Sydney Film Festival

Director David Michôd has been in high demand ever since the stunning Animal Kingdom was unleashed in 2010. So it’s pretty much a given that his 2014 follow up The Rover be met with the same ecstatic enthusiasm with which AK was received. With positive reviews pouring in from every corner in response to to…

Larry Heath caught up with producer Helen Bowden (The Slap) while at Sydney Film Festival to talk about the new Foxtel TV series Devil’s Playground. The six-part series, which will premiere in September, sees its first two episodes screen at the Festival tonight. They talk about the direction the series has taken, operating as a sequel…

Chris Singh caught up with lead actor Ellar Coltrane and producer Cathleen Sutherland of the unique film Boyhood to gain some insight into how this unprecedented project came together during the 12 years it took to make, what Ellar’s mentality was like during filming, and what they have both learnt from working on it. Directed…

It can be a bit frustrating to read about all of the awesome films that are screening at film festivals over the world if you are unable to get to any of them, and it’s a feeling that most film fans would have felt at one time or another. It’s great to hear then, that just…

Pulp are a band of the people. So it should come as no surprise that the film about their last concert performance in their Sheffield hometown is at times more about their fans and the locals then the self-deprecating group itself. Florian Habicht’s (Love Story) documentary, Pulp: A Film About Life, Death & Supermarkets plays…

The Iris’ Larry Heath talks to Kitty Green, director of Ukraine Is Not A Brothel, about the conception and creation of the documentary, the Ukrainian protest movement, and her goal of creating a new level of intimacy within the film – “I was conscious of making it quite cinematic… I really wanted to get that…

“Today is gonna be a good day. Because, today is ideal day to commit suicide.” The tagline for Yuichi Suita’s short film is both poignant and funny in an absolutely guilt-inducing way. It’s also telling of how viewers are likely to feel throughout the seven-minute film. We watch the un-named and silent protagonist as she…

The 61st Sydney Film Festival has been dazzling the city so far with an excellent curated line-up of films. Due to popular demand, the 12-day event has announced additional screenings of three SOLD OUT sessions; all of which are on sale now. Fela Kuti documentary Finding Fela!, Australian documentary China’s 3Dreams, and Palo Alto will…

This beautiful documentary offers an insight into the daily life of the National Gallery in London. Unfolding over three hours, Frederick Wiseman with his characteristic unobtrusive touch allows conversations and activities to unfold in real time, giving the viewer the ability to observe in true ‘fly-on-the-wall’ style. The impressive collection housed by the gallery is…

American buffalo are so physically and culturally linked to North America that it is difficult to imagine them living in any other country. So wouldn’t it be interesting to see them roaming the harsh, wet plains of Scotland? This is the basis for Maurice O’Brien’s short documentary Buffalo Dreams, which sees the struggles of buffalo…

John Donne once famously wrote that “a man is not an island”, referencing the many connections that seep into even the most insular of spaces and tug at certain sides of our human psyche even at times when we are physically alone. It’s a sentiment which rings entirely true in Locke, a truly fascinating minimal…

In Vienna resides the Kunsthistoriches Museum (Museum of Fine Arts), a jewel in the city’s crown and home to thousands of paintings, sculptures and artefacts from all over the globe. The Great Museum follows the preparation for the opening of the Kunstkammer Gallery – a specialty gallery devoted to thousands of artefacts collected by Habsburg…

In life we are more often than not reactive creatures, responding to our environment and those around us. Sometimes the unlikeliest of people and the most random of circumstances can shape our lives, in both good and bad ways. Based on the novel by Larry Brown and directed by David Gordon Green, Joe is the…

Viewers are gifted a film which is undeniably Nick Cave with (sort-of) rock bio-pic 20,000 Days on Earth ditching everything we have come to dread of rockstar-centric films and giving us something which truly seeks the mind of this infinitely interesting artist. Filmmakers Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard employ various techniques to twirl around an…

Played with deadpan composure by writer and feature debut director Desiree Akhavan, we meet Shirin in the last stage of her breakup with long-term girlfriend, Maxine (Rebecca Henderson). In the opening scene she is collecting her remaining belongings, exchanging final barbs and discussing the future custody of a shared strap-on dildo. The scene closes on…

