PREVIEW: 2025 SOUTH AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL

The South African Film Festival (SAFF) returns from May 4-31, with a packed program of compelling contemporary films, issue-based discussions, and an organisational support network that includes the learning initiative Education Without Borders. With both in-cinema and online screenings, SAFF brings South Africa's rich storytelling tradition to audiences across Australia and New Zealand.

This year, some of South Africa’s most acclaimed and talked-about films will attract discerning filmgoers, including South Africa’s official Oscar selection, Old Righteous Blues, and the Oscar-nominated short film, The Last Ranger. Films in the 2025 program each shed light on the nation’s cultural diversity, social complexity, and creative heartbeat.

Every film watched helps fund programs in literacy, mathematics, leadership, and mentorship for young South Africans through the South African charity, Education Without Borders. Established in 2002, the EwB program is delivered to over 300 learners across all school grades by 50 university-based tutors, many of whom are EwB graduates. It is based at five sites (schools and community centres) in three townships on the Cape Flats outside Cape Town.

Festival Director, Collins Rex said, “SAFF truly represents the soul of a nation. And in our 7th year we’re doing it with a larger lineup of films than ever before. We can’t wait to share the gems, and a selection of accompanying bonus content, with you.”

These sentiments were echoed by Festival Director, Ricky Human, who said, “Every year, we take great pride in celebrating the inspiring stories of some of the most prestigious South African filmmakers, as well as the fresh and exciting new voices that emerge. We also have some surprises in store, including visits by filmmakers and film subjects.”

SAFF this year includes a total of nine feature films, 11 documentaries, and 13 short films. Old Righteous Blues, directed by Muneera Sallies, is a soulful drama that follows a young man's efforts to reunite his town’s estranged Christmas Choir Band, confronting two decades of pain and division.

The Showerhead (pictured; above, right) examines the work of cartoonist Zapiro, from his period as an anti-apartheid struggle-artist to his enduring role as a progressive commentator and freedom-of-expression champion. Zapiro, aka Jonathan Shapiro, will be in Australia to support the film at select cinema screenings.

A hilarious coming-of-age story, Spud is based on the bestselling novel by John van de Ruit. Set in a boys’ boarding school in the early 1990s, and starring a young Troye Sivan and comedy legend John Cleese, the film has become a cult favourite, celebrated for its charm and poignant look at adolescence in a changing South Africa.

The heartwarming and insightful documentary, The Friendship Bench, tracks the implementation of a unique mental health program:  the deployment of gogos (grandmothers) to counsel those in need of support.  The Sydney in-cinema screening of this film will be followed by a Q & A organised by Corrective Services NSW, who are implementing the program.

For the first time, SAFF is this year supporting the work of a young South African-born Australian filmmaker, Kgomotso Sekhur. Shap Shap (pictured; above, right) tells the story of 13-year-old Mmusi who sets off to the township in search of his father. Along the way, unexpected friendships teach him resilience and hope. And in Kwiksilwers, four elderly friends head off on a road trip to experience a meteor shower in Sutherland, with hilarious consequences and no small measure of pathos.

For Tickets and Venue information, visit the festicial's official website

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL & VIVID PARTNER TO PRESENT UNIQUE SCREEN EVENTS

The Sydney Film Festival in partnership with Vivid Sydney will present two film events that go beyond the screen, featuring live performances and unique artistry.

Planet City: Live is a speculative fiction experience from designer, director, and BAFTA-nominated producer Liam Young, which envisions a future where the entire global population resides in one hyper-dense metropolis, allowing the rest of the planet to rewild. This immersive event features live narration by Young himself and a live score performed by Forest Swords.

The second event will see the New South Wales premiere screening of Justin Kurzel’s (Snow Town) documentary debut Ellis Park, followed by a conversation and short musical performance with the film’s subject, celebrated musician Warren Ellis.

