Overview
The comedy that won this year's Palme d'Or, Robert Pattinson getting gritty running around New York, the 100th feature from a Japanese master and an effort inspired by real-life witch camps in Africa. Hope you've got some room on your flexipass, Sydney Film Festival-goers, because they're just some of the flicks the fest has just added to its 2017 lineup.
Every year, SFF unveils their full program in May; however seasoned fest attendees know that's not really the complete picture. Given that the Cannes Film Festival is held after SFF announces their yearly bill, artistic director Nashen Moodley always gifts cinephiles a few late additions in the form of titles straight from the Croisette. Start rearranging your festival schedule accordingly.
In 2017, The Square sits at the top of the heap — just as it did in Cannes' competition. Winning the festival's coveted main prize, the latest film from Force Majeure's Ruben Östlund steps into a contemporary art museum, crafting biting satire starring Danish actor Claes Bang, The Wire's Dominic West and Mad Men's Elisabeth Moss.
In the high-profile camp, it'll be joined by the Safdie brothers' Good Time, which left France empty-handed, but earned raves for RPatz's performance. Forget brooding vampires — here, he's caught in a heist gone wrong in a movie that's been compared to Dog Day Afternoon and Taxi Driver.
Takashi Miike's Blade of the Immortal is also headed to SFF, as well as British first-time offering I Am Not a Witch. Yes, the former — a gory samurai effort from the filmmaker behind 13 Assassins — really is the 56-year-old director's 100th film. And as for the latter, it tells a tale of a nine-year-old branded a witch by her new community, in a feature that both makes a statement about misogynist power structures and finds absurdity in the whole situation.
Rounding out the new batch are Iran-set animation Tehran Taboo, which charts the struggles required to express individuality and sexuality; Un Certain Regard winner A Man of Integrity, an indictment of authoritarian societies from banned Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof; and flying refugee flick — yep, you read that correctly — Jupiter's Moon. In short, you've now got even more SFF choices. Don't go spending days trying to fit them into your diary though, as they're certain to get snapped up rather quickly.
The 2017 Sydney Film Festival runs from June 7 to 18. To check out the complete program and book tickets, visit the festival website.