Last night, with the premiere of Nick Cave’s film 20,000 Days… the Sydney Film Festival kicked off its 2014 season in style. Today, we look ahead to the rest of the film calendar to bring you our 10 film picks – in no particular order. Wish I Was Here Struggling actor Aidan (Zach Braff) has…

  For Those Who Can Tell No Tales is a provoking film, which serves as a poignant reminder to Australian tourists about the often silent and traumatic histories that haunt the European cities they visit. The exposure of this past forms the central premise of the film, based on the experience of Australian performance artist…

With Boyhood, director Richard Linklater further asserts himself as one of the most innovative in the business, his body of work – which includes Before Sunrise and it’s sequels – already coated with more acclaim than most of his peers. He excels with minimalist plots, painting seemingly dull and everyday occurrences as happenings which are…

The Possibilities Are Endless is an innovative interpretation of Edwyn Collins’ life-changing experience and is a film not to be missed. The former lead singer of Orange Juice, Collins is a celebrated indie singer-songwriter known for his ’80s and ’90s hits ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘A Girl Like You’. After suffering a stroke, the only words…

In the privileged valleys of north-west California, the next generation are figuring their shit out. Based on James Franco’s linked short story collection of the same name, Palo Alto is the directorial debut of Gia Coppola. The premise will be familiar to anyone versed in the disaffected-slacker-coming-of-age genre: boys do stupid things, with pyrotechnics, alcohol and/or…

Vivid Sydney and the 61st Sydney Film Festival have announced a special panel discussion titled ‘Inside The Rover‘ to celebrate the release of David Michôd’s The Rover, his first film since 2010’s searing Aussie crime masterpiece Animal Kingdom. Michôd will be joined by stars Guy Pearce (Animal Kingdom, Prometheus) and Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Cosmopolis), as well as producer Liz Watts. The…

This documentary is essential viewing for budding filmmakers and young creatives alike. A quiet, patient film by Gabe Klinger, it explores the friendship and work of filmmakers Richard Linklater and James Benning. Combining filmed discussions between the pair over a few days together in Texas and extensive archival footage, Double Play: James Benning and Richard…

British/Irish biopic Jimi: All Is By My Side tells the story of celebrated guitarist Jimi Hendrix, from humble beginnings jamming in the deserted Cheetah Club in New York City through to the development of the Jimi Hendrix Experience across Europe and his performance on 4 June 1967, at the Saville Theatre, London. The film is not your…

The 61st Sydney Film Festival is coming up next month (June 4th to 15th), and the full program announced last week boasts an incredible array of exciting films. Included in the program is a great selection of music films, both documentaries and features. Below is a rundown of the music films screening at the Festival….

The program for the 61st Sydney Film Festival was officially launched today by Tony Grant, the NSW Minister for the Arts. The Festival will run from the 4th to the 15th of June and will showcase a wide and exciting range of incredible films. This year the Festival consists of 183 titles from 47 countries, including 15 World Premieres (including 6 World Premiere short…

The 61st Sydney Film Festival, which is running from June 4th to 15th this year, has recently announced an exciting new awards partnership with the Documentary Australia Foundation. The Foundation will award the $10,000 Australian Documentary Prize to one of the Australian documentaries screening at the festival. The winner of this awesome prize will be announced…

While he was at SXSW, we caught up with New Zealand born director Florian Habicht to talk about his new film Pulp, a documentary about the band of the same name, and their farewell performance at home in Sheffield. And now the film has been announced to premiere in Australia at the Sydney Film Festival!…

The 61st Sydney Film Festival has announced 32 films that will screen during this year’s event, with the full program expected on Wednesday May 7th. The festival, which runs from June 4th to 15th, will utilise cinemas all over the city to host its screenings. This includes expanding as far as Blacktown to host a screening of the 40th anniversary…

Just announced to be a part of Sydney Film Festival in June, The Iris brings you this series of exclusive interviews with the stars of the new film Joe. In addition to the interviews below, you can also check out our chat with star Nicholas Cage and director David Gordon Green HERE. Tye Sheridan: Adriene…

Back during the AU review’s Sydney Film Festival interview series for 2013, we sat down with Patrick Riester, one of the actors from the low budget film Computer Chess, directed by Andrew Bujalski. We talk about the unique filmmaking style, the story, being a part of the film and his usual role: editing. The film is screening…