Sydney Film Festival

Samana Sunrise at the Spanish Film Festival

Opening Gala - Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise)

Opening Gala – Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise) Rating

★★★★★

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The HSBC Spanish film festival opened recently across the country and I was lucky enough to attend the opening night Gala in Sydney. Taking over all 4 screens at the Palace Cinemas in Moore Park, they started the party with endless prosecco, Spanish cocktails, delicious paella, and a lively band that inspired guests to hit the dance floor. It was so much fun the film almost became an afterthought, but eventually the party had to stop as everyone meandered into their respective screens in a suitably Spanish way, well after the advertised starting time.

Directed by Rafa Cortes, Samana Sunrise (Amanece en Samaná in Spanish), is a romantic-comedy based on the play Cancún by Jordi Galcerán. Two married couples, Ale and Santi (Luisa Mayol and Luis Tosar), and Natalia and Mario (Bárbara Santa-Cruz and Luis Zahera), go on holiday in a Dominican resort to celebrate two decades of friendship. The carefree holiday quickly changes when Ale drunkenly confesses to a small deception that led to Santi dating and eventually marrying her instead of his original interest, Natalia. The next morning, Ale wakes up in shock to find Mario in her room and Santi acting as if he’s married to Natalia. The rest of the film (yes, really) is Ale slowly coming to realise her friends truly believe this new reality and are not just playing a lavish prank.

Opening Gala - Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise)
Opening Gala - Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise)
Opening Gala - Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise)

This ‘what if’ alternate reality device was the perfect set-up to explore deeper themes of fate and love, and how small decisions can dramatically impact our own lives and those of the people we care about. To its credit, the film was a lot of fun, and funny, with outstanding performances from the cast, especially Luis Zahera and Luisa Mayol.

The cinematography adequately captured both the beauty of the Samana landscape and the intimacy of the relationships. I’d like to have seen Cortés dive into the deeper themes that were set up so perfectly at the start. Spain has always had an extraordinary film culture, full of talent and inventiveness, so I’m excited to see more of the festival.

The HSBC Spanish Film Festival is on in Sydney until the 9th of July all around Australia. To book tickets to this years Spanish Film Festival (Samana Sunrise), please visit https://spanishfilmfestival.com/.

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German Film Festival: Mother’s Baby

Mother's Baby

Mother’s Baby Rating

★★★★★

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Mothers are supposed to feel an instant, unbreakable bond with their newborn child; or at least, that’s what we’re led to believe. Austrian director, Johanna Moder’s new film, Mother’s Baby, bleakly reminds us that this isn’t always the case.

Forty year old music conductor Julia (Marie Leuenberger) and her loving husband, Georg (Hans Löw), desperately want a baby. When nature doesn’t deliver, they seek the help of Dr Vilfort (Claes Bang), a renowned fertility specialist. In Vilfort’s pristine private clinic, Moder introduces early on an axolotl, a strange looking amphibian that catches Julia’s interest but comes to haunt her (and viewers) later in the film.

With Dr Vilfort’s treatment proving successful, Julia and Georg wait expectantly for the birth of their longed for child. Yet the birth is a difficult one. The baby is whisked away by a medical team as soon as it is born. Moder captures Julia and Georg’s muted shock as they are kept in limbo waiting to meet their baby. When Julia finally gets to hold her baby, she seems underwhelmed, even detached from the child. Julia’s struggle to breastfeed only heightens her disappointment. An overly zealous midwife played by Julia Franz Richter doesn’t help as she pushes Julia to bottle feed instead.

Once home, Julia, long used to being in control in her professional life, continues to struggle to bond with her baby. Usually surrounded by music, the weirdly silent baby she has birthed, starts to unnerve her. Is there something wrong with the child or is Julia paranoid? Hans’ instant bond with their son, who Julia persists in referring to as ‘it’, adds to Julia’s distress.

Mother's Baby
Mother's Baby

In one particularly tense moment, Hans returns home from work to be greeted by the sight of Julia engrossed in her music, oblivious to her unfed baby. Julia’s sudden identity shift from world class conductor to stay at home mother has hit her hard. Hans fails to understand, reminding Julia as they argue that ‘It’s what we agreed!’. Is Julia’s lack of maternal connection with her baby a tell-tale sign of postpartum depression or is there something more sinister at play?

Increasingly frustrated by Julia’s unexpected reaction to new motherhood even the normally placid Georg starts to doubt his wife’s mental stability. Returning to Dr Vilfort, Julia insists there is something wrong with her baby, demanding answers from the preternaturally cool physician. In what smacks of medical misogyny, Vilfort condescendingly suggests Julia is the problem. We cringe as Georg joins cravenly with the doctor in agreeing that Julia needs help.

Moder’s psychologically chilling story of new motherhood achieves its aim of unnerving its viewers so that they feel vicariously the altered reality of the postpartum phase. Billed as a dark comedy, the film is inconsistent in creating humour; nonetheless, Moder is successful in capturing the absurdity of motherhood in a world which continues to unfairly insist on idealising maternity.

To book tickets to Mother’s Baby, or any other film in the German Film Festival, please visit https://germanfilmfestival.com.au/.

