Fight away the winter blues with the MIFF: a binge of special film events, local Australian films, world cinema, retrospectives, documentaries and discussions.
The Melbourne International Film Festival has just begun, and there’s plenty of exciting cinematic treats still in store. Whether you’re holidaying in The Garden State this month or are a proud Melburnian, don’t miss out on the chance to witness the festival’s best bits.
Jeff Goldblum Marathon
Just when you thought they couldn’t top last year’s Nicolas Cage marathon, the Festival has leveled up. This year the MIFF is serving us 12 straight hours of back-to-back Jeff Goldblum goodness! The list includes Independence Day, The Fly and camp classic Earth Girls are Easy.
The films screening, in order:
1. Vibes(35mm)
2. Thor: Ragnarok
3. The Tall Guy
4. The Fly
5. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
6. Earth Girls Are Easy (35mm)
7. Independence Day
Check it out at 11:30pm on Friday August 9.
Little Monsters
Oscar-winning actor Lupita Nyong’o shines as a zombie-slaying kindergarten teacher in Abe Forsythe’s side-splitting Australian zom-com.
On a day trip to Pleasant Valley Farm with her class of five-year-olds, the US military base next door accidentally unleashes a zombie horde. Little Monsters is a horror comedy to remember.
Screen Daily said:
“For all of its shots of zombies feeding on human entrails, this film has a big, beating sentimental heart at its core.”
Playing as a part of MIFF’s Centrepiece Gala, the ticket price includes the Australian Premiere screening of Little Monsters, as well as entry to the exclusive 18+ Gala after party.
See it at one of two concurrent screenings on Saturday August 10.
Matthias & Maxime
French-Canadian director Xavier Dolan tells the funny and heartfelt love story of two childhood friends investigating their feelings for each other.
Best friends since they were children, straight Matthias and queer Maxime remain close as they walk down very different life paths.
One caring for his mother, and the other climbing the corporate law ladder, tensions and emotions are unleashed after a play-acting kiss proves to be more than just fun.
The Guardian said of the film,
“The feelings involved are increasingly real and deeply felt. There is such tenderness and gentleness in this film.”
Catch the final screening on Monday August 12.
The Nightingale
Jennifer Kent’s much-anticipated follow-up to The Babadook is a brutal depiction of colonial Tasmania and headlines at this year’s MIFF.
Screen Anarchy said,
“The Nightingale is not a film that has been made so that people can feel comfortable … [but] the intense feelings of distaste and horror that Kent so skillfully builds is absolutely the point.”
After deportation to Van Diemen’s Land, Irish Convict Clare encounters the nightmare rule of a sadistic lieutenant. Clare sets her mind to revenge with the help of Billy, an Aboriginal tracker.
Game of Thrones’ Aisling Franciosi and emerging actor Baykali Ganambarr star in the film, which is a timely critique of white, male violence and supremacy.
See The Nightingale on Wednesday August 14.
La Flor
If marathons are your thing, the MIFF has got you covered.
Settle in for 14 hours of storytelling from Argentinian director Mariano Llinás, as he takes his cinematic experimentation to unrivaled places.
Across six separate parts, La flor traverses languages and genres to build an engaging, singular work. From satirical mockumentary, 80s spy thriller, B-grade mummy horror, and musical melodrama, La flor remains absolutely entertaining across all of its 807 minutes.
Cinema Scope said,
“La flor is above all a film about the art of storytelling itself, its lineage and its ongoing utility … a creative experiment in rethinking, on a moment-by-moment basis, the nature and capacity of storytelling in a contemporary context.”
La flor Part 1 will screen on Friday August 16.
The Farewell
Fittingly-titled, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, will premiere as part of MIFF’s Closing Night Gala.
The Sundance hit chronicles a Chinese-American woman reuniting with her family to farewell her dying grandmother. However, she’s torn by her extended family keeping the news of her terminal cancer from her Grandma.
The film dramatises a true, autobiographical story.
Vanity Fair called The Farewell,
“An amusingly high-concept setup for a movie and an achingly sad one, a duality that Wang brilliantly maneuvers. The premise is never played for broad or easy laughs, and The Farewell finds much grace in that precision.”
Catch The Closing Night Gala on Saturday August 17.
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