Cate Shortland and Tony Krawitz, who are married to each other, both have films among the 12 titles in competition at next month’s Sydney Film Festival.
Lore, a drama set during World War II and based on the novel The Dark Room by Rachel Seiffert, is Shortland’s feature film follow-up to Somersault, while Dead Europe, also set in Europe but a contemporary story adapted from a novel by Christos Tsiolkas, is Krawitz’s first dramatic feature film after his acclaimed short Jewboy and the recent documentary The Tall Man. Tsiolkas also wrote The Slap, on which the acclaimed television series was based.
The other debuts in the competition line-up include Korean filmmaker Yuen Sang-Ho’s The King Of Pigs, US director Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild and Brazilian Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Neighbouring Sounds.
The veterans in the program include Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, with their Golden Bear winner Caesar Must Die, and Water Salles with On the Road, a big screen adaptation of Jack Kerouac’s famous book.
Nashen Moodley unveiled his first Sydney Film Festival program today at Customs House at Circular Quay, including the eight films that will be vying for the Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize.
This line-up includes new films from animator Bruce Petty and Son of a Lion director Benjamin Gilmour, and two films that tell indigenous stories from Australia’s past, Francis Jupurrurla Kelly and David Batty’s Coniston Massacre and Steven McGregor’s Croker Island Exodus.
The festival opens on June 6 with the world premiere of Australian film Not Suitable For Children, a debut feature for Peter Templeman, who was nominated for an Oscar for his short film The Saviour in 2007. The film stars local actor Ryan Kwanten of True Blood fame.
It will close 11 days later with another debut full of humour: US director Colin Trevorrow’s science fiction comedy Safety Not Guaranteed.
Half the 10 finalists in the Dendy Awards for Australian short films have already been seen at festivals abroad.
The Official Competition titles are:
Alps, director Yorgos Lanthimos
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin
Caesar Must Die, Paolo and Vittorio Taviani
Dead Europe, Tony Krawitz
Gangs of Wasseypur, Parts 1 and 2, Anurag Kashyap
The King of Pigs, Yuen Sang-Ho
Lore, Cate Shortland
Monsieur Lazhar, Philippe Falardeau
Neighbouring Sounds, Kleber Mendonca Filho
On the Road, Walter Salles
Tabu, Miguel Gomes
Today, Alain Gomis
The Foxtel Australian Documentary Prize titles are:
Coniston Massacre, directors Francis Jupurrurla Kelly, David Batty
Croker Island Exodus, Steven McGregor
Despite the Gods, Penny Vozniak
Dr. Sarmast’s Music School, Polly Watkins
Killing Anna, Paul Galasch
Missing in the Land of the Gods, Davor Dirlic
Paramedico, Benjamin Gilmour
Utopia, Bruce Petty.
The titles in the Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films are:
BINO, director Billie Pleffer
Dance Me to the End of Love, Martha Goddard
Dave’s Dead, Alethea Jones
Dumpty Goes to the Big Smoke, Mirrah Foulkes
The Hunter, Marieka Walsh
Julian, Matthew Moore
The Maker, Christopher Kezelos
Rippled, Darcy Prendergast
The Wilding, Grant Scicluna
Yardbird, Michael Spiccia