Sydney Film Festival 2016
by Burdrew | created - 13 May 2016 | updated - 22 Jun 2016 | Public- Instant Watch Options
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1. Born to Be Blue (2015)
R | 97 min | Biography, Drama, Music
A re-imagining of jazz legend Chet Baker's musical comeback in the late '60s.
Director: Robert Budreau | Stars: Ethan Hawke, Carmen Ejogo, Callum Keith Rennie, Tony Nappo
Votes: 9,273 | Gross: $0.83M
SFF#01: BORN TO BE BLUE. Ethan Hawke plays troubled jazz great Chet Baker in this impressive biopic. Carmen Ejogo is the woman who stands by him, most of the time. During the endless Opening Night speeches by sponsors and politicians, I took off down George Street to see this feature - and got back to the State Theatre before the Opening film started!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC1DQ9qIECo
2. Goldstone (2016)
R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Mystery
Indigenous detective Jay Swan arrives in the town of Goldstone to search for a missing person, and his simple duty becomes complicated when he uncovers a web of crime and corruption.
Director: Ivan Sen | Stars: Aaron Pedersen, Alex Russell, Jacki Weaver, David Wenham
Votes: 6,238 | Gross: $0.09M
SFF#02: GOLDSTONE. Aaron Pedersen is a police detective in search of a missing girl in a remote Australian town. Ivan Sen's sequel to 2013's MYSTERY ROAD is sharper, tighter, funnier and better than the original.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWbk3-gEBRU
3. Cinema, mon amour (2015)
70 min | Documentary
Every cinema has a story - a tale of loneliness, friendship, hope and unfulfilled dreams.
Director: Alexandru Belc | Stars: Cornelia Chelmu, Lorena Cosau, Gheorghe Purice, Victor Purice
Votes: 196
SFF#03: CINEMA, MON AMOUR. In the 1980s, there were over 400 cinemas in Romania. Today, there are less than 30. This documentary looks at a cinema owner who is more interested in installing a 3D projector than dealing with the rats in the building. He provides blankets and hot tea to patrons when the heating fails and is struggling to continue business. It's a tough game.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_08oErqqGOo
4. Death in Sarajevo (2016)
85 min | Drama
The major hotel Europe in Sarajevo will receive an important visit on the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, attack that triggered World War. As the manager of ... See full summary »
Director: Danis Tanovic | Stars: Snezana Vidovic, Izudin Bajrovic, Vedrana Bozinovic, Muhamed Hadzovic
Votes: 1,376
SFF#04: DEATH IN SARAJEVO. A shady hotel manager faces striking workers during a major conference to mark the 100th anniversary of the events that sparked the First World War. To add to the drama, a descendant of the assassin, Gavrilo Princip, has arrived and he's armed. A constantly-moving camera follows multiple protagonists through a labyrinth of corridors and passageways as they go about their business in this intriguing drama.
https://vimeo.com/154601861
5. Wednesday, May 9 (2015)
102 min | Drama
A not wealthy man publishes an ad which says near 25000$ will be donated to a needy person. His past makes whom to choose a super hard decision.
Director: Vahid Jalilvand | Stars: Niki Karimi, Amir Aghaee, Shahrokh Foroutanian, Vahid Jalilvand
Votes: 816
SFF#05: WEDNESDAY, MAY 9. When a philanthropist places an advertisement in the newspaper to offer money to those in need, he doesn't expect to be inundated by hundreds of desperate people. This potent Iranian melodrama looks at the lives of two people who urgently need his help.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74TVeqj1wew
6. Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World (2016)
PG-13 | 98 min | Documentary
Werner Herzog's exploration of the Internet and the connected world.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Elon Musk, Lawrence Krauss, Lucianne Walkowicz, Kevin Mitnick
Votes: 13,405 | Gross: $0.59M
SFF#06: LO AND BEHOLD, REVERIES OF THE CONNECTED WORLD. Director Werner Herzog explores the past, present and future of the Internet in this documentary that is as scary as it is fascinating. After enjoying this thought-provoking film, I have forgiven Werner for the disastrous QUEEN OF THE DESERT.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pv8Qj0Vkbo
7. Shepherds and Butchers (2016)
R | 102 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A lawyer takes on a case of a prison guard in South Africa who is traumatized by the executions he's witnessed.
