Sydney Film Festival

Last updated

Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival logo.svg
Genre Film festival
Date(s)June
FrequencyAnnually
Location(s)Sydney, Australia
Years active69
Inaugurated1954
Website sff.org.au

The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize.

Contents

As of 2023, the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. [1]

History

Influenced by the experience of Australian film makers with the Edinburgh Film Festival since 1947 and the festival connected with the annual meeting of the Australian Council of Film Societies held at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges, Victoria in 1952, later Melbourne International Film Festival, a committee sprang from the Film Users Association of New South Wales to establish a film festival in Sydney. The committee included Alan Stout, Professor of Philosophy at The University of Sydney, filmmakers John Heyer and John Kingsford Smith, and Federation of Film Societies secretary David Donaldson. [2] Under the direction of Donaldson, the inaugural festival opened on 11 June 1954 and was held over four days, with screenings at Sydney University. Attendance was at full capacity with 1,200 tickets sold at one guinea each. [2]

By 1958, the festival attracted its first international sponsored guest, Paul Rotha, and advertising into the festival catalogue. The following year, the program expanded to seventeen days and by 1960 exceeded 2,000 subscribers with the introduction of the Opening Night feature film and party. [3] Censorship difficulties arose in the mid-1960s and continued until such time as the festival was granted exemption from censorship in 1971. [4]

From inception until 1967, the University remained the annual home of the festival. The following year, the festival moved to the Wintergarden in Rose Bay where it remained for the ensuing five years. The historic State Theatre became the home of the festival in 1974, [2] and remains one of the festival venues to date. [5] In 2007, the festival introduced a series of live gigs, shows and cabaret-style screening at the nearby Metro Theatre.

Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia, the 2020 festival staged a reduced, online-only version, and in 2021 was delayed to open on 3 November with the audience limited first to 75 per cent capacity, increasing to 100 per cent from 8–21 November. The films were also available online. [6]

Description

The competitive film festival draws international and local attention, with films being showcased in several venues across the city centre, and includes features, documentaries, short films, retrospectives, films for families and animations. Films are shown at venues across the Sydney central business district, with films shown at the Dendy Opera Quays, Event Cinemas in George Street, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Town Hall, the Museum of Contemporary Art as well as the State Theatre.[ citation needed ]

As of 2023 the festival's director is Nashen Moodley, [1] [7] who commenced in early 2012, replacing Clare Stewart. [8]

Patrons of the festival include Gillian Armstrong, Cate Blanchett, Jane Campion, Nicole Kidman, Baz Luhrmann, George Miller, and Sam Neill among others. [9]

Competition and film prizes

Although a small number of prizes existed from the mid–1980s, prior to 2007, the Sydney Film Festival was classified by the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) as a Non-Competitive Feature Film Festival. On 10 September 2007, the Festival announced it had received funding from the New South Wales Government to host an official international competition, which rewarded "new directions in film". The FIAFP has since classified the Sydney Film Festival as a Competitive Specialised Feature Film Festival. [10] Members of the audience are able to vote for popular awards, as well as specific industry prizes awarded in the following categories (as of 2022):

Past awards have included:

Winners of the Sydney Film Prize

YearFilmDirectorNationalityRef.
2008 Hunger Steve McQueen Flag of England.svg  England
2009 Bronson Nicolas Winding Refn Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
2010 Heartbeats Xavier Dolan Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada [14]
2011 A Separation Asghar Farhadi Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
2012 Alps Yorgos Lanthimos Flag of Greece.svg  Greece
2013 Only God Forgives Nicolas Winding Refn Flag of Denmark.svg  Denmark
2014 Two Days, One Night Dardenne brothers Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium [15]
2015 Arabian Nights Miguel Gomes Flag of Portugal.svg  Portugal
2016 Aquarius Kleber Mendonça Filho Flag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
2017 On Body and Soul Ildikó Enyedi Flag of Hungary.svg  Hungary
2018 The Heiresses Marcelo Martinessi Flag of Paraguay.svg  Paraguay
2019 Parasite Bong Joon-ho Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea
2020Festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak
2021 There Is No Evil Mohammad Rasoulof Flag of Iran.svg  Iran
2022 Close Lukas Dhont Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium [16]
2023 The Mother of All Lies Asmae El Moudir Flag of Morocco.svg  Morocco [1]

Festival directors

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) is an annual film festival held over three weeks in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It was founded in 1952 and is one of the oldest film festivals in the world following the founding of the Venice Film Festival in 1932, Cannes Film Festival in 1939 and Berlin Film Festival in 1951.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vancouver International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

The Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for two weeks in late September and early October.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rouben Mamoulian</span> American film and theatre director (1897–1987)

Rouben Zachary Mamoulian was an American film and theater director.

