AFF is back 14–25 October with passes now on sale alongside a sneak peek of the 2020 program announced.
Passes can be purchased with the choice of a 3, 7 or 10 MultiPass. Cinephiles can indulge in a full festival experience with a Gold or Platinum Pass to squeeze in as many films as possible into their schedule.
These first five striking films are some of the most anticipated and most applauded works. They range from the powerful, moving and unflinching to the delicate and comedic.
Adelaide audiences will be some of the first to return to the cinema for a full, in-person film festival experience in front of the big screen. Come celebrate with us!
The first five films announced today include:
Another Round
One: The Australian Premiere of Another Round. Direct from the Toronto International Film Festival comes the reunion of the team behind The Hunt director Thomas Vinterberg and Scandinavia’s biggest star Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale). Another Round is a sobering comedy about dealing with the world through the bottom of a glass.
Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling
Two: The World Premiere of Adelaide Film Festival Investment Fund (AFFIF) feature documentary, Phil Liggett: The Voice of Cycling. From the filmmakers behind AFF Audience prize winning Remembering the Man and MAMIL (Middle Aged Men in Lycra), Nickolas Bird and Eleanor Sharpe, comes this fascinating portrait of cycling royalty, the prince of the peloton, the lord of the lycra-clad. Amateur racer turned broadcaster, Phil Liggett has covered forty-seven Tours de France and fifteen Olympic Games, calling every triumph, tragedy and scandal with his inimitable wit and poetry.
Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra
Three: Bangarra means making fire, and for 30 years the Bangarra Dance Theatre has blazed fiercely. Firestarter – The Story of Bangarra is the story of Australia’s most renowned arts company; it’s the story of three brothers—Stephen, Russell, and David Page—and it’s the story of the way that art can become a weapon that helps people to survive and a nation to heal. The film is co-directed by Wayne Blair (Top End Wedding, The Sapphires) and Nel Minchin (Matilda & Me, Making Muriel).
High Ground
Four: High Ground is the most powerful and engrossing Australian film of the year. The critical darling at this year’s Berlin film Festival, High Ground, directed by Stephen Johnson (Yolngu Boy) takes an unflinching look at the brutal facts of white settlement. This is a film with all the breathtaking beauty and savagery of this country, rich in dramatic tension driven by taut, understated performances by newcomer Jacob Junior Nayinggul, Simon Baker (Breath) and screen legend Jack Thompson.
The Painter and the Thief
Five: The Painter and the Thief is described by The Guardian as “the year’s most moving documentary.” This Norwegian, Sundance – winning true story is unflinching but delicate in its depiction of the growing emotional bond between an artist and the junkie–thief who stole her paintings. Directed by Benjamin Ree (Magnus).