Adelaide Film Festival

Cate Blanchett CarolIn its eleventh year and featuring over 180 films from Australia and around the globe, the 2015 Adelaide Film Festival promises something for everyone with an eclectic mix of South Australian, Australian and international cinema, television, art and the moving image.

The Festival will feature new work from Australian directors including Scott Hicks, Jocelyn Moorhouse, Matt Saville, Sue Brooks, Stephen Page, Matthew Bate, Meryl Tankard and Rosemary Myers and such internationally renowned filmmakers as Todd Haynes, Paul Weitz, Paolo Sorrentino, Peter Sollett and Mark Cousins, plus new work from performance artist and composer Laurie Anderson.

Highlights of the program include: the Australian premiere of Todd Haynes’ Carol. Set in 1950s Manhattan and starring Cate Blanchett, the wealthy and married socialite Carol and department store assistant Therese Belivet (Rooney Mara) develop a fast bond with that becomes a love with complicated consequences.

Freeheld  – Directed by Peter Sollett and based on the incredible true story of police officer Laurel Hester (Julianne Moore). Following her partner Stacie Andee’s (Ellen Page) diagnosis with terminal lung cancer in 2005, Hester repeatedly appealed to the county’s board of chosen freeholders in an attempt to ensure her pension benefits could be passed on.

Looking for Grace – Directed by Sue Brooks (Japanese Story), Richard Roxburgh and Radha Mitchell star in this poignant family drama about the big consequences of small choices. When 16 year old Grace runs away from home, taking the contents of her dad’s safe with her, she inadvertently sets off a chain reaction of events that will change her family’s life forever.

Heart of a Dog – Director Laurie Anderson’s beloved terrier has died, which sets off a stream of consciousness leading to the death of her mother and the unspoken loss of husband Lou Reed. Ice and the Sky – French documentary film directed by Luc Jacquet about the work of Claude Lorius, who began studying Antarctic ice in 1957, and was the first scientist to be concerned about global warming.

Remembering The Man – in a world premiere, this documentary looks at the real-life story behind the recently released feature film Holding The Man – the 16-year relationship between Tim Conigrave and John Caleo, who fell in love at an exclusive Melbourne Catholic boys school in 1976.

A presentation from the National Film and Sound Archive, Storm Boy is back on the big screen, 40 years after it premiered. The South Australian classic should be essential viewing for every young cinemagoer. Shot in the Coorong and in Norwood, it is time to re-visit Mr Percival, Fingerbone Bill and the Storm Boy.

Closing the Festival will be the Australian premiere of Youth, starring Michael Caine, Jane Fonda, Rachel Weisz and Harvey Keitel and from director Paolo Sorrentino. A retired composer and a past-it movie director reflect on the distance of youth from the viewpoint of the old. A story of the friendship between two old men as they look towards the future.

Adelaide Film Festival is re-uniting the much loved Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, Australia’s film champions. They will be back in Adelaide to entertain audiences as ringmasters of the Ultimate Quiz Night. Margaret and David will preside over the evening’s proceedings of games, raffles and rowdy, competitive, one-upmanship at the Freemasons Hall on Friday 23 October 2015.

In addition, a selection of films from the Festival will also travel to regional South Australia, including Whyalla, Port Pirie, Renmark, Mount Barker, McLaren Vale and Port Noarlunga, across October and November.

The 2015 Adelaide Film Festival continues to 25 October. For more information, visit: www.adelaidefilmfestival.org for details.

Image: Cate Blanchett stars in Carol (supplied)