It’s that time of year again where the portable fans are put into storage and the heaters are brought out and dusted off.
Winter, cold weather, short days, long nights, fog, rain, coats and scarves are all upon us. The long night is nigh.
But that’s no reason to fret, pals! It just means the indoor festivals are starting to ramp up. And few on the calendar are bigger than the sprawling, magnificent Melbourne International Film Festival, which has today dropped its first tease of its 2015 iteration – the 64th MIFF overall. And they’ve already rolled out some big names.
Fresh off of winning the highly coveted Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, US drama Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is headed our way this year. Described as being “the Citizen Kane of teen cancer tearjerkers,” it’s a funny, pop-culture obsessed, and hugely bittersweet tale about young love and the importance of relationships, with a cast that boasts Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, and Molly Shannon.
Keeping on the slightly romantic side of things, Computer Chess director Andrew Bujalski is bringing his latest effort Results out to Melbourne, which follows a group of middle aged Texan personal trainers that includes the likes of Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, and Kevin Corrigan.
Winner of the prestigious Golden Bear award at the Berlin Film Festival, Tehran Taxi is Jafar Panahi‘s third film shot in his native Iran, despite being banned from filmmaking by the Government and *technically* being placed under house arrest. The film – essentially smuggled out of the country upon its completion – features Panahi undercover as a taxi driver, filming a series of taxi cab confessions with the people of Iran he drives around. A unique, light-hearted, look at Iranian society that blurs the lines between reality and fiction.
One of Australia’s most beloved books and plays, Holding The Man is making its way to the big screen for the first time, and will have its global unveiling at MIFF 2015. Adapted from Timothy Conigrave‘s highly acclaimed 1995 book, the film version sees Ryan Corr step into the shoes of Conigrave as it charts his longing for Craig Stott as John Caleo – the captain of his high school football team. Directed by Neil Armfield (Candy) and also starring Guy Pearce, Anthony LaPaglia, Sarah Snook, and Kerry Fox, this is about as must-see as it gets.
One of the most talked about documentaries of the year, 3 1/2 Minutes, Ten Bullets chronicles the events that went from middle-aged white man Michael Dunn complaining the “thug music” blaring from a car, to him shooting dead unarmed 17 year-old black man Jordan Davis. It’s a riveting and explosive look at the perceived double-standards of racial perception in the American legal system, and casts a magnifying glass over Florida’s exceptionally controversial “Stand Your Ground” laws.
There’s more. Boy howdy, is there ever more. And you can wrap your film-loving eyes and ears around all the vital details over at the MIFF First Glance page.
The 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival runs from July 30th until August 16th at cinemas across the Melbourne CBD.
The full program drops on Tuesday, July 7th.
