A 14-hour documentary is coming to Sydney Film Festival 2025

• Sydney Film Festival has announced the first 17 titles that’ll run as part of its extensive program from Wednesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 15.
• Highlights include a 14-hour documentary on one of the most politically-charged art exhibitions in recent memory, and new Barry Keoghan film ‘Bring Me Down’.
• The full Sydney Film Festival lineup will be announced on Wednesday, May 7.
• READ MORE: These are new venues and features ushering in a new era of Sydney nightlife.

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival, which will run from Wednesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 15, has revealed the first 17 titles that’ll form part of its diverse program ahead of the full announcement in early May.

Hundreds of films will file into Sydney’s best cinemas, filling 12 days and nights with the best in global cinema, spanning all types of genres from indie animations and Grand Jury Prize winners to fascinating documentaries (one of which is 14 hours and 8 minutes long).

That eye-widening documentary is none other than the widely-discussed Exergue – on documenta 14, Dimitris Athiridis’s survey for one of the most politically charged art exhibitions in recent memory. The New York Times critic Alissa Wilkinson described the film as “a formidable survey of the challenges facing the contemporary art world as it wrestles with racism, colonialism, politics and power.”

Among other highlights is Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald’s documentary on John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s historic 1972 Madison Square Garden benefit concert, Australian buddy-comedy Fwends, Berlin Teddy Award-winning animated features Lesbian Space Princess, and Kate Blackmore’s Make It Look Real, a documentary following intimacy coordinator Claire Warden as she works behind the scenes on an Australian film production.

“The first look offers a cross-section of the bold storytelling and distinctive voices that can be found at this year’s festival,” said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley.

“From inventive new Australian work to major prize-winners from the international circuit, these films reflect the ingenuity and diversity of cinema today, and offer a glimpse of the rich and rewarding program to come.”

Here is a breakdown of all the films that have been announced so far and their respective synopsis.

What to see at Sydney Film Festival this year

The Blue Trail

Director: Gabriel Mascaro
Cast: Denise Weinberg, Rodrigo Santoro, Miriam Socarrás
Runtime: 86 minutes

“The near future. Having lived her 77 years in a small Brazilian town, Tereza (Denise Weinberg) receives a government order to relocate to a senior’s housing colony – a place from which no one has ever returned. But before agreeing, Tereza decides to fulfil a long-held dream to fly on a plane. Unable to buy a ticket but undeterred, she hitches a boat ride with skipper Cadu (Rodrigo Santoro, Love Actually), who introduces Tereza to the psychedelic use of a rare blue snail. Her journey through the Amazon’s rivers and tributaries becomes a mind- and destiny-altering one. With its stunning imagery, Mascaro’s unforgettable, anti-authoritarian fable is filled with surprises, delight and magic.”

Bring Them Down

Director: Christopher Andrews
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Christopher Abbott, Colm Meaney
Runtime: 105 minutes

“The burden of family expectations and the corrosive effects of male violence run deep in Christopher Andrews’ gripping debut feature. Sheep farmer Michael (Abbott, Piercing, SFF 2018) is consumed by a long-ago tragedy and constantly berated by his embittered father (Irish great Colm Meaney). Jack (Saltburn’s Keoghan) is the meek-looking son of Michael’s neighbour and rival, Gary. A dispute over prized rams sees old wounds burst open and hostilities between them escalate. What seems a simple story becomes increasingly suspenseful – and bloody – as Andrews’ inventive screenplay brings new perspectives into play. Nora-Jane Noone is outstanding as Caroline, the sole woman in this whirlpool of poisonous male pride.”

DJ Ahmet

Director: Georgi M. Unkovski
Cast: Arif Jakup, Agush Agushev, Dora Akan Zlatanova
Runtime: 99 minutes

“Ahmet and his brother Naim are growing up in a family scarred by grief in a remote village, conservative as it is superstitious. The boys’ stern father has no qualms forcing Ahmet to work on the family sheep farm rather than let him go to school, whilst he takes his little brother Naim, silent since his mother’s death, to a suspect healer. Into this grim reality enters the beautiful Aya, who has returned from Germany in order to enter an arranged marriage. When Ahmet discovers a secret rave he is immediately transfixed by the music, and by Aya, and sees a path to a more joyous and free life. With a mostly non-professional cast, director Georgi M. Unkovski has made an authentic, jubilant feature debut about art’s liberating power.”

