Punk, Politics And Powerful Premieres: The 64th Sydney Film Festival Program Unveiled

Screen crusaders, cinema junkies and film buffs rejoice! The program for the 64th Sydney Film Festival has been unveiled, and it promises to be a season celebrating diversity, activism, discovery and seldom told stories explored with world-class craft.

From refugees, gender rights, and political activism, to international blockbusters, punk parties and family friendly features, 2017’s line-up showcases 288 films sourced from 59 countries including 37 world premieres. Randwick’s iconic Ritz Cinema, which celebrates its 80th year in 2017, has been added to the roster of venues for the first time this year, which includes the Festival Hub which once again will be hosted at Sydney’s Town Hall.

One of the world firsts on offer will be opening this year’s proceedings: Indigenous director Warwick Thornton’s We Don’t Need A Map. The film, exploring Australia’s relationship to the Southern Cross – a symbol of both Aboriginal significance and colonial oppression – frames a conversation about the divides that still endure in Australian culture.

The SFF will be closed by one of the most well-heeled casts on offer in this year’s program. Celebrated Korean director Boog Joon-ho, best known for his astonishing live-action adaptation of the Frenc graphic novel Snowpiercer, has assembled a stellar cast including Tilda Swinton, Jake Gyllenhaal and An Seo-hyun in his Cannes Competition contender Okja. A fantastical perspective on the concept of man’s dangerous impact on nature, it pits a young girl against a multi-national corporation as she tries to protect a massive animal from falling into the wrong hands.

Joon-ho isn’t the only director with A-List talent in front of his lens. Sofia Coppola’s seductive new thriller The Beguiled, starring Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst and Elle Fanning; German director Fatih Akin’s In The Fade starring Diane Kruger; and 80-year-oid Oscar-winning icon Vanessa Redgrave’s directorial debut, Sea Sorrow, are also on the bill. Redgrave will be in Sydney presenting her film in person, joined in conversation by legendary Aussie film pundit Margaret Pomeranz.

Homegrown stars are also strongly represented. Muriel’s Wedding and Sixth Sense star Toni Collette appears opposite Harvey Keitel in French rom-com Madame – also a world premiere, and Emmy-winning actor and Rouge One star Ben Mendelsohn leads in director Benedict Andrews’ debut feature Una.

To help audiences navigate the mind-boggling array of films on offer, Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley has divided the program into several curated selections. These include an International Documentaries program, headlined by Laura Poitras’ much-anticipated follow-up to her Edward Snowden expose Citizenfour – Risk; The Box Set sessions which will present the first two episodes from the second season of hit show Cleverman; Feminism in Film covering contemporary suffrage, gender disparity and indigenous female experiences; the Freak Me Out program – a mini-season of horror masterworks; and a First Nations program of films by Indigenous directors and performers.

There will also be a major retrospective of punk on film, including a special performance of Derek Jarman’s iconoclastic genre-buster Jubilee hosted by The Music. There will be a panel discussion on the evolution of punk in Australia after the screening on 12 June followed by a party where Richard Kuipers will be spinning all the best punk 45s classics from ’77 and beyond.

Indie-icons The Go-Betweens will also be celebrated at a special event on 15 June following the world premiere screening of Kriv Stenders’ documentary The Go-Betweens: Right Here. Expect a night jam-packed with every inch of the band’s back catalogue, including early singles such as Lee Remick and Cattle and Cane, as well as tracks from their ARIA-winning album Oceans Apart.

Full Details of the 2017 Sydney Film Festival are now online.