Written by Ben Clay
July 14, 2021
Must-See Films at the 2021 Melbourne International Film Festival
Happy MIFF Program Launch!
With a diverse international feast of cinema just announced in the full MIFF program, it’s time to get planning for your perfect festival schedule. Whether you prefer to circle and scribble notes on your precious hard copy program, create an elaborate wall of post-it notes, or go full Excel spreadsheet, our cheatsheet will get you started with an incredible list of Madman festival highlights.
Melbourne International Film Festival 69 will run in cinemas and online 5-22 August.
ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE
An exploration of the shared histories of cameras, weapons, policing and justice. As surveillance technologies become a fixture in everyday life, ALL LIGHT, EVERYWHERE interrogates the complexity of an objective point of view, probing the biases inherent in both human perception and the lens.
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APPLES
Exec produced by Cate Blanchett, Greek writer-director Christos Nikou’s debut feature is a surreal and enigmatic exploration of identity and reality. As a sweeping pandemic causes people to develop sudden amnesia, a man finds himself enrolled in a recovery program. His treatment: performing daily tasks prescribed by his doctors on cassette tape, and capturing these new memories with a Polaroid camera.
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ARAATIKA: RISE UP!
Former NRL star, Dean Widders, is a man on a mission to bring an Indigenous Australian pre-game ‘unity dance’ to the game, matching the haka of their Maori counterparts, and enhancing First Nations pride more broadly.
Featuring several NRL greats, prominent First Nations figures like Stan Grant and Adam Goodes, and the Bangarra Dance Theatre, ARAATIKA: RISE UP! is the story of one man’s determination and a spirited call-to-arms to stand behind Indigenous Australia.
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BLIND AMBITION
An unlikely team of Zimbabwean refugees turned sommeliers shake up the international wine establishment when they compete in the World Wine Tasting Championships. BLIND AMBITION is an inspiring underdog story for the ages.
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