This June, Sydney’s biggest silver screen celebration, the Sydney Film Festival, is set to be bigger and better than ever, with festival director Nashen Moodley today announcing the first 28 films to be screened across the 12-day event.
An exciting array of feature films and documentaries from around the world await Sydney audiences, with Nick Broomfield and Rudi Dolezal‘sWhitney: I Can Be Meleading the teaser list – a never-before-seen backstage look at the height of the iconic Whitney Houston‘s stardom.
Punters seeking more fictional fare will be sated by directorDavid Lowery‘s haunting minimalist love storyA Ghost Story, starring Oscar-winner Casey Affleck and nominee Rooney Mara, and Aisling Walsh‘s biopic Maudie, feauring Ethan Hawke and Sally Hawkins(as the titular Maud Lewis).
Sherpa director (and local talent) Jennifer Peedom also returns to the festival withMountain, a collaboration with the Australian Chamber Orchestra that will certainly be an awe-inspiring experience.
For the more classically-minded, Sydney Film Festival also provides nostalgia bait in the form of a Blacktown Skyline Drive-In screening of John Landis‘ seminal horror-comedy,An American Werewolf In London.
Normally taking over the State Theatre, Hayden Orpheum, Dendy Newtown & Circular Quay, and George St Event Cinemas (among others), the 2017 festival will also make its way into the art deco comforts of Randwick’s Ritz. The lineup of films showing at the new venue will be a mix of features and documentaries, geared towards a slightly younger audience.
The teaser list comes a month after SFF’s announcement of the Official Competition’s tenth anniversary, celebrated at Golden Age Cinema with screenings of all ten prize-winning films.
Here’s the full list of films announced today:
FEATURES
A Ghost Story (Drama, USA; dir. David Lowery)
Maudie(Drama, Canada; dir. Aisling Walsh)
An American Werewolf In London (Horror/comedy, USA; dir. John Landis)
My Life As A Zucchini(Animation, Switzerland; dir. Claude Barras)
That’s Not Me(Comedy, AU; dir. Gregory Erdstein)
Mrs K (Action, Malaysia; dir. Yuhang Ho)
God’s Own Country (Drama, UK; dir. Francis Lee)
Spoor (Mystery, Poland; dir. Agnieszka Holland)
Wolf And Sheep (Drama, Afghanistan; dir. Shahrbanoo Sadat)
Sexy Durga (Improv, India; dir. Sanal Kumar Sasidharan)
Pop Aye (Comedy, Thailand; dir. Kirsten Tan)
The Untamed (Sci-fi/drama, Mexico; dir. Amat Escalante)
Hotel Salvation(Comedy, India; dir. Shubshashish Bhutiani)
Graduation (Drama, France; dir. Cristian Mungiu)
The Woman Who Left (Drama, Philippines; dir. Lav Diaz)
DOCUMENTARIES
Whitney: Can I Be Me(USA/UK; dir. Nick Broomfield & Rudi Dolezal)
I Am Not Your Negro(USA; dir. Raoul Peck)
Winnie(France; dir. Pascale Lamche)
The Opposition(Australia; dir. Hollie Fifer)
Mountain(Australia; dir. Jennifer Peedom)
Spookers(NZ; dir. Florian Habicht)
RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked The World(Canada; dir. Catherine Bainbridge and Alfonso Maoirana)
Liberation Day(Norway; dir. Ugis Olte & Morten Traavik)
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail(USA; dir. Steve James)
Untitled(Austria; dir. Michael Glawogger, Monika Willi)
Nowhere To Hide(Norway; dir. Zaradasht Amed)
Waiting For Giraffes(Netherlands; dir. Marco de Stefanis)
Motherland(Philippines; dir. Ramona S. Diaz)
The 2017 Sydney Film Festival runs from Wednesday June 7 – Sunday June 18.
