New films from Jane Campion, Eva Orner, Wes Anderson and more are all coming to this year’s partly-back-in-cinemas program
The gods have looked favourably upon this year’s delayed
Sydney film festival, which kicks off (touch wood) on 3 November – less than a month after cinemas in the city reopen on 11 October. The peculiarities of the times have not resulted in a poorer program; in fact this year’s event includes the usual festival circuit titles (certified at places such as Cannes) in addition to high-profile releases that have been delayed due to Covid.
Running from November 3–14, with an adjacent online only component screening from November 12–21, the program will also likely benefit from a resurgence of interest in going to the cinema, following a prolonged period of closure for the majority of the state’s picture palaces. The line-up includes several titles I recommended that would have played at this year’s not-so-lucky Melbourne international film festival, which was forced to cancel its in-person events due to lockdowns.