Overview
Whatever you were planning to see at this year's Sydney Film Festival, it now has company — and you have some juggling to do with your movie-watching schedule. The city's annual major cinema celebration returns from Wednesday, June 8–Sunday, June 19, and it'll now be screening 12 more films than originally announced, including a heap of newly minted award-winners straight from the Cannes Film Festival.
If you're a seasoned SFF attendee, you'll know that this is part of the festival's usual routine. First, it reveals a smattering of flicks in its program in early April. Then, it drops its full lineup at the beginning of May. But, after Cannes is done and dusted for the year, it adds the best movies it can nab from that prestigious French event, too. This year is no different, and the haul of Cannes titles is impressive. And yes, Palme d'Or winner Triangle of Sadness — which satirises the mega rich, is directed by Force Majeure's Ruben Östlund, and marks his second Palme win after The Square — is on the bill.
Also heading Sydney's way: Broker, the latest from acclaimed Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Kore-eda, who won the Palme d'Or back in 2018 with the sublime Shoplifters. This time, he's made a movie in Korea — his first Korean-language film, in fact — with Broker again exploring the ties that bind and the connections of family. Starring Parasite's Song Kang-ho, who won Cannes' Best Actor Award for his work here, it'll close out this year's SFF.
Other Cannes award-recipients just added to the program include joint Cannes Grand Prix-winner Stars at Noon, which sees Claire Denis (High Life) direct Margaret Qualley (Maid) and Joe Alwyn (Conversations with Friends) in an erotic espionage tale; Tori and Lokita, which nabbed the Cannes 75th Anniversary Prize for Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (Two Days, One Night); Holy Spider, an Iran-set true-crime serial killer thriller by Ali Abbasi (Border), and the recipient of Cannes' Best Actress Award for star Zar Amir Ebrahimi (Tehran Taboo); and Boy From Heaven, a Cairo-set political thriller that picked up Best Screenplay.
And, from Cannes Un Certain Regard, there's also The Blue Caftan, about a love triangle between a young gay man and a middle-aged couple, which won the FIPRESCI Award; Joyland, which nabbed the Cannes Jury Prize and Queer Palm, and also marks the first Pakistani film to make the Cannes Official Selection; and Mediterranean Fever, winner of Un Certain Regard's Best Screenplay Award.
Plus, Portuguese writer/director João Pedro Rodrigues' musical Will-O'-The-Wisp arrives from Cannes Director's Fortnight — and there's also The Night of the 12th, a police procedural set in Southern France, too.
SFF already added Baz Luhrmann's Elvis to its lineup as well, thank you very much.
Not hailing from Cannes, documentary Nothing Compares also joins the bill, exploring the life and career of Sinéad O'Connor.
The 2022 Sydney Film Festival runs between Wednesday, June 8–Sunday, June 19 at the State Theatre, Event Cinemas George Street, Dendy Newtown, Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Cremorne, Ritz Cinemas Randwick, Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Art Gallery of NSW. To check out the event's full program, or to buy tickets, head to the festival's website.