71st Sydney Film Festival

The 71st annual Sydney Film Festival was held from 5 to 16 June 2024.^[1] The festival opened with Paul Clarke's documentary film Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line,^[2] and closed with Coralie Fargeat's horror film The Substance.^[3]

71st Sydney Film Festival

Opening film	Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line by Paul Clarke
Closing film	The Substance by Coralie Fargeat
Location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Founded	1954
No. of films	197
Festival date	5–16 June 2024
Website	sff.org.au

Overall the festival screened 197 films, including 28 world premieres and 133 Australian premieres.^[4]

Juries

The Sydney Film Prize jury was headed by Bosnian filmmaker Danis Tanović.^[5]

Official Selection

In competition

The following films were selected for the main international competition:

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
All We Imagine as Light		Payal Kapadia	France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Dying	Sterben	Matthias Glasner	Germany
Grand Tour		Miguel Gomes	Portugal, France, Italy
Kinds of Kindness		Yorgos Lanthimos	Ireland, United Kingdom, United States
Kneecap		Rich Peppiatt	Ireland, United Kingdom
Marcello Mio		Christophe Honoré	France, Italy
Midnight Oil: The Hardest Line		Paul Clarke	Australia
Puan		María Alché, Benjamín Naishtat	Argentina, Italy, France, Germany, Brazil
September Says		Ariane Labed	France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, United Kingdom
Sujo		Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez	Mexico, United States, France
There's Still Tomorrow	C'è ancora domani	Paola Cortellesi	Italy
Viet and Nam	Trong lòng đất	Minh Quý Trương	Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore, France, Netherlands

Highlighted title indicates Sydney Film Prize winner.

Special Presentations

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Bikeriders		Jeff Nichols	United States
The Convert		Lee Tamahori	Australia, New Zealand
Dahomey		Mati Diop	France, Senegal, Benin
The Dead Don't Hurt		Viggo Mortensen	Canada, Denmark, Mexico
Despicable Me 4		Chris Renaud	United States
A Different Man		Aaron Schimberg	United States
Green Border	Zielona granica	Agnieszka Holland	Poland, Czechia, France, Belgium
Kid Snow		Paul Goldman	Australia
Lee		Ellen Kuras	United Kingdom
The Monk and the Gun		Pawo Choyning Dorji	Bhutan, Taiwan, France, United States, Hong Kong
My Old Ass		Megan Park	United States
The Outrun		Nora Fingscheidt	United Kingdom, Germany
The Pool		Ian Darling	Australia
Porcelain War		Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev	United States, Ukraine, Australia
Touch	Snerting	Baltasar Kormákur	Iceland, United Kingdom

Documentary Australia Award

English title	Original title	Director(s)
Aquarius		Wendy Champagne
The Blind Sea		Daniel Fenech
Dale Frank: Nobody's Sweetie		Jenny Hicks
Every Little Thing		Sally Aitken
Mozart's Sister		Madeleine Hetherton-Miau
Otto by Otto		Gracie Otto
Skategoat		Van Alpert
Welcome to Babel		James Bradley
Welcome to Yiddishland		Ros Horin
You Should Have Been Here Yesterday		Jolyon Hoff

