Warwick Thornton’s new Blanchett picture to open Sydney Film Festival

Director Warwick Thornton’s movie The New Boy, starring Cate Blanchett, will open the 2023 ­Sydney Film Festival.

Director Warwick Thornton’s movie The New Boy, starring Cate Blanchett, will open the 2023 ­Sydney Film Festival. Picture: Ben King

Director Warwick Thornton’s movie The New Boy, starring Cate Blanchett, will open the 2023 ­Sydney Film Festival.

Set in 1940s Australia, The New Boy tells the story of a nine-year-old Aboriginal orphan, who arrives at a remote monastery run by a daring nun (Blanchett). Featuring Deborah Mailman, Wayne Blair and newcomer Aswan Reid, the film is one of 12 contenders for the festival’s $60,000 prize.

Dark Emu, Bruce Pascoe

The festival will close with Allan Clarke’s The Dark Emu Story, a documentary exploring the themes of Bruce Pascoe’s best-selling book, which has been met with both acclaim and controversy.

Also competing for the top honour are Christian Petzold’s Afire and Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, as well as Cannes ­selections including Kore-eda ­Hirokazu’s Monster and Aki Kaurismäki’s Fallen Leaves, and Sundance gems Bad Behaviour and Past Lives. Other contenders include Liu Jian’s Art College 1994 and Devashish Makhija’s Joram.

Sydney Film Festival will showcase 239 films, including 37 world premieres and 123 Australian premieres. There will be 90 narrative feature films, including prestigious international festival prizewinners, and 54 documentaries from established and upcoming documentarians.

Cate Blanchett and Aswan Reid in The New Boy.

“For 70 years, Sydney Film Festival has been privileged to capture and embody the collective Zeitgeist, presenting a rich tapestry of stories that reflect our shared desire to understand the world we live in,” said festival ­director Nashen Moodley, said at the program launch at Sydney Town Hall on Tuesday.

From the sun-kissed shores of Cannes come a bevy of A-list films, including Wes Anderson’s highly anticipated Asteroid City, starring Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson and Tom Hanks.

Also showing will be Wim Wenders’ latest, Perfect Days, Jafar Panahi’s No Bears, Aki Kaurismaki’s Fallen Leaves, and Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Pictures of Ghosts.

Daina Reid’s psychological thriller Run Rabbit Run, starring Succession’s Sarah Snook as a troubled single mother, will also premiere.

JSydney Fesitwill feature a retrospective of the works of Oscar-winning New Zealand director Jane Campion, “

The festival will feature a retrospective of the works of Oscar-winning New Zealand ­director Jane Campion, Her Way, with a new documentary from the esteemed French filmmaker Julie Bertuccelli serving as a fitting introduction. The film, titled Jane Campion: The Cinema Woman, promises to delve deep into Campion’s oeuvre, which includes ­acclaimed works such as Sweetie, The Piano and The Power of the Dog.

The Campion family’s contribution to the festival doesn’t stop there, as Alice Englert, Campion’s daughter, will be screening her ­directorial debut Bad Behaviour in competition.

The festival has also launched its new Independent in Spirit section, dedicated to showcasing independent films by emerging Australian directors. Among the featured productions is The Big Dog, a comedic exploration of a stockbroker with a financial domination fetish; Sunflower, a queer coming-of-age story set in Melbourne, and Birdeater, which follows a bride-to-be attending her fiance’s stag do.

The 70th Sydney Film Festival runs from June 7-18.