Ellis Park

Director: Justin Kurzel
Cast: Warren Ellis
Runtime: 105 minutes

“Beyond music, Ellis’s passion project is a wildlife sanctuary in the forests of Sumatra: at “Ellis Park”, trafficked and mistreated animals are nursed back to health by a devoted team of carers led by indefatigable activist Femke den Haas. Returning a creature to the wild, Ellis brims with the same ardent candour as he does when jamming with his dad back in Ballarat. In telling his life story, from playing his first gig to forming The Dirty Three and beyond, he draws a bow between his hedonistic, addictive years, his redemption, and the sanctuary’s traumatised residents. Kurzel’s inspiring documentary, scored by Ellis, is an apt celebration of his talent and humility, and his commitment to the animal kingdom.”

The End

Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Cast: Tilda Swinton, George Mackay, Moses Ingram
Runtime: 148 minutes

“Deep underground, in a compound inside a salt mine, a nameless wealthy family and their close friends and servants live a seemingly cheery life. Mum (Swinton) fusses over her fine art collection. Dad (Shannon), a former oil baron, reminisces fondly, but maybe a little defensively, about his life and work before the environmental collapse – while Son (George MacKay), too young to remember, writes up his father’s romanticised stories as a memoir. When a young woman (Moses Ingram) shows up unexpectedly, an infatuated Son starts to question the family narrative. This Toronto-selected genre concoction blends dystopian love story with unsettling musical numbers and a cutting satire of privilege and denial.”

Exergue – On Documenta 14

Director: Dimitris Athiridis
Runtime: 848 minutes

“As he took on the huge task of curating the 2017 edition of documenta, Szymczyk made the crucial decision to stage the prestigious exhibition not only in its hometown of Kassel, Germany, but also in Athens, at a time when Greece was subject to harsh austerity measures by more prosperous European nations. Szymczyk and his curatorial team also took a radical approach, seeking to present a number of intensely political works. Media scandals, logistical challenges, financial deficits, and political fallout followed. With behind-the-scenes access to the key players, exergue – on documenta 14 is absolutely vital viewing for curators, arts workers, and everyone with a serious interest in how arts organisations function.”

It’s a hard concept to wrap your head around so if you want more information, you can watch the trailer at mubi.com.

Farming The Revolution

Director: Nishtha Jain
Runtime: 100 minutes

“For 13 months between 2020-21, 12 million farmers in Punjab, in the north of India, took to the streets protesting the government’s unjust farm laws. They occupied the outskirts of the capital city of Delhi, setting up a tent-city that only expanded over the protest’s duration. In Farming the Revolution, Nishtha Jain applies a microscope to this exceptional moment in Indian history. Characters slip in and out of this quietly compelling film as the farmers and their families endure the brutal summer and cold winter, and come together to advocate for justice as though it was the most natural thing to do. Ultimately gesturing towards hope, this monumental achievement took out the top prize at Hot Docs 2024.”

Fwends

Director: Sophie Somerville
Cast: Melissa Gan, Emmanuelle Mattana
Runtime: 92 minutes

“Taking a breather from her Sydney lawyer job, Em heads to Melbourne to reconnect with her old friend Jessie for the weekend. Where Jessie’s head is in the clouds, Em is decidedly more level-headed. From the city to the inner north, the two twentysomethings walk and talk, bonding over office horror stories, breakups and existential crises. Long takes and meaty monologues lend a distinct vulnerability to this tale of modern female friendship from two-time Dendy Award-winning filmmaker Sophie Somerville (for Peeps, SFF 2021, and linda 4 eva, SFF 2023). Fwends, her feature debut and winner of the Berlinale Forum’s Caligari Film Prize for innovation, is a prickly and perceptive slice of mumblecore, Australian style.”

