When it came time to consider the curation approach for this year's Sydney Film Festival Selects collection, SFF Festival Director Nashen Moodley decided not to overthink it. In perusing the list of past SFF favourites that have since made their way to SBS On Demand, his "shortlist" was 60 films, before he stopped himself.
"I thought, 'You know what? Let me just choose 10 great films'," he reflects. "I'll select 10 wonderfully entertaining, fantastic films that have been part of the festival before. It will give viewers an idea of what they'll find at the festival. They’re 10 films that if I could have them all in any single year at a festival, I'd be just so utterly delighted."
With the selling fast, look back at some of the films that have helped to make each year's event the hottest ticket in town.
The Host
2006, Korean
Director: Bong Joon-ho
"This is one of my favourite films. It's always one of my favourites because of Director Bong Joon-ho. He's been at the festival a number of times and of course he came with Parasite in 2019. I would hope that by now everyone has seen The Host, but is not, I think they should. He makes these films that, in a single movie, do so, so much: they’re funny and they’re serious. They're political and they're scary, emotional and moving. And I think The Host is an example of what he can do in a very elaborate way: in the monster movie. It's still very political, it's still very funny, and I think it's just incredible".
Joyland
2022, Panjabi, Urdu
Director: Saim Sadiq
"We screened Joyland at the festival just recently and I think it came as such a surprise. This one was in Cannes, of course, and we showed it just after Cannes. I think we were probably one of the first places in the world to screen after Cannes. And, you know, we don't see very many films from Pakistan at all. It's not something you come across, at festivals even. It is such a sweet and wonderful film, and in many ways it's, it depicts a difficult relationship that is such a beautiful relationship, in a society that's not open to such a relationship. Of course, things might well go to some bad places, but I think this film really captures beautiful tenderness and a lovely, unexpected romance. I think should be very widely seen."
Stream free On Demand
Joyland
drama • 2022
drama • 2022
Manmarziyan
2018, Hindi
Director: Anurag Kashyap
"Anurag Kashyap was the president of the Sydney Film Festival jury last year. Anurag's made so many things! He's always working on so many things. Whenever I see him, he's working on a couple of films, he's working on a couple of TV series, he starring in a couple of films, he's writing something, he's also producing something.
This is one of his films that I truly love, and it's so different from what he usually does, which may be why it stands out. Usually, his films are quite dark, they are gritty and about the underworld, gangs and violence and serial killers. And this is a romance.
It's the closest he's come to making a Bollywood musical. It's a love story. But it's edgy. I think it's within that world, within that context, but it's edgy in the way it looks at the ideas of, pre-marital sex, of young women having free will and doing what they want, not just following this family line. And, so I think the film is quite revolutionary in its way, working with that model. I asked him about the film and said, 'Is it some way ahead of its time?' He said, 'No, it's not. It's actually the film is of this time all other films are behind the times. They depict this kind of a fake idea of reality, whereas this film is far more, more realistic about contemporary relationships'. I love the music in the film. I just think it's a very moving, wonderful film. I watch it quite often whenever I come across across it on a plane or something, I love it so much."
*Hurry, only available for a limited time at SBS On Demand
The Player
1992, English
Director: Robert Altman
"We screened this before my time at the festival, but people would probably have worked that out. Robert Altman’s fantastic film about the film business is, of course, very biting. It's very satirical and features wonderful performances. It's really so much fun, so beautifully made. Sydney Film Festival screened it back in the day, when it came out, but we screened it again as part of a big Robert Altman retrospective, more recently. I think for anyone who hasn't seen it and even for people who have seen it, it's just a joy to watch it again."
Stream free On Demand
The Player
comedy • 1992
comedy • 1992
Another Round
2020, Danish
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
The film begins as a story about teachers who are a little disillusioned with life, who come upon a theory: that the humans function, on less of an alcohol blood content than they should, that what would be optimal would be a bit more, not a lot more, but a bit more. So the experimentation begins! Initially have a wonderful time being more productive, just having a great life. But of course, as that 'bit more' becomes more and more, things go off the rails, but I think what centres the film is the fantastic performances. Mads Mikkelsen, in the final scene, I think creates one of the most wonderful scenes you'll ever see in the cinema. And he was a professional dancer. I did an interview with him, on stage in Marrakesh Festival last year, and, we spoke about that scene. When I saw this film on your list, I thought, 'Yes! This should be this should be one the 10'."