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Hysteria – A Thriller That Burns Through the Lies

Hysteria

Hysteria Rating

★★★★★

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The German Film Festival previewed at Palace Cinemas with the Australian première of Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay’s Hysteria. This 104-minute political thriller left the crowd hushed and visibly rattled on the way out. On a film set that unravels after a burned Quran is discovered, Hysteria is equal parts whodunnit, social essay, and psychological pressure cooker.

Büyükatalay wastes no time striking the match. When the sacred text is smouldering among the props, blame ricochets between the director, the star, a slippery producer and a van-load of asylum-seeker extras. Class, faith and power lines are drawn in seconds; alliances fray just as quickly. This film proves you don’t need a big budget to create tension. The tension comes from the people, not the pyrotechnics.

One of Hysteria’s thrills (and frustrations) is its refusal to hand you a neat answer. Every scene forces you to ask: whose version of events do I believe, and what does that say about me? Büyükatalay is less interested in solving the mystery than in showing how easily images of “the Other” override the human being standing before us. That makes for an unsettling watch, but it’s precisely the point. Cineuropa praised the film’s “important inquiry into the representation of migrant minorities”, even as it noted the narrative leaves viewers “confused”. Confusion about how you want the story to pan out and who turns out to be the protagonist and the antagonist.

Hysteria
Hysteria

As a 24-year-old intern, Elif Devrim Lingnau anchors the film with wide-eyed resolve that gradually hardens into fury. Refugee extra Said (Mehdi Meskar) and Director Yigit (Serkan Kaya) spar with her in tightly coiled exchanges that feel one breath away from violence. Nicolette Krebitz steals scenes as a calculating producer who knows exactly how far an image can travel once uploaded. The casting is strong, there are no weak links.

The use of close-ups in Hysteria traps the audience inside green-screen warehouses and cramped caravans. The pacing is fast; the 104 minutes fly by. Cinematographer Julian Krubasik ensures we feel connected to every character in every shot.

This film may leave you feeling cold if you love films that end all tied up neatly with a little bow. Hysteria is a must-see for viewers who relish cinema that sends them out into the foyer to debate morality, identity, and media manipulation. Behind every flame lies a darker truth.

Büyükatalay’s sophomore feature doesn’t just hold up a mirror; it shatters it, then asks us to pick up the shards and see which reflection we choose. Catch it while the German Film Festival programme runs nationwide, and check session times via the Palace Cinemas website. Take a friend; you’ll need someone to argue with on the tram ride home.

The HSBC German Film Festival presented by Palace runs from 2 May – 21 May, in association with German Films. In 2025, the festival will showcase the best contemporary German cinema direct from major festivals in Europe, plus a selection from its German-speaking neighbours, Austria and Switzerland.

To book tickets to Hysteria, or for date and session information for any other films in the festival, please visit https://germanfilmfestival.com.au/.

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Blur: A Home in the Country

Blur: To The End

Blur: To The End Rating

★★★★★

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Blur: To the End is a documentary that takes fans behind the scenes of Blur’s long-awaited return to the studio to record their first album in over a decade. The film captures the band’s journey, from their reunion in Hong Kong to the creative process of making new music, offering a mix of nostalgia, humour, and candid moments.

Those looking for a 101 on Blur’s history or surprise revelations of previously unknown secrets from the band’s past will have to look elsewhere. This movie is for lifelong fans. It’s not an introduction to Blur or the band members. It’s for fans who know the mythos and are excited to tune in for the latest chapter. 

Though the documentary focused on the lead-up to the new tour and the creation of the new album, the audience gets a peak behind the scenes at the surprisingly calm creative process of talented people with a complicated history. A group of people who love the music and want to keep feeding that love, in whatever form it may take. 

While the film gives little context as to how the band met or how they bounded, many nostalgia-filled stories are exchanged between the members as though they are catching up over a pint in a pub. Continuously rewarding the long-term fans of Blur, fans who will be excited to see welcomed along to this next chapter.  

 

Blur: To The End
Blur: To The End

The film has a very intimate feel, even for a documentary. The audience is shown the band members’ homes, where the bandmates wear their comfort with each other casually. This does mean that the tone can lean oddly morbid at times. When they are philosophising about life and their relationships, it feels like an end-of-life reflection rather than an acknowledgement of a midpoint. The mid-50s might not be the prime rockstar age, but 50 is far from the end of their musical life.

Given the zeitgeists piqued interest in Brit-pop, with the oft-talked-about Oasis reunion on the horizon, it seems like a missed opportunity not to explore the musical impact Blur had in leading the British bands of the ’90s. Instead, the focus is where they are now, only looking forward.

Truly what you glean from this film is that it is hard to be in a band. It’s much like a family. You all love one thing, but personal dynamics can often get in the way.

To be this successful and this creative after a long and turbulent time together is no small feat. What we see is a group of people who have a genuine love for each other and the music. Gone are the glitz, the glamour, the tension of early rock and roll-dom. Here, you get to join some old mates catching up over Victoria Sponge.

To book tickets to this or other films, click https://britishfilmfestival.com.au/ for details on the session and venue.

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