Sydney Film Festival, image courtesy of SFF.
With over 150,000 attendees last year, the Sydney Film Festival(SFF) is fast becoming a go-to event on any film-lovers calendar. Running from 3-14 June 2015, the festival will host over 200 films from over 50 countries over 12 days.
The full film and events schedule will not be announced until 6 May 2015, however 27 films have been revealed, including star-studded flicks Mr. Holmes with Ian McKellen and Strangerland starring Nicole Kidman, and critically acclaimed film festival favourites Slow West, Villa Touma and The Crow’s Egg.
SFF Director Nashen Moodley said that when choosing which films to feature as part of the festival, organisers seek to be as inclusive as possible to a wide demographic, while also highlighting the most interesting films from the world’s largest film festivals.
‘We look at a range of factors. We want to find, for instance, a geographic range… also in terms of genre and style of filmmaking, we wanted a diverse range for the film festival,’ said Moodley.
‘It’s important to us that the festival has something for everyone, so we have as many entry points as possible into the program’.
SFF includes a range of documentaries including Sundance hit Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, the award-winning Beats of the Antonov and The Look of Silence, a follow up to the 2014 Oscar nominated documentary The Act of Killing.
One distinctive feature of SFF is the Freak Me Out program, a selection of films not often screened within typical film festivals, including horror, sci-fi and grind-house films. Guest Programmer for Freak Me Out, Richard Kuipers, said that more people are becoming interested in seeing these kinds of films for a chance to see something different.
‘Freak me out is the place where the weird, wild, wonderful, strange, crazy and confronting films come out to be seen. It’s a showcase for films that often wouldn’t find a place in a regular film festival program. It’s the kind of films that are often put into a niche or genre specific film festival, like a horror or sci-fi film festival,’ said Kuipers.
‘I’ve noticed a lot of people that now come that are more ‘mainstream viewers’ and they want to see what’s going on the fringes of film, this strange film area. They like what they see, it’s a thrill, it’s a walk on a wild side,’ said Kuipers.
While the full program for Freak Me Out is still under wraps, one film that will be featured is New Zealand horror Deathgasm, a film Kuipers is excited to be screening. ‘What I look for is what I call “extreme art house”, they are beautifully composed, have a philosophy and a higher aim. Films that look way beyond the mainstream of cinema,’ said Kuipers. ‘New Zealand horror is going through a really great phase at the moment and this film really shows that.’
A tribute program to the renowned Swedish screenwriter and director Ingmar Bergman,curated by critic and broadcaster David Stratton, will screen from 6-14 June 2015, featuring 10 classics including The Seventh Seal, Fanny and Alexander and Cries and Whispers. Stratton will present each film with a talk and tickets to all 10 films can be purchased at a discounted rate as part of the Essential Bergman package.
‘We find the retrospectives have worked quite well in recent years and they are not only for fans of the films and people that have seen the films before to watch them again, but we have had and expect a younger audience that have never seen the films before, especially on the big screen, to attend these screenings,’ said Moodley. ‘It will be a wonderful experience for people to either re-watch these films of discover them for the very first time’.
To make it more affordable to watch several films,on sale now is an SFF Flexipass that makes it cheaper to buy tickets in bulk.
‘With the Flexipass, they not only save you money, but you can share them. So you can buy a flexi 30 and watch 15 films together with a friend. They are very handy and Flexipass’s allow you to watch far more films at the festival at a much lower cost the if you were to buy single tickets,’ said Moodley.
The SFF will host over 100 events over the 12 day festival, including several awards and the prestigious SFF 2015 Sydney Film Prize, the full program of events will be announced on 6 May 2015.
‘The festival in the end will screen over 200 films and each film is an event in a way, we will have loads of filmmakers come and present their films which is always really exciting. We also present lots of talks and there will be several opportunities to engage with cinema and the filmmakers,’ said Moodley.
SFF will cover venues across Sydney, including the Art Gallery of NSW and for the first time the additional screening venue of Dendy Newtown. The festival hub at Sydney Town Hall, offers a meeting place for film lovers and will feature over 25 free events presented over 11 days and nights.
‘It has this great hub at the Sydney town hall, where people can go, it’s a focal point. It’s what you need as a film festival, you don’t just simply show films anyone, it has to be experience, it goes beyond simply buying a ticket and seeing a film,’ said Kuipers.
‘I think that’s what Sydney Film Festival is creating; an atmosphere, a community, a vibe’.
Flexipasses:
Flexipass 10 brings the ticket price to $15 per ticket, saving $45 over 10 adult tickets
Flexipass 20 brings the ticket price to $13.50 per ticket, saving you $120 over 20 adult tickets
Flexipass 30 brings the ticket price to $12 per ticket and saves you $225 over 30 adult tickets
Essential Bergman package
Buy tickets to all ten films for only $130, saving over $50 on single-ticket prices
To purchase tickets and for more information visit SFF.
