PREVIEW: 2024 SOUTH AFRICAN FILM FESTIVAL

April marks 30 years since the first democratic election in South Africa when for the first time in the country’s history, all citizens could vote for their future. To mark this auspicious anniversary, the 2024 South African Film Festival will feature some of the nation's most iconic films from the past 30 years when it unfolds from May 2-30 for audiences in Australia and New Zealand.

These include the classic documentaries 1994: The Bloody Miracle, co-directors Bert Haitsma and Meg Rickards chilling account of a nation’s democracy under siege; and The 16th Man, the story of how South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup win galvanised and united the nation (pictured, top; Tumelo Lekena's Father's Day)

A highlight of this year’s festival is the 4K restoration of Oliver Schmitz’s masterpiece, Mapantsula (pictured, right), the gritty gangster film set against the backdrop of apartheid rebellion. Upon its release in 1987, the film was banned after just one screening for inciting violence, but would be honoured by a screening in the Un Certain Regard section of the Cannes Film Festival in 1988. Mapantsula is recognised as having a seminal influence on public opinion against apartheid.

Festival Co-Director Programming & Events, Ricky Human, said, “This year is truly special as we reflect on [this] anniversary of the first democratic elections in South Africa, and honour exceptional filmmakers like Oliver Schmitz, and heroic figures like George Bizos. We’re excited to be joined by George Bizos’ son, Alexi, and the Producer of the film, George Georgiou, who will be attending select screenings in Australia and New Zealand and participating in panel discussions.”

The South African Film Festival opens with John Barker’s The Umbrella Men, a rollicking crowdpleaser that follows  a ragtag bunch of musicians forced to rob a bank during the Cape Town Minstrel Carnival.

Feature documentaries include George Bizos Icon, a fascinating juxtaposition of the personal and political sides of the iconic anti-apartheid human rights lawyer; The Radical, an intimate portrait of the world’s first openly gay Imam from filmmaker Richard Finn Gregory; and, Gareth Whittaker’s Down: A Comrades Story, a chronicle of the pain and the glory that is the gruelling Comrades Ultra Marathon, a 90 km race between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.

There are five exceptional feature films on offer, including Seconds, a gripping tale of crime, deceit, and betrayal set in the dark world of underground boxing; Hans Steek die Rubicon Oor (Hans Crosses the Rubicon; pictured, above), a light-hearted comedy that tackles the subject of aging and stars luminaries of South African screen and stage, including Tobie Cronje and Sandra Prinsloo; and, Soccer Season: Playmaker, starring the beloved entertainer Desmond Dube.

PREVIEW: 2024 ANTENNA DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

ANTENNA, Australia’s leading international non-fiction film festival, has unveiled the 52 creative, thought-provoking documentaries from around the globe that will screen over the course of 11 days, from 9–19 February 2024.

“I am very proud of this lineup as a whole,” said Festival Director Dudi Rokach. “Each documentary is imaginative, cinematic and provocative and I believe together they demonstrate the endless potential of documentary cinema in the hands of a great filmmaker”. 

Opening the festival is the Tribeca Film Festival winner The Gullspång Miracle (pictured, above), from director Maria Fredriksson. The stranger-than-fiction mystery-drama follows two pious sisters who buy an apartment after having witnessed a divine sign – only to realise that the seller looks identical to their other sister, who committed suicide some thirty years before.

Antenna will close the festival with the highly anticipated Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus (pictured, right), a concert film announces an exciting new partnership with the Sydney Opera House. In capturing Sakamoto's last performance, filmmaker Neo Sora’s celebration of an artist's life is the definitive swan song of the beloved maestro.

Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan will attend the festival as a special guest to present his film The World is Family, an exploration of social and political life in which he paints a portrait of his parents, whose families were intertwined with Gandhi and India’s independence movement. Other Australian Premieres by celebrated directors include Wang Bing’s Youth (Spring), Werner Herzog’s Theatre of Thought, Claire Simon’s Our Body and Oscar-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney’s new film In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.

