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Sydney Film Festival Adds Nine New Films To 2025 Program, Including Two Special Presentations

2 Jun 2025

Sydney Film Festival Adds Nine New Films To 2025 Program, Including Two Special Presentations

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival (4–15 June) today announces the addition of nine exceptional new films to the 2025 program — including two Special Presentations: Sentimental Value, the Cannes Grand Prix winner from Joachim Trier; and Sîrat, a Cannes Jury Prize-winner produced by Pedro Almodóvar. 

These new titles join the Festival’s official line-up and will have their Australian premiere screenings across the Festival, which kicks off this Wednesday 4 June.

“The Festival starts in just two days, but we think it’s never too late to add the most exciting new films to the Festival, fresh from their international premieres,” said SFF Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “From sweeping historical epics and urgent political dramas to intimate portraits and unforgettable performances, these films continue our commitment to showcasing the most exciting cinema from around the world.”

Among the newly announced are two Special Presentations. Sentimental Value reunites director Joachim Trier with The Worst Person in the World (SFF 2021) star Renate Reinsve in an intimate family drama about the power of art, also starring Stellan Skarsgård and Elle Fanning. Meanwhile, Sîrat, set in a near-future Morocco, follows a father and son as they travel from rave to rave in search of a missing daughter, driven by a propulsive techno soundtrack.

Sergei Loznitsa (In The Fog; Austerlitz, SFF 2017), delivers a chilling study of justice under Stalin in Two Prosecutors. Screened in competition at Cannes, the film is set in 1937 and follows a young official whose pursuit of fairness within a brutal regime leads to harrowing consequences. Another film direct from Cannes Competition, Tarik Saleh’s (The Nile Hilton Incident, SFF 2017; Boy from Heaven, SFF 2022) incisive satirical thriller Eagles of the Republic follows an Egyptian movie star as he’s coerced by shady political forces.

Magellan stars Gael García Bernal as the famed Portuguese explorer in this Cannes-selected, visually resplendent epic from Filipino auteur and SFF regular Lav Diaz. Produced and co-starring Joel Edgerton, The Plague is a horror-tinged thriller about a shy preteen losing his grip on reality as he succumbs to toxic peer pressure at summer camp.

Winner of both the Cannes Queer Palme and Best Actress award, The Little Sister is a moving portrait of a French-Algerian woman attempting to reconcile exploring her sexuality with her cultural identity. With Young Mothers, Cannes Screenplay Prize winners the Dardenne brothers (Two Days, One Night, Sydney Film Prize 2014) return with an affecting drama, about five young mothers housed in a Belgian shelter.

It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley, the poignant new documentary from Amy Berg (Janis: Little Girl Blue, SFF 2016), draws on rare, never-before-seen footage and intimate insights from friends, family and lovers to celebrate the life and legacy of the beloved alt-rock icon.

The full Sydney Film Festival 2025 program can be found online at sff.org.au. Sydney Film Festival runs from 4-15 June 2025. Tickets and Flexipasses to Sydney Film Festival 2025 are on sale now. Please call 1300 733 733 or visit sff.org.au for more information or to book. 

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Amber Forrest-Bisley, Publicity Manager E: amber@originalspin.com.au | P: 8065 7363 | M: 0405 363 817 

Sydney Film Festival Press Pack and Images Available HERE

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