Film
Be quick to get your tickets to the festival’s hottest films.
For something: Politically incendiary Terror Nullius
Experimental art duo Soda_Jerk have spliced clips from famous Australian movies and TV shows together with political speeches by the likes of John Howard, Tony Abbott and Pauline Hanson to make a scurrilous 55-minute deconstruction of the national psyche. It’s a must-see. See also: Foxtrot; The Reports on Sarah and Saleem
For something: American indie Leave No Trace
You might know Debra Granik as the filmmaker who discovered Jennifer Lawrence by casting her in the brilliant Winter’s Bone. Her new film also tackles the white poor working class in the story of a 13-year-old girl (Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie) and her warveteran father (Ben Foster) forced to live in the wilderness off the grid. See also: Tyrel; Support the Girls
For something: Hilarious and deadpan The Breaker Upperers
Two Kiwi women, Madeleine Sami and Jackie van Beek, direct, write and star in this black comedy about two best friends who break up couples for money. Taika Waititi is the executive producer. See also: Leningrad Cowboys Go America
For something: True crime A Murder in Mansfield
“You murdered my mother!” An LA man who helped convict his father when he was just 12 years old visits that father in prison. Veteran filmmaker Barbara Kopple ( Harlan County USA, Miss Sharon Jones!) directs a searing story about the scars of violence. See also: Cold Blooded: The Clutter Family Murders
For something: Fashionable Westwood: Punk Icon Activist
This documentary profiles the great UK fashion designer and pioneer of the punk aesthetic Vivienne Westwood. See also: McQueen; Yellow Is Forbidden
For something: Terrifying Ghost Stories
Martin Freeman stars in the film version of a spooky UK stage hit from the League of Gentlemen’s Jeremy Dyson – a trilogy of terror. See also: The Field Guide to Evil; What Keeps You Alive; Upgrade
For something: Retro My Brilliant Career
Gillian Armstrong’s 1979 adaptation of Miles Franklin’s 1901 novel made stars of Judy Davis and Sam Neill. The Australian classic has been restored and gets a special revival screening at SFF. See also: The Marriage of Maria Braun; My 20th Century
For something: With a window on the Middle East The Poetess
A Saudi talent show in which contestants recite poetry, and the woman in a burqa who makes it to the finals while criticising patriarchal Arab society, are the focus of this documentary from Germany. See also: Of Fathers and Sons; Looking for Oum Kulthum
For something: Behind the scenes The Cleaners
Ever wonder who keeps objectionable images off
Facebook? This powerful and unnerving documentary shows that it’s an army of anonymous digital janitors in the Philippines – censors who are subjected to horrifying images on a daily basis. See also: Ghosthunter; China Love For something: Original and strange Transit This period melodrama about a man who flees France when the Nazis invade uses a striking device: the modern-day world stands in for the 1940s. It makes the past vividly alive – and offers a warning about our current climate of pre-Fascism. See also: Pig; The Pure Necessity
For something: Film nerd Filmworker
Leon Vitali was Stanley Kubrick’s personal assistant for the last 20 years of the director’s life. This profile of the man whose job defied description goes behind the scenes of Barry Lyndon, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket and Eyes Wide Shut. See also: 24 Frames; That Summer; Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible For something: Ethically challenging The Kindergarten Teacher Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the title role in this remake of an Israeli film. She plays kindergarten teacher Lisa, who discovers that one of her five-year-old charges seems to have a preternatural gift for inventing poetry, and takes it upon herself to nurture his gift – but goes way too far. See also: The Children Act
For something: Kaurismäki The Man Without a Past
David Stratton has curated a retrospective of ten films by Finland’s preeminent filmmaker, Aki Kaurismäki, from Crime and
Punishment (1983) to Le Havre (2011). Arguably the filmmaker’s masterpiece is this 2002 comedic drama about an amnesiac in Helsinki. Stratton will introduce all ten films. See also: The Match Factory Girl
For something: Stranger than fiction Three Identical Strangers
In 1980, three 19-year-old identical triplets who had been separated at birth discovered each other’s existence. But beyond the media frenzy surrounding brothers Robert Shafran, Edward Galland and David Kellman was a shocking story that went way beyond malpractice. See also: Lek and the Dogs; RockAbul; In the Land of Wolves
For something: Feminist Kusama – Infinity
An artist since the 1950s, it’s only now in her eighties that Yayoi Kusama has become the biggest artist in the world. This US documentary explores the sexism and mental illness that she has battled all her life and celebrates her extraordinary, dotty world. See also: Half the Picture
For something: Auteurist You Were Never Really Here
The new thriller by the remarkable Lynne Ramsay ( We Need to
Talk About Kevin) stars Joaquin Phoenix as a heavy hired to rescue a senator’s daughter from a sex trafficking ring. Dark, grim, gritty and short, it’s an extraordinary noir that has garnered great reviews, especially for Phoenix. See also: Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot; Strange Days
For something: To cheer you up Juliet, Naked
Another Nick Hornby novel of music obsession has been adapted to film. This one stars Chris O’Dowd as a man obsessed with a reclusive American rock star (Ethan Hawke) to the extent that it threatens his relationship with partner Annie (Rose Byrne). See also: Mirai; Anchor and Hope; Friends by Chance Sydney Film Festival www.sff.org.au. Jun 6-17.
Politicians are spliced into Australian movies