Director: Oliver Schmitz | Stars: Steve Coogan, Andrea Riseborough, Garion Dowds, Eduan van Jaarsveldt
Votes: 3,135
SFF#07: SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS. Steve Coogan takes on a serious role in this manipulative but engaging South African courtroom drama. Chris Marnewick, the author of novel on which the film is based, was present at the screening and provided a better balance by speaking of the horrific crimes for which some of the men were condemned.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzm9d_mpj_c
8. Elvis & Nixon (2016)
R | 86 min | Comedy, History
The untold true story behind the meeting between Elvis Presley, the King of Rock 'n Roll, and President Richard Nixon, resulting in this revealing, yet humorous moment immortalized in the most requested photograph in the National Archives.
Director: Liza Johnson | Stars: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville
Votes: 15,027 | Gross: $1.03M
SFF#08: ELVIS & NIXON. 'The Left Wing behave like caged animals because that's exactly what they are, they're animals!' I loved this hilarious comedy from start to finish, as did the rest of the audience. Michael Shannon's Elvis meets Kevin Spacey's Nixon and it's a lot of fun. Easily the best of the festival so far!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9x3Z6b0Z1g
9. A Monster with a Thousand Heads (2015)
Unrated | 74 min | Drama, Thriller
When her insurance company refuses to approve the care her husband needs to survive, Sonia Bonet (Jan Raluy) takes things into her own hands. Up against an unyielding bureaucracy and ... See full summary »
Director: Rodrigo Plá | Stars: Jana Raluy, Sebastián Aguirre, Hugo Albores, Emilio Echevarría
Votes: 1,167 | Gross: $0.02M
SFF#09: A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS. A Mexican woman will do anything so her dying husband can receive medical treatment in this slow-paced but more realistic version of JOHN Q.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ug2534juBhA
10. Certain Women (2016)
R | 107 min | Drama
The lives of three women intersect in small-town America, where each is imperfectly blazing a trail.
Director: Kelly Reichardt | Stars: Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart, Laura Dern, James Le Gros
Votes: 15,624 | Gross: $1.03M
SFF#10: CERTAIN WOMEN. Director Kelly Reichardt has no interest in entertaining an audience. Or cutting a trailer to her latest film, either.
NO TRAILER
11. A Good Wife (2016)
90 min | Drama
A film about a woman who discovers her husband's war crimes and must decide how to respond.
Director: Mirjana Karanovic | Stars: Mirjana Karanovic, Boris Isakovic, Jasna Djuricic, Bojan Navojec
Votes: 784
SFF#11: A GOOD WIFE. As if being diagnosed with breast cancer were not bad enough, a Serbian woman discovers her husband is responsible for war crimes. A strong setup but this drama is needlessly slow. Let's hope the next film, by Almodovar, can liven today up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9UlE7PkbvA
12. Julieta (2016)
R | 99 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
After a casual encounter, a brokenhearted woman decides to confront her life and the most important events involving her estranged daughter.
Director: Pedro Almodóvar | Stars: Emma Suárez, Adriana Ugarte, Daniel Grao, Inma Cuesta
Votes: 33,910 | Gross: $1.49M
SFF#12: JULIETA. A woman longs to see her estranged daughter in Almodovar's best film since TALK TO HER. I just wish we weren't cheated at the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATcsHdyFVTE
13. Hotel Coolgardie (2016)
83 min | Documentary
On a road between Australia's most isolated town and its largest gold mine lies Coolgardie, where the arrival every three months of a new foreign backpacker couple is a much-anticipated event.
Director: Pete Gleeson | Stars: Nicolina, Stephanie, Peter Coffey, John Joseph Lowe
Votes: 1,311
SFF#13: HOTEL COOLGARDIE. Two women walk into a bar ... and are treated like dirt by the animals inside. Finnish backpackers Lina and Steph accept jobs as barmaids at a pub in remote Western Australia and have to deal with an abusive boss and the constant unwanted attention from lascivious drunks. They do an excellent job at laughing it all off - but shouldn't have to - and then something completely unexpected occurs. Director Pete Gleeson, a friend of mine from film school, captures everything as it unfolds. It's great to see his work - and the work of producers Kate Neylon and Melissa Hayward - up on the big screen. This documentary is entertaining, troubling and important and it deserves to be widely-seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xhE9KTsfHI
14. War on Everyone (2016)
R | 98 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Two corrupt cops set out to blackmail and frame every criminal unfortunate enough to cross their path. Events, however, are complicated by the arrival of someone who appears to be even more dangerous than they are.
