The Sydney Film Festival has revealed a full program of 248 films from 81 countries for its 73rd edition, with 19 titles arriving directly from Cannes as part of an event running June 3 to 14 across the State Theatre, the Sydney Opera House and cinemas throughout the city.
The festival opens June 3 with the Australian premiere of "Silenced," a documentary directed by Selina Miles following international human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson as she challenges the use of defamation law to silence survivors and journalists. The Sundance title covers the cases of Brittany Higgins, Catalina Ruiz-Navarro and Amber Heard. Both Miles and Robinson will attend the screening.
The official competition marks 18 years of the Sydney Film Prize, a AUD$60,000 ($43,100) award for an "audacious, cutting-edge and courageous" film. Much of the competition slate draws from this year's Cannes lineup. Among the titles in contention is Andrey Zvyagintsev's "Minotaur," a thriller set in 2022 Russia that marks the director's long-awaited return to filmmaking. Asghar Farhadi's "Parallel Tales" features an all-star French cast including Isabelle Huppert and Catherine Deneuve. Kore-eda Hirokazu's "Sheep in the Box" imagines a near-future world where bereaved parents use artificial intelligence to reconstruct their family. Paweł Pawlikowski's "Fatherland" follows novelist Thomas Mann and his daughter Erika amid postwar Germany, with Sandra Hüller in the cast.
Also in competition from Cannes are Marie Kreutzer's "Gentle Monster" with Léa Seydoux, Valeska Grisebach's "The Dreamed Adventure," and Cristian Mungiu's English-language debut "Fjord," a family drama starring Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve. From Cannes' Un Certain Regard section comes Marie-Clémentine Dusabejambo's "Ben'Imana," an account of post-genocide reconciliation in Rwanda.
The competition also includes several international prize winners from other festivals. Visar Morina's "Shame and Money" took the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. Alain Gomis' "Dao" screened in Berlin competition. Olivia Wilde's "The Invite" was a Sundance hit. Australian horror entry "Leviticus," directed by Adrian Chiarella and also a Sundance breakout, represents local cinema in the official competition.
Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho will lead the jury, joined by Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi, Singaporean filmmaker Boo Junfeng, Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner and First Nations producer and director Sally Riley. The Sydney Film Prize will be announced at the closing night gala on June 14.
"We want to invite you to join us at SFF this year, where each moment offers an opportunity for discovery and empathy," festival director Nashen Moodley said. "Art and cinema help us make sense of the world, take us into the lives of people far away from us."