Lesbian Space Princess

Director: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
Cast: Shabana Azeez, Gemma Chau-Tran, Bernie Van Tiel
Runtime: 86 minutes

“Awarded LGBTQIA+ cinema’s highest honour at Berlin, this rip-roaring comedy centres on Saira, introvert heir to the throne of planet Clitopolis. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her hot bounty hunter girlfriend, Kiki, when Kiki is kidnapped by the “Straight White Maliens”. Steeling herself, Saira recruits the help of an enby popstar and a cantankerous boomer spaceship and launches a mission to rescue Kiki and, she hopes, win her back. The love child of Adelaide’s Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs, complete with a stellar voice cast including Shabana Azeez (Birdeater, SFF 2023), Richard Roxburgh, and the Aunty Donna boys, Lesbian Space Princess, is a one-of-a-kind, out of this world triumph.”

Make It Look Real

Director: Kate Blackmore
Runtime: 78 minutes

“Claire Warden is an internationally in-demand intimacy coordinator who has helped to choreograph numerous sex scenes in major Hollywood films and TV shows. Hired for the Australian film Tightrope by director Kieran Darcy-Smith, Warden must balance his vision with the safety and comfort of the actors, ensuring both parties feel supported. There are scenes to be blocked and modesty garments to be designed, all in line with the actors’ personal boundaries. Blending insight and entertainment, this layered documentary feature debut from SFF alum Kate Blackmore (The Butter Scene, 2021) illustrates the benefits of having an intimacy coordinator on set as it reveals how the illusion of sex on screen is made.”

Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds

Director: Ursula Grace Williams
Cast: Marlon Williams
Runtime: 92 minutes

“Beloved for his alt-bluegrass stylings, Christchurch-born Marlon Williams has spent years on the road, touring with the likes of Florence + The Machine and Bruce Springsteen, and even making a fan of Bradley Cooper, who handpicked the musician to appear in A Star Is Born. This sensitive documentary finds Williams at a crossroads: he returns home to reconnect with his Ngāi Tahu and Ngāi Tai roots, and to write an album entirely in te reo Māori – calling upon his friend Lorde to contribute. Director Ursula Grace Williams crafts a loving portrait of an artist at his peak. Set against stunning Aotearoa New Zealand landscapes, her film celebrates the creativity that flows from exploring one’s own heritage and identity.”

Mr. Nobody Against Putin

Director: David Borenstein
Runtime: 90 minutes

“Pavel “Pasha” Talankin loves his job as a teacher in the small Russian town of Karabash – until his country invades Ukraine. He is outraged by the new government propaganda in the curriculum, not to mention the school’s being used as a military recruitment ground. In class, Pasha finds ways to playfully protest the regime; more crucially, he becomes a whistleblower, secretly filming the alarming shifts under the guise of his work as school videographer. He risks his life to send the footage overseas to filmmaker David Borenstein – while also planning his own escape. Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Prize, this hugely daring and noble collaboration is one of the strongest docs of the year.”

Obex

Director: Albert Birney
Cast: Albert Birney, Callie Hernandez, Paisley Isaacs
Runtime: 90 minutes

“Whirring floppy disks and clickety-clacking dot matrix printers rule both the real and virtual worlds in this eccentric, handcrafted delight by Baltimore filmmaker Albert Birney (Strawberry Mansion, 2021). Conor (played by Birney) is an oddball hermit whose dog Sandy goes missing soon after he installs a new interactive game called OBEX. In search of Sandy, Conor is transported into the fantastical realms of OBEX, where a fearsome computer demon awaits. Amid the nostalgic glow of monochrome photography and fabulous ’80s synth music – cooked up by Josh Dibb, aka Geologist of Animal Collective – OBEX might be pre-dial-up but it has much to say about the relationship between humans and screens today.”