Director: John Michael McDonagh | Stars: Alexander Skarsgård, Michael Peña, Theo James, Tessa Thompson
Votes: 20,361
SFF#14: WAR ON EVERYONE. From the director of THE GUARD. Alexander Skarsgard and Michael Pena play shamelessly corrupt cops in search of money that does not belong to them. Endless one-liners make this violent black comedy a real crowd-pleaser.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8W-Q5GT62hY
15. The Commune (2016)
Not Rated | 111 min | Drama
A story about the clash between personal desires, solidarity and tolerance in a Danish commune in the 1970s.
Director: Thomas Vinterberg | Stars: Trine Dyrholm, Fares Fares, Ulrich Thomsen, Lars Ranthe
Votes: 8,240 | Gross: $0.04M
SFF#15: THE COMMUNE. At the insistence of his wife, a Danish architect welcomes a group of adults into their large house and they all live together in peace and love and harmony ... until they don't. For how long should one hold onto ideals when they prove so destructive? Thomas Vinterberg's somewhat plodding film explores this interesting question.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXghS9TLPyc
16. Mustang (2015)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama
When five orphan girls are seen innocently playing with boys on a beach, their scandalized conservative guardians confine them while forced marriages are arranged.
Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven | Stars: Günes Sensoy, Doga Zeynep Doguslu, Tugba Sunguroglu, Elit Iscan
Votes: 40,896 | Gross: $0.85M
SFF#16: MUSTANG. Watching five unruly teenage sisters scream and run amok is not my idea of entertainment. Then they're separated as some are forced into arranged marriages. I'd be more sympathetic if they weren't such undisciplined brats in the first place. But, of course, the trailer shows us none of that, they're perfect little angels.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABNB3zw5BAo
17. Halal Love (2015)
94 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Four tragicomic interconnected stories about how devoted Muslim men and women are trying to manage their love life and desires without breaking any religious rules.
Director: Assad Fouladkar | Stars: Darine Hamze, Rodrigue Sleiman, Zeinab Hind Khadra, Hussein Mokadem
Votes: 557
SFF#17: HALAL LOVE (AND SEX). Two young girls misinterpret a sex education class and think they can fall pregnant to earthworms. A great setup but it doesn't really go anywhere. Instead, we have one separate storyline after the next in a film that can't decide if it's a comedy or a drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lU1ftnJPvEo
18. Suntan (2016)
Unrated | 104 min | Drama
On a hedonistic Greek island, a middle-aged doctor becomes obsessed with a young tourist when she lets him tag along with her group of hard partying friends.
Director: Argyris Papadimitropoulos | Stars: Makis Papadimitriou, Elli Tringou, Hara Kotsali, Milou Van Groesen
Votes: 8,081
SFF#18: SUNTAN. A middle-aged doctor befriends a group of young tourists in Greece and gets the chance to relive his youth for a short time. What starts as predictable becomes very sinister as the doctor cannot learn to take no for an answer. This film will have definite appeal to those twisted folk who like the Greek Weird Wave. There's no shortage of nudity here and I've never before seen someone lick another person's eyeball, on or off the screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcGXr8D1Lzc
19. Maggie's Plan (2015)
R | 98 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Maggie wants to have a baby, raising him on her own, but when she gets romantically involved with John, a married man, things get complicated and all the balance of Maggie's plans may collapse.