Lina Soualem’s Bye Bye Tiberias takes us on an intimate journey through Palestine, where actress Hiam Abbass navigates the fragmented memories of generations of resilient Palestinian women. Oscar-frontrunner 20 Days in Mariupol by Mstyslav Chernov presents a firsthand account of the siege in Ukraine, capturing the unyielding spirit of those caught in the crossfire. Complementing these narratives, Vanessa Hope’s Invisible Nation (pictured, below) investigates the election and tenure of Tsai Ing-wen, the first female president of Taiwan.

Three Australian feature documentaries and 12 Australian shorts will also screen at the festival, including Rosie Jones’ Abebe - Butterfly Song, about the musical legacy and enduring friendship between celebrated Papuan musician George Telek and Australian musician David Bridie and Annette Basile's Isla's Way, a tender, richly humorous portrait of an 87-year-old horse carriage driving champion. 

In a major coup, Antenna will host John Wilson, the young filmmaker behind the hit HBO show How To With John Wilson, one of the most genuinely inspired, oddball, and sneakily affecting works in contemporary television. In 2023, Wilson was invited by the prestigious Anthology Film Archives in New York to guest-curate a special series of films that have influenced or inspired him and he will present a version of this series at Antenna, as well as hosting a masterclass discussing his unique approach to filmmaking. 

The 12th edition of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival opens Friday February 9th in Sydney and runs until Monday February 19th. For complete program information and to purchase tickets and festival passes, go to www.antennafestival.org

ONCE UPON IN THE FUTURE: 2121, LOST IN THE SKY, ECHO PINES EARN TOP HONOURS AT SCIENCE FICTION FESTIVAL AWARDS NIGHT

A darkly comic dystopian vision of family dynamics in an underground society has taken out The Ron Cobb Best Film Award at the 2023 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival.

Hailing from Turkiye, Once Upon a Time in the Future: 2121 (Bir Zamanlar Gelecek: 2121), which previously won Best Film at Sci-Fi London, can now add Australia’s leading sci-fi trophy to its award cabinet. The bracingly original concept was brought to life by Serpil Altin, the first Turkish woman to direct a genre feature in her homeland.

The award love was spread across several country’s genre sectors, exemplifying the global reach of the festival, now in its fourth year. Niamh Carolan took Best Actress honours for her angst-ridden turn in John Barnard’s Canadian thriller, Wintertide; Seann Walsh just pipped his co-star Scott Haran in the Best Actor category for his charismatic bad-guy turn in The Bystanders; and, Bulgarian auteur Theodore Ushev took directing honours for his wildly-inventive, Gilliam-esque vision, Φ1.618.

Two Special Festival awards were bestowed for features of unique originality and artistry. Iranian actor/director Shahab Hosseini’s Residents of Nowhere, an adaptation of the afterlife text Hote des deux mondes by Eric Emmanuel Schmitt, and Takayuki Ohashi’s Distant Thunder, the story of three sisters reuniting during Earth’s final hours, were both recognised for profoundly representing mortality and humanity within the fantasy genre.  

Simon Öster’s Lost in the Sky took home the Best International Short Film, with several patrons commenting post-screening on the emotional impact of the Swedish film; Stephanie Begg’s well-travelled detective story Echo Pines finally found some hometown love, with the X-Files-like thriller taking Best Australian Short; Julia Vyshnevska (Best Actress for The Orb), Blair Redford (Best Actor for The Many Worlds of George Goodwin) and Lia Tsalta (Best Director for Magma) rounded out the short narrative categories.

Best Animated Film was won by Sydney-based FX maestro Christian Debney for his moving space travel drama, Starship. Best Student Film went to the Chinese sector, for Jiamin Jiao’s The Deep Love, shot as part of her studies at the Communication University of China.    

FULL LIST OF WINNERS, RUNNERS-UP AND NOMINEES:

2023 RON COBB BEST FILM AWARD: Named in honour of the late Ron Cobb, an adopted son of Sydney and iconic conceptual artist on such films as Dark Star, Alien, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Conan the Barbarian and The Abyss.
RESIDENTS OF NOWHERE (D: Shahab Hosseini; Iran)
DISTANT THUNDER (D: Takayuki Ohashi; Japan)
**WINNER** ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE FUTURE: 2121 (D: Serpil Altin; Turkiye)
WINTERTIDE (D: John Barnard)
*Runner-Up* MEMORY OF WATER (D: Saara Saarela; Finland)
PHI 1.618 (D: Theodore Ushev; Bulgaria)
THE BYSTANDERS (D: Gabriel Foster Prior; UK)

