2015 SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL
The highly anticipated 62nd Sydney Film Festival (SFF) boasts an impressive program of culturally diverse films, shorts and documentaries which should appeal to audiences of all tastes.
An astonishing 251 films from 68 countries will be screened over 12 days in 9 venues including two newly announced locations, the Dendy Newtown and Casula Powerhouse.
Over 100 other events including the gala opening/closing night parties, Q&A’s, red carpet premieres, meet the filmmaker talks and gourmet cinema packages highlight the ever-growing variety of entertainment available to film festival enthusiasts.
Festival Director Nashen Moodley says the SFF is one of the ten longest running film festivals in the world, and its longevity can be attributed to a few factors.
“Sydney is a film-loving town in which movie-goers care for quality cinema and they feel a sense of ownership towards the festival”, says Moodley. “The choice of movies screened from all over the world is diverse and being able to watch them on the big screen will continue to draw crowds”.
“The program should have something that appeals to all tastes. This year we have five family films, as we must continue to attract the younger audiences.”
“This is one of the most prominent film festivals in the world and the advocates are the international filmmakers who attend. It’s also important for filmmakers who have their films screened at the festival, as it provides a platform for their work to be seen and appreciated by audiences”.
Director of Last Cab To Darwin Jeremy Sims spoke of his excitement to have one of his films featured at the festival for the first time “we’re thrilled to be doing the Saturday night gala screening. I’ve worked in the theatre and making films for a long time and I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in a show that played to 2,700 people so it will be fantastic to sit in the audience to see how all those people react to the story of Rex.”
Last Cab To Darwin tells the story of Rex (Michael Caton) who drives 3,000km from Broken Hill to Darwin, hoping to take advantage of new euthanasia laws when he discovers he’s dying. “It was a really difficult shoot but in the end it was the trip of a lifetime. We couldn’t afford to take a big crew with us so we all had to do the work of two people. There were many people when before we started that suggested we film it all in Broken Hill but we always intended to shoot it in the real locations” says Sims.
The stars of the film Michael Caton and Jacki Weaver have been tied to the project for a long time and have both been instrumental in the final product says Sims “Jacki was in the original stage play and has been a great friend and contributor to the story right from the beginning, obviously getting her involved this time around as a duel academy award nominee was difficult but Jacki was always 100 percent committed. Michael was attached for quiet some time and really the whole film hinges on who played Rex and we couldn’t be any happier, he is a legend of Australian screen and one of the most technically brilliant actors of the last 50 years in Australia so it is an honour to be able to direct him in a role like this to be honest.”
Looking forward Sims believes we “haven’t even scratched the surface yet” of Australian stories to be told in Australian cinema and the SFF provides a wonderful outlet for those stories. “This festival is the only opportunity for many of these films to be seen on the big screen – audiences should take chances – they may be delighted in watching movies they know very little about,” concludes Moodley.
The resurgence in local production is also showcased in the festival with many feature films, documentaries and shorts being screened. Two Australian productions, the hilarious and poignant Ruben Guthrie and the tragic love story Holding The Man, have been selected to respectively open and close the festival.
Riz, a small but important film having its world premiere at the SFF, is inspired by the life of co-director Guido Gonzalez who travelled to Australia as a child refugee from Chile. Surrounding a group of friends who live in Western Sydney, this film examines multi-culturalism, class division and teenage culture, highlighting the importance of friendship.
“The standout theme in this film is that friendship is bigger than any problem – problems overtake friendships and they can be rectified,” Gonzalez explains. This is his first venture as co-writer and co-director in a feature film and he’s thrilled that his film is screening at the SFF: “It’s an honour – my biggest dream come true. I didn’t expect to get there, but I thought if we can get the film in, then the sky’s the limit. This was a labour of love – a group of talented people who had never faced the cameras in a feature film came together to bring this story to life.”
City Hub Top Picks:
Dearest is the incredible true story of two parents searching for their son who was kidnapped whilst playing in the streets, never giving up hope that he would be found alive.
The Price Of Fame is a comedy based on true events about some bumbling idiots who plan to escape poverty by stealing the corpse of Charlie Chaplin and holding it to ransom.
Pasolini is a drama detailing the last day in the life of poet and filmmaker Pier Paola Pasolini. Murdered in 1975, his work was deemed scandalous resulting in numerous censorship battles.
The Hunting Ground is a riveting documentary about the controversial issue of rape on American campuses. Female students who were assaulted are interviewed and incredibly most rapes go unreported.
Goodnight Mommy is a horror film that centers on a lady who returns from hospital with her face fully bandaged and her sons’ mounting suspicions that the lady behind the bandages is not their mother.
Nasty Baby is the dark and humorous story surrounding Freddy and his boyfriend Mo, an inter-racial gay couple, who attempt to have a baby with the help of their best friend Polly.
June 3-14, Selected Cinemas, $19.50, Bookings: Information & Ticket: sff.org.au
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