Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF, August 8-25) has revealed the 10 titles in the running for its $94,500 (A$140,000) competition prize.
Debut and second features are eligible for the Bright Horizons competition, which was introduced in 2022.
The line-up includes several Cannes titles; Leonardo Van Dijl’s tennis misconduct drama Julie Keeps Quiet which won the Critics’ Week SACD award; Mo Harawe’s The Village Next to Paradise, the first Somali film to ever screen at Cannes (in the Un Certain Regard section) this year; and Un Certain Regard animation Flow from Gints Zilbalodis, recently a prizewinner at Annecy.
More Cannes titles are; Rungano Nyoni’s second feature On Becoming A Guinea Fowl, which won the UCR best director prize; and Matthew Rankin’s Directors’ Fortnight comedy Universal Language, winner of the sidebar’s inaugural audience award.
Other selections include UK filmmaker Luna Carmoon’s Venice Critics’ Week title Hoard; Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Annie Baker’s debut film Janet Planet; Ena Sendijarević’s Dutch period drama Sweet Dreams, winner of Locarno’s best performance award for Renée Soutendijk; and India Donaldson’s family backpacking drama Good One, which premiered at Sundance.
Rounding out the selection is local title Inside, Charles Williams’ feature debut, which stars Guy Pearce and Shogun breakout Cosmo Jarvis.
As previously announced, Adam Elliot’s Memoir Of A Snail will open the festival.
MIFF 2024 competition titles
Flow (Latvia-Fr-Belg)
Dir. Gints Zilbalodis
Good One (US)
Dir. India Donaldson
Hoard (UK)
Dir. Luna Carmoon
Inside (Australia)
Dir. Charles Williams
Janet Planet (US)
Dir. Annie Baker
Julie Keeps Quiet (Belg-Swe)
Dir. Leonardo Van Dijl
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Zambia-Ire-UK)
Dir. Rungano Nyoni
Sweet Dreams (Neth-Swe-Indonesia)
Dir. Ena Sendijarević
Universal Language (Can)
Dir. Matthew Rankin
The Village Next To Paradise (Austria-Ger-Fr-Somalia)
Dir. Mo Harawe
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