66th Sydney Film Festival

66th Sydney Film Festival
Opening filmPalm Beach
by Rachel Ward
Closing filmYesterday
by Danny Boyle
LocationSydney, New South Wales, Australia
Founded1954
Festival date5–16 June 2019
Websitesff.org.au
Sydney Film Festival
65th

The 66th annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 5 to 16 June 2019.[1] Comedy drama film Palm Beach opened the festival and musical romantic comedy film Yesterday was the closing film.[2][3]

Bong Joon-ho's dark comedy thriller film Parasite won the Sydney Film Prize.[4]

Juries

The following were named as the festival juries:[5]

Sydney Film Prize

Documentary Australia Foundation Award

  • Robert Nugent, Australian filmmaker
  • Jialing Zhang, Chinese director
  • Toni Stowers, Australian film producer

Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films

Official selection

In competition

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Bacurau Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles Brazil, France
Bellbird Hamish Bennett New Zealand
Dirty God Sacha Polak United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland
God Exists, Her Name Is Petrunija Gospod postoi, imeto ì e Petrunija Teona Strugar Mitevska Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, France, Croatia
Hearts and Bones Ben Lawrence Australia
Judy and Punch Mirrah Foulkes Australia
Monos Alejandro Landes Colombia, Argentina, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Uruguay
Never Look Away Werk ohne Autor Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck Germany
Pain and Glory Dolor y gloria Pedro Almodóvar Spain
Parasite 기생충 Bong Joon-ho South Korea
The Souvenir Joanna Hogg United Kingdom
Synonyms Synonymes Nadav Lapid France, Germany
Highlighted title indicates Sydney Film Prize winner.

Documentary Australia Foundation Award

English title Original title Director(s)
I Am No Bird Em Baker
In My Blood It Runs Maya Newell
It All Started with a Stale Sandwich Samantha Lang
The Leunig Fragments Kasimir Burgess
Life After the Oasis Sascha Ettinger Epstein
Lili Peter Hegedus
Martha: A Picture Story Selina Miles
Sanctuary Kaye Harrison
She Who Must Be Loved Erica Glynn
White Light George Gittoes

Special Presentations

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
The Biggest Little Farm John Chester United States
Blinded by the Light Gurinder Chadha United Kingdom
Children of the Sea 海獣の子供 Ayumu Watanabe Japan
The Dead Don't Die Jim Jarmusch United States
The Final Quarter Ian Darling Australia
High Life Claire Denis France, Germany, United Kingdom
Marighella Wagner Moura Brazil
Mystify: Michael Hutchence Richard Lowenstein Australia
Photograph Ritesh Batra India, United States, Germany
Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese Martin Scorsese United States
Skin Guy Nattiv United States
Slam Partho Sen-Gupta Australia, France
So Long, My Son 地久天长 Wang Xiaoshuai China
Standing Up for Sunny Steven Vidler Australia
Varda by Agnès Agnès Varda France

Features

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Akasha Hajooj Kuka Sudan, South Africa, Qatar, Germany
Alpha, The Right To Kill Brillante Mendoza Philippines
American Woman Jake Scott United States
Angelo Markus Schleinzer Austria, Luxembourg
Animals Sophie Hyde Australia, Ireland, United Kingdom
Bait Mark Jenkin United Kingdom
Brittany Runs a Marathon Paul Downs Colaizzo United States
Clean Up 호흡 Kwon Man-ki South Korea
Cold Sweat عرق سرد Soheil Beiraghi Iran
Danger Close: The Battle of Long Tan Kriv Stenders Australia
Divine Love Divino amor Gabriel Mascaro Brazil, Uruguay, Denmark, Norway, Chile, Sweden
Dolce Fine Giornata Jacek Borcuch Poland
The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia El viaje extraordinario de Celeste García Arturo Infante Cuba, Germany
Flatland Jenna Bass South Africa, Luxembourg, Germany
Ghost Town Anthology Répertoire des villes disparues Denis Côté Canada
Her Smell Alex Ross Perry United States
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead Ben Wheatley United Kingdom
I Am Mother Grant Sputore Australia
In Fabric Peter Strickland United Kingdom
Jesus 僕はイエス様が嫌い Hiroshi Okuyama Japan
Journey to a Mother's Room Viaje al cuarto de una madre Celia Rico Clavellino Spain, France
Kursk Thomas Vinterberg France, Belgium, Luxembourg
Ladyworld Amanda Kramer United States
Manta Ray กระเบนราหู Phuttiphong Aroonpheng Thailand, France, China
The Mountain Rick Alverson United States
The Nightingale Jennifer Kent Australia
Öndög Wang Quan'an Mongolia
Our Time Nuestro tiempo Carlos Reygadas Germany, Mexico, France, Sweden, Denmark
Papi Chulo John Butler United States, Ireland
Piranhas La paranza dei bambini Claudio Giovannesi Italy
The Public Emilio Estevez United States
Saturday Afternoon Shonibar Bikel Mostofa Sarwar Farooki Bangladesh, Germany
School's Out L'heure de la sortie Sébastien Marnier France
Screwdriver Mafak Bassam Jarbawi Palestine, United States, Qatar
Sequin in a Blue Room Samuel Van Grinsven Australia
Sibel Çağla Zencirci, Guillaume Giovanetti France, Germany, Turkey, Luxembourg
Suburban Wildlife Imogen McCluskey Australia
The Sweet Requiem སྐྱོ་དབྱངས་མངར་མོ། Ritu Sarin, Tenzing Sonam India, United States
A Tale of Three Sisters Kız Kardeşler Emin Alper Turkey, Germany
The Third Wife Vợ ba Ash Mayfair Vietnam
This Is Not Berlin Esto no es Berlín Hari Sama Mexico
The Wedding Guest Michael Winterbottom United Kingdom
The White Crow Ralph Fiennes United Kingdom, United States, Serbia
Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story Icíar Bollaín Spain, Cuba, United Kingdom, Germany

