Sydney Film Festival’s Full Program Is Here Featuring Daniel Radcliffe’s Farting Corpse
YAY!
Time to speed-read the synopsis of more than 250 films and hand your credit card over to that one friend who’s more organised than you: the full program of this year’s Sydney Film Festival is here. The festival will be running from June 8-19 and AHHHH, start scrambling because tickets just went on sale.
In addition to the big releases announced last month (Demolition, Maggie’s Plan, Everybody Wants Some!!), the full program has a bunch more international gems you’ve been looking out for. Steven Spielberg’s re-make of The BFG will be here a few weeks ahead of its general Australian release, as will Lisa Johnson’s bizarro quasi-historical comedy Elvis and Nixon starring Kevin Spacey.
Off the back of glowing critical praise, we’ll also get a first look at Certain Women: a portrait of strong independent women in rural America featuring Michelle Williams, Laura Dern and Kristen Stewart based on a short story collection of Maile Meloy. And, as is legally required of every film festival in the world, Xavier Dolan‘s latest will be making its premiere too. Starring Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel, It’s Only The End Of The World tells the story of a terminally-ill writer going home for the first time in 12 years.
For me, this is all however eclipsed by one film. After causing massive division at Sundance earlier this year, Daniel Radcliffe’s farting corpse will be jet-boating its way into Sydney cinemas one month ahead of Swiss Army Man‘s general release in the US. I am now standing on my desk and shrieking with happiness.
If you’re treating yourself to a flexipass this morning, be sure to load up with Australian offerings too. Following the news that Ivan Sen’s “outback noir” thriller Goldstone will be opening the festival on June 8, the program is stacked with quality local films.
Renowned playwright Stephen Sewell is making his directorial debut with Embedded: an “erotic chamber drama” and “celebration of sex and sensuality” which looks about as mysterious as you’d expect. Fellow local theatre alum Rosemary Myers is also premiering her dive into Australian ’70s nostalgia, Girl Asleep, which has earned great reviews on the international film circuit. After a successful Pozible campaign, Craig Boreham is also giving us Teenage Kicks: the story of a teenager growing up in a migrant family in Sydney’s inner-west and exploring his sexuality.
Perhaps most interesting of the bunch is Down Under: Abe Forsythe’s (who you may know better as Campbell from Always Greener or Charlie from Laid) black comedy about the aftermath of the Cronulla riots.
As always, documentaries look to be a standout of the festival too and there are ten exceptional ones vying for the Australian Documentary Award.
Positive body image advocate Taryn Brumfitt is premiering Embrace: an investigation into the way women view their bodies around the world. The Opposition tells the controversial story of resistance to new developments in Port Moresby in which locals stood up to politicians, big corporations and Papua New Guinea police. Also, Destination Arnold follows two Indigenous women’s dreams of winning the Arnold Classic — the bizarre bodybuilding/Arnold Schwarzenegger fan event which hit Australian shores for the first time last year.
Get ready to spend a lot of time indoors next month.
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The Sydney Film Festival is on from June 8-19. Check out the full program here.