David Michôd’s futuristic thriller Rover
This year’s Sydney Film Festival will feature the largest ever number of Australian films in competition for the top prize. Leading the charge in the Official Competition is David Michôd’s highly anticipated futuristic thriller Rover, his follow up to the Academy-Award nominated film Animal Kingdom. The festival’s star power is glowing at an ample wattage, with the announcement that Robert Pattinson and Guy Pearce will attend the Rover premiere.
Other local contenders include Fell, a dreamlike tale of revenge and redemption from first-time director Kasimir Burgess, and Ruin, a film shot by Amiel Courtin-Wilson and Michael Cody in Cambodia.
Also competing is Boyhood, a project 12 years in the making from Before Sunrise director Richard Linklater, and the Iranian film Fish & Cat, presented in one long, continuous shot.
Now in its 61st year, the festival runs from June 4 – June 15, with 183 titles from 47 countries. Two strikingly unconventional documentaries bookend the program. The Opening Night selection 20, 000 Days on Earth follows a day in the life of walking-enigma Nick Cave. The vampire mockumentary What We Do in the Shadows, from New Zealand funny men Jemaine Clement (Flight of the Conchords) and Taika Waititi (Boy) screens on Closing Night.
You’ll catch a glimpse of Michael Fassbender – but not his devastating good looks –as a masked musician in Frank, and see James Franco proposition schoolgirls on screen instead of online in Palo Alto. The Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films are a highlight each year, and the Robert Altman retrospective is also worth a look.
With live performances and exhibitions, the pop-up venue The Hub is the perfect place for a debrief and a drink.
Visit www.sff.org.au for the full program.