SPECIAL MENTIONS: FOR PROFOUNDLY REPRESENTING MORTALITY AND HUMANITY WITHIN THE FANTASY GENRE
RESIDENTS OF NOWHERE (D: Shahab Hosseini; Iran)
DISTANT THUNDER (D: Takayuki Ohashi; Japan) 

BEST SHORT FILM (International)
*Runner-Up* MAGMA (D: Lia Tsalta; Greece)
THE DRAFT (D: Raphaela Wagner; UK)
**WINNER** LOST IN THE SKY (D: Simon Öster; Sweden)
THE WISE OLD OWL (D: Quentin Porte; France)
ASSIMILATED (D: Vance Crofoot; USA)
THE BALLAD OF MADDOG QUINN (D: Matt Inns; New Zealand)

2023 BEST SHORT FILM (Australian)
WHITE NOISE (D: Bryce McLellan)
SALVATION (D: Kitty Moroney)
**WINNER** ECHO PINES (D: Stephanie Begg)
EXO-226 (D: Denai Grace)
FIRST-ISH CONTACT (D: Kai Smythe)
*Runner-Up* RETURN CHUTE: SURVIVAL OF A SMALL TOWN VIDEO STORE (D: Simone Attallah)

2023 BEST ACTRESS (Short Film)
DANIELLE KING (Echo Pines; Australia)
**WINNER** JULIA VYSHNEVSKA (The Orb; Ireland)
ANN WILSON (White Noise; Australia)
*Runner-Up* MAGGIE PIRIE (The Ballad of Maddog Quinn; New Zealand)
ANKE SABRINA BEERMAN (The Draft; UK)
CASSIE STIRIES (Pinwheel Horizon; USA)

2023 BEST ACTOR (Short Film)
HERMAN GABHIR (The Traveler; USA)
**WINNER** BLAIR REDFORD (The Many Worlds of George Goodman; USA)
YEONGPYO KIM (Sentence; Republic of Korea)
KAI SMYTHE (First-ish Contact; Australia)
**Runner-Up** ROERD TOCE (Erik; Albania)
GRADY ROSEVEAR-FERRICKS (Beam Me Up; Australia)

2023 BEST ACTRESS (Feature Film)
SELEN OZTURK (Once Upon a Time in the Future; Turkiye)
**WINNER** NIAMH CAROLAN (Wintertide; Canada)
*Runner-Up* SAGA SARKOLA (Memory of Water; Finland)
ANDREA TRAPET (The Antares Paradox; Spain)
MARTINA APOSTOLOVA (Phi 1.618; Bulgaria)
ZOSIA MAMET (Molli and Max in the Future; USA)

2023 BEST ACTOR (Feature Film) 
**WINNER** SEANN WALSH (The Bystanders; UK)
SCOTT HARAN (The Bystanders; UK)
BEN KINGSLEY (Jules; USA)
*Runner-Up* ABE GOLDFARB (First Time Caller; USA)
DEYAN DONKOV (Phi 1.618 Bulgaria)
ARISTOTLE ATHARI (Molli and Max in the Future; USA)

2023 BEST DIRECTOR (Feature Film)
*Runner-Up* SAARA SAARELA (Memory of Water; Finland)
JOHN BARNARD (Wintertide; Canada)
**WINNER** THEODORE USHEV (Phi 1.618; Bulgaria)
TAKAYUKI OHASHI (Distant Thunder; Japan)
SERPIL ALTIN (Once Upon a Time in the Future; Turkiye)
MICHAEL LUKK LITWAK (Molli and Max in the Future; USA)

2023 BEST DIRECTOR (Short Film) 
**WINNER** LIA TSALTA (Magma; Greece)
DENAI GRACE (EXO-226; Australia)
SIMON ÖSTER (Lost in the Sky; Sweden)
IAN SWEENEY (Time Tourists; New Zealand)
KITTY MORONEY (Salvation; Australia)
*Runner-Up* FRANCESCO PABLO CORDARO and ANDREA CORDARO (Awake; USA)

