Upcoming film festivals in Melbourne

Cine Latino Film Festival returns to Melbourne for its third year in 2018, with a schedule of 26 features, three docos, a special Argentinian film screening and a Cuban retrospective. The festival is presented by Palace Cinemas. The festival kicks off with a bang in the form of the Australian premiere of Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma. This semi-autobiographical drama is set Mexico City in the early 1970s revolves around two domestic workers who help a single mother with her children. Cuarón based this story on his own upbringing during the political upheaval of 1970s Mexico as a show of affection for the women who raised him, and this personal story won this year’s Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion Award. The director’s previous film, Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, earned him the Oscar for Best Director in 2013. If you can’t get enough of Cuarón, you’re in luck as his 2001 breakout film Y Tu Mamá También (And Your Mother Too) will close the festival. This is coming-of-age drama about two boys who take a road trip with an older woman holds the record for the highest box office opening in Mexican cinema history, and launched the careers of Diego Luna, Gael Garcia Bernal and Maribel Verdú. Also screening is Amalia la Secretaria (Amalia the Secretary), a Colombian romcom centering around an irritable office worker and the bond she forms with the bumbling maintenance man of her office building. Touching Costa Rican drama Violeta al Fin (Violeta

The Jewish International Film Festival hits town this October and November, showcasing more than 60 films from 23 countries. This year’s festival will include 31 feature films and 28 documentaries, including Love, Gilda, a film dedicated to comedy legend and original Saturday Night Live cast member Gilda Radner. JIFF's opening night film will be comedy-tragedy The Interpreter, which tells the tale of a Holocaust survivor who wishes to seek revenge on the former SS officer who killed his parents but instead ends up on a road trip with the officer’s son. Other highlights of the program include Russian historical movie Sobibor and Seder Masochism, an animated musical comedy film featuring animation by American artist Nina Paley.   The Jewish International Film Festival will screen at Elsternwick’s Classic Cinemas, Hawthorn’s Lido Cinemas and Belgrave’s Cameo Cinemas. Check out the full program here.

If you’re looking for something a little different in your movie choices this November, then check out the Russian Resurrection Film Festival’s new array of films. From Friday, November 9 to Sunday, November 18, the festival will return for its 15th anniversary, showcasing 17 of the best contemporary Russian movies along with four outstanding classics.  Explore friendship, fantasy, suspense and romance across nine days. Among the options will be new sports drama The Coach, starring Russian star Danila Kozlovsky; magical epic The Last Warrior, which brings traditional Slavic folklore to life; musically vivid romance Ice; and new comedy Night Shift. Actor Konstantin Khabenskiy will also be returning to the big screen with two films: Selfie and Sobibor, a film which tells the story of the only successful escape from a concentration camp in WWII, which Khabenskiy also directed.  This year the festival will be hosted at ACMI and Classic Cinemas. Tickets range between $19 and $21.50 for adults, $17 and $17.50 for concession card holders, and $13.50 and $14 for children. Or you can buy a three-film pass for $42 to $51 for adults and $45 for concession card holders. Tickets to the festival’s Gala Opening on Friday, November 9, are also available for $65, and include food, drinks and authentic Russian entertainment. Russian Resurrection is the largest celebration of Russian film and cinema outside of Russia itself, and takes place annually across Australia and New Zealand.

The Japanese Film Festival returns in 2018 with a packed program of 30 features and one doco, all curated by the Japan Foundation, Sydney, a non-profit cultural organisation that works to promote Japanese culture abroad. This year, the festival will feature romantic detective mystery Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura, which many people are calling a live-action version of the Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away. Another highlight of the program is the action-packed One Cut of the Dead, which is being touted as a cleverly disguised low-budget but high-concept take on the zombie comedy genre. Keep an eye out for Oh Lucy!, which stars Australian-born and Deadpool 2 cast member Shioli Kutsuna alongside Megan Mullally (Will and Grace) and Josh Hartnett (Pearl Harbour). It tells the intriguing story of a lonely Japanese woman who awakens her alter ego in an English class taught by Hartnett. There’s also Yakiniku Dragon, which brings the award-winning 2008 play about a Korean immigrant family's experience in Japan The film features a star-studded line-up including Jeon-eun Lee (Okja), Yoko Maki (The Grudge) and Yo Oizumi (Bread of Happiness). The festival will also be presenting a free classic film program which will feature influential works by cinematic masters from the Japanese Golden Age and New Wave cinema. JFF will play at ACMI and Hoyts Melbourne Central from Thursday, November 22 to Sunday, December 2.

Once a month Australian films play the lead role at Eaglehawk’s Star Cinema. In 2018 the cinema is hosting a year-long festival called Australia on Screen to celebrate the nation’s creative film industry. On the fourth Tuesday of every month the cinema is screening an Australian film, and tickets are just $11. These aren’t your major blockbusters: the Australia on Screen event puts the spotlight on some of Australia’s lesser-known films, highlighting those with a strong connection to regionality and place. From February 27 to November 27 catch films like Love Serenade, Monkey Grip, Walkabout and Celia. For the true Aussie film fans Star Cinema is also hosting a three-day film forum from June 1 to June 3. To buy tickets to the monthly screenings or film forum call 03 5446 2025.

The inaugural Paracinema Fest will be headed to Melbourne this November and December for seven days of bizarre yet beguiling cinema. The line-up features a series of boundary-pushing genre films, some high brow, some hilariously low brow, but all entertaining. Highlights of the festival program include the Melbourne premiere of An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn, which stars Aubrey Plaza and Flight of the Conchords’ Jemaine Clement. The film tells the story of Lulu Danger, whose unhappy marriage takes a turn for the worse when a mysterious man from her past comes to town to perform an event called, ‘An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn; For One Magical Night Only’. Another hit will be the zombie apocalypse thriller Overlord, a gory tale of American paratroopers in Nazi-occupied France before D-Day. Others to look out for include the Australian premieres of the super-gory The Dark, French black comedy Keep an Eye Out, the grisly Possum, and You Might Be the Killer, which stars Alyson Hannigan (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and Fran Kranz (Cabin in the Woods).  There will also be a spotlight on riot grrrl filmmaker Sarah Jacobson (known for I Was a Teenage Serial Killer and Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore) and Ugandan filmmaker Nabwana Isaac Godfrey Geoffrey, who is known worldwide as Uganda’s answer to Quentin Tarantino. There will also be a series of kids’ robotics workshops, Dungeons and Dragons sessions running in the Lido foyer and a cult film night at the Classic showing a

St Kilda Film Festival is now a winter event, launching on Friday June 21 with a gala event at the Palais Theatre. The festival features the top 100 films submitted by Australian filmmakers, plus music videos (SoundKILDA), international content and special events.  The festival has partnered with Virtual Reality (VR) Cinema by offering a novel viewing experience for audience members. Patrons will be able to watch a selection of short films and music videos for free while wearing VR headsets. St Kilda Film Festival is now an Academy Awards qualifying event, meaning that prize winners are eligible for consideration for the Academy Awards for short films, animations and documentaries.