Now in its 69^th year, the Sydney Film Festival (SFF) is one of the world’s longest running, and a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar.

“The world’s best, strangest and most exciting cinema comes to Sydney”, is the promise. Along with such international ambition, its spirit is proudly local: “We acknowledge Australia’s First Nations People as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of the land and pay respect to the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, upon whose Country SFF are based. We honor the storytelling and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across Australia.”

This year SFF runs from June 8-19, with 12 movies in the official competition. Although the festival launched in 1954, the “Sydney Film Prize” has been awarded only since 2008. In those thirteen years, two of the winners subsequently of Golden Globes in the Best Foreign Language Film category, A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011), and Parasite (Bong Joon Ho, 2019).

The internationally recognized Official Competition’s 2022 jury members are: actor/director David Wenham (Australia), who will also be Jury President; BAFTA-nominated writer and director Jennifer Peedom (Australia); writer-director-producer Mostofa Sarwar Farooki (Bangladesh), Berlin Golden Bear-winning writer-director-producer Semih Kaplanoğlu (Turkey); and the Executive Director of the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute, Yuka Sakano (Japan).

“The 2022 jury is made up of five Australian and international film professionals of exceptional stature and vision,” said Moodley. “The Official Competition features some of the most innovative and extraordinary films and filmmakers in the world right now, so the jury has some tough calls to make!”

The 12 films in official competition are (in alphabetical order):

Alcarràs (Spain, Italy)

The land and livelihood of a Catalonian farming family is threatened in Carla Simón’s drama about changing times. Golden Bear (Best Film), Berlinale 2022.

 

Before, Now & Then (Indonesia)

Kamila Andini’s beguiling period drama chronicles an unlikely female friendship against the backdrop of Indonesia in political turmoil (1940s to 1960s).

 

Blaze (Australia)

Australian artist Del Kathryn Barton makes her feature debut combining live-action, puppetry and animation. Starring Simon Baker, Yael Stone and Julia Savage.

 

Burning Days (Turkey)

From Cannes 2022 (Un Certain Regard). Emin Alper’s riveting political thriller revolves around a prosecutor who moves to a small Turkish town and is embroiled in a political scandal.

 

Close (Belgium)

Winner Grand Prix at Cannes 2022, the new film from Lukas Dhont is an examination of an intense teen friendship torn asunder.

 

Fire of Love (USA, Canada)

The true story of a pair of unconventional French scientists with two obsessions: each other, and volcanoes. Directed by Sara Dosa, narrated by Miranda July. Award winner Sundance 2022.

 

Godland (Denmark)

Direct from Cannes 2022 (Un Certain Regard), award-winning Icelandic filmmaker Hlynur Pálmason’s new film is a historical drama inspired by true events. It’s both a love and a hate letter to Iceland and the country that colonized it, Denmark.

 

Return to Seoul (France, Belgium, Germany)

From Cannes 2022 (Un Certain Regard), Davy Chou’s film follows a young French woman’s quest to discover her Korean roots.

 

The Box (Mexico, USA)

Award-winning Venezuelan director Lorenzo Vigas delivers a drama about a Mexican teen’s search for his long-lost father and a poignant look at the struggles of migrant workers. Vigas was the first Latin American to win the Golden Lion at the 72nd Venice International Film Festival for his 2015 debut film Desde Allá (From Afar).

 

The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

A coming-of-age story. A girl is sent away from her dysfunctional family to live with foster parents. She blossoms, but in a house where there were meant to be no secrets, she discovers one painful truth.

 

Utama (Bolivia, France, Uruguay)

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2022, Utama is a love story about an elderly Quechea couple in the Bolivian highlands fighting to preserve their way of life.

 

You Won’t Be Alone (Australia)

Goran Stolevski’s debut, starring Noomi Rapace, is a visually spectacular supernatural tale about a young shape-shifting witch trying to understand what it means to be human.