Features

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
About Dry Grasses	Kuru Otlar Üstüne	Nuri Bilge Ceylan	Turkey, France, Germany, Sweden
Achilles		Farhad Delaram	Iran, Germany, France
Alienoid	Oegye+in 1bu	Choi Dong-hoon	South Korea
Alienoid: Return to the Future	Euigye+in 2-bu	Choi Dong-hoon	South Korea
All Shall Be Well	從今以後	Ray Yeung	Hong Kong
Armand		Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel	Norway, Netherlands, Germany, Sweden
Brief History of a Family	家庭简史	Lin Jianjie	China, Denmark
City of Wind	Сэр сэр салхи	Lkhagvadulam Purev-Ochir	France, Mongolia, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Qatar
Cottontail		Patrick Dickinson	United Kingdom, Japan
Crossing		Levan Akin	Sweden, Denmark, France, Turkey, Georgia
Daddio		Christy Hall	United States
Death of a Whistleblower		Ian Gabriel	South Africa
Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World	Nu aștepta prea mult de la sfârșitul lumii	Radu Jude	Romania
Eephus		Carson Lund	United States
Essential Truths of the Lake		Lav Diaz	Philippines
Explanation for Everything	Magyarázat mindenre	Gábor Reisz	Hungary, Slovakia
Ezra		Tony Goldwyn	United States
Flathead		Jaydon Martin	Australia
Ghostlight		Kelly O'Sullivan, Alex Thompson	United States
He Ain't Heavy		David Vincent Smith	Australia
Hesitation Wound	Tereddüt Çizgisi	Selman Nacar	Turkey, Spain, Romania, France
House of the Seasons		Oh Jung-min	South Korea
I Saw the TV Glow		Jane Schoenbrun	United States
In Vitro		Will Howarth, Tom McKeith	Australia
Kneecap		Rich Peppiatt	Ireland, United Kingdom
La cocina		Alonso Ruizpalacios	Mexico, United States
Memory		Michel Franco	United States
The Moon Is Upside Down		Loren Horsley	New Zealand
More Than Strangers		Sylvie Michel	Greece, Germany
Motel Destino		Karim Aïnouz	Brazil, France, Germany
My New Friends	Les gens d’à côté	André Téchiné	France
My Sunshine	ぼくのお日さま	Hiroshi Okuyama	Japan
One Second Ahead, One Second Behind		Nobuhiro Yamashita	Japan
Paradise		Prasanna Vithanage	Sri Lanka, India
Pepe		Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias	Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France
Problemista		Julio Torres	United States
Rapture		Dominic M. Sangma	India
The Rye Horn	O Corno	Jaione Camborda	Spain, Portugal, Belgium
Sasquatch Sunset		David Zellner, Nathan Zellner	United States
Sex		Dag Johan Haugerud	Norway
Shambhala		Min Bahadur Bham	Nepal, France, Norway, Hong Kong, China, Turkey, United States, Qatar, Taiwan
Something Like an Autobiography		Mostofa Sarwar Farooki	Bangladesh
Stress Positions		Theda Hammel	United States
Thelma		Josh Margolin	United States
Toll	Pedágio	Carolina Markowicz	Brazil, Portugal
Unicorns		Sally El Hosaini, James Krishna Floyd	United Kingdom, United States, Sweden
Veni Vidi Vici		Daniel Hoesl, Julia Niemann	Austria
Woman Of...	Kobieta z...	Małgorzata Szumowska, Michał Englert	Poland, Sweden

International Documentaries

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Agent of Happiness		Arun Bhattarai, Dorottya Zurbó	Hungary, Bhutan
Among the Wolves		Tanguy Dumortier, Olivier Larrey	France, Belgium
Architecton		Viktor Kossakovsky	Germany, France, United States
Balomania		Sissel Dargis Morell	Denmark, Spain
The Battle for Laikipia		Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi	Kenya, United States, Greece
Black Box Diaries		Shiori Itō	United States, United Kingdom, Japan
Black Snow		Alina Simone	Denmark, United States
The Bones		Jeremy Xido	Canada, Germany
The Cats of Gogoku Shrine		Kazuhiro Soda	Japan, United States
Charmian Clift: Life Burns High		Rachel Lane	Australia
The Contestant		Clair Titley	United Kingdom
Copa 71		Rachel Ramsay, James Erskine	United States
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found		Raoul Peck	United States, France
Federer: Twelve Final Days		Asif Kapadia, Joe Sabia	United Kingdom
The Flats		Alessandra Celesia	France
Flickering Lights		Anupama Srinivasan, Anirban Dutta	India
The Home Game	Heimaleikurinn	Smari Gunn, Logi Sigursveinsson	Iceland
A Horse Named Winx		Janine Hosking	Australia
Ibelin		Benjamin Ree	Norway
In the Rearview	Skąd dokąd	Maciek Hamela	Poland, France, Ukraine
Life Is Beautiful	Al Haya Helwa	Mohamed Jabaly	Norway, Palestine
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger		David Hinton	United Kingdom, United States
Menus-Plaisirs – Les Troisgros		Frederick Wiseman	France
My Stolen Planet		Farahnaz Sharifi	Germany, Iran
A New Kind of Wilderness		Silje Evensmo Jacobsen	Norway
No Other Land		Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor	Palestine, Norway
Nocturnes		Anirban Dutta, Anupama Srinivasan	India, United States
Occupied City		Steve McQueen	United Kingdom, Netherlands, United States
Rewards for the Tribe		Rhys Graham	Australia
Skywalkers: A Love Story		Jeff Zimbalist, >Maria Bukhonina	United States
Sugarcane		Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie	United States, Canada
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story		Ian Bonhôte, Peter Ettedgui	United Kingdom, United States
Wilding		David Allen	United Kingdom