<i>The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello</i> 2005 Australian film

The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is a 2005 Australian animated short film. It was developed and produced in association with the Australian Film Commission; developed and produced with the assistance of Film Victoria and produced in association with SBS Independent. It was supposed to be succeeded by three other feature films: Jasper Morello and the return of Claude Belgon, Jasper Morello and the Ghost of ALTO MEA, and Jasper Morello and the Ebeneza of Gothia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yoram Gross</span> Polish-Australian animation producer and director (1926–2015)

Yoram Jerzy Gross was a Polish-born, Australian film and television producer, animation director, and writer of children's and family entertainment. He founded the animation studio Flying Bark Productions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIAPF</span> Organization

The FIAPF, created in 1933, is an organization composed with 36 member associations from 30 of the leading audiovisual production countries. Its Secretariat is located in Brussels, Belgium. FIAPF is also in charge of regulating international film festivals, including some of the world's most important ones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">San Sebastián International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain

The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of Donostia-San Sebastián in September, in the Basque Country.

Jack Feldstein is an Australian animator and screenwriter based in New York.

The People's Republic of Animation (PRA) is an animation studio based in Adelaide, Australia. It began as a creator of music videos for Australian bands in 2003, and has since created award-winning short films and TV commercials, and developed feature films.

Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, or PÖFF, is an annual film festival held since 1997 in Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. PÖFF is one of the largest film festivals in Northern Europe. In 2014 it was upgraded to an A-list festival by FIAPF.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Venice International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 1st annual Venice International Film Festival was held between 6 and 21 August 1932. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was the first film to be screened at the festival. No official prizes were awarded, so an audience referendum took place to determine the winners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warsaw Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw Film Festival, also known as Warsaw International Film Festival, is an annual international film festival held every October in Warsaw, Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">37th Berlin International Film Festival</span> 1987 film festival edition

The 37th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 20 February to 3 March 1987. The Golden Bear was awarded to the Soviet Union film Tema directed by Gleb Panfilov. The retrospective was in honour of Armenian-American film and theatre director Rouben Mamoulian. The homage was dedicated to French couple Jean-Louis Barrault, actor and director, and Madeleine Renaud, actress. It was titled Renaud-Barrault au cinéma.

Listapad, also known as Minsk International Film Festival (MIFF) or Minsk International Film Festival Listapad, is an annual film festival which takes place in November in Minsk, Belarus. It is the largest such festival in Belarus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amiel Courtin-Wilson</span> Australian film director

Amiel Courtin-Wilson is an Australian filmmaker. He has directed over 20 short films and several feature films. His debut feature film, Hail, premiered internationally at Venice Film Festival in 2011. He is also a musician, music producer, and visual artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flickerfest</span>

Flickerfest is an international short film festival held annually in January at Bondi Beach, Sydney. It is an Academy and BAFTA recognised short film festival for both international and Australian film makers.

The 14th Asia Pacific Screen Awards were held on 11 November 2021 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The 70th annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 June 2023. Warwick Thornton's drama film The New Boy opened the festival and James Mangold's action adventure film Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny was the closing film.

The 69th annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 8 to 19 June 2022. First Nations anthology film We Are Still Here opened the festival, while Hirokazu Kore-eda's drama film Broker was the closing film.

The 68th annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 3 to 21 November 2021. The festival, which traditionally takes place in June, was postponed to August 2021 and eventually rescheduled to be held in November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film screenings were staged as a "hybrid" of in-person and digital. It marked as the first major festival following the lifting of the lockdown in New South Wales.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "The winners of the 70th Sydney Film Festival". Sydney Film Festival . 20 June 2023.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Kaufman, Tina (May 2003). "Looking Back, Looking Forward: the Sydney Film Festival at 50". Senses of Cinema. 26. Senses of Cinema Inc. Archived from the original on 15 April 2005. Retrieved 25 April 2005.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Webber (2005), p. 7
  4. ↑ Webber (2005), p. 9
  5. ↑ "History/Gallery – 1970s". State Theatre website. State The Theatre. 2010. Retrieved 8 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Festival info". Sydney Film Festival. Archived from the original on 22 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ↑ Jefferson, Dee (14 November 2021). "Sydney Film Festival's top prize goes to Mohammad Rasoulof's There Is No Evil, about capital punishment in Iran". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  8. 1 2 Gibbs, Ed (18 December 2011). "Festival boss will divide and conquer". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  9. ↑ "Our Organisation". Sydney Film Festival. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  10. ↑ "Competitive Specialised Feature Film Festival". International Film Festival. FIAPF. 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  11. 1 2 "Awards". Sydney Film Festival. 11 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  12. 1 2 "Sydney Film Festival 2011 announces winners of the Dendy, Yoram Gross Animation & CRC Awards". News. Sydney Film Festival. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  13. ↑ "2011 Peter Rasmussen Innovation Award winner". News. Sydney Film Festival. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 March 2012. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "Heartbeats takes Sydney Film Fest prize". ABC News . 14 June 2010.
  15. ↑ "Two Days, One Night wins Sydney Film comp". SBS News . 15 June 2014.
  16. ↑ Tulich, Katherine (19 June 2022). "Lukas Dhont's 'Close' Wins Best Film Prize at Sydney Festival". Variety . Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  17. 1 2 3 Webber (2005), p. 8
  18. ↑ Webber (2005), p. 11
  19. ↑ Maddox, Garry (25 May 2011). "Reel deal – film festival finds its footing". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.