The Mostly British Film Festival is proud to present Australian Spotlight 2019
Radha Mitchell who stars in Celeste and Flammable Children will be at the festival to talk about both films. Celeste director Ben Hackworth will also be a guest of the festival. Both will participate in a Q & A on Celeste conducted by SFFILM executive director Noah Cowan.
All films are at the Vogue Theater, 3290 Sacramento Street. Tickets are available at mostlybritish.org and at the theater box-office. Anyone responding to this information qualifies for the discounted rate of $12.50
Celeste plays at 6 p.m. on Friday February 15
Writer/director Ben Hackworth brings us a retired opera singer, Celeste, a star fifteen years ago who is now attempting a come-back. At forty something she is living in a crumbling paradise somewhere in the lush rainforest of north-eastern Australia. Set against this wondrous tropical backdrop, Radha Mitchell plays the nervy diva with resplendent theatricality, mourning the death of her husband ten years earlier and finding comfort from drink and her friend/producer Grace, she prepares for the show. Enter her estranged stepson Jack (Thomas Cocquerel), no longer a teenager, but now described so eloquently by the Hollywood Reporter as “a virile slab of wayward young manhood.” Indeed, he is and tension mounts. Enigmatic and at times mysterious, this film is always engaging, offering stunning location shots to bask in.
Australia 2018 (105 minutes)
Flammable Children plays at 9 p.m. on Friday, February 15
From Stephan Elliot, writer and director of “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” comes this hilarious and raunchy comedy about growing up in a Sydney beachside suburb during the swinging 1970s. Guy Pearce who became a star playing a drag queen in Priscilla, “” is this time cast as one of the parents, attempting to raise their children in relatively privileged circumstances between wild partying and general outrageous behavior. For a couple of their teenagers their parents’ behavior is difficult to understand and makes coming of age all the more daunting. The teens ae forced to deal with marital discord not to mention a beached whale. Clever nostalgic references to the ‘70s are a treat along with compelling character performances from the large cast including Radha Mitchell, famous pop star and Aussie TV icon Kylie Minogue and veteran actor Jack Thompson.
Australia 2018 ( 97 minutes )
The Song Keepers plays at 1 p.m. on Monday, February 18
This heartwarming documentary written and directed by Naina Sen tells the story of an unlikely cultural exchange that occurred when the newly revived Central Australian Aboriginal Women's Chorus left their home in the Outback and flew overseas for the first time to sing ancient German Lutheran hymns in their own language at Lutheran churches throughout the German state of Bavaria. In personal interviews conducted throughout the planning of the tour and during their travels, we get to know and admire these strong and resilient women who speak about the effects of colonialism on their traditional culture, including their ancestors learning these songs from Lutheran missionaries and passing them down through generations. The chorus members also speak of the strong relationships that bind them as women. Their love of the music and their angelic voices won the hearts of the German people who remembered the old hymns that their parents would sing to them.
Australia 2017 (84 minutes)
Ellipsis plays at 5 p.m. Tuesday, February 19
This atmospheric drama set in a glittering Sydney is reminiscent of the Ethan Hawke-Julie Delpy “Before Sunrise” series in portraying two eminently likeable characters who are each willing to risk exploring where a chance encounter will lead them and the effects of fate. As Viv and Jasper, stars Emily Barclay (“The Light Between Oceans”) and Benedict Samuel (the TV series “Gotham”) literally collide in a busy intersection in Sydney, damaging Viv’s cellphone. The accident requires her to delay her return to her fiance in London while her phone is repaired. A contrite Jasper offers her use of his phone and company as the two share a series of adventures that lead them to shed their initial reserve. They happen upon numerous bizarre characters while roaming deeply into Sydney’s nightlife.
Australia 2018 (85 minutes)