No. 007 - SFF 2025 Wrap Up Pt. 1

Watched by Matthew Donlan at the Sydney Film Festival 2025

Death of An Undertaker
(2025, Christian Byers)
The debut feature from actor-turned-director Christian Byers is a haunting and visceral blend of documentary and fiction. Sparrow, played by Byers, is plagued by fear as he prepares to participate in his first exhumation. With his life (and psyche) collapsing around him while the pandemic hovers, Sparrow is forced to confront the personal and traumatic reason why he is so morbidly interested in working at a funeral parlour. Byers constantly plays with form to create a ghostly film. Yet it is full of empathy and humour too, sourced from the real-life employees of the parlour who are more than willing to go along with Byers weaving narrative. At times it felt circular, perhaps due to the free-flowing production, but even then, it aided the atmosphere to create something that felt just outside of this world.

Fwends
(2025, Sophie Somerville)
Another debut feature from an Australian director, Sophie Somerville puts a very Melbourne spin to the mumble-core genre with freshness, energy and positivity. Em and Jessie, two school friends, reunite for a weekend in Melbourne. From the first stage of giving the life update to the deeper conversations as the night comes, this film effortlessly captures the experience of reconnection. With playfulness, tenderness and passion, Somerville has created an incredibly wholesome and fun film.

The Perfect Neighbour
(2025, Geeta Gandbhir)Compiled almost entirely of police body-cam footage, this documentary places you in the centre of an escalating neighbourhood dispute. Examining racial politics, gun culture and the collapse of the social contract, this documentary delivers a gut-punch of emotion. Powerful and haunting, it is a film that will stay with you long after leaving the theatre.

The Circle
(2000, Jafar Panahi)
The works of Jafar Panahi, guest of the festival and 2025 Palme D’or winner, have been screening at the Art Gallery of NSW across the SFF. Panahi’s third feature, The Circle, effectively and powerfully draws the circle around the lives of women in Iran. With fluidity and confidence we move between the tales of several women as they are subjected to the constraints of society and government.

The End
(2024, Joshua Oppenheimer)
The director’s first narrative feature, The End, is audacious in scope. An apocalyptic musical about a well-off family maintaining their lifestyle deep underground and the disruption that results when a visitor arrives from the outside. The theatrics and grandeur of the musical form do well to heighten the absurdity of these characters. While the world burns they sing and dance safe underground, all to protect the false sense of selves they’ve created. Where it falls short though is in the substance. The musical numbers are mostly forgettable and while the cast is giving it their best, they’re certainly not destined for Broadway.

Editor’s Recommendation

We’re in the midst of the Sydney Film Festival with a bunch of Aussie movies still in the mix! Check out some of them below or the full range here!

Screenings: Thursday 12 June - Wednesday 18 June

Cinema Astragale
Once Upon A Time, There Was A King… (1955, Borivoj Zeman)
Friday

Inner West Libraries Film Club
The Cockettes: The Original Gender (2002, Bill Weber & David Weissman)
Friday

Hayden Orpheum | selected highlights
Solaris (1972, Andrei Tarkovsky)
Digital Restoration
Sunday

SFF - Somersault (2004, Cate Shortland)
Friday

Golden Age Cinema | selected highlights
Lola (1981, Rainer Werner Fassbinder)
Thursday

Bring Her Back (2025, Danny & Michael Philippou)
Saturday & Tuesday

Ritz Cinemas, Randwick | selected highlights

SFF - Mullet (2001, David Caesar)
4K Restoration
Saturday

Robert Altman Retrospective (link)
Images (1972, Robert Altman)
Thursday

Cult Classics (link)
Friday the 13th (1980, Sean S. Cunningham)
Saturday & Monday

Celluloid Film (link)
Pulp Fiction (1994, Quentin Tarantino)
Friday

Classic Matinees (link)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938, Michael Curtiz & William Keighley)
Saturday & Monday

Make It Musical (link)
Dancer in the Dark (2000, Lars von Trier)
Sunday & Wednesday

Meet Cute (link)
Four Weddings & A Funeral (1994, Mike Newell)
Tuesday

Dendy Newtown | selected highlights

Dangerous Animals (2025, Sean Byrne)
Daily

Bring Her Back (2025, Danny & Michael Philippou)
Daily

Palace Cinemas | selected highlights

Cult Vault (link)
Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (2010, Edgar Wright)
Monday & Tuesday

Matinee Memories (link)
Doctor Zhivago (1965, David Lean)
Saturday

Art Gallery of NSW
SFF - Jafar Panahi: Cinema in Rebellion
Saturday & Sunday

SFF - Elaine May: Urbane Legend
Saturday & Sunday

Sydney Film Festival | selected highlights (all Australian!)
Journey Home, David Gulpilil (2025, Maggie Miles & Trisha Morton-Thomas)
Thursday & Sunday

Birthright (2025, Zoe Pepper)
Thursday, Friday & Saturday

Floodland (2025, Jordan Giusti)
Saturday & Sunday