Director: Rebecca Miller | Stars: Greta Gerwig, Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Maya Rudolph
Votes: 18,311 | Gross: $3.35M
SFF#19: MAGGIE'S PLAN. Maggie's plan is to raise a child as a single parent but when she meets a charming academic, the plan evolves. Like every other film starring Greta Gerwig, this one is highly quirky, mildly amusing and pseudo-intellectual. Add such staples of American independent cinema as Ethan Hawke, Julianne Moore, Bill Hader and Maya Rudolph and we have a film we've seen many times before but one I don't mind watching again. I get the feeling these characters are trying to make their lives needlessly complicated. And sloppy writing - ironically, in a film about writers - gives us an ending that is ridiculously convenient.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbJ49IUyCcA
20. It's Only the End of the World (2016)
97 min | Drama
Louis (Gaspard Ulliel), a terminally ill writer, returns home after a long absence to tell his family that he is dying.
Director: Xavier Dolan | Stars: Gaspard Ulliel, Marion Cotillard, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel
Votes: 25,195
SFF#20: IT'S ONLY THE END OF THE WORLD. A young writer returns home after an extended absence but he can't bring himself to tell his family he is dying. French-Canadian Xavier Dolan is a talented young director but here we have endless scenes of dialogue, where the characters speak so much and say so little. But those who walked out during the screening - and there were quite a few - missed an incredible final scene.
NO TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yx45hFy9mEA
21. The Patriarch (2016)
103 min | Drama
From the author of "The Whale Rider", a tale of family rivalry and reconciliation, set against the stunning backdrop of rural New Zealand in the 1960s.
Director: Lee Tamahori | Stars: Temuera Morrison, Akuhata Keefe, Nancy Brunning, Jim Moriarty
Votes: 1,028
SFF#21: MAHANA. A stern grandfather, a large family and a grandson who is too smart for his own good. From the director of ONCE WERE WARRIORS and the author of WHALE RIDER, this fine New Zealand drama has stunning, picturesque photography and is one of the best films at the Sydney Film Festival this year.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VowvDCtc26o
22. Goat (2016)
R | 96 min | Drama
Reeling from a terrifying assault, a 19 year-old enrolls into college with his brother and pledges the same fraternity. What happens there in the name of "brotherhood" tests him and his loyalty to his brother in brutal ways.
Director: Andrew Neel | Stars: Ben Schnetzer, Nick Jonas, Gus Halper, Danny Flaherty
Votes: 8,107 | Gross: $0.02M
SFF#22: GOAT. A college student in the U.S. tries to get into a fraternity where initiation is on par with the abuse at Abu Ghraib. Produced by Christine Vachon, this brutal drama is relentless and not for everyone. Not for most people, I'd say. It's nasty.
NO TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9cF4Rjo8LQ
23. I Saw the Light (2015)
R | 123 min | Biography, Drama, Music
The story of the country-western singer Hank Williams, who in his brief life created one of the greatest bodies of work in American music. The film chronicles his rise to fame and its tragic effect on his health and personal life.
Director: Marc Abraham | Stars: Tom Hiddleston, Elizabeth Olsen, Maddie Hasson, Bradley Whitford
Votes: 8,259 | Gross: $1.65M
SFF#23: I SAW THE LIGHT. Some of the best musicians have led some of the worst lives. Unfortunately, this doesn't always make for good viewing in this tiring Hank Williams biopic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp-zwtB_ejQ
24. Wild (I) (2016)
97 min | Drama, Mystery
An anarchist young woman breaks the tacit contract with civilization and fearlessly decides on a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net.
Director: Nicolette Krebitz | Stars: Lilith Stangenberg, Georg Friedrich, Silke Bodenbender, Saskia Rosendahl
Votes: 1,621
SFF#24: WILD. This is not the Reece Witherspoon drama, though I can't imagine anyone would confuse the two. The director flew in from Berlin and when she introduced the film, she said, 'I must warn you there are some disturbing scenes'. Well that was an understatement. The story concerns an odd young woman who lives by herself after her sister moves out of their apartment. One day she sees a wolf in the local park and her life is changed. She goes to a pet shop to buy bunny rabbits to use as live bait and hires sweatshop workers to help her trap the animal. Once caught, he becomes her new housemate and the woman and the wolf start a sexual relationship. I have no words, I'm filing this under 'WTF'.
(No subtitles for the trailer.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3zcZ2a84RQ
25. Land of Mine (2015)
R | 100 min | Drama, History, War
In post-World War II Denmark, a group of young German POWs are forced to clear a beach of thousands of land mines under the watch of a Danish Sergeant who slowly learns to appreciate their plight.
