70th Sydney Film Festival

70th Sydney Film Festival

Opening film	The New Boy by Warwick Thornton
Closing film	Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny by James Mangold
Location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Founded	1954
Festival date	7–18 June 2023
Website	sff.org.au
Sydney Film Festival
71st 69th

The 70th annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 June 2023. ^{[1] [2]} 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. ^{[3] [4]}

Asmae El Moudir's documentary film The Mother of All Lies won the Sydney Film Prize. ^[5]

Juries

The following were named as the festival juries: ^[6]

Sydney Film Prize

• Anurag Kashyap, Indian director – Jury President
• Mia Wasikowska, Australian actor
• Dorothee Wenner, German film curator and journalist
• Larissa Behrendt, Australian writer and director
• Visakesa Chandrasekaram, Sri Lankan filmmaker

Official Selection

In competition

The following films were selected for the main international competition:

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Afire	Roter Himmel	Christian Petzold	Germany
Art College 1994	藝術學院	Liu Jian	China
Bad Behaviour		Alice Englert	New Zealand
Cobweb	거미집	Kim Jee-woon	South Korea
The Dark Emu Story		Allan Clarke	Australia
Fallen Leaves	Kuolleet lehdet	Aki Kaurismäki	Finland, Sweden
Joram		Devashish Makhija	India
Monster	怪物	Hirokazu Kore-eda	Japan
The Mother of All Lies	Kadib Abyad	Asmae El Moudir	Morocco
The New Boy (opening)		Warwick Thornton	Australia
Past Lives		Celine Song	United States
Scrapper		Charlotte Regan	United Kingdom

Highlighted title indicates Sydney Film Prize winner.

Special Presentations

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Ajoomma		He Shuming	Singapore, South Korea
Asteroid City		Wes Anderson	United States
Biosphere		Mel Eslyn	United States
Kennedy		Anurag Kashyap	India
L'immensità		Emanuele Crialese	Italy, France
Lost in the Night	Perdidos en la noche	Amat Escalante	Mexico
Passages		Ira Sachs	France
Perfect Days		Wim Wenders	Japan, Germany
Pictures of Ghosts	Retratos Fantasmas	Kleber Mendonça Filho	Brazil
Rachel's Farm		Rachel Ward	Australia
Radical		Christopher Zalla	Mexico, United States
Reality		Tina Satter	United States
Red, White & Brass		Damon Fepulea'i	New Zealand
Shortcomings		Randall Park	United States

Documentary Australia Award

English title	Original title	Director(s)
The Cape		Michael Ware, Justine A. Rosenthal
The Carnival		Isabel Darling
Climate Changers		Johan Gabrielsson
The Defenders		Matthew Bate
Dipped in Black	Marungka Tjalatjunu	Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch
Keeping Hope		Tyson Mowarin
Kindred		Adrian Russell Wills, Gillian Moody
The Last Daughter		Brenda Matthews, Nathaniel Schmidt
Man on Earth		Amiel Courtin-Wilson
Rachel's Farm		Rachel Ward