2023 BEST STUDENT FILM
RECORD. PLAY. STOP (D: Neeraj Bhattacharjee; India)
*Runner-Up* OBELISK (D: Sida Xie; Australia)
**WINNER** THE DEEP LOVE (D: Jiamin Jiao; China)
ECHO PINES (D: Stephanie Begg; Australia)
PROTOTYPE (D: Abril Ruzmed; Germany)
THE STAR TO EVERY WANDERING BARK (D: Patrick Traynor; Australia)

2023 BEST ANIMATED FILM
A ROBOT'S DREAM (D: Morteza Halimi; Australia)
*Runner-Up* SILEO (D: Demeter Lorent; Hungary)
INNERMOST (D: Maing Caochong; China)
**WINNER** STARSHIP (D: Christian Debney; Australia)
FLITE (D: Tim Webber; UK)
MIRA (D: Francesca Armstrong; New Zealand)

PREVIEW: 2023 SAXO SCANDINAVIAN FILM FESTIVAL

The 2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival programme has unveiled a specially curated programme of the best new cinema from the Nordic region, featuring films from Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. Recognising the festival’s status as a major cultural event is the announcement of Saxo Markets, the leading Danish trading and investment specialists, as the 2023 naming rights partner.

Opening the festival is the Australian Premiere of LET THE RIVER FLOW (Ellos eatnu – La elva leve; pictured, above), Audience Award winner at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, and starring proud Sámi, Ella Marie Hætta Isaksen. Based on events that have inspired a generation of young Norwegians, writer/director Ole Giæver’s elegant drama follows a young woman drawn into a protest against a dam that may flood Indigenous Sámi land.

Program highlights include GODLAND (Volaða land; pictured, right), Icelandic writer/director Hlynur Pálmason’s follow-up to his breakout hit A White, White Day, a stunning historical drama that follows a Danish priest’s pilgrimage across a largely unexplored Iceland in the late 1800s; Finland’s leading auteur Aki Kaurismäki new tragicomedy FALLEN LEAVES (Kuolleet lehdet) starring Alma Pöysti and Jussi Vatanen, is the tale of two lonely strangers who meet by chance one Helsinki night, in search of the love of their lives.

The ever-popular Scandi neo-Noir, thrillers and psychological dramas are repped by Danish director Fenar Ahmad’s highly anticipated sequel to box office smash Darkland, DARKLAND: THE RETURN (Underverden II) starring Dar Salim as an anti-hero re-entering the Copenhagen underworld undercover; Karoline Lyngbye’s SUPERPOSITION, a supernatural-tinged thriller in which a couple tree-change from Copenhagen to the Swedish forest, hoping to reignite their relationship; and COPENHAGEN DOES NOT EXIST (København findes ikke), Martin Skovbjerg’s complex psychological drama, in which a young man agrees to be locked in an apartment and interrogated by his missing girlfriends’ father. 

From Sweden comes Johan Storm’s SHADOW ISLAND (pictured, right), a thriller about an aspiring meteorologist in search of the truth about his father's passing, resulting in an intense maelstrom of paranoia and mystery; Karin af Klintberg’s fascinating documentary THE KING (Kungen), a thought-provoking and poetic film about Swedish King Carl XVI Gustaf, who became the world’s youngest monarch.

Crowned best Nordic film at the 2023 Göteborg Film Festival, UNRULY (Ustyrlig) is Malou Reymann’s unsettling 1930s-set drama inspired by real-life events from the notorious women’s institution on the Danish Island of Sprogø that taught compliance to ‘morally deficient’ girls. And Henrik Martin Dahlsbakken’s MUNCH gripping, sumptuous dramatisation of Edvard Munch's life, depicts four defining periods in the Norwegian artist’s life, providing an intimate insight into a distinctive and unique artistic mind.

Scandi cinema hits include Icelandic smash WILD GAME (Villibráð) featuring Aníta Briem, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson and Hilmar Guðjónsson in Elsa Maria Jakobsdóttir’s entertaining comedy of manners; the newest instalment in the highly popular Grump films from Finnish filmmaker Mika Kaurismäki, THE GRUMP: IN SEARCH OF AN ESCORT (Mielensäpahoittaja Eskorttia etsimässä) in which an ageing widower travels to Germany to buy a 1972 Ford Escort but ends up settling accounts with his past; and, Danish director Paprika Steen’s ensemble laffer FATHERS & MOTHERS (Fædre & mødre) about the challenges of parenting school-aged children.

