The 73rd Sydney Film Festival has unveiled an initial slate of 13 films ahead of its full program reveal, offering an early look at what festivalgoers can expect when the event runs June 3–14 in the Australian city. The full lineup drops May 6.
Australian stories lead the local contingent. Selina Miles’ “Silenced” follows lawyer Jennifer Robinson and survivors including Brittany Higgins and Amber Heard, with defamation law and the #MeToo movement as its frame. Ian Darling AO, whose “The Final Quarter” screened at Sydney in 2019, returns with “In the Valley,” a portrait of rural life in Kangaroo Valley drawn from the rhythms and traditions of the community there.
Gus Van Sant’s “Dead Man’s Wire” brings Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery and Al Pacino to a recreation of a 1977 hostage standoff that played out live on American television. Documentary “Broken English” examines the life and legacy of Marianne Faithfull, with Tilda Swinton and George MacKay, from the makers of “20,000 Days on Earth,” which bowed at Sydney in 2014.
Two titles arrive fresh from major festival wins. İlker Çatak’s “Yellow Letters” took the Golden Bear in Berlin; it follows a family’s collapse after a minor act of defiance triggers authoritarian repercussions in Türkiye. Rafael Manuel’s debut feature “Filipiñana,” a Sundance award winner, tracks a teenage tee-girl at a Manila golf course whose gleaming surface conceals class violence beneath.
Ildikó Enyedi’s “Silent Friend,” winner of the Fipresci Prize at Venice’s 82nd edition, stars Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Léa Seydoux in a multigenerational drama anchored by a ginkgo tree. Ulrike Ottinger’s “The Blood Countess” gives Isabelle Huppert a vampire to play, scripted by Nobel laureate Elfriede Jelinek (“The Piano Teacher”). Pete Ohs’ “Erupcja” follows a Warsaw getaway that begins to unravel, with musician Charli xcx in a lead role.
Marwan Hamed’s “El Sett” brings a large-scale treatment to the life of Umm Kulthum, tracing the Egyptian singer’s rise to become the Arab world’s most celebrated voice. Damien Hauser’s “Memory of Princess Mumbi” imagines a future African kingdom caught between AI and tradition; Firouzeh Khosrovani’s “Past Future Continuous,” an IDFA winner, follows a woman who fled Iran reconnecting with her aging parents through cameras in their Tehran home. Tamra Davis’ “The Best Summer,” a Sundance world premiere, assembles archival footage from Australia’s 1995 Summersault tour, with Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and Foo Fighters among those captured.
“Prize winners from Berlinale and Sundance, an immersive world premiere from Australia, Isabelle Huppert as a vampire who’s as fabulous as they come, and more – we wanted to offer a glimpse of the distinctive voices from across the globe coming to SFF,” said festival director Nashen Moodley.
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