One of the world’s longest-running and most prestigious film festivals, the 72nd edition of the Sydney Film Festival will run 4 to 15 June 2025, showcasing the very best in contemporary cinema across several Sydney venues. Running 23 May-14 June, Vivid Sydney is the Southern Hemisphere’s leading multi-artform festival, transforming Sydney into a vibrant hub of creativity, innovation and community connection. Over 23 nights, light installations, music, ideas and food inspire global audiences and drive cultural exchange.

“Sydney Film Festival has always been a place for bold and innovative storytelling, and we are delighted to join forces with Vivid Sydney to present these two unique cinematic experiences,” said SFF Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “These events push the limits of film, sound, and imagination, offering audiences something truly unforgettable.”

Vivid Sydney Festival Director, Gill Minervini said, "The partnership between Vivid Sydney and Sydney Film Festival represents an artistic fusion that embodies the spirit of creative innovation we champion. These immersive film events perfectly amplify our 2025 theme of 'Dream' by inviting audiences to explore alternative realities through the intersection of cinema, music, and live performance."

PLANET CITY: LIVE is set to dazzle Sydney audiences on Tuesday 10 June from 7pm at the City Recital Hall. The NSW Premiere Screening of ELLIS PARK is scheduled for Sunday 8 June at 4pm at the iconic State Theatre, followed by the live component at the City Recital Hall from 7pm.

IFFR TO FETE THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF VHS HEYDAY

In the long history of the entertainment sector in its many forms - theatre, film, radio, the internet - few technological developments have flown so high and plummeted so uniquely as the VCR. 

                                                                                     (Credit: Alex Ross Perry / Instagram)

The legacy left behind from the boom years of VHS domination (and, early on, the fleeting companion format, Betamax) is only just now coming into a sharper focus; what has long been dismissed as an artefact of ‘80s ephemera is now being reconsidered as a vital and complex piece of film culture history.

The changing attitudes to the impact of the home video decades can be found in the announcement that the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) will be dedicating a strand in the 2025 program to the VHS heyday. As conversations evolve around streaming platforms and their impact on cinema going, IFFR presents HOLD VIDEO IN YOUR HANDS, a timely exploration of VHS culture, deeply rooted in community, creativity and unique viewing practices.

Central to the sidebar will be the World Premiere of Alex Ross Perry’s documentary Videoheaven (pictured, top), a three-hour voiceover meditation on the history of video stores in Hollywood cinema that has been a decade in the making. 

In a 2023 interview with website Cinema Scope, Perry (pictured, above), who worked at the iconic Kim’s Video Store in New York, said “Social relationships in video stores as depicted on-screen show that for about ten years, basically the entire ’90s, the video store was an inherently social space. Pre-internet, pre–message boards, like the record store or whatever, you had to go to learn and discuss, with employees, customers, friends.”

Rotterdam filmmaker Gyz La Rivière (pictured, left) returns to the IFFR with the World Premiere of his video store love letter, Videotheek Marco, a rose-coloured recollection into local video store history and connected audiovisual activities like community television. 

In a similar vein is Jagannathan Krishnan cinema-verite documentary Videokaaran (2011; pictured, right), which will have a retrospective screening at IFFR. The acclaimed feature is a handheld odyssey through the world of underground video parlours, where audiences would gather in makeshift cinemas to watch videos projected on whatever flat, upright wall was available. 

Confirmed for the sidebar is The Shrouds, the latest from celebrated Canadian auteur David Cronenberg. Starring Vincent Cassell, Diane Kruger and Guy Pearce, the narrative utilises home video technologies in its depiction of an industry that offers customers unique in-coffin coverage of their late loved ones. 

Also a vital element of the ‘Hold Video in Your Hands’ initiative, the IFFR will launch interactive projects inviting Rotterdam citizens to share their personal home video stories, creating a communal cinematic experience.

The 2025 International Film Festival Rotterdam will run Thursday 30 January to Sunday 9 February. Program details and official announcements will be posted at the event's official website. 

PREVIEW: 2024 RUSSELL HOBBS BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL

The 2024 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival returns to Palace Cinemas nationwide this November with a line up that includes such notable names as Saoirse Ronan, Andrew Garfield, Florence Pugh, Ralph Fiennes, Jude Law and Tim Roth.

