Today, we’re sharing with you the six films in multiple languages including French which are showing at the Brisbane International Film Festival 2021.
Last week we told you about the 2 films solely in French at BIFF 2021. To read that article, click here. For general Brisbane International Film Festival info, scroll to the end of this article.
After Love
AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE (22 & 30 October)
Aleem Khan
UK (2020)
M
89 MIN
LANGUAGES: Arabic, English, French, Urdu
English-Pakistani filmmaker Aleem Khan’s debut feature is a tale of secrets and lies, a portrait of people caught between identities and cultures, highlighted by a superb central performance from Joanna Scanlan.
Mary Hussain (Joanna Scanlan, Notes on A Scandal, The Thick of It) converted to Islam when she married and is now in her early 60s, living quietly with her husband Ahmed. After his sudden and unexpected death, she suddenly finds herself a widow. One day after his burial, Mary discovers that Ahmed he had a secret life across the Channel in Calais, just 21 miles away from their Dover home. This compels her to go there to find out more.
After Love is beautifully refined filmmaking revealing the possibility of human connection in the most unlikely places.
Blind Ambition
QUEENSLAND PREMIERE (23 & 29 October)
Robert Coe, Warwick Ross
Australia (2021)
15+
96 MIN
LANGUAGES: English, French, Shona
A quartet of Pentecostal Christians who’d sworn off alcohol might seem like an unlikely bunch to become Africa’s most-celebrated sommeliers. But that’s the story at the heart of Blind Ambition, the tale of Joseph, Marlvin, Pardon and Tinashe who a decade earlier escaped Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe for the comparative safety of South Africa and once there, found solace in a bottle of wine … in a good way.
Blind Ambition follows their journey through a chaos of Johannesburg to the ‘Olympics of wine tasting’ – the World Wine Blind Testing in Burgundy, France.
Brisbane International Film Festival suggest you uncork a robust red and settle in for an inspirational true story, the recipient of the Tribeca Festival’s audience award for best documentary.
Heaven Can Wait
26 & 31 October
Ernst Lubitsch
USA (1937)
G
112 MIN
LANGUAGES: English, French
Heaven Can Wait is Lubitsch’s first colour film, which tells the tale of the recently deceased raconteur, Henry Van Cleve (Don Ameche), who, upon entering purgatory, must make a case for himself, and so begins an examination of a breezy life that is “one continuous misdemeanour”: from his sexual awakening, and eloping with his cousin’s fianceé (Gene Tierney), to a sustained, loving marriage seasoned with his philandering.
Delightful and witty as ever, Heaven Can Wait is as much the ultimate celebration of life, as it is a subtle satire of bourgeoise conservatism; its warm colour palate and mellow state are all part of Lubitsch’s delicate touch on romance, sexuality, mortality, and everything in between.
Lingui: The sacred bonds
QUEENSLAND PREMIERE (22 & 30 October)
Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Belguim, Chad, France (2021)
18+
87 MIN
LANGUAGES: Chadian Arabic, French
Lingui: The Sacred Bonds is a film dedicated to depicting the dilemma of a 15-year-old girl seeking an abortion in an Islamic African country where the practice is both taboo and illegal.
In this film by Chadian director Mahamat-Saleh Haroun presents the story set on the outskirts of N’djamena in Chad, Amina lives alone with her only 15-year-old daughter Maria. Her already fragile world collapses the day she discovers that her daughter is pregnant. The teenager does not want this pregnancy. In a country where abortion is not only condemned by religion, but also by law, Amina finds herself facing a battle that seems lost in advance…
The quiet, gentle nature of the film stands in sheer contrast to the intense passions, legality, and issue-driven melodrama. A profoundly moving film about a mother and daughter navigating life.
Viewer advice: topics covered in this film may be confronting for some viewers.
Paris Funeral, 1972
WORLD PREMIERE (25 October)
Adam Briggs
Australia (2021)
18+
75 MIN
LANGUAGES: English, French, Italian
Brisbane filmmaker Adam Briggs’ debut presents the passage of Rosario, an itinerant and highly charismatic Italian in his 60s as he drifts through Australia before he returns to France and Italy, in the company of musicians Kate and Ella.
Attentively shot on 16mm, the film’s cast is composed of non-actors playing versions of themselves as they reinterpret and fictionalise their own lives. From the film’s opening amidst the homeless and displaced communities of Brisbane and Melbourne to the fields of Europe, Paris Funeral, 1972 is defined by a desire to do justice to people’s need for contact and communication, exploring how each individual need interplays with society.
Special event – gala screening: $30 adult, $27 concession
For the world premiere of Paris Funeral, 1972 Brisbane International Film Festival 2021 is excited to present a gala screening complete with a drinks reception at the conclusion of the film. Tickets for this event include popcorn, gala screening and an alcoholic beverage at the post screening reception.
Join BIFF for a post-screening reception after the film, followed by a gala screening of Friends and Strangers.
Sisters with transistors
QUEENSLAND PREMIERE (23 & 29 October)
Lisa Rovner
UK (2020)
18+
85 MIN
LANGUAGES: English, French
Sisters With Transistors is the remarkable untold story of electronic music’s female pioneers, composers who embraced machines and their liberating technologies to utterly transform how we produce and listen to music today. Theremins, synthesisers and feedback machines abound in this glorious ode to the women who helped shape not just electronic music but the contemporary soundscape as we know it.
A compelling documentary revealing the impact of female pioneers on the soundtracks and electronic music of recent decades. It is a celebration of the women that shaped music and the power of their legacy on following generations.
KEY INFO FOR BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021
WHAT: Brisbane International Film Festival 2021 (BIFF 2021)
WHERE: various cinemas in Brisbane
WHEN: 21 to 31 October 2021
HOW: Buy tickets via the website: www.biff.com.au
HOW MUCH:
Regular film sessions: $18* for adults and $15* for concession.
Special events have individual pricing. Check specific film and event pages for special pricing and registration requirements. Transaction or booking fees apply.
Festival Multi-Pass $90 or $75 for concession card holders (Attend 6 Films for the price of 5)
What films are you planning to see at Brisbane International Film Festival 2021?
