SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2018

The Sydney Film Festival shines a light on the best Australian and foreign cinema when it hits Sydney's big screens from the 6th to the 17th June 2018.

The SWITCH team have done some of the hard work and checked out the best of this year's offerings. Take a look through our reviews below, and check back regularly as we add more throughout the festival.

SYDNEY FILM FESTIVAL 2018

First films of this year's festival announced

Today, the first wave of films have been announced for this year's calendar, so SWITCH is excited to check out the first 26 films on offer for SFF 2018!

FOXTROT

An unpredictable drama that dances to its own beat

'Foxtrot' is emotionally tumultuous, and leaves you feeling battered. You'll be left wondering where the story is headed, as it moves from tragedy to humour and back again in the blink of an eye.

THE BREADWINNER

The power of storytelling and the human spirit

If you are looking for a heartfelt animated film that explores a foreign culture with surprising sensitivity and maturity, don't miss ‘The Breadwinner’ in cinemas.

THE BREAKER UPPERERS

Another soon-to-be New Zealand comedy classic

This is the low-budget indie darling you hope and expect it to be, and will surely become an instant classic, all while showing off New Zealand’s wickedly dry sense of humour and originality.

DISOBEDIENCE

An emotionally rich collision of faith and desire

What binds Ronit, Esti and Dovid’s stories together is less about betrayal or passion, but our duty to our parents, our partners, our community and our faith.

UPGRADE

Futurism and face-smashing action

‘Upgrade’, with its low budget, innovative mixtures of story and vision, and unabashed genre thrills and chills, manages to thrash out some of the metaphysics of the twenty-first century.

ROCKABUL

Changing minds through music

For District Unknown to have brought elation to its band members and young generations of Afghanis is revelatory. This is the story of people slowly changing minds through the power of creativity.

WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST

Punk's not dead

A truly inspirational and fascinating look into a style icon, this is the story of her life, and it is a fascinating life to witness.

GENESIS 2.0

The next age of man?

The duration of this documentary felt like more than its 112 minutes, and that’s a real shame. What should be the culmination of humanity and science falls very flat.

THE ICE KING

So much more than a champion figure skater

A great starting off point to learn more about John Curry, but it’s sadly not the be-all and end-all biography of this tragic yet beautiful life.

SAMUI SONG

A twisty, noir-ish exploration of female identity in Thailand

It's handsomely filmed and features fine performances from a well-selected cast, even though the characters aren’t given much obvious psychological depth by the script, and their motives remain fairly straightforward.

HARD PAINT

A colourful addition to cinema's queer comeback

It captures the isolation and loneness with its dark, ominous and vast yet isolated shots, and is magnified by newcomer Shico Menegat’s quiet, fresh and beautiful performance.

WRATH OF SILENCE

Action-filled mystery and scathing social critique

If you’re looking for a clever noir mystery with plenty of brawling, with a script that tears into China’s social fabric, keep your eyes and ears peeled for ‘Wrath of Silence’.

THE INSULT

A brilliant examination of the nature of conflict

Using masculine aggression as an allegory for escalating conflict, ‘The Insult’ raises interesting (and timely) questions that resonate well beyond the Middle East.

LEAVE NO TRACE

Overflowing with hope and compassion

Simultaneously haunting and yet overflowing with hope, this is a beautiful film, telling a story of a daughter and her father that speaks truths.

MIRAI

A magical journey through childhood

As family entertainment, ‘Mirai’ is a leap ahead of most other animated films in cinemas.

HEARTS BEAT LOUD

An incomplete medley

All the elements are there - the cast, the music, the story - it just doesn’t know what to do with them. There's a beautiful heart and loveable characters, but not much else.

THE FIELD GUIDE TO EVIL

An uneven assortment of international terrors

The quality of the film is nebulous, and difficult to trace into patterns and arcs: a horror-dream or a familiar nightmare composed of images you’ve never seen before but that feel strangely familiar.

A VIGILANTE

A timely blow to the throat of toxic masculinity

Intense, emotional, economically told yet fully-realised, 'A Vigilante' is a debut feature that signals the emergence of a brutally-skilled filmmaking talent in Sarah Daggar-Nickson.

JILL BILCOCK: DANCING THE INVISIBLE

A fascinating portrait of an Australian cinema icon

You’ll walk away with an insatiable desire to go back and watch all her great work again, with your new knowledge of her craft and philosophy, at how she conjures magic out of the marriage of images.

JILL BILCOCK: DANCING THE INVISIBLE

A fascinating portrait of an Australian cinema icon

You’ll walk away with an insatiable desire to go back and watch all her great work again, with your new knowledge of her craft and philosophy, at how she conjures magic out of the marriage of images.

THREE IDENTICAL STRANGERS

Triple the twists and turns

The story of these three men is remarkable and the film matches it, right until the last frame. It will have you hooked - it's simply unmissable.