night screening is the hotly anticipated Australian premiere of Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line, a captivating documentary from director Paul Clarke that charts the 45-year career of the beloved trailblazing Aussie rock band. Enjoy unseen footage and interviews with every band member, and rub shoulders with them at the premiere and Opening Night Gala at the State Theatre.
Plenty of other Aussie films will be on offer, including The Pool, a cinematic portrait of the iconic Bondi Icebergs that takes a look into the legacy of the world’s most photographed pool. Meanwhile, echoes of the Stolen Generation are prevalent in The Moogai, a chilling new horror flick in which a young Aboriginal mother is terrorised by a malevolent spirit intent on taking her baby.
Intriguing international films
Some international standouts of the festival include Brazilian-Portuguese drama Toll, where a single mother who works as a toll booth attendant teams up with local criminals to fund gay conversion therapy for her teenage son. Tillies fans should catch the UK doco Copa 71, which tells the story of the second known women's Soccer World Cup tournament, and the awe-inspiring players who battled systemic sexism and the governing bodies determined to undermine them. We’re also looking forward to seeing Sex, the first film in a new dramatic trilogy from Norway, which follows two middle-aged heterosexual men who begin to question their sexuality.
Sydney Festival Hub & special events
The heart of the Festival, the Sydney Festival Hub below Sydney Town Hall is back in action this year. Keep that post-film buzz going with filmmaker talks, panels, themed parties, happy hour deals on drinks, and special events paired with special screenings.
This celebration of cinema is spreading across various Sydney cinemas and stunning buildings including the State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Newtown, Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Ritz Cinemas Randwick, the State Library and the Art Gallery of NSW.
SFF 2024 runs from June 5–16. Tickets are on sale now and start from $24.50, or snag a flexipass for discounts. Visit sff.org.au for more information and to book.