Most in-person film festivals in Australia are now back. These film festivals give movie lovers a chance to watch films they otherwise would not have, with production houses and movie executives getting a chance to discover new talent. There have been a lot of them happening in 2022, so we will only be focusing on the best ones; the ones we think you should attend.
Sydney Film Festival
Date: 8-19 June
Venue: The State Theatre and various cinemas and locations around Sydney
Website: https://www.sff.org.au/
Tickets: https://www.sff.org.au/tff/tickets/
The Sydney Film Festival is perhaps the biggest film festival held in the city, and it will be celebrating its 70th anniversary in 2023. This festival has brought us some amazing films, and it promises to continue bringing the best, strangest, greatest, and most exciting films and art projects that Australia and the world have to offer.
As has been done in many other years, the Sydney Film Festival will bring you the best new films over 12 days, with other activities like talks, parties, premieres, and presentations also arranged for the festival.
There are 12 films to be showcased during the festival, with eight other cash rewards to be awarded during and after the festival.
Flickerfest 2022
Date: January 2022
Venue: Bondi Beach in January and other locations throughout the year in numerous other locations
Website: https://flickerfest.com.au
Tickets: https://flickerfest.com.au/ticket-info/
Flickerfest is known as the film festival for short films because this is where the best short films are showcased. The festival will be celebrating its 32nd anniversary next year. The short films to be showcased come from Australia and from around the world, some selected through competition and others selected as special showcases. Daytime films will be shown in an air-conditioned cinema and 9 pm showings outdoors.
Food and beverages are served and a Mexican food truck is parked near the festival garden bar. There are lots of comfy seats for a top Flickerfest experience.
Sydney Underground Film Festival
Date: September 8-11th
Venue: Event Cinemas, George St, Sydney
Website: https://www.suff.com.au/
Tickets: https://www.suff.com.au/tickets
The Sydney Underground Film Festival is held every September and is meant to showcase talent from individual and independent creators. Many of these films are experimental projects that would have a hard time getting screened anywhere else. If you love these kinds of projects, obscure ones that would otherwise not be screened anywhere else, this film festival is for you.
The organisers say they started this festival to give new filmmakers and creators a platform to showcase their work and creativity. Many of the films you will see here challenge traditional and common filmmaking styles, and they range from short films to documentaries and feature films.
The festival also gives awards for the best films in each category and has workshops where the visitors can see the filmmaking process in action, and where creators can hone their filmmaking skills.
Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival
Date: August to September
Venue: Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney
Website: https://www.sydneysciencefictionfilmfestival.com.au/
Tickets: Ticket sales from individual venues
The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival is the biggest, official science fiction film festival in Australia. The festival focuses on showcasing the best horror, science, action, cult cinema, and science fiction projects.
This film festival is different from other science fiction film festivals in that the creators have to submit their projects themselves. Most of the films and projects that end up on the festival’s screens are pledged by these creators. By doing so, the festival ensures that indie filmmakers have a fair chance of getting their films showcased during the festival.
The festival also includes a Q&A section where the creators get to interact with the audience as well as different after parties depending on who will be in town. Audiences love this festival so much because, apart from the different films and projects, they also get to interact with different international and Australian filmmakers.
Sydney Short Film Festival
Date: February 2022
Venue: Ritz cinema
Website: https://sydneyshortfilmfestival.com/
Tickets: To be announced later
The Sydney Short Film Festival is an independent Festival that is held in February every year. It will be celebrating its fifth anniversary in 2023. Its creators say they created it to highlight short films which are usually left out in some of the bigger festivals.
Although it is held in Sydney and mainly showcases Australian films and projects, it accepts submissions from all over the world. The judges then sift through all the submissions to put together a list of the films and projects to be showcased during the festival.
The festival also includes a Q&A session, networking session, and an awards ceremony where the best movies in each category according to a panel of judges are given an award. These include the best short film, best short action, best short animated, and best director. Winners in 2022 included《Go lesson》 by Xue Liminga and Primal Therapy by Santtu Salminen.
Antenna Documentary Film Festival
Date: Oct 14-23, 2022
Venue: Verona, Chauvel, Museum of Contemporary Art, Dendy Newtown & Riverside Theatres
Website: https://antennafestival.org/
Tickets: https://antennafestival.org/tickets/
The 12th edition of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival will be held next year, and it is a top film festival to attend if you love documentaries. The festival brings you some of the best documentaries from all over the world every year.
The festival was started to celebrate and promote creative documentary filmmaking and documentary cinema. The festival showcased 50 of the best submitted documentaries from all over the world.
The festival is also the perfect place for those who would like to start creating documentaries. This is because they get a chance to meet some of the best documentary filmmakers from all over the world at the festival. There is also an award at the end of the festival as well as networking opportunities for young filmmakers who are getting started or want to get started making documentaries.
Europa! Europa Film Festival
Date: Starting 17 February 2022
Venue: Ritz Cinemas
Address: 45 St Pauls Street, Randwick
Website: https://www.europafilmfestival.com.au/
Tickets: https://www.europafilmfestival.com.au/venues-and-tickets
Europa! Europa is a festival celebrating the best films from all over Europe. The best European screens will be showcased on Australian screens through the 3-week festival, with the festival aimed at celebrating the diversity to be found within the over 50 countries that make up Europe.
The director, Thomas Caldwells, says he attended the best and biggest film festivals in 2022 to put together a list of the best European films and this roster is what he will be bringing to the festival. These include films that tell different stories, that make you think, that tell you of the harsh realities of the world, and some you can enjoy by yourself or with the whole family.
In addition to the films, the director says that the festival will also focus on fostering great filmmaker and film lover communities with special events and live music included to elevate the experience.
Although not confirmed yet, the art director says that the 2023 event might incorporate at-home and online festival activities.
Conclusion
Numerous festivals are worth attending in Sydney. These are diverse festivals that cater to all different types of creators and movie lovers. You are sure to find a festival offering something you will love!