All of Sydney’s film festivals are great because they all show a wide range of films. Indeed, the most important reason to go to a film festival is because many of those films won’t get a general release (so I won’t review them!). Those films may be obscure, extreme, bizarre, foreign language or intense but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Admittedly, not every film will be good but that is why you should see more than one!
The recently concluded Sydney Film Festival (www.sff.org.au) is the best known here with a vast range of Australian and foreign short and long films, old and new movies and documentaries. It includes major global premieres and films that won’t receive a general release for months . A great example of a film being released later this year is Australian film The Fox which was very black comic in a very Aussie style which apparently is why many Americans didn’t appreciate it. That’s a good sign. 4½ stars.
The current Scandinavian Film Festival (nordicfilmfestival.com.au) is another great example of a film festival. It has lots of highly recommended films showing at Palace Cinemas for weeks up until Wednesday 26 August. The best I’ve seen is The Last Viking (2025), a hilarious, weird and violent film featuring well-known actor Mads Mikkelsen. 5 stars.
And coming soon to Sydney is the Korean Film Festival (www.koffia.com.au) from 20-25 August at Event Cinemas George Street. I’ve been to the festival before and it featured excellent films and interviews with actors, producers and directors. Of course Korean food, tourism and films are very popular (so is K-pop!) with a great history of award-winning films and huge audiences. Parasite (2019) deserved Best Picture at the Academy Awards, The Handmaiden (2016) won a BAFTA award, and Oldboy (2003) was the Grand Prix winner at Cannes. This year’s Sydney program “spans psychological thrillers, crime dramas, first love, heartfelt coming-of-age stories and intimate family dramas” made by arthouse filmmakers and directors of very globally popular films.
There are lots of other film festivals here, too, from many countries, regions, populations and cultures. If you belong to one of those communities, it’s a great idea to go to your film festival, but all the others may be even more interesting, enjoyable, entertaining or challenging – that’s a good thing.
