Presented by Palace, the MINI British Film Festival will screen nationally from 29 October. Such is the popularity of the Festival, the 2019 edition will run for an extra week longer until 24 November.
We are delighted to announce the first highlights from the programme which feature some of the most anticipated films of the year – from powerful true stories and literary adaptations to biographies and documentaries. With 20 new release titles plus a retrospective on Dame Helen Mirren and some restored gems, this year’s selection sees British cinema at its best.
The MINI British Film Festival will open nationally with MILITARY WIVES from director Peter Cattaneo (The Full Monty, 1997). Kristin Scott Thomas leads this inspiring drama about the bravery of the women of war, and the power of the music that saved them.
And closing the Festival, will be the highly anticipated film THE GOOD LIAR. Based on the widely acclaimed novel by Nicholas Searle, Oscar-winning screenwriter Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters, 1998) directs this wicked thriller featuring magnificent lead performances by Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen.
Other highlights include:
HOPE GAP, led by the brilliant and layered performances of Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, and BAFTA winner Josh O’Connor, this is a powerful story of finding hope after a marriage breakdown.
Uplifting and picturesque comedy FISHERMAN’S FRIENDS tells the true story of the part time Cornish sea shanty group that hit the big time.
Off the back of the smash hit Oasis – Definitely Maybe, we see Liam Gallagher’s revealing and entertaining expedition from the wilderness of booze and legal battles to his attempt to stage the greatest comeback in rock history in LIAM GALLAGHER: AS IT WAS.
A stellar cast lead by Keira Knightly feature in Oscar-winning director Gavin Hood’s OFFICIAL SECRETS, a superb true-life political thriller about an accused British whistle-blower who leaked information about the Iraqi invasion.
Ken Loach returns after his Palme D’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake, with SORRY WE MISSED YOU. Another brilliant study of a struggling working-class couple caught in a hopelessly exploitative system.
And audiences at festivals world-wide have fallen head over heels for ROMANTIC ROAD – the eccentric and adventurous road-trip documentary charting an elderly British couple’s ambitious journey across India in their 1936 Rolls Royce.
In addition to the latest films, this year’s festival retrospective MIRROR ON MIRREN features some rarely seen hidden gems from Helen Mirren’s back catalogue, including: THE AGE OF CONSENT (1969), SAVAGE MESSIAH (1972), O’LUCKY MAN (1973), THE MADNESS OF KING GEORGE (1994), CALENDAR GIRLS (2003) and THE QUEEN (2006) for which Mirren won an academy Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II.
The full programme will be announced in early October.
2019 Mini British Film Festival
Sydney 29 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Verona, Palace Chauvel Cinema, Palace Central,
Palace Norton Street
Melbourne 30 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Balwyn, Palace Cinema Como, Kino Cinemas,
Palace Brighton Bay, Palace Westgarth, The Astor Theatre Brisbane 30 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Barracks, Palace James St.
Canberra 30 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Electric Cinemas
Adelaide 30 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Nova Eastend Cinemas, Palace Nova Prospect Cinemas
Perth 30 Oct – 24 Nov, Palace Cinema Paradiso, Luna on SX and The Windsor
Byron Bay 30 Oct – 13 Nov, Palace Byron Bay
www.britishfilmfestival.com.au
