Overview
This year's Sydney Film Festival is well and truly underway — and while it technically finishes in a week, this cinema showcase knows how to hang around. In what's now become a yearly tradition, SFF is keeping its movie onslaught going past the stated end date of June 16, hosting three days of encores across June 17–19 at Dendy Newtown and Dendy Opera Quays.
Twelve titles comprise the fest's By Popular Demand and, as the name suggests, they're all films that have been filling theatres and/or selling out sessions so far. Missed out on tickets to Jim Jarmusch's The Dead Don't Die, which has already sold out three screenings? Eager to see Adam Goodes-focused documentary The Final Quarter? Fancy following Robert Pattinson into space in the weird and wonderful High Life? Keen to know why Antonio Banderas picked up this year's Cannes Best Actor prize for the sumptuous, intimate and intensely moving Pain and Glory? Additional showings of each are all on the agenda.
Other films getting another run include sensational Aretha Franklin concert film Amazing Grace, which took decades to reach screens; animal-focused crowd-pleaser The Big Little Farm; and Celine Sciamma's Cannes Best Screenplay-winner Portrait of a Lady on Fire. Or, you can catch Hugo Weaving-starring Aussie drama Hearts and Bones, Leonard Cohen documentary Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love, South Pacific portmanteau Vai and frenetic Sundance highlight Midnight Family.
The final film on the By Popular Demand lineup hasn't been announced as yet, so you could be in for a surprise as well. No matter what it is, it'll still give you another excuse to extend your SFF experience — because no cinephile ever wants it to end.
Sydney Film Festival's By Popular Demand bonus screenings hit Dendy Newtown and Dendy Opera Quays between June 17 and 19. The 2019 Sydney Film Festival runs until June 16 at various cinemas around the city. To view the complete program and book tickets, visit the festival website.