Around Sydney
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The Sydney Film Festival has long been entertaining local movie buffs and global travellers alike – for 72 years, to be precise – and this year is your invitation to ‘See the Bigger Picture’ with a stacked program of more than 200 films screening across various venues from June 4 to 15.
From the major Hollywood blockbusters the whole world is talking about to disruptive arthouse gems, and it’s time to find out for yourself why these flicks are making waves. Whether you’re a film industry professional or a casual popcorn muncher, you’re guaranteed to find a film that’ll change the way you see the world.
So what *is* on offer in this year’s program? We’re excited to see debut Aussie director and SXSW-winner Amy Wang's teen prom satire Slanted, plus two new Australian features – Fwends, the debut feature from two-time Dendy Award-winner Sophie Somerville and Lesbian Space Princess, a Berlin Teddy Award-winning animated feature. There's also spectacles direct from the Cannes Film Festival including the suspenseful duo of crime films The Mastermind starring Josh O'Connor and Secret Agent from Kleber Mendonça Filho, a former Sydney Film Prize winner.
There are 12 films in the running for the ‘Official Competition’ prize – which awards a whopping $60,000 in cold harsh cash for “courageous, audacious and cutting-edge” filmmaking. For the first time in SFF history, the festival is also collaborating with Vivid Sydney 2025 – groundbreaking artistry will burst beyond the screen for live performances like the speculative fiction piece Planet City: Live, and Warren Ellis is in town for a talk about his new doco.
The festival sprawls across venues all over Sydney, so you can make a night of it at the flagship State Theatre, or duck into your local cinema for a cheeky solo screening after work. Venues include some of Sydney’s best cinemas and cool pop-up venues like the Randwick Ritz, the Hayden Orpheum, Dendy Newtown, both Palace Cinemas (Norton Street and Central), Event Cinemas on George Street, Art Gallery of NSW, the City Recital Hall, The SFF Hub underground at Town Hall, and SFFTV – a giant outdoor screen coming to Martin Place along the Vivid Light Walk.
Single festival tickets start at $26 for adults, but you can save when you buy a flexipass to view 10 films, which works out to be $19.50 each screening. The 72nd Sydney Film Festival will run from June 4–15, 2025. Get in on the action by booking your tickets here.
