Sydney Film Festival 2023
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- DirectorWarwick ThorntonStarsCate BlanchettAswan ReidDeborah MailmanA nine-year-old Aboriginal Australian orphan boy arrives in the dead of night at a remote monastery run by a renegade nun.SFF#01: THE NEW BOY. A young boy moves into a remote Australian orphanage in Warwick Thornton’s visually pleasing but slow, confused and irritatingly pretentious supernatural drama.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sL1HVstmBTU&pp=ygUTVGhlIG5ldyBib3kgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D - DirectorJulie BertuccelliStarsJane CampionKerry FoxHolly HunterFollows the story of Jane Campion, the first-ever woman to win the Palme d'Or in 1993.SFF#02: JANE CAMPION: THE CINEMA WOMAN. “When I first made films, I didn’t know you could actually put different lenses on the camera. That was the start of my anguish as a director, when I realised the endless creative choices that needed to be made.” Assembled from dozens of interviews over five decades, this is a remarkable film about a remarkable filmmaker.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZywWYXeOa3g&pp=ygUdSmFuZSBDYW1waW9uIHRoZSBjaW5lbWEgd29tYW4%3D - DirectorMani HaghighiStarsNavid MohammadzadehTaraneh AlidoostiAli BagheriA married couple believe they meet their doppelgängers in Tehran.SFF#03: SUBTRACTION. A husband and wife meet their doppelgängers, another married couple who seem to be living a more successful life. There is endless possibility in a premise like this but we are taken down a path of frustration, despair and over-the-top violence.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=SgOwXJ1A15g&pp=ygUYU3VidHJhY3Rpb24gZmlsbSB0cmFpbGVy - DirectorMakbul MubarakStarsKevin ArdilovaArswendy Bening SwaraHaru SandraA young man working as a housekeeper in an empty mansion. When its owner returns to start his mayoral election campaign, the young man bonds with him and defends him when his campaign is vandalized, setting off a chain of violence.SFF#04: AUTOBIOGRAPHY. A young man works as a driver for a powerful politician and soon descends into a world of greed, corruption and devastating brutality. The pace is slow but it allows the menace to gradually build to a tense climax. This is an excellent film with a superb screenplay, perfect casting, fine photography and assured direction. Makbul Mubarak, an Indonesian film critic-turned-director, has delivered a first-rate drama.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=V2R9LtCNoSE&pp=ygUaQXV0b2Jpb2dyYXBoeSBmaWxtIHRyYWlsZXI%3D - DirectorMel EslynStarsSterling K. BrownMark DuplassIn the not-too-distant future, the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.SFF#05: BIOSPHERE. It’s the end of the world! Why? We’re not told. How? It doesn’t matter. But two men have survived and live in a small sanctuary with pet fish named Woody and Diane (get it?) When Diane dies, Woody changes his sex, as some fish can do, and lays eggs to allow the species to continue. What happens next is so bizarre that when he made his introduction, co-writer and co-star, Mark Duplass, asked the festival audience not to reveal it. But it had the State Theatre filled with profoundly uncomfortable laughter for the rest of the evening.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gX5VrxV4ufY&pp=ygUmQmlvc3BoZXJlIHRyYWlsZXIgU3lkbmV5IGZpbG0gRmVzdGl2YWw%3D - DirectorRichard BlanshardRoger PennyStarsLéa SeydouxQuentin TarantinoSharon StoneCannes Uncut revels in the glamour, red carpets, movies, craziness, stunts, deals, parties and personalities that have been part of the Cannes Film Festival over the last eight decades, as well as looking to the future.SFF#06: CANNES UNCUT. But it IS cut, with absolutely no mention of Woody Allen and his extensive history with the festival. “We do not program films that are good, we program films that are convenient,” admits the cowardly festival director, Thierry Frémaux. There’s still much to enjoy in this documentary, from the festival’s early history in the days before World War II to the directors of the French New Wave, from the controversy of Lars von Trier to the endless publicity stunts of the distributors. Cannes is the world’s most prestigious film festival and this documentary is a joyous, though selective, celebration of a circus.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=z73mh1jtYzU&pp=ygUMQ2FubmVzIHVuY3V0 - DirectorJack ClarkJim WeirStarsMackenzie FearnleyShabana AzeezBen HunterA bride-to-be is invited to her fiancé's bachelor party, but when uncomfortable details of their relationship are exposed, the night takes a feral turn.SFF#07: BIRDEATER. A bride-to-be joins her fiancé for his buck’s party out in the bush. In an early scene, there’s a poster on a wall in the background of Ted Kotcheff’s 1971 film, WAKE IN FRIGHT, and that tells us all we need to know about what’s ahead. This independent Australian film is well made but there are equal measures of menace and boredom. To me, there’s nothing more terrifying than having to sit and make conversation with a small group of people at an overnight retreat.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=dag1jGnTsNg&pp=ygUKQmlyZCBlYXRlcg%3D%3D - DirectorTina SatterStarsSydney SweeneyJosh HamiltonMarchánt DavisA former American intelligence specialist was given the longest sentence for the unauthorized release of government information to the media about Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections via an email operation.SFF#08: REALITY. Reality Winner, a strangely ironic name for a deluded loser, was interrogated by the FBI in 2017 on suspicion of leaking classified information from the NSA to the press. This film is a reconstruction of that interrogation, using the actual FBI transcript for dialogue. But is there enough material here for a feature film? What we have is essentially a prolonged conversation in a room and the most interesting thing about this film is that the director, Tina Satter, seems to think that a feckless young criminal should be celebrated.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=plIUJ-LF7JU&t=0s&pp=ygUPUmVhbGl0eSB0cmFpbGVy - DirectorChandler LevackStarsIsaiah LehtinenPercy Hynes WhiteAnand RajaramLawrence Kweller, a socially inept 17-year old cinephile, gets a job at a video store, where he forms a complicated friendship with his older female manager.SFF#09: I LIKE MOVIES. “Movies are my entire life. I need to see movies more than I need to breathe.” Lawrence works in a video store. He loves going to the cinema and making short films and he dreams of being a feature director. Too bad he can’t get along with anyone. This film is a small but utterly charming gem, though I am currently considering legal action because they have clearly adapted my life story without obtaining permission.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bq9TjU0smM&pp=ygUaSSBsaWtlIG1vdmllcyBmaWxtIHRyYWlsZXI%3D - DirectorJustine TrietStarsSandra HüllerSwann ArlaudMilo Machado-GranerA woman is suspected of murder after her husband's death; their half-blind son faces a moral dilemma as the main witness.SFF#10: ANATOMY OF A FALL. A woman stands trial for the death of her husband, who fell from the roof of their house. The only real witness is their vision-impaired son. Winner of the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (not to mention the Palm Dog), this is a slow, sobering film with terrific performances and it gives us a fascinating look at both a troubled marriage and the French judicial system.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yCK3yF9fhHU&pp=ygUZQW5hdG9teSBvZiBhIGZhbGwgdHJhaWxlcg%3D%3D