An impressive roster of retrospective classics, presented in a strand called ‘Scandi Screams’, is led by a 15th anniversary screening of Tomas Alfredson’s LET THE RIGHT ONE IN (Låt den rätte komma in); Ali Abbasi’s Oscar-nominated BORDER (Gräns), featuring the extraordinary Eva Melander as customs officer ‘Tina’; the director's cut of Ari Aster’s MIDSOMMAR, featuring a breakout performance from Florence Pugh; Nicolas Winding Refn’s subversive Viking epic VALHALLA RISING, starring Mads Mikkelsen (pictured, right) as a pagan warrior who joins a group of Crusaders; RARE EXPORTS, Jalmari Helander’s inventively macabre dark Christmas fantasy; and, André Øvredal’s adventurous fusion of folklore and found-footage fantasy, TROLL HUNTER (Trolljegeren), which follows a government employed troll hunter, responsible for maintaining the troll population.

The 2023 Saxo Scandinavian Film Festival will take place from 13 July to 9 August. Session and ticketing information can be found at the event’s official website.

PREVIEW: 2023 CHILDREN'S INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

From May 27 at sites in Sydney and Melbourne, the Children's International Film Festival (CHIFF) returns for its fifth year, showcasing a program filled with family friendly films. In 2023, all-age audiences will enjoy cinematic adventures high in the Himalayas, amongst the fascinating world of art, with friends old and new, and in both vivid live-action and stunning animation.

Screening at Ritz Cinemas, Randwick and in Melbourne at the Classic Cinemas, Lido Cinemas and Cameo Cinemas until June 12, the CHIFF program features 21 Australian premiere titles and one retrospective feature tailored to young filmgoers aged from 3 years old and up. The 2023 festival line-up includes films in English, as well as two French films with English subtitles.

"The high quality of contemporary cinema and television for kids these days is a huge motivating force behind the Children's International Film Festival,” said Festival Director Thomas Caldwell, “We are back with delights from all around the world to entertain, engage, and mesmerise children from 3-years-old to young teens. Australian children no longer have to miss out on amazing stories of alien visitors, fairies and trolls, and our old friends the Moomins."

Among the many highlights in this year's program is The Tiger's Nest, directed by Brando Quilici from Italy. This epic adventure, set and shot in the majestic Himalayas, tells the story of a young orphan boy, Balmani, who rescues a tiger cub from ruthless poachers.

Moominvalley: Lonely Mountain, directed by Darren Robbie from Finland and the UK, is another standout in the 2023 program. Based on Tove Jansson's beloved works, this Australian Premiere features three brand new episodes from the acclaimed series. With the voices of Rosamund Pike, Matt Berry, and Jennifer Saunders, Moomintroll and his daring companions take the audience on a series of exciting adventures.

Icarus and the Minotaur is a beautifully animated retelling of the myth of Icarus that was Luxembourg’s submission for the Best International Feature Film category of the 95th Academy Awards in 2023. Other noteworthy films in the festival include Maika: The Girl from Another Galaxy, a Vietnamese science-fiction comedy; Billy and the Cowboy Hamster, a series based on the popular books by Catharina Valck; and, Alma's Way, a U.S./Canadian animated series created by Sonia Manzano, who positively impacted the lives of generations as Maria on Sesame Street.

The program caters to kindy-age tots with fun international animations. In Hug Me-The Movie (pictured, top), Teddy and Papa Bear embrace change on a quest for honey in the Golden Land; in Rosa and the Stone Troll, fearful flower fairy Rosa overcomes her fears to rescue her adventurous butterfly friend Silk; and, Pim & Pom at the Museum (pictured, right) is a playful animation series consisting of 13 episodes that take children on a discovery journey through the fascinating world of art.

And back in cinemas after 25 years is George Miller’s Babe: Pig in the City. Upon its initial release, the sequel to the Oscar-nominated global blockbuster was considered a bit of a  misfire. But subsequent generations have turned the film into a stand-alone beloved film with critical opinion now firmly on its side.   

Ticketing and session details can be found at the 2023 Children’s International Film Festival Official Website.