The event opens with the Australian Premiere of BLITZ, Steve McQueen's period drama depicting pivotal moments of World War II in London and starring Saoirse Ronan (pictured, below), Paul Weller and highly-touted newcomer Elliot Heffernan. The Oscar-nominated Ronan also fronts THE OUTRUN, as a woman who returns to Scotland's Orkney Islands, seeking to reconcile with her troubled past.

Closing the festival is the premiere of WE LIVE IN TIME (pictured, top), starring Oscar nominees Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield in a romance that delves into the profound question of how to make the most of the time we have in this world.

The 2024 Festival Centrepiece is Mike Leigh’s HARD TRUTHS, a darkly humorous examination of a hypersensitive woman’s impact on her family, blending compassion with Leigh’s signature attention to detail. Family dynamics are also explored in Andrea Arnold’s BIRD, the story of 12-year-old Bailey (newcomer Nykiya Adams), who seeks solace in nature as her distracted father remarries.

Ralph Fiennes and Juliette Binoche star in THE RETURN, an adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, a distinctly British spin on the classical work with an all-star cast. Another  British/French co-production is WIDOW CLICQUOT, the rousing true story of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin, the “Grande Dame of Champagne,” otherwise known as Veuve Clicquot.

Attending the festival is Aylin Tezel, whose directorial debut FALLING INTO PLACE follows Kira (played by Tezel) and Ian, each fleeing their own personal struggles, who cross paths during a winter weekend on the Isle of Skye. One of the U.K.'s rising talents, Tezel will be joining audiences in person in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane for a series of Q&A events.

Alicia Vikander and Jude Law star in the historical drama FIREBRAND, set during the final months of King Henry VIII's reign who, alongside his sixth wife, Katherine Parr, faces the perilous challenges of the Tudor court. The adaptation of the best-selling novel CONCLAVE stars Ralph Fiennes as a cardinal entrusted with the secretive task of selecting a new Pope, but in the Vatican's sacred halls, uncovers secrets that could destabilize the Roman Catholic Church.

Pierce Brosnan and Helena Bonham Carter lead an ensemble cast in FOUR LETTERS OF LOVE, Polly Steele’s tender story of Nicholas and Isabel who seem destined for each other, but whose path to true love is anything but straightforward. And romantics will also enjoy THE SALT PATH starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs as a couple who embark on a 630-mile coastal walk after losing their home and facing a terminal diagnosis. 

Unconventional rom-coms abound, including AND MRS, the bittersweet tale of a bride-to-be (Aisling Bea) who, after losing her fiancé unexpectedly, is determined to proceed with the wedding; THE RADLEYS, which depicts an ordinary family hiding a dark secret - they’re vampires; and, CHUCK CHUCK BABY, a musical comedy set in a Welsh chicken processing plant.

In the music-themed sidebar ‘Brit Rock to Brit Pop’, documentarian Nick Broomfield uncovers the true story of the creative force behind what would become the world’s greatest rock band in THE STONES AND BRIAN JONES; iconic rock band Led Zeppelin’s electrifying 1973 Madison Square Garden performances are captured in THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME (pictured, right); and a feast for Blur fans, with the epic concert film BLUR: LIVE AT WEMBLEY STADIUM, and the doco BLUR: TO THE END.

Retrospective screenings of some of the U.K.’s most adored films pepper the 2024 title roster. Marking its 25th anniversary and presented in restored 4K is Lynne Ramsay’s debut feature RATCATCHER, a haunting portrayal of a troubled childhood. In tribute to the late Dame Maggie Smith, James Ivory’s A ROOM WITH A VIEW will be screened, alongside the documentary MERCHANT IVORY, a celebration of the 44-film collaboration of Ismail Merchant and James Ivory.

