Good things come to those who wait. SFF director Nashen Moodley has been keeping us in suspense about the event's Closing Night film, and it has finally been revealed. The festival will end on June 16 with the Australian premiere of the hotly anticipated Danny Boyle movie Yesterday, featuring a screenplay by Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Love Actually, Notting Hill).
Yesterday has an irresistible concept: what if you were a struggling singer-songwriter who woke up in a world where nobody had heard of the Beatles, and whenever you played one of their songs people were blown away by your songwriting talent? The film stars relative newcomer Himesh Patel, Lily James and Kate McKinnon, and features cameos from Ed Sheeran and James Corden among others. It's hard to imagine a film with more crowd-pleasing potential.
In addition, the Closing Night Gala will include an awards ceremony announcing the winners of the Sydney Film Prize, the Documentary Australia Foundation Award, Dendy Awards for Australian Short Films, the Event Cinemas Australian Short Screenplay Award and the UNESCO, Sydney City of Film Award.
Tickets to the Closing Night Gala are on sale now, as are tickets to the entire festival program, June 5-16.
Here are 12 more reasons to be excited about Sydney Film Festival 2019.