Late Announce

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Black Dog	狗阵	Guan Hu	China
Caught by the Tides	风流一代	Jia Zhangke	China
Ernest Cole: Lost and Found		Raoul Peck	United States, France
Ghost Trail	Les Fantômes	Jonathan Millet	France, Germany, Belgium
The Girl with the Needle	Pigen med nålen	Magnus von Horn	Denmark, Poland, Sweden
Megalopolis		Francis Ford Coppola	United States
Rumours		Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Galen Johnson	Canada, Germany
The Seed of the Sacred Fig	دانه انجیر مقدس	Mohammad Rasoulof	Iran, Germany, France
The Substance		Coralie Fargeat	United Kingdom, United States, France

Freak Me Out

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Cuckoo		Tilman Singer	Germany, United States
Hear My Eyes: Hellraiser		Clive Barker	United Kingdom, United States
Hunting Daze	Jour de chasse	Annick Blanc	Canada
KILL		Nikhil Nagesh Bhat	India
The Moogai		Jon Bell	Australia
The Paragon		Michael Duignan	New Zealand
She Loved Blossoms More		Yannis Veslemes	Greece, France
Wake Up		RKSS	Canada, France

First Nations

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Convert		Lee Tamahori	Australia, New Zealand
Ellogierdu: The Tundra Within Me		Sara Margrethe Oskal	Norway
Je'vida		Katja Gauriloff	Finland
Ka Whawhai Tonu		Michael Jonathan	New Zealand
The Moogai		Jon Bell	Australia
The Mountain		Rachel House	New Zealand
We Were Dangerous		Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu	New Zealand, United States

Sustainable Future

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Battle for Laikipia		Daphne Matziaraki, Peter Murimi	Kenya, United States, Greece
Black Snow		Alina Simone	Denmark, United States
The Feast		Rishi Chandna	India
Grove of Giants		Bree Sanders	Australia
The Waiting		Volker Schlecht	Germany
Wilding		David Allen	United Kingdom

Europe! Voices of Women in Film

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Afterwar		Birgitte Stærmose	Denmark
Excursion	Ekskurzija	Una Gunjak	Bosnia
Immortals		Maja Tschumi	Switzerland, Iraq
Je'vida		Katja Gauriloff	Finland
The Lost Children		Michèle Jacob	Belgium
A Postcard from Rome		Elza Gauja	Latvia

Sounds on Screen

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Blur: To the End		Toby L	United Kingdom
Head South		Jonathan Ogilvie	New Zealand
Resonance		Kate Vinen, Jayden Rathsam Hua	Australia

Family

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
200% Wolf		Alexs Stadermann	Australia
Despicable Me 4		Chris Renaud	United States
It's Okay!	괜찮아 괜찮아 괜찮아!	Kim Hye-young	South Korea
The Mountain		Rachel House	New Zealand
My Freaky Family		Mark Gravas	Australia, Ireland
The Sloth Lane		Tania Vincent, Ricard Cussó	Australia

Nancy Savoca Retrospective

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Bad Timing		Nancy Savoca	United States
Dogfight
Household Saints
Renata
True Love

Ousmane Sembene Retrospective

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Black Girl	La noire de...	Ousmane Sembène	Senegal
Borom Sarret
Camp de Thiaroye
Ceddo
Emitaï
Guelwaar
Mandabi
Moolaadé
Niaye
Tauw
Xala

Classics Restored

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Cars That Ate Paris		Peter Weir	Australia
Mississippi Masala		Mira Nair	United States
Peeping Tom		Michael Powell	United States
Rabbit-Proof Fence		Phillip Noyce	Australia
Ten Canoes		Rolf de Heer, Peter Djigirr	Australia