And a strand entitled ‘History Restored’ features classic British dramas, many on the bigscreen for the first time in decades. In a new 4K restoration, winner of six Academy Awards A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS examines Sir Thomas More's moral stand against King Henry VIII's divorce; based on the novel by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, James Ivory’s epic melodrama HEAT AND DUST features parallel stories of love and cultural clash in 1920’s India; Kenneth Branagh's gritty, blood-soaked 1989 rendition of HENRY V; Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn in THE LION IN WINTER, the grand tale of King Henry II's family power struggles; and Ken Russel’s THE MUSIC LOVERS, a biography of composer Tchaikovsky's tumultuous life, with career-best performances from Richard Chamberlain and Glenda Jackson.

The 2024 RUSSELL HOBBS BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL opens on Wednesday 6 November in Melbourne, Ballarat, Adelaide, Perth Byron Bay, Canberra and Brisbane and Thursday 7 November in Sydney, concluding on Sunday 8 December in all cities.

2024 CAPITAL FILM FESTIVAL: PREVIEW

Canberra’s premiere international film event, The Capital Film Festival returns Wednesday October 30 boasting a roster of Cannes and Toronto festival titles that strengthen its reputation as one of Australia’s prestige cinema gatherings.

Andrew Perkin, Festival Director, said: “While the program covers a diverse range of genres from first-time filmmakers to established auteurs, there is a recurring theme of isolation and its many forms. This may reflect the effects caused by the worldwide shutdowns of 2020 and the internal conflicts many artists looked to explore.”

Opening night honours have been bestowed upon French director Jacques Audiard’s EMILIA PÉREZ, a surrealistic meditation on gender and a bold hybrid of narratives, including but not limited to cartel thriller, latina-pop musical, Mexican melodrama and redemption parable. The film created history at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where it took the prestigious Grand Jury Prize and, in a festival first, split the Best Actress Prize amongst the female ensemble of Zoe Saldaña (pictured, top), Selena Gomez, Adriana Paz, and Karla Sofía Gascón. 

A major coup for the programming team is the acquisition of MENUS-PLAISIRS – LES TROIGROS (pictured, right), the latest from 94-year-old iconic documentarian Frederick Wiseman. A breathtaking study of the inner-workings of a French restaurant that's held three Michelin stars for more than 50 years, the screening will be accompanied by a selection of fine cheeses and premium French wine.

An in-person Q&A with the Chinese-Australian artist Jiawei Shen will follow the screening of WELCOME TO BABEL, director James Bradley’s fascinating documentary that uncovers Jiawei's incredible journey from growing up in Mao’s China and surviving the Cultural Revolution to his resettlement in Australia and establishing his reputation as one of the most important figures in the art world.

Other must-see movies in the 2024 program include writer/director Jesse Eisenberg’s A REAL PAIN, in which he co-stars with Kieran Culkin as mismatched cousins who reunite for a tour through Poland; Cannes Grand Prix prize winner, ALL WE IMAGINE AS LIGHT, an intoxicatingly romantic drama from writer/director Payal Kapadia; and, Palme d’Or honouree ANORA (pictured, right), the latest from auteur Sean Baker, whose latest underdog story introduces the world to Mikey Madison as a sex worker who meets and marries the son of an oligarch.

The genre film community has much to celebrate in the line-up representing horror, manga and….Lego. Tilman Singer’s follow-up to his auspicious debut Luz stars Euphoria breakout Hunter Schaffer in CUCKOO, a sinister horror pic centred on the unsettling occurrences at a resort in the German Alps; Takashi Imashiro’s popular manga, GHOST CAT ANZU is an eccentric anime, shot live on location and rotoscoped to melt the real world into Japan’s fantastical kami realm; and, Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville’s exuberant PIECE BY PIECE utilises Lego animation to celebrate the life of music and cultural icon Pharrell Williams.

Closing the festival will be the critically acclaimed winner of the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, THE ROOM NEXT DOOR. Directed by Pedro Almodóvar and starring Academy Award® winners Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, the Spanish great’s latest is a visually exquisite and intimate drama centred on the relationship between two fascinating, complex, and flawed women.

The full program, including session and ticket details, can be found at the 2024 Capital Film Festival official website.