Sydney 2019: Documentary Overview

Festival:
The 66th Sydney Film Festival

Dates:
June 5-16

About:
More than 70 feature documentaries are included in this long-running Australian event.

Among the ten Australian films in the running for the Documentary Australia Foundation Award are several world premieres, including: Em Baker’s I AM NO BIRD, which follows women from around the world as they prepare for their weddings; Peter Hegedus’ LILI, about a woman’s quest to track down the half-sister her mother abandoned when fleeing Hungary in 1956; Kaye Harrison’s SANCTUARY, about an Iraqi interpreter-turned-refugee over ten years; and Sascha Ettinger Epstein’s LIFE AFTER THE OASIS, a follow-up to a previous project about Sydney’s homeless teens; as well as the Australian premiere of George Gittoes’ WHITE LIGHT, which explores life and death on Chicago’s south side.

Other nonfiction programming not previous covered here includes the world premiere of Ian Darling’s THE FINAL QUARTER, about the turbulent final years of an indigenous soccer player who spoke out against racism; as well as work like Martin Scorsese’s upcoming ROLLING THUNDER REVUE: A BOB DYLAN STORY BY MARTIN SCORSESE, on the titular 1975 tour; Asad Raza’s MINOR HISTORY, which considers the past 90 years through the lens of the filmmaker’s eccentric uncle’s life; Daniel Gonçalves’ MY NAME IS DANIEL, on the filmmaker’s quest to understand his disability; Rebecca Tansley’s MY HEART DANCES, about the cultural clash that ensued when a Czech choreographer re-imaged THE PIANO for the ballet; and Justin Pemberton’s CAPITAL IN THE 21ST CENTURY, a provocative exploration of wealth, power, and inequality.