Director: Martin Zandvliet | Stars: Roland Møller, Louis Hofmann, Joel Basman, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Votes: 45,757 | Gross: $0.44M
SFF#25: LAND OF MINE. Well this is unnerving. During the Second World War, 2.2 million land mines were scattered along the Danish coast. After the war, German boys were made to defuse them all, many of them blowing themselves to pieces in the process. A tough Danish sergeant is in charge of fourteen boys who are told if they find and defuse six mines an hour, they'll be home in three months. But any footstep could be their last. So intense, I had to turn away throughout this film, and saw that many others in the audience were turning away too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CLtk5NewrM
26. A War (2015)
R | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
During contact with the Taliban in Afghanistan a Danish commander makes a decision which saves many of his men's lives but inadvertently takes the lives of some Afghani civilians. Now he is facing criminal charges.
Director: Tobias Lindholm | Stars: Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Søren Malling, Charlotte Munck
Votes: 11,191 | Gross: $0.12M
SFF#26: A WAR. The second Danish war film of the day, this one set in Afghanistan. A company commander calls in fire on an enemy position, killing civilians in the process. The real battle begins when he's sent home to be tried for a war crime. From the director of A HIJACKING comes another impressive drama.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9nUIFYc5II
27. Zero Days (2016)
PG-13 | 116 min | Documentary
A documentary focused on Stuxnet, a piece of self-replicating computer malware that the U.S. and Israel unleashed to destroy a key part of an Iranian nuclear facility, and which ultimately spread beyond its intended target.
Director: Alex Gibney | Stars: David Sanger, Emad Kiyaei, Eric Chien, Liam O'Murchu
Votes: 10,415 | Gross: $0.10M
SFF#27: ZERO DAYS. 'In the 19th Century, we had the army and navy. In the 20th Century, we had the army, navy and airforce. In the 21st Century we have the army, navy, airforce and now a cyber warfare branch.' Stuxnet is a computer virus, allegedly created by the U.S. and Israel as a cyberweapon to sabotage Iran's nuclear program. Sounds like another James Bond film but the truth is that the nature of warfare is drastically changing. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VgIayOpjEc
28. The BFG (2016)
PG | 117 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy
An orphan little girl befriends a benevolent giant who takes her to Giant Country, where they attempt to stop the man-eating giants that are invading the human world.
Director: Steven Spielberg | Stars: Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement
Votes: 93,251 | Gross: $55.48M
SFF#28: THE BFG. The Big Friendly Giant kidnaps a young girl from an orphanage in Steven Spielberg's overlong adaptation of the Roald Dahl book. I couldn't finish the book as a child and I can't finish the film as an adult. I honestly don't care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ0Bey4YUGI
29. The Endless River (2015)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama
Gilles and Tiny are both mourning recent deaths. Their grief unites them but hiding beneath the grief are darker shadows that connect their losses.
Director: Oliver Hermanus | Stars: Nicolas Duvauchelle, Crystal-Donna Roberts, Clayton Evertson, Darren Kelfkens
Votes: 269
SFF#29: THE ENDLESS RIVER. After his family is brutally murdered, a South African man will do anything to get justice. Or what he thinks is justice. More disciplined pacing would better-serve this potentially strong drama. It makes a good companion film to SHEPHERDS AND BUTCHERS in that it can help educate the bleeding hearts.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woEL7Q812z8
30. Ma révolution (2016)
80 min | Drama, Romance
Marwann's life in Paris during the Jasmine revolution and the fall of president/dictator Ben -Ali.
Director: Ramzi Ben Sliman | Stars: Samuel Vincent, Anamaria Vartolomei, Lubna Azabal, Samir Guesmi
Votes: 147
SFF#30: MY REVOLUTION. A childish French teenager takes a sudden interest in activism when he's told that revolutionaries attract plenty of women. Sounds like the premise to a fun film but it's not, it's directionless and trivial.