On Becoming A Guinea Fowl

Director: Rungano Nyoni
Cast: Susan Chardy, Elizabeth Chisela, Henry B. J. Phiri
Runtime: 99 minutes

“Nyoni’s buzzy debut, I Am Not a Witch (SFF 2017), announced a major new talent. She delivers on her promise with this potent, meticulously crafted and comic tale of a Zambian family’s descent into darkness. One night while driving, Shula (Susan Chardy) – dressed outlandishly, for reasons only made clear later – comes upon the corpse of her uncle. She reports her grisly discovery without any sadness. Only gradually is it revealed why Shula and her cousins are largely indifferent to their uncle’s death, as past trauma resurfaces to reveal a community riven by abuse, sexism and greed. Intricately culturally specific, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl finds universality in its brilliant depiction of complex familial ties.”

One to One: John & Yoko

Director: Kevin Macdonald
Runtime: 100 minutes

“In the early 1970s, John Lennon and Yoko Ono spent 18 months in a small Greenwich Village apartment, absorbing the New York scene and, by their own admission, watching a lot of TV. Both things would shape the music they were making and their activism too – culminating in what would be Lennon’s only full-length post-Beatles performance, alongside Yoko: the “One to One” benefit concert at Madison Square Garden. Interweaving the incredible live footage – vividly restored and remastered – with a trove of candid photos and never-before-seen home movie clips, Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald (Whitney, SFF 2018) and co-director Sam Rice-Edwards immerse viewers in this fraught but fecund time in American history”

Speak

Director: Guy Mossman, Jennifer Tiexiera
Runtime: 103 minutes

“Each year, the most articulate and ambitious students from across the United States gather for the National Speech & Debate Association’s highly prestigious public speaking competition, with notable alumni including Oprah, Bruce Springsteen and Paul Rudd. Speak. follows five top contenders in the lead-up to the 2024 edition, as they obsessively rehearse and refine speeches that bravely tackle hot-button social and political topics including race, sexuality, disability and discrimination. This crowd-pleaser from Jennifer Tiexiera (Subject, SFF 2023) and Guy Mossman offers a beacon of hope for the next generation of leaders, and will have you cheering for your favourites as you get to know each competitor up close.”

Stranger Eyes

Director: Yeo Siew Hua
Cast: Lee Kang-Sheng, Wu Chien-Ho, Anicca Panna
Runtime: 126 minutes

“In bustling Singapore, young couple Junyang (Wu Chien-ho) and Peiying (Anicca Panna) are despondent after the abduction of their baby. Soon, they begin receiving DVDs with footage of their final moments with the child, setting off a tense police investigation. Suspicion falls on their enigmatic neighbour, Wu (longtime Tsai Ming-liang collaborator Lee Kang-sheng, superb), and surveillance on everyone intensifies – causing cracks to form in the couple’s own façade. Buried secrets and hidden desires surface in their cramped high-rise apartment. This surreal, surprising thriller from Locarno winner Yeo Siew Hua (A Land Imagined) brings Rear Window and Caché (Hidden) into the age of screens, surveillance culture and urban sprawl.”

Where is Sydney Film Festival held in 2025?

This year, the Sydney Film Festival will be held across Greater Sydney at some of the Harbour City’s most iconic venues including:

• State Theatre
• Event Cinemas George Street
• Dendy Cinemas Newtown
• The Ritz Randwick
• Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace
• Cremorne
• Palace Cinemas Central
• Norton Street
• The Art Gallery of NSW
• Sydney Town Hall
• Martin Place (SFFTV)

What else is happening during Sydney Film Festival?

As per Vivid Sydney’s recent announcement, the world-famous multi-factor festival will work closely with both Sydney Film Festival and Sydney Writers Festival this year to enhance Sydney’s famously creative winter season.

One such way to two will work in tandem is by placing a giant screen down at the Martin Place precinct, which in 2025 is welcomed back into the fold to form part of the Vivid Light Walk. Free screenings will be running regularly throughout as SFFTV runs from June 4 to June 22, 8am to 10pm.

How do I get tickets for Sydney Film Festival?

Individual film tickets for the Sydney Film Festival will go on sale when the full program is announced on Wednesday, May 7.

Sydney Film Festival flexipasses, however, are on sale now and are priced as follows:

• $195 for 10 films
• $360 for 20 films
• $495 for 30 films

Sydney Film Festival

Where: Various venues in Sydney
When: Wednesday, June 4 to Sunday, June 15
Price: Flexipasses from $195

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