FLUX

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
The Ballad of Suzanne Cesaire		Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich	United States
Conspiracy		Madeleine Hunt-Ehrlich, Simone Leigh	United States
The Soldier's Lagoon	La Laguna del Soldado	Pablo Álvarez Mesa	Canada
Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat		Johan Grimonprez	Belgium

Screenability

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Good Bad Things		Shane D. Stranger	United States
Rehabilitating		Inez Playford	Australia
The Ride Ahead		Samuel Habib, Dan Habib	United States
The Stimming Pool		Benjamin Brown, Georgia Bradburn, Sam Chown-Ahern, Robin Elliott-Knowles, Lucy Walker, Steven Eastwood	United Kingdom
Threshold		Sofya Gollan	Australia
Unstoppable		Jack Byrnes, Marcus Porcaro	Australia

Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Alone		Alex Weight	Australia
Besharam!		Raghav Rampal
Bong Xi Fa Cai		Johnathan Lo
Darwin Story		Natasha Tonkin
Die Bully Die		Nathan Lacey, Nick Lacey
The Disconnected		Pia Derya
The Gay		Madeleine Purdy
The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste		Pernell Marsden
Say		Chloe Kemp
This Will Never Last		Julia van Oppen, Katrina Lin, Holly May Fletcher

Shorts airing with features

English title	Original title	Director(s)	Production country
Dancer		Nomin Gantulga	Australia, Mongolia
Dream Creep		Carlos A.F. Lopez	United States
Earwax		Jasper Martin	Australia
The Feast		Rishi Chandna	India
First Horse		Awanui Simich-Pene	New Zealand
Grove of Giants		Bree Sanders	Australia
It Will Find You		Chris Broadbent, Enzo Tedeschi	Australia
Lullaby		Chi Thai	United Kingdom
Meat Puppet		Eros V	United Kingdom
Mother Tongue	Lea Tupu'anga	Vea Mafile'o	New Zealand
Of the Last Reel in Front of You		Yan Geng	Australia
Rehabilitating		Inez Playford	Australia
Tayal Forest Club		Laha Mebow	Taiwan
Threshold		Sofya Gollan	Australia
Transylvanie		Rodrigue Huart	France
Unstoppable		Jack Byrnes, Marcus Porcaro	Australia
The Waiting		Volker Schlecht	Germany
Withered Blossoms		Lionel Seah	Australia

Awards

The following awards were presented at the festival:

• Sydney Film Prize: There's Still Tomorrow (C'è ancora domani) — Paola Cortellesi^[6]
• Documentary Australia Award for Australian Documentary: Welcome to Babel — James Bradley^[6]
• Sustainable Future Award: Black Snow — Alina Simone^[6]
• First Nations Award: First Horse — Awanui Simich-Pene^[6]
• Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films
  • Dendy Live Action Short Award: Die Bully Die — Nathan Lacey, Nick Lacey^[6]
  • The Rouben Mamoulian Award: The Meaningless Daydreams of Augie & Celeste — Pernell Marsden^[6]
  • Yoram Gross Animation Award: Darwin Story — Natasha Tonkin^[6]
  • AFTRS Craft Award: Say — Chloe Kemp^[6]
  • Event Cinemas Rising Talent Award: Bridget Morrison, Say^[6]
• Sydney UNESCO City of Film Award: Debbie Lee^[6]
• GIO Audience Awards
  • Best Australian Narrative Feature: The Moogai — Jon Bell^[7]
  • Best Australian Narrative Feature, Runner Up: In Vitro — Will Howarth, Tom McKeith^[7]
  • Best Australian Documentary: Skategoat — Van Alpert^[7]
  • Best Australian Documentary, Runner Up: Every Little Thing — Sally Aitken^[7]
  • Best International Feature: The Seed of the Sacred Fig — Mohammad Rasoulof^[7]
  • Best International Feature, Runner Up: Kneecap — Rich Peppiatt^[7]
  • Best International Documentary: The Home Game (Heimaleikurinn) — Smari Gunn, Logi Sigursveinsson^[7]
  • Best International Documentary, Runner Up: Porcelain War — Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev^[7]