Sydney Film Festival 2013
List activity
110 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
32 titles
- DirectorIvan SenStarsAaron PedersenHugo WeavingRyan KwantenAn indigenous detective returns to the Outback to investigate the murder of a young girl.SFF 2013 Opening Night Film.
- DirectorTobias LindholmStarsPilou AsbækSøren MallingDar SalimThe crew of a Danish cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates who proceed to engage in escalating negotiations with authorities in Copenhagen.SFF#02: Danish hostage drama, A HIJACKING.
- DirectorAndreas DalsgaardStarsJan GehlRob AdamsRobert DoyleHalf of the human population lives in urban areas. By 2050, this will increase to 80%. Life in a megacity is both enchanting and problematic. Today we face peak oil, climate change, loneliness and severe health issues due to our way of life. But why? The Danish architect and professor Jan Gehl has studied human behavior in cities through four decades. He has documented how modern cities repel human interaction, and argues that we can build cities in a way, which takes human needs for inclusion and intimacy into account. 'The Human Scale' meets thinkers, architects and urban planners across the globe. It questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the centre of our planning.SFF#03: Danish documentary on city planning. Wonderful opportunity to catch up on missed sleep.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsShirley HendersonJohn SimmShaun KirkThis film charts the relationship between a man imprisoned for drug smuggling and his wife and is being shot over the course of five years, a few weeks at a time.SFF#04: Latest from Michael Winterbottom, British drama, EVERYDAY, shot over a period of five years.
- DirectorZal BatmanglijStarsBrit MarlingAlexander SkarsgårdElliot PageAn operative for an elite private intelligence firm finds her priorities changing dramatically after she is tasked with infiltrating an anarchist group known for executing covert attacks upon major corporations.SFF#05: Ellen Page thriller concerning a group of eco-terrorists. Some interesting things to say but did it really need to have a scene where the lock on some handcuffs is effortlessly picked by a paperclip? C'mon!
- DirectorAriel VromenStarsMichael ShannonChris EvansJames FrancoThe story of Richard Kuklinski, the notorious contract killer and family man. When he was finally arrested in 1986, neither his wife nor his daughters had any clue about his real profession.SFF#06: THE ICEMAN.
- DirectorRichard LinklaterStarsEthan HawkeJulie DelpySeamus Davey-FitzpatrickWe meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna.SFF#07: BEFORE MIDNIGHT. Such a charming film, my favourite at the festival so far. Witty one-liners, fantastic long takes and authentic emotional crisis. Loved it!
- DirectorSally PotterStarsElle FanningAlice EnglertAnnette BeningA look at the lives of two teenage girls - inseparable friends Ginger and Rosa -- growing up in 1960s London as the Cuban Missile Crisis looms, and the pivotal event that comes to redefine their relationship.SFF#08: GINGER AND ROSA. Latest from Sally Potter. A fine British drama!
- DirectorKim MordauntStarsSitthiphon DisamoeLoungnam KaosainamSuthep Po-ngamLaos. In a land ravaged by war and exploitation, a boy whose family believe he is cursed must redeem himself by taking part in a dangerous rocket competition.SFF#09: THE ROCKET. Delightful story of a boy in Laos who is believed to be cursed.
- DirectorAndrew BujalskiStarsKriss SchludermannTom FletcherWiley WigginsA 1980s-set story centered around a man vs. machine chess tournament.SFF#10: COMPUTER CHESS, from Mumblecore director Andrew Bujalski. Computer programmers and chess players. These guys make Napoleon Dynamite look cool.
- DirectorDeepa MehtaStarsRajat KapoorVansh BhardwajAnupam KherA pair of children born within moments of India gaining independence from Britain grow up in the country that is nothing like their parents' generation.SFF#11: MIDNIGHT'S CHILDREN, Deepa Mehta's adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel.
- DirectorScott McGeheeDavid SiegelStarsJulianne MooreAlexander SkarsgårdSteve CooganIn New York City, a young girl is caught in the middle of her parents' bitter custody battle.SFF#12: WHAT MAISIE KNEW. Great film but I spent the whole time thinking Alexander Skarsgard was Aaron Eckhart. And I call myself a film lecturer ...
- DirectorPark Chan-wookStarsMia WasikowskaNicole KidmanMatthew GoodeAfter India's father dies, her Uncle Charlie, who she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her unstable mother. She comes to suspect this mysterious, charming man has ulterior motives and becomes increasingly infatuated with him.SFF#13: STOKER.