Features

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
20,000 Species of Bees	20.000 Especies de Abjeas	Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren	Spain
Autobiography		Makbul Mubarak	Indonesia, France, Singapore, Poland, Philippines, Germany, Qatar
Beyond the Wall	شب، داخلی، دیوار	Vahid Jalilvand	Iran
The Big Dog		Dane McCusker	Australia
Birdeater		Jack Clark, Jim Weir	Australia
Blue Jean		Georgia Oakley	United Kingdom
The Burdened	المرهقون	Amr Gamal	Yemen
Carmen		Benjamin Millepied	Australia, France
Chevalier		Stephen Williams	United States
A Couple	Un couple	Frederick Wiseman	France, United States
The Delinquents	Los Delicuentes	Rodrigo Moreno	Argentina, Luxembourg, Chile, Brazil
A Gaza Weekend		Basil Khalil	Palestine, United Kingdom
The Happiest Man in the World	NajsreЌniot čovek na svetot	Teona Strugar Mitevska	North Macedonia, Belgium, Slovenia, Denmark, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Heroic	Heroico	David Zonana	Mexico, Sweden
How to Blow Up a Pipeline		Daniel Goldhaber	United States
I Like Movies		Chandler Levack	Canada
The Lesson		Alice Troughton	United Kingdom, Germany
Love Road		Ulysses Oliver	Australia
Midwives	Sages-Femmes	Léa Fehner	France
Munnel	மணல்	Visakesa Chandrasekaram	Sri Lanka
Music		Angela Schanelec	Germany, France, Serbia
No Bears	خرس نیست	Jafar Panahi	Iran
Omen	Augure	Baloji	Belgium, France, Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Germany
Piaffe		Ann Oren	Germany
Pretty Red Dress		Dionne Edwards	United Kingdom
Rhinegold	Rheingold	Fatih Akin	Germany, Netherlands, Morocco, Mexico
Riceboy Sleeps		Anthony Shim	Canada
Run Rabbit Run		Daina Reid	Australia
The Shadowless Tower	白塔之光	Zhang Lü	China
Shin Ultraman		Shinji Higuchi	Japan
Silver Haze		Sacha Polak	Netherlands, United Kingdom
Sira		Apolline Traoré	Burkina Faso, France, Germany, Senegal
Slow	Tu man nieko neprimeni	Marija Kavtaradzė	Lithuania, Spain, Sweden
Snow and the Bear	Kar ve Ayı	Selcen Ergun	Turkey, Germany, Serbia
Sorcery	Brujeria	Christopher Murray	Chile, Mexico, Germany
Subtraction	تفریق	Mani Haghighi	Iran, France
Sunflower		Gabriel Carrubba	Australia
Tennessine		Amin Palangi	Australia
A Thousand and One		A. V. Rockwell	United States
Tora's Husband		Rima Das	India
When the Waves Are Gone	Kapag Wala Nang Mga Alon	Lav Diaz	Philippines, France, Portugal, Denmark
A Wild Roomer	괴인	Lee Jeong-hong	South Korea
The Winter Within	Maagh	Aamir Bashir	India, France, Qatar
World War III	جنگ جهانی سوم	Houman Seyyedi	Iran

International Documentaries

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Against the Tide		Sarvnik Kaur	India, France
The Arc of Oblivion		Ian Cheney	United States
Between Revolutions	Între revoluții	Vlad Petri	Romania, Croatia, Qatar, Iran
Beyond Utopia		Madeleine Gavin	United States
Blue Bag Life		Rebecca Lloyd-Evans, Lisa Selby, Alex Fry	United Kingdom
Bobi Wine: The People's President		Christopher Sharp, Moses Bwayo	Uganda, United Kingdom, United States
Cannes Uncut		Roger Penny, Richard Blanshard	United Kingdom
A Cooler Climate		James Ivory, Giles Gardner	United Kingdom
The Corridors of Power		Dror Moreh	United States, France, Germany
Dalton's Dream		Kim Longinotto, Franky Murray Brown	United Kingdom
Eastern Front	Shidniy Front	Vitaly Mansky, Yevhen Titarenko	Latvia, Ukraine, Czech Republic, United States
The Echo	El Eco	Tatiana Huezo	Mexico, Germany
The Eternal Memory	La memoria infinita	Maite Alberdi	Chile
Fantastic Machine		Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck	Sweden, Denmark
Free Money		Sam Soko, Lauren DeFilippo	Kenya, United States
Freedom Is Beautiful		Angus McDonald	Australia
Joonam		Sierra Urich	United States
Kim's Video		David Redmon, Ashley Sabin	United States, France, United Kingdom
Nam June Paik: Moon Is the Oldest TV		Amanda Kim	United States, South Korea
On the Adamant	Sur L'Adamant	Nicolas Philibert	France, Japan
Orlando, My Political Biography	Orlando, Ma Biographie Politique	Paul B. Preciado	France
Paradise	Paradis	Alexander Abaturov	France, Switzerland
Pray for Our Sinners		Sinéad O'Shea	Ireland
Queendom		Agniia Galdanova	France, United States
Stephen Curry: Underrated		Peter Nicks	United States
A Storm Foretold		Christoffer Guldbrandsen	Denmark
Subject		Jennifer Tiexiera, Camilla Hall	United States
Total Trust		Jialing Zhang	Germany, Netherlands
Transition		Jordan Bryon, Monica Villamizar	Australia, Iran, Afghanistan
While We Watched	Namaskar! Main Ravish Kumar	Vinay Shukla	United States
Who I Am Not		Tünde Skovrán	Romania, Canada

First Nations

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Dark Emu Story		Allan Clarke	Australia
Gaga	哈勇家	Laha Mebow	Taiwan
Keeping Hope		Tyson Mowarin	Australia
Kindred		Adrian Russell Wills, Gillian Moody	Australia
The Last Daughter		Brenda Matthews, Nathaniel Schmidt	Australia
The New Boy (opening)		Warwick Thornton	Australia
Twice Colonized		Lin Alluna	Denmark, Canada, Greenland
Short films
Babanil		Marlikka Perdrisat	Australia
Dipped in Black	Marungka Tjalatjunu	Matthew Thorne, Derik Lynch	Australia
Kariwa		Kiara Rodriguez-Hextall	Australia
Katele	Mudskipper	John Harvey	Australia
Mamirnikuwi		Rebecca Parker	Australia
Power to Country		Josef Jakamarra Egger	Australia
To Be Silent		Tace Stevens	Australia
Where Have All the Mala Gone?	Nyarrpararla Malaju?	Anna-Marie Harding	Australia