International Documentary

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
The Amazing Johnathan Documentary Ben Berman United States
American Factory Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert United States
Anthropocene: The Human Epoch Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Edward Burtynsky Canada
Apollo 11 Todd Douglas Miller United States
The Biggest Little Farm John Chester United States
The Brink Alison Klayman United States
Buddha in Africa Nicole Schafer Sweden, South Africa
The Edge of Democracy Petra Costa Brazil
Hail Satan? Penny Lane United States
Halston Frédéric Tcheng United States
Honeyland Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska Macedonia
Just Don't Think I'll Scream Ne croyez surtout pas que je hurle Frank Beauvais France
The Kleptocrats Sam Hobkinson, Havana Marking United Kingdom
Leftover Women Hilla Medalia, Shosh Shlam Germany
Maiden Alex Holmes United Kingdom
Meeting Gorbachev Werner Herzog, André Singer United States, United Kingdom, Germany
Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen Heperi Mita New Zealand
Midnight Family Luke Lorentzen United States, Mexico
Midnight Traveler Hassan Fazili United States, Qatar, Canada, United Kingdom
The Miracle of the Little Prince Marjoleine Boonstra Netherlands
Monrovia, Indiana Frederick Wiseman United States
Nothing Fancy: Diana Kennedy Elizabeth Carroll United States
On the Inside of a Military Dictatorship Karen Stokkendal Poulsen Denmark, France
One Child Nation Nanfu Wang, Jialing Zhang China, United States
Picture Character Ian Cheney, Martha Shane United States, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Austria, United Kingdom, Scotland
Reason Anand Patwardhan India
School of Seduction Alina Rudnitskaya Denmark
Sea of Shadows Richard Ladkani Austria
Shooting the Mafia Kim Longinotto Ireland, United States
Talking About Trees Suhaib Gasmelbari France, Germany, Sudan, Chad, Qatar
Trixie Mattel: Moving Parts Nick Zeig-Owens United States
Untouchable Ursula Macfarlane United States
Up the Mountain Zhang Yang China
Varda by Agnès Agnès Varda France
The Wandering Chef 밥정 Park Hye-ryeong South Korea
What Will Become of Us Steven Cantor United States
XY Chelsea Tim Travers Hawkins United States

Sounds On Screen

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Amazing Grace Alan Elliott United States
David Crosby: Remember My Name A. J. Eaton United States
A Dog Called Money Seamus Murphy United Kingdom, Ireland
Inna de Yard: The Soul of Jamaica Peter Webber France
Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love Nick Broomfield United Kingdom
Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool Stanley Nelson Jr. United States, United Kingdom

Europe! Voices of Women in Film

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
The Best of Dorien B. Anke Blondé Belgium, Netherlands
Caviar Kaviar Elena Tikhonova Austria
The Deposit Tryggð Ásthildur Kjartansdóttir Iceland
Ever After Endzeit Carolina Hellsgård Germany
Only You Harry Wootliff United Kingdom
Pause Παύση Tonia Mishiali Cyprus, Greece
Queen of Hearts Dronningen May el-Toukhy Denmark, Sweden
Retrospekt Esther Rots Netherlands, Belgium
Scheme Birds Ellen Fiske, Ellinor Hallin Sweden, United Kingdom
When Tomatoes Met Wagner Marianna Economou Greece

Focus on New Zealand

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Capital in the 21st Century Justin Pemberton New Zealand
The Chills: The Triumph & Tragedy of Martin Phillipps Julia Parnell New Zealand
Daffodils David Stubbs New Zealand
The Heart Dances Rebecca Tansley New Zealand
Merata: How Mum Decolonised the Screen Heperi Mita New Zealand

First Nations

English title Original title Director(s) Production country
The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Kathleen Hepburn Canada, Norway
Dark Place Kodie Bedford, Perun Bonser, Rob Braslin, Liam Phillips, Bjorn Stewart Australia
She Who Must Be Loved Erica Glynn Australia
Vai Nicole Whippy, Amberley Jo Aumua, Becs Arahanga, Matasila Freshwater, Dianna Fuemana, Mīria George, ʻOfa-Ki-Levuka Guttenbeil-Likiliki, Marina Alofagia McCartney, Sharon Whippy New Zealand

Awards

The following awards were presented at the festival:[6]

References

  1. ^ Frater, Patrick (8 May 2019). "Sydney Film Festival Sets Out Stellar Competition". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  2. ^ Dent, Nick (30 April 2019). "Sydney Film Festival's opening night film is a reunion of local acting greats". Time Out. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  3. ^ Dent, Nick (28 May 2019). "Sydney Film Festival's closing film has been announced". Time Out. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  4. ^ Jefferson, Dee (16 June 2019). "Bong Joon-ho's Parasite wins Sydney Film Festival official competition prize". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  5. ^ Keast, Jackie (17 June 2019). "Sydney Film Festival awards for 'Parasite', 'She Who Must Be Loved', Blackfella Films". IF Magazine. Archived from the original on 4 June 2024. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
  6. ^ Frater, Patrick (16 June 2019). "'Parasite' Wins Sydney Film Festival". Variety. Archived from the original on 10 August 2024. Retrieved 4 June 2024.