NO TRAILER
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tlTO_xmnTY
31. Magallanes (2015)
TV-MA | 109 min | Drama
Magallanes, a former army soldier (Damian Alcazar) drives a taxi and eventually a driver of a retired colonel (Federico Luppi), who was in command of his troops in times of struggle against... See full summary »
Director: Salvador del Solar | Stars: Damián Alcázar, Tatiana Astengo, Jairo Camargo, Tatiana Espinoza
Votes: 1,090
SFF#31: MAGALLANES. A taxi driver in Peru decides to blackmail a senile colonel. This situation becomes complicated when the taxi driver is made the go-between. MAGALLANES is gripping, powerful and one of the best films of the year. In the final confrontation, a woman screams of her past ordeals without subtitles because, as the director later explained, it's not about words, it's about emotion. And there's a lot of emotion in this outstanding film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3tOgzQEy7s
32. Constance on the Edge (2016)
80 min | Documentary
One family. Two wars. Three countries. What does it take to forge a new life far from home? Filmed over 10 years, Constance on the Edge is an unflinchingly honest portrayal of one refugee family's resettlement story in Australia.
Director: Belinda Mason | Star: Constance
Votes: 8
SFF#32: CONSTANCE ON THE EDGE. Constance has survived the atrocities of war in Africa and come to Australia as a refugee. Here, she assaults Centrelink employees, smashing up their office with a cricket bat when she doesn't get what she wants. Director Belinda Mason adopts a one-sided stance and a made-for-television style, intruding throughout the documentary with her annoying, affected voice overs. But it's not all bad. Constance befriends members of the local police and does her best to help her drug-addicted son. Reflecting on her past, she tells us she would have done things differently and when her daughter is accepted into university, she speaks of the hope for her future generations.
https://vimeo.com/164991028
33. Kate Plays Christine (2016)
Not Rated | 112 min | Documentary, Biography, Drama
Actress Kate Lyn Sheil prepares to portray the role of Christine Chubbuck, a real-life news reporter who took her own life on local Florida television in 1974.
Director: Robert Greene | Stars: Kate Lyn Sheil, Stephanie Coatney, Michael Ray Davis, Zachary Gossett
Votes: 1,204
SFF#33: KATE PLAYS CHRISTINE. In 1974, Christine Chubbuck, a U.S. news reporter, put a gun to her head and committed suicide on live television. The story that inspired NETWORK is not a myth, it actually took place in Florida. The tape of her violent death, believed to have been destroyed, has recently surfaced. Director Robert Greene ponders Christine's decision by hiring actress Kate Lyn Sheil to recreate her life but there's not enough material here. The film resorts to wild speculation in places and goes off on tangents in others. We have extended footage of Kate trying to look the part with fake tanning, coloured contact lenses and a wig so phoney, someone genuinely mistakes her for a mannequin at one point. Any discovered truths, such as Christine's temper tantrums or her prior lack of professionalism, are angrily dismissed by Kate, who seems determined to put her on a pedestal. And once Kate has finished shaming us for wanting to watch this documentary, we have an ending that is so misplaced, it prompted laughter. I'm looking forward to an upcoming biopic where Rebecca Hall plays Christine, which will provide further exploration of this morbid but admittedly fascinating story.
(No trailer available.)
34. Apprentice (2016)
115 min | Drama
Inevitably, a transfer to a maximum security prison will eventually challenge the integrity and ethics of a young correctional officer on his way to become a chief executioner.
Director: Junfeng Boo | Stars: Firdaus Rahman, Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad, Peter Boon Koh
Votes: 1,818 | Gross: $0.00M
SFF#34: APPRENTICE. At a prison in Singapore, a young guard becomes an apprentice to the chief hangman who executed his father many years earlier. Unaware of his background, the hangman takes a liking to his new employee, 'showing him the ropes', as he says. The prison is a place where men are killed meticulously and efficiently, often for drug offences. Tension builds slowly in this fine drama, which was shot in part in N.S.W. But the ending is something of a disappointment because we're not told the final outcome. We're left, well, hanging.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxY3zZCqeTw
35. Barakah Meets Barakah (2016)
88 min | Comedy, Romance
A middle-class man meets a girl from a rich family, and the two begin dating in a society where such unions are frowned upon.