Europe! Voices of Women in Film

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Band		Álfrún Örnólfsdóttir	Iceland
Behind the Haystacks	Πίσω από τις θημωνιές	Asimina Proedrou	Greece, Germany, North Macedonia
Elaha		Milena Aboyan	Germany
Family Time	Mummola	Tia Kouvo	Finland, Sweden
The Girl from Tomorrow	Primadonna	Marta Savina	Italy, France
The Quiet Migration	Stille Liv	Malene Choi	Denmark
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood	Savvusanna sõsarad	Anna Hints	Estonia, France, Iceland
Sunlight		Claire Dix	Ireland
That Afternoon	Die middag	Nafiss Nia	Netherlands
Thunder	Foudre	Carmen Jaquier	Switzerland

Sounds on Screen

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise		Karen O'Connor, Miri Navasky, Maeve O'Boyle	United States
Little Richard: I Am Everything		Lisa Cortés	United States
Pianoforte		Jakub Piątek	Poland
Three Chords and the Truth		Claire Pasvolsky	Australia

Late Announce

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Anatomy of a Fall	Anatomie d'une chute	Justine Triet	France
Anselm		Wim Wenders	Germany
Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry	შაშვი შაშვი მაყვალი	Elene Naveriani	Switzerland, Georgia
Club Zero		Jessica Hausner	Austria, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Denmark, Qatar
Four Daughters	بنات ألفة	Kaouther Ben Hania	France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia
Inshallah a Boy	Inshallah Walad	Amjad Al Rasheed	Jordan, Qatar, France, Saudi Arabia
May December		Todd Haynes	United States
The Persian Version		Maryam Keshavarz	United States
Tiger Stripes		Amanda Nell Eu	Malaysia, Taiwan, Singapore, France, Germany, Netherlands, Indonesia, Qatar
Short films
Strange Way of Life	Extraña forma de vida	Pedro Almodóvar	Spain

Awards

The following awards were presented at the festival: ^[7]

• Sydney Film Prize: The Mother of All Lies by Asmae El Moudir
• Documentary Australia Award for Australian Documentary: Marungka Tjalatjunu (Dipped in Black) by Matthew Thorne and Derik Lynch
• Sustainable Future Award: Against the Tide by Sarvnik Kaur
• Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films
  • Dendy Live Action Short Award: The Dancing Girl and the Balloon Man by David Ma
  • The Rouben Mamoulian Award: Sophie Somerville for Linda 4 Eva
  • Yoram Gross Animation Award: Teacups by Alec Green and Finbar Watson
  • AFTRS Craft Award: Kalu Oji, Faro Musodza, and Makwaya Masudi for What's In A Name?
  • Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award: Robyn Liu for The Dancing Girl and the Balloon Man
• Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award: Chris Godfrey
• GIO Audience Awards
  • Best Australian Documentary: The Defenders by Matthew Bate
  • Best Australian Narrative Feature: Birdeater by Jack Clark and Jim Weir
  • Best International Documentary: Beyond Utopia by Madeleine Gavin
  • Best International Feature: Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet

References

1. "Celebrating 70 years of cinema: the Sydney Film Festival's enduring legacy". University of Sydney . 6 June 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
2. Le Cross, Alannah (10 May 2023). "Sydney Film Festival 2023 - here's the full program". Time Out . Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
3. Frater, Patrick; Tulich, Katherine (7 June 2023). "Warwick Thornton Starts Sydney Film Festival on Emotional High: 'I've Never Felt a Room Like You'". Variety . Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
4. Ward, Sarah (24 May 2023). "Sydney Film Festival 2023 Will Close with the Australian Premiere of 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny'". Concrete Playground. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
5. Slatter, Sean (19 June 2023). "Asmae El Moudir's 'The Mother of All Lies' awarded Sydney Film Prize". IF Magazine . Archived from the original on 17 January 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
6. "Sydney Film Festival announces 2023 official competition jury and guest line-up". Filmink. 2 June 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
7. "Sydney Film Festival winners announced". Screenhub. 19 June 2023. Archived from the original on 4 October 2024. Retrieved 17 January 2024.

External links

• Official website