Overview
What do Saturday Night Live and film festivals have in common? Plenty. No episode of the long-running sketch-comedy series or iteration of a film fest is ever the same twice. Both always feature a helluva cast. At their best, each feels like anything could grace the screen. Here's something else that unites the two in Brisbane in 2024: when the Brisbane International Film Festival returns for this year, it'll open with Saturday Night, the new backstage comedy that recreates how SNL's first-ever episode came to be.
BIFF is back, running from Thursday, October 24–Sunday, November 3 — and launching with a film about SNL's premiere that's directed by Juno, Young Adult, Tully and Ghostbusters: Afterlife's Jason Reitman. The Fabelmans' Gabriel LaBelle plays Lorne Michaels, leading a cast that includes Dylan O'Brien (Fantasmas) as Dan Aykroyd, Ella Hunt (Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1) as Gilda Radner, Matthew Rhys (IF) as George Carlin and Matt Wood (Instinct) as John Belushi as well.
Also featuring in Saturday Night: Finn Wolfhard (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire), Rachel Sennott (The Idol), Kaia Gerber (Palm Royale), JK Simmons (The Union), Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza), Lamorne Morris (Fargo), Nicholas Braun (Dream Scenario) and Willem Dafoe (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice).
The full BIFF program for 2024 will be unveiled on Thursday, September 26, but the fest has dropped a few other details for now. While Saturday Night will launch this year's cinema celebration, the Australian premiere of documentary Unbreakable: The Jelena Dokic Story will close it. The tennis star herself chats about her experiences, including as a refugee and in her chosen sport, with Pam Shriver and Lindsay Davenport among the other interviewees — and Dokic will be at the screening.
BIFF has also revealed where it'll be screening, bringing its lineup to six cinemas around the city. Movie lovers, you'll be heading to Palace Barracks, Dendy Coorparoo and Dendy Powerhouse — so, outdoor screenings must be on the bill — as well as Reading Newmarket, Five Star Cinemas New Farm and Angelika Film Centre.
2024 marks 32 years since BIFF first launched in 1992, as well as its fourth year under Film Fantastic, which is also behind the Gold Coast Film Festival. After a stable first 20 years, the fest has been through a chaotic past decade. It was unceremoniously cancelled after its 2013 fest in favour of the short-lived Brisbane Asia Pacific Film Festival, then revived by Palace Cinemas in 2017, and then run by the Gallery of Modern Art from 2018–20 before falling under Film Fantastic's remit.
The 2o24 Brisbane International Film Festival runs between Thursday, October 24–Sunday, November 3 at Palace Barracks, Dendy Coorparoo, Dendy Powerhouse, Reading Newmarket, Five Star Cinemas New Farm and Angelika Film Centre. For further information, or to buy tickets, head to the festival website — and check back here on Thursday, September 26 for the full program.