Quo Vadis, Aida?
2020, Bosnian, Serbian, English, Dutch, Croatian
Director: Jasmila Zbanic
"This is really an incredibly powerful film. We've shown a number of films from the region, over the years, and when you look at the cinema that's coming out of that region, it's truly incredible. There's such a range of films, from comedies to intense dramas, all looking at this period of history that is so dark and, so horrific. You see countries grappling with this fairly recent horrific past in such an intelligent, powerful way.
It's such an important example of the way that cinema and art can help people and nations process traumatic histories and how important that is. And Quo Vadis Aida is truly an incredibly powerful film, one that works like a thriller. It's made like a thriller in a way. Except the reality is the consequences are so horrific."
Samson & Delilah
2009, English
Director: Warwick Thornton
"Warwick! Yes. We love Warwick and we had The New Boy opening the festival last year. It was really a big deal for us. We had beautiful screenings and it just made me recall when I was looking to create this list that, Samson & Delilah is such an utterly surprising, incredible film that had such an impact in this country and around the world. When you when you think about the number of people who saw that film, and the impact it had on the world: it's so many people! This is a film in which the characters barely speak. There is very little dialogue in the film and it goes into some very, very dark territory, but at the same time, it's a love story, and it really connected with audiences, not just in Australia, but everywhere. When I see it on a list, it's hard for me to move past this film. I think back to when I first saw it: I lived in South Africa at the time, and when I first saw it, I was just utterly taken with it. I thought it was just a masterpiece. I saw it in Cannes, and I went and found Warwick Thornton to speak to him about it. So it had to be in this collection, of course!"
Stream free On Demand
Samson & Delilah
drama • romance • 2009
drama • romance • 2009
Timbuktu
2014, French, Arabic, Bambara, English
Director: Abderrahmane Sissako
"Timbuktu is by the great African filmmaker, Abderrahmane Sissako. He's just a very important filmmaker to me. He is one of my heroes and I love his cinema. He really creates incredibly complex works about various African nations, and about our connections to the world. He has such a really incredible visual sense. That's unique.
Timbuktu is a film we showed at the festival a while ago, maybe ten years ago, I think, and I was happy to see it in the SBS On Demand catalogue. I feel pretty certain it's a film that many people have not seen, and one that they absolutely should see."
Stream free On Demand
Timbuktu
drama • 2014
drama • 2014
Titane
2021, French
Director: Juia Ducournau
Julia Ducournau's Palme d'Or winner (in)famously had SFF's audiences fainting in the aisles when it screened. Or so the story went.
"Ha, maybe some of that was a bit sensational," sayd Moodly, "but I think a lot of people were really shocked by this film. And I think that's what you encounter at film festivals, so looking at this list and coming up with the 10, I wanted to to to give the viewers an idea of what happens at the film festival: What do you typically at the festival in any year? Honestly, it's just this crazy mix of stuff! Some things are utterly wild and will shock you, and really challenge you. Things that you might absolutely hate or love. And Titane is one of those films that just has such a propulsive energy about it. It's really doesn't hold back at any moment. It's full throttle all the way. It's quite a work of art and, of course it's not for everyone. But just give it a go."
The Worst Person In The World
2021, Norwegian
Director: Joachim Trier
We have a couple of films with (the film's star) Renate Reinsve in the festival this year (Armand, direct from Cannes, and A Different Man). I think The Worst Person in the World is such a delightful film. It's romantic and it's funny and it's true in the way it understand people, our flaws and how we all make mistakes and try to do our best to forge our way in the world. The film came out during Covid and I think Renate was very rightly recognised as this amazing discovery [including via an Oscar nomination]. She's in loads of films at the moment, but I don't know that enough people actually saw the film at the time. It's a wonderful film. I think people will love it if they see it, so I'm hopeful that this will provide another opportunity.
Stream free On Demand
The Worst Person in the World
comedy • drama • 2021
comedy • drama • 2021
The 71st Sydney Film Festival runs from 5 - 16 June. The Sydney Film Festival Selects retrospective collection at SBS On Demand is now streaming.
