Proudly presented by The Japan Foundation Sydney, the Sydney festival starts on 23 October with the opening night film on feudal comedy WE’RE BROKE, MY LORD! from renowned director Tetsu Maeda, about egalitarian dreams foiled by an unexpected inheritance.
A festival highlight is the young romance film WE MADE A BEAUTIFUL BOUQUET, which explores the start and travails of a young couple as they balance their affections with the demands of society and work life. Written by Cannes winner Yūji Sakamoto (MONSTER), this moving romance will immerse you in the innocence and realities of young love.
For film fanatics, there is the biographical doco CITIZEN KATANO, which follows the life and career of filmmaker and actor Takeshi Kitano, more famous for his comedy such as the ever-popular TAKESHI’S CASTLE than his critically acclaimed films like the Golden Lion yakuza crime drama winner HANA-BI. It is a compelling study of a creative individual whose prolific output varies from mundane popular comedy to serious films exploring the Japanese psyche’s dark realities.
A combination historical biopic FATHER OF THE MILKY WAY RAILROAD chronicles the life of legendary poet and novelist Kenji Miyazawa, a beloved Japanese children’s author. A story of a wealthy father’s support for his son’s innovatively quirky approach to life as an artist and original thinker. The drama is quite moving in peering at Kenji’s struggles with his eccentric life choices and the unconditional support he still receives from his father.
A peek into Japan’s LGBTQIA+ community is highlighted in NATCHAN’S LITTLE SECRET, a bittersweet comedy road movie about three drag queens who attend the funeral of their closeted drag friend out in a remote country community in Japan. Their experience is an eye-opening insight into the gender-fluid traditions of the country and the people who are more tolerant and accepting than what the toned-down trio would have expected.
Aside from the new releases, JFF 2023 also takes a retrospective journey with its free JFF Special Series, celebrating the masterful works of filmmaker Kо̄ Nakahira, a pioneer of the international New Wave Movement in post-war Japanese cinema, whose visionary imagination and genre-defying masterpieces left a lasting mark in Japanese cinema. Nakahira’s prolific twenty-year career experimented across narrative styles and cinematic formats, producing over forty features during the 50s and 60s.
The program of events in all five major cities are:
Canberra 30 September – 15 October
Opening Reception: 11 October at Palace Electric
Latest Releases: 11-15 October at Palace Electric
Special Series: 30 Sept-1 Oct at NFSA
Perth 16-22 October
Opening Reception: 16 October at Palace Raine Square
Latest Releases: 16-22 October at Palace Raine Square
Brisbane 6-22 October
Opening Reception: 18 October at Palace Barracks
Latest Releases: 18-22 October at Palace Barracks
Special Series: 6-7-8 & 11 October at QAGOMA
Melbourne 23 October – 5 November
Opening Reception: 23 October at The Kino
Latest Releases: 23-29 October at The Kino, Palace Balwyn
Special Series: 2-5 November at ACMI
Sydney 23-31 October
Opening Reception: 26 October at Palace Norton Street
Latest Releases: 26-31 October at Palace Central, Palace Norton Street, Palace Verona
Special Series: 23-25 October at The Chauvel
The Oscars are here again, and it has been quite a competitive year, with many deserving hopefuls vying only for five nominee slots in each major category. Even the much-coveted Best Picture award has a healthy set of nine nominees, above the usual eight films, nearing its limit of ten slots.
Here are my favourites at the Sydney Film Festival so far. Watch out for them when they get a mainstream release.
