PRESS RELEASE
The Brisbane International Film Festival (BIFF) is excited to bring to you our first ‘sneak peek’ of film titles in advance of our full program launch on Tuesday, October 22.
THE BIFF CURTAIN RAISERS…
The BIFF Curtain Raisers screening on 11 November and 12 November are:
The Past, from writer-director, Asghar Farhadi, the man responsible for giving Iran its first-ever Oscar just two years ago with A Separation, The Past was winner of the Best Actress (Bérénice Bejo), plus winner of the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury (Asghar Farhadi) plus nominee for the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
The AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE of Filth, directed by Jon S Baird and starring James McAvoy as Bruce Robertson, Filth tells the story of a corrupt policeman in line for a promotion and who will stop at nothing to get what he wants.
Outrage Beyond by internationally applauded director Takeshi Kitano, highlights the strong relationships that are unique to the yakuza world and the spiritual nature of the absolute bonds of “kyodai” (brothers) and “oyako” (father and son.) A full-scale crackdown on organized crime by police ignites a national yakuza struggle between the Sanno of the East and Hanabishi of the West.
Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s, the compelling story of the legendary Fifth Avenue store and landmark which has launched the careers of many of the top designers working in fashion today is told through interviews with designers Karl Lagerfeld, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs and Michael Kors to name a few, as well as celebrity and socialite clientele.
Like Father, Like Son, from the globally acclaimed director of Nobody Knows, Still Walking and I Wish, Kore-eda Hirokazu. Hirokazu returns to the big screen with a story about a family thrown into torment after a phone call from the hospital where the son was born reveals their six year old son was accidentally swapped at birth. Winning the Grand Jury Prize World Cinema Award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival and Palme d’Or runner-up, Like Father Like Son was officially acquired by DreamWorks and is to have an American remake courtesy of Stephen Spielberg. Starring Fukuyama Masaharu, Ono Machiko, Maki Yoko and Lily Franky.
Muscle Shoals (Official Selection – 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 2013 SXSW Film Festival plus Audience Award Winner – 2013 HotDocs) is a documentary that celebrates the signature sound developed by Rick Hall, the founder of FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama producing such songs as "I'll Take You There", "Brown Sugar", and "When a Man Loves a Woman.” Located alongside the Tennessee River, Muscle Shoals is the unlikely breeding ground for some of America's most creative and defiant music. Under the spiritual influence of the 'Singing River' as Native Americans called it, the music of Muscle Shoals changed the world and sold millions upon millions of copies. Bringing black and white together in a region of significant racial hostility to create music for the generations, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Percy Sledge, Gregg Allman, Clarence Carter, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono, and others bear witness to Muscle Shoals' magnetism, mystery, and why it remains influential today.
Patrick – BIFF will be screening Mark Hartley’s retro retelling of 1978 Australian genre classic Patrick (now played by Jackson Gallagher.) After the mysterious disappearance of a nurse at a remote private clinic, Kathy (Sharni Vinson) takes up the vacant role at ‘Roget Clinic’, a private hospital for the clinically comatose in a remote seaside town. Kathy is placed under the imperious watch of Matron Cassidy (Academy Award® nominee Rachel Griffiths) and Dr. Sebastian Roget (Charles Dance – Game Of Thrones, Gosford Park, Alien 3), a renegade neurologist operating at the fringes of medical society. Despite her strong sense of foreboding and the dismal working conditions, Kathy is desperate to take up the post and overlooks the eeriness of the ward and the disturbing patients that reside there. She is soon assigned to care for a mysterious coma patient, who is simply known to staff as Patrick. Before long it becomes apparent that Patrick has telepathic powers and his affections for Kathy turn into a deadly and bloody obsession, letting no one get in his way.
The Darkside – the award-winning creative force behind the exquisite Samson & Delilah return with The Darkside, a ground-breaking and unnerving project with true stories from the other side. Director Warwick Thornton assembles a collection of poignant, sad, funny and absurd ghost tales from across Australia and brings them to life with some of Australia’s most iconic actors including Aaron Pedersen, Bryan Brown, Shari Sebbens, Sacha Horler, Deborah Mailman and Claudia Karvan.
FROM THE MAIN BIFF PROGRAM…
BIFF will be screening the AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE of Blue is the Warmest Colour, the winner of the prestigious Palme d'Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, the highest prize awarded with jurors including Stephen Spielberg, Ang Lee and Nicole Kidman. Telling the story of Adele, a 15 year old girl whose life is changed forever when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire, to assert herself as a woman and as an adult, Blue is the Warmest Colour has been screening to rapturous critical reception overseas. Directed by Abdellatif Kechiche, the film stars Léa Seydoux, Adèle Exarchopoulos and Salim Kechiouche.
BIFF will be screening the AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE of The Armstrong Lie, the 2013 American documentary film directed by Academy Award® winning filmmaker Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.) In 2008, Alex Gibney set out to make a documentary about Lance Armstrong’s comeback to the world of competitive cycling. Gibney documents the dramatic action of the 2009 Tour de France, when Armstrong found himself unexpectedly competing against his own teammate Alberto Contador and attains rare interviews with Armstrong's former teammates and alleged doping mastermind Dr. Michele Ferrari. The unprecedented scandal would of course rewrite both the Armstrong legend and Gibney’s film, The Armstrong Lie.
With some of the most highly acclaimed Asian Cinema ever screened at the festival, BIFF is proud to announce the AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE of the new film by acclaimed Hong Kong director Wong Kar Wai, The Grandmaster, an epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man in the tumultuous Republican era, the golden age of Chinese martial arts. The Grandmaster, received 11 nominations at Taiwan’s recent Golden Horse Awards (seen as the Chinese-language “Oscars”.) Featuring virtuoso performances by some of the greatest stars of contemporary cinema including Tony Leung, Zhang Ziyi and Chang Chen, the fight scenes are choreographed by renowned action choreographer Yuen Wo Ping (The Matrix, Kill Bill, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) with all actors undergoing several years of rigorous and extremely challenging kung fu training for their roles.
BIFF will be screening the Academy Award® winner Robert Redford’s All Is Lost, an open-water thriller about one man’s battle for survival against the elements after his sailboat is destroyed at sea. Written and directed by Academy Award nominee J.C. Chandor (Margin Call) with a musical score by Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros), the film is a gripping, visceral and powerfully moving tribute to ingenuity and resilience.
The Brisbane International Film Festival will take place 13 November – 24 November. BIFF will be presenting a renewed program of films and special events at venues throughout Brisbane in 2013 including: Gallery of Modern Art (South Bank), Palace Barracks (Paddington), Palace Centro (Fortitude Valley), OpenAir Cinema (South Bank), Event Cinemas (Myer Centre Brisbane CBD), Dendy Portside (Hamilton), State Library of Queensland (Southbank) and the Northshore Containerval Festival (Hamilton.)
Tickets will be available for sale via biff.com.au from 10.00am on Tuesday 22 October 2013.