Things to do in Sydney today

Plus ça change as the Alliance Française French Film Festival (AF FFF) returns for its 36th edition with a bold line-up of 42 films – screening across some of Sydney’s most beautiful cinemas from Tuesday, March 4 until Wednesday, April 9 2025. This year’s program will kick off with special screenings of Monsieur Aznavour, the French blockbuster starring Golden Globe-nominated actor Tahar Rahim. Fittingly, the story follows Rahim’s character as he grapples with the task and honour of sharing the best of French culture with the world. Other highlights from this year’s program include Holy Cow – an uplifting comedy that follows a teenage boy on a mission to care for his younger sister (by making an award-winning cheese, bien sûr) – and In the Sub for Love: a love letter to the screwball romantic comedies of the 1940s. “While France is recognised as an avant-garde country in the arts, the festival will explore the real-life stories of prominent French cultural figures—universal and captivating tales of hope, struggles, failures, and extraordinary achievements,” explained newly appointed AF FFF CEO Frédéric Alliod. With no shortage of star power, this year’s celebration of French cinema will see French favourites including Charlotte Gainsbourg, Laure Calamy and Camille Cottin (Call My Agent!), Pierre Niney and Vincent Cassel all lighting up the screen. Sydney francophiles can lap up all this and more as the festival returns to cinemas across Sydney; Chauvel Cinema, Hayden...

Set in Madrid, the narrative action of Song Of First Desire occupies two distinct time frames. In the present day, acerbic twins Luis (Jorge Muriel) and Julia (Kerry Fox) are dealing with the mental decline of their ageing mother, Camelia (Sarah Peirse).  Meanwhile, in 1968, where Spain is under the fascist Franco regime, police commander Carlos (Muriel again) and his wife Carmen (Fox again) find their preparations for their daughter’s wedding disrupted when the latter encounters Margarita (Peirse, and you can see the pattern by now, surely), a woman who seems to know them from the past. “The past” in this case is the play’s third temporal setting: the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 and the White Terror that followed, in which Franco’s Nationalists enacted bloody purges and reprisals on the Spanish people, replete with mass extrajudicial executions and the torture of suspected dissidents. None of the on-stage action takes place in that period, but everything we see is rooted there – the sins of the past cast a heavy pall over the characters and the substance of the play itself, which deals with generational trauma, family secrets, incest, perversity, colonialism, and the rhyming nature of history, both personal and political. These are familiar themes for acclaimed Australian playwright Andrew Bovell. His 2008 play When the Rain Stopped Falling covers similar territory, and employs a comparably twisty approach to chronology. Song Of First Desire sees Bovell reteaming with...

Riding into town this March on his white horse is country music star Chris Stapleton. Not only will Sydneysiders delight in his sold-out shows at Qudos Bank Arena, but can also look forward to what may be Australia’s biggest whiskey shout. From Thursday, February 27, Sydney bar Jolene’s – in the CBD's YCK precinct – is shouting nips of liquid gold every day for a month at 8pm. And it's not just any shout. Chris Stapleton’s new Traveller Whiskey has been distilled by the renowned Buffalo Trace Distillery, so you know you’re in for something good.  Catch a free daily tasting while you can, and while you’re at it, sample one of the Traveller cocktails, like the Parachute, Traveller Old Fashioned, and East Kentucky Sweet Tea. If you need something to line the stomach, the pop-up will also be dishing out Traveller tater tots (that's mini hash browns, for us Aussies) with smoky brisket, liquid cheese and whiskey-infused barbecue sauce. How’s that for southern comfort?  There aren’t any promises that Chris will make an appearance, but a little birdie told us to never say never. Find out more about the deal here.

Perhaps it’s unpatriotic to suggest it, but I’d argue that Australia has produced strikingly few immortal works of art, particularly narrative art. But, we’ll always have Picnic at Hanging Rock – which can make a strong claim for being the most important Australian artistic work of the 20th century, and one that still casts a shadow over the 21st.  The novel by Joan Lindsay first saw the light of day in 1967, but it was Peter Weir’s 1975 film adaptation – a haunting and subtle work and the ne plus ultra of Australian Gothic – that really struck a chord with audiences. This year marks the film’s 50th anniversary, which seems to be the reason behind this haunting new production for Sydney Theatre Company’s 2025 season, the latest of numerous stage adaptations.  STC Resident Director Ian Michael (Constellations, Stolen) and playwright Tom Wright (whose adaptation was first staged by Malthouse Theatre and Black Swan Theatre in 2016) are certainly betting on Picnic at Hanging Rock’s cultural staying power. This Picnic is in no way naturalistic, but it certainly evokes a sense of the uncanny Both Lindsay’s novel and Weir’s film are elliptical and meditative, posing questions rather than offering answers. This production is perhaps more opaque than either, taking an experimental direction that ramps up the themes of horror and suspense. This works a treat in the early movements of the play, keeping the audience off kilter, forcing us to engage with a conceptual realm where time,...

What lengths would you resort to if you survived a plane crash and became stranded in the wilderness? Cannibalism seems very far from mind but it’s a different story for WHS Yellowjacket soccer team. After two smash-hit seasons, Paramount+’s Yellowjackets is back for a third, and Surry Hills degustation diner Nel is celebrating with an ear-y feast. Nel’s renowned degustations are unexpected at the best of times, but for this dramatic affair, we’re talking 11 courses of eating your heart out.  This is a chance for diehard Yellowjacket fans – and their plus ones – to get immersed in the vibes of the show, all while challenging the senses. And while the food will most certainly surprise and excite, let’s just say we’ve been to Nel recently and we know that everything chef Nelly Robinson serves up is delicious.  While Nel’s degustation dinners are a premium affair, this incomparable experience is literally priceless – you can enter the competition to dine for free here. There’s a dinner running each night from March 4 to March 7, and there are 18 double passes each night up for grabs. Yellowjackets season three is now streaming on Paramount+.