- DirectorYves MontmayeurStarsMichael HanekeJean-Louis TrintignantYves MontmayeurMichael Haneke, theorists of the image that knows better than any other the dregs of our society with their existential fears and emotional derail ment to bring to light - a portrait.SFF#14: MICHAEL H. PROFESSION: DIRECTOR. Don't miss this documentary, Reece O'Connell and Ryan O'Connell! I loved his line 'Trust is good. Control is better.'
- DirectorBruno DumontStarsJuliette BinocheJessica ErreroRobert LeroyWinter, 1915. Confined by her family to an asylum in the South of France - where she will never sculpt again - the chronicle of Camille Claudel's reclusive life, as she waits for a visit from her brother, Paul Claudel.SFF#15: Bruno Dumont's CAMILLE CLAUDEL, 1915. The film is set in an asylum for the insane, which is exactly where this director belongs.
- DirectorNat FaxonJim RashStarsSteve CarellToni ColletteAllison JanneyShy 14-year-old Duncan goes on summer vacation with his mother, her overbearing boyfriend, and her boyfriend's daughter. Having a rough time fitting in, Duncan finds an unexpected friend in Owen, manager of the Water Wizz water park.SFF#16: U.S. Indie dramedy, THE WAY, WAY BACK. Steve Carell plays an evil stepdad. Reminds me of your writing, Gordon Napier, very funny!
- DirectorRob EpsteinJeffrey FriedmanStarsAmanda SeyfriedPeter SarsgaardSharon StoneThe story of Linda Lovelace, who is used and abused by the porn industry at the behest of her coercive husband before taking control of her life.SFF#17: Amanda Seyfried turns to porn in LOVELACE.
- DirectorJohn CherryKirsten MallyonRonan knows that taking three recovering addicts to walk an 800km pilgrimage in a foreign country is a big ask, what he can't foresee is the tempestuous result of his counselling philosophy in action.SFF#18: THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMS (via media screener). Recovering addicts walk the Camino. I've wanted to walk it after seeing Emilio Estevez's THE WAY.
- DirectorSteven SoderberghStarsMichael DouglasMatt DamonScott BakulaA chronicle of the tempestuous six-year romance between megastar singer Liberace and his young lover Scott Thorson.SFF#19: BEHIND THE CANDELABRA. Me: 'You can't retire, Steven, it's not in your blood.' SS: 'But my blood's 60% alcohol, B.'
- DirectorPaul WrightStarsGeorge MacKayKate DickieNichola BurleyAaron, a young misfit living in a remote Scottish fishing community, is the lone survivor of a strange fishing accident that claimed the lives of five men including his older brother. Spurred on by sea-going folklore and local superstition, the village blames Aaron for this tragedy, making him an outcast amongst his own people. Steadfastly refusing to believe that his brother has died, he sets out to recover him and the rest of men.SFF#20: Bleak British drama, FOR THOSE IN PERIL.
- DirectorJan-Ole GersterStarsTom SchillingKatharina SchüttlerJustus von DohnányiAn aimless university dropout attempts to make sense of life as he spends one fateful day wandering the streets of Berlin.SFF#21: I haven't seen anyone light a cigarette with a toaster before. German comedy, OH BOY.
- DirectorKen LoachStarsEileen ThompsonJulian Tudor HartDai WaltersA documentary on how the spirit of unity, which buoyed Britain during the war years, carried through to create a vision of a fairer, united society.SFF#22: Ken Loach's THE SPIRIT OF '45.
- DirectorDavid Gordon GreenStarsPaul RuddEmile HirschLance LeGaultTwo highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind.SFF#23: Ever wonder whose job it is to paint the lines on the road? PRINCE AVALANCHE.
- DirectorMichael WinterbottomStarsSteve CooganMatt LucasAnna FrielThe life of Paul Raymond, the controversial entrepreneur who became Britain's richest man.SFF#24: 'Look at this magazine! This is literally horseplay!' Steve Coogan and Michael Winterbottom in fine form. The biopic of pornographer Paul Raymond, THE LOOK OF LOVE.
- DirectorJoshua OppenheimerAnonymousChristine CynnStarsAnwar CongoHerman KotoSyamsul ArifinA documentary which challenges former Indonesian death-squad leaders to reenact their mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.SFF#25: THE ACT OF KILLING. Important but overlong documentary on genocide in Indonesia.