Our MIFF Watchlist
There’s nothing quite like a night at the movies. Ideal for those evenings when you’re wanting to head out, but with minimal effort and even less social responsibility. You’re also guaranteed a topic of conversation at dinner. And dinner is something we can most certainly help with.
With the Melbourne International Film Festival landing in town on 7 August, there are plenty of options to choose from (and we're even hosting a special dinner for the film, A Useful Ghost).
To assist in filling out your cinematic dance card, we screened the MIFF program, so you can plan ahead.
Book these in:
The Square
What happens when a Swedish diplomat and a local traffic officer fall in love in North Korea? A love story under surveillance, this realist animation errs on artwork as it takes us through the trials and tribulations of deep winter in Pyongyang, shrouded by the anxiety and paranoia of the missing traffic officer, but driven by the determination of a true and real love.
16 + 22 August
The End
There’s no musical like a post-apocalyptic musical. Following the all-too-familiar (and unsettling) storyline of a world in which a select few elite have bunkered themselves away following a cataclysmic environmental event, we see them disrupted by the presence of a surface dweller. Which, of course, results in song and dance, because how else do we address the absurd and issues far too close for comfort?
10, 15, 22 + 24 August
Rebuilding
A tale following a man’s rise from the ashes of his life, after an inferno destroys his family ranch in rural America. His reconnection to land, his family and himself is a recipe for success and plays off against the backdrop of the sublime landscapes of Colorado (the work of cinematographer Alfonso Herrera Salcedo), all the while reminding us that being human is all about vulnerability and connection, no matter how far gone we feel.
20 + 23 August
The Ballad of Wallis Island
“Cynicism be damned”, according to The Hollywood Reporter, and we couldn’t agree more. Not much has to be said when you combine an oddball protagonist, old lovers and the binding forces of music, in a tale of loss, laughter and hope. You’re sure to leave the theatre feeling infinitely better than you went in, so imagine how you’d feel on a good day.
14, 16, 17, 22, 23 + 24 Aug
Yurlu | Country
In an effort to connect with and heal the land of his ancestors, Banjima Elder Maitland Parker tells the story of the ‘poison country’, his yurlu (homeland) of the Pilbara region. The Wittenoom mines, six decades prior, left the area riddled with waste rock, laced with asbestos fibres. “[The film] is a rousing call to action to redress the cultural, environmental and physical wounds caused by colonisation and industry.”
20 + 22 August
The Legend of Ochi
Filled with wonder, imagination and a certain 80’s charm, this A24 family film tells the tale of courage and kindness as protagonist Yuri is burdened with the task of saving strange creatures called Ochi, her desire to heal trumping the instruction to kill. Worth the watch for the set design alone, this film is sure to transport adults and children alike, having been deemed ‘visually dazzling’ by The Guardian.
9 + 24 August
Image credits: MIFF, Melbourne International Film Festival