Last week we told you about the films in French at Sydney Film Festival 2022 (SFF 2022). This time we’re telling you about the multilingual films of which French is one of the languages.
A E I O U – A Quick Alphabet of Love
Languages: German, French
Countries: France, Germany
Director: Nicolette Krebitz
A quirky romantic drama about a 60-year-old language coach played by Sophie Rois (Three – SFF 2011) and Milan Herms (Drübenland) as a high school student who cross paths.
German filmmaker Nicolette Krebitz’s (Wild – SFF 2016) film charmingly explores female desire outside of society’s expected norms.
Languages: English, Swahili, French, Portuguese;
Countries: South Africa, Finland
Director: Shameela Seedat
Follows the competitive court room of the African Human Rights Moot Court Competition, as aspiring lawyers fight for their cause, country and continent as one.
Languages: Hebrew, French, German
Countries: France, Israel, Germany
Director: Nadav Lapid
Winner of the Jury Prize and nominated for the Palme d’Or at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival alongside 7 nominations at the Israeli Film Academy Awards.
Directed by Golden Berlin Bear winning Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid (Synonyms – SFF 2019, Policeman – SFF 2012), this intellectually bruising drama stars Avshalom Pollak (Mountain) as a successful Israeli movie director who throws himself into two failing battles against the death of freedom and the death of his mother.
Return to Seoul (previously known as All the people I’ll never be)
Languages: English, French, Korean
Countries: France, Germany, Belgium, South Korea, Romania
Director: Davy Chou
Twenty-five-year-old French woman returns to her homeland Korea and embarks on a journey to track down her biological parents where things take an unexpected turn.
Starring South Korean actors Oh Kwang-Rok (Old Boy), Kim Sun-young (Three Sisters), and in her debut Ji-Min Park.
Languages: French, English
Countries: Canada, United States
Director: Sara Dosa
French scientists and lovers, Katia and Maurice Krafft, perish in a volcanic explosion, doing the very thing that brought them together: unravelling the mysteries of volcanoes by capturing the most explosive imagery ever recorded.
La Danse – The Paris Opera Ballet
Languages: English and French
Countries: France, USA
Director: Frederick Wiseman
In what the New York Times describes as “One of the finest dance films ever made,” Wiseman reveals the on and off-stage dramas of one of the world’s great dance companies.
This transfixing portrait immerses us in action with much time devoted to the renowned Paris Opera’s practice studios, as dancers rehearse for the upcoming season. Their tireless perfecting of technique and astounding talent is captured in thrillingly sustained takes.
Wiseman invites us to experience the inner workings of dance, he also reveals the mechanisms necessary to maintaining this grand institution – which require inspired creativity of another kind.
Languages: English, German, French;
Countries: Switzerland, Germany
Director: Eva Vitija
The life of famous American crime writer Patricia Highsmith is uncovered in this provocative documentary by Swiss filmmaker Eva Vitija.
Includes archival footage of Highsmith herself and films based on her books featuring actors like Cate Blanchett (Carol, Apples – SFF 2021) and Matt Damon (The Talented Mr. Ripley, Behind the Candelabra – SFF 2013) with voiceover by Gwendoline Christie (Flux Gourmet – SFF 2022);
An alluring look into both the public and private life of Highsmith, Vitija delves into her books on corruption and same-sex marriage that are just as daring as her personal life and philosophies.
Languages : Swedish, English, French, Portuguese, Farsi;
Countries: Sweden, Finland, Belgium
Director: Lovisa Sirén
Directorial feature debut of Swedish film maker Lovisa Sirén (Baby) and starring Bahar Pars (A Man Called Ove) and Susan Taslimi (All Hell Let Loose).
Semi-estranged sisters travel through Europe to visit their recently cancer diagnosed mother where relationships form out of uncomfortable truths, laughter and tears.
Languages: English, Hindi, Bengali, French, Urdu;
Countries: India | United States | Bangladesh | Australia
Director: Mostofa Sarwar Farooki
Starring Emmy nominated Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Psycho Raman – SFF 2016) , Ravish Srivastava (Dasvi) and Eisha Chopra (Out of Love ).
Persecuted in one country for being a “Non-Muslim” and in another for being a “Muslim”, Naveen Cheema finds temporary refuge in an apparent safeguard of a manufactured identity in an eventful quest for a sense of belonging.
Languages: Russian and French
Countries: Russia, France, Switzerland
Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Straight from Cannes 2022, Kirill Serebrennikov’s historical drama focuses on an obsessive, one-sided love affair between the revered composer and his devoted wife.
Until recently director Serebrennikov was under house arrest in Russia, and unable to present in person his last two films at Cannes – Leto and Petrov’s Flu – he is now in exile in Germany. In his new film, he turns his attention to the late 1800s and a twisted romance. Beautiful Antonina Miliukova falls instantly for Pyotr Tchaïkovsky the moment she hears his music. Initially uninterested, Pyotr is eventually worn down by the promise of a large dowry and the need to end the rumours that swirl around him. But the marriage is an unmitigated disaster. Still, Antonina persists, consumed with affection.
Languages: English, Arabic, French and Tamazight
Country: UK
Director: John Michael McDonagh
Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain star in this blackly comic study of clashing cultures by the inimitable John Michael McDonagh (The Guard, SFF 2011; Calvary, SFF 2014).
David (Fiennes), a drunken British surgeon, and his American author wife Jo (Chastain, Oscar winner, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, SFF 2021) are on the brink of separation. Still, they decide to attend an opulent party in Morocco’s Atlas Mountains hosted by gay couple Richard (Matt Smith, The Crown) and Dally (Caleb Landry Jones, Nitram).
En route, David runs over a boy selling fossils by the roadside. Callously, David puts the body into his car, and drives on. Next day, the boy’s father arrives, demanding David accompany him to his son’s funeral in a distant village. But the party must go on… In ways only he can, McDonagh skewers the privileged while juxtaposing the lives of ordinary people in a neo-colonial society.
Languages: Swiss German, Russian, French;
Country: Switzerland
Director: Cyril Schäublin
This playful, peculiar production follows a young factory worker as she discovers the local anarchist watchmaker’s movement and battles with emerging nationalism at a time of technological revolution.
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KEY INFO FOR SFF 2022
WHAT: Sydney Film Festival 2022 (SFF 2022)
WHERE: various cinemas across Sydney
WHEN: 8 – 19 June
HOW: View the full SFF 2022 program at the official website: https://www.sff.org.au/
HOW MUCH: Individual tickets $17, special event prices differ. Flexipasses are also available to see 10, 20 or 30 films at a reduced price: https://www.sff.org.au/tickets/flexipasses/
WANT MORE FILM?
For French films you can watch at home, check out our articles:
Alliance Française 2020 French Film Festival films to stream/rent online
Sydney Film Festival Selects: Even more French films on SBS on Demand
Which films are you planning to see at SFF 2022?
