Now in its 57th year, the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is a 13 day celebration of the best of cinematic achievement. With a wide selection of films from around the globe- feature length, short films and documentaries, the festival has something for everyone. The Official Competition has a prize of $60,000 as well as other awards for documentaries and short films. This event isn’t just about showcasing film talent there is also a nice bit of cash and some important recognition up for grabs too.
There are thirteen films in the Official Competition, and the SFF has managed to include female filmmakers, unlike Cannes. I’m looking forward to seeing French-Australian co-production The Tree from director Julie Bertucelli and Romanian film If I want to Whistle I’ll Whistle, which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2010 Berlin film festival. I’m really intrigued by Haitian film Moloch Tropical, which is directed by the country’s ex-Minister of Culture, Raoul Peck. But perhaps the competition film I’m most looking forward to is;
Four Lions (Chris Morris, UK)
From the creator of Brass Eye, The Day Today and Nathan Barley, this film is likely to be the darkest comic film, with the most bad taste humour in the festival. Morris, who is considered close to a comic genius in the UK, except by those who find him incredibly offensive, has made a film that breaks modern comedy taboos. His debut feature film centres around four British jihadists, who want to avenge the treatment of Muslims. They just don’t seem all that good at terrorism.
Chris Morris will be attending the festival
Following on from last year’s pathways the festival has again been divided into sections, designed to help Sydney Film Festival patrons navigate their way through the 100+ films on offer, giving audiences an idea of the experience they can expect. In the Love Me section, Tilda Swinton’s star turn in Italian film I am Love, has already sold out one screening. I’m not sure if any film for pure cuteness and heart-warmingness will be able to beat the documentary Babies.
The Fire Me Up section includes Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith’s documentary, The Most Dangerous Man in America, which is just one of many fascinating documentaries in this year’s program. I’m also keen to check out Australian film Strange Birds in Paradise which looks at often forgotten West Papua and Adrien Grenier’s Teenage Paparazzo, which is part of the festival’s Creative Drive pathway which also includes street artist Banksy’s genre-confusing documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop which is already completely sold out.
The Take me to the Edge section plays home to a French documentary that caused huge controversy in its home country and it is not hard to see why;
The Game of Death (Chrisophe Nick & Thomas Bornot, France)
This film follows 80 people who signed up to a French pilot game show, which was really a cover to try the 1960s notorious Milgram experiment. In the original experiment, participants seemed to control huge watts of electricity administered to other participants. In this game show version, the documentary looks at how many people are willing to shock other contestants who get answers wrong with apparent lethal amounts of electricity. This film’s aim is to investigate the nature of reality T.V. and the level of compliance in modern society. The results of this experiment promise to be alarming.
The Take Me on a Journey category plays host to Sydneysider, Claire McCarthy’s The Waiting City and I am compelled, like a moth to the flame, to find out what Aussie comedy/horror film The Loved Ones, part of the Freak Me Out section is all about. I’m also eager to check out this British film, if only to see what Gemma Arterton is like outside a mythical epic
The Disappearance of Alice Creed (J Blakeson, UK)
This small British film about the kidnapping of rich girl Alice (Arterton), is designed to seriously mess with the audience’s minds. Described as having elements of Kubrick’s The Shining and Lynch’s Blue Velvet and while these are pretty big claims, this film has certainly been thrilling British critics. Looking at how even the best laid plans can go awry, The Disappearance of Alice Creed stars Martin Compston (Red Road, The Damned United) and Eddie Marsan (Happy-Go-Lucky, Sherlock Holmes) as the film’s kidnappers.
The Make me Laugh pathway is boosted by the presence of Jonah Hill at the festival, here to promote his film Cyrus. Directed by the Duplass Brothers, this film is a part of the Mumblecore movement.
These are just a few of the films at the festival, and with an amazing program on offer for Sydneysiders there is a lot to get excited about at this year’s festival.
First published on Trespass