Director: Mahmoud Sabbagh | Stars: Hisham Fageeh, Fatima AlBanawi, Sami Hifny, Khairia Nazmi
Votes: 1,896
SFF#35: BARAKAH MEETS BARAKAH. Barakah is a government employee, enforcing minor public regulations in Saudi Arabia. In his spare time, he plays Ophelia as a boy-actress in an amateur production of 'Hamlet' and awkwardly romances an Instagram model who is also named Barakah. The subtitles were too hard to read much of the time and people in the audience moved closer to the screen, did their best to guess or left the theatre entirely. It's a shame because there are some good ideas here, as far as I could read.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWPJgUiObLQ
36. Sr. Pig (2016)
100 min | Drama
A beautiful road movie, and a chance to talk about love for Mexico through the eyes of an American.
Director: Diego Luna | Stars: Danny Glover, Maya Rudolph, José María Yazpik, Joel Murray
Votes: 1,267
SFF#36: MR. PIG. Danny Glover plays an alcoholic farmer who travels Mexico to find a home for his beloved pig. Maya Rudolph is his concerned daughter, trying to look after him. It's a road movie, predictable but worth the ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8NA0TSehS4
37. Red Christmas (I) (2016)
Not Rated | 82 min | Horror, Thriller
A mother must protect her family on Christmas Day from a demented stranger who is hell-bent on tearing them apart.
Director: Craig Anderson | Stars: Dee Wallace, Sam Campbell, Geoff Morrell, David Collins
Votes: 2,355 | Gross: $0.00M
SFF#37: RED CHRISTMAS. 'There aren't any Australian Christmas slasher comedies' we were told at this film's introduction. So that's what's wrong with our national cinema! Craig Anderson's new film tells of a family celebrating Christmas, until a stranger shows up to kill them all in cruel but creative ways. It's gruesome, tasteless and sure to delight fans of late-night horror. MUFF and Revelation programmers may want to consider this splatter comedy. Congratulations to all involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSC9y2kk9Bg
38. Under the Sun (2015)
Not Rated | 106 min | Documentary
A propaganda documentary about North Korea that reveals a few hidden facts because the director continues filming between the scripted scenes.
Director: Vitaliy Manskiy | Stars: Lee Zin-Mi, Yu-Yong, Hye-Yong, Oh-Gyong
Votes: 5,050 | Gross: $0.07M
SFF#38: UNDER THE SUN. A Russian filmmaker is given unprecedented access to North Korea but when he arrives, government officials essentially direct the documentary for him. In response, he keeps the camera rolling and makes a film about the government making his film. There's so much unknown about North Korea but from what we see here, the people are quiet, the streets are clean and the children are respectful. We see architecture, traditional dress and large-scale ceremonies and it's all very impressive. But the filmmaker takes cheap shots throughout, doing his best to make fun by presenting the outtakes. This soon becomes repetitive and we can all tell what's propaganda and what's not, anyway.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QRFx5pXb_M
39. Beast (V) (2015)
94 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Deep in the slums of Manila, a young boxer's life is changed forever when his father pressures him to cheat in a fight.
Directors: Sam McKeith, Tom McKeith | Stars: Garret Dillahunt, Chad McKinney, Angeli Bayani, Will Howarth
Votes: 71
SFF#39: BEAST. A young boxer in the Philippines puts plaster in his gloves to win a fight but doesn't expect to kill his opponent. Overcome with guilt, he tries to make amends to his opponent's wife and son. Australian directors Tom and Sam McKeith chose to make this solid feature debut in Asia because 'it's just too hard to make a film here.'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T5EaNPKkdQ
40. Captain Fantastic (2016)
R | 118 min | Comedy, Drama
In the forests of the Pacific Northwest, a father devoted to raising his six kids with a rigorous physical and intellectual education is forced to leave his paradise and enter the world, challenging his idea of what it means to be a parent.
Director: Matt Ross | Stars: Viggo Mortensen, George MacKay, Samantha Isler, Annalise Basso
Votes: 235,024 | Gross: $5.88M
SFF#40: CAPTAIN FANTASTIC. Viggo Mortensen plays an irresponsible father who raises his six feral children in the forest. He gives them knives, alcohol and teaches them to shoplift when they visit town. He probably doesn't vaccinate them either. When the children's mother dies, the grandfather fights for their custody. I honestly thought this would follow a narrative arc where the father learns but this film is a celebration of ignorance. Makes sense the Huffington Post is so enthusiastic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1kH4OMIOMc
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