Now in its 65th year, the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has revealed the line-up of special guests set to grace Melbourne later this month (and well into August).
Melbourne director Cris Jones and cast members Xavier Samuel, Matilda Brown and Rachel Ward will hit the blue carpet for the festival’s glittering Opening Night celebrations, and the time travel film The Death and Life of Otto Bloom.
Also on opening weekend, director Jocelyn Moorhouse and actor Hugo Weaving will attend the 25th anniversary screening of the classic Australian film, Proof, while Margaret Pomeranz will host the special Talking Pictures event Breaking the Celluloid Ceiling – joined by some of Australia’s finest directors including Gillian Armstrong and Jocelyn Moorhouse.
Veteran UK director Terence Davies will attend for his long-awaited passion project Sunset Song, which is said to have a career-making performance from former model Agyness Deyn. He will be joined by critic David Stratton, who will host the special Talking Pictures event, In Conversation with Terence Davies.
As the festival continues, the cast and crew of Down Under will walk the red carpet, including director Abe Forsythe and cast members Lincoln Younes, Rahal Romahn, and Harriet Dyer. MIFF Premiere Fund supported titles Ella, Emo the Musical and Bad Girl receive their world premieres, with directors and cast members in attendance. Meanwhile, in a specially curated program of nine Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, some of the world’s most exciting VR filmmakers will be welcomed to the festival.
MIFF guests during the final week of the festival include actor Rachel Griffiths for Mammal, an unsettling and deftly assured drama about the nebulous, perilous relationships between mothers and their sons. Writer/director Fin Edquist and lead actor Sarah West will appear for the world premiere of Bad Girl, a film offering a boldly dramatic twist on the femme fatale (and recent WA Screen Awards winner). Sean Byrne will feature with the US-produced horror film The Devil’s Candy, following his 2009 MIFF Premiere Fund supported film The Loved Ones.
LA-based developer, writer and lecturer Wendall Thomas will also return exclusively to Melbourne for more of her popular series Wendall Thomas Talks Scripts, unlocking the secrets of films’ script structure with a series of four standalone all-day seminars.
This is just the tip of the iceberg of what will be happening during the festival, however. The 2016 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from 28 July to the 14 August. Tickets are now on sale. For more information, visit miff.com.au
———-
