Guy Fawkes night has been superseded by the 2025 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival, a bonfire of explosive pictures with hotly anticipated new releases, documentaries and restrospectives.
Opening the festival is the Australian Premiere of THE CHORAL, a sweeping wartime drama with a stellar cast led by Ralph Fiennes, and directed by Nicholas Hytner. As a group of choralists discover the joys of singing, the young male members must also come to terms with their imminent conscription into the army. Exploring humour and humanity at the heart of a community facing an uncertain future, the film also stars Roger Allam, Mark Addy and Amara Okereke.
It’s a cracker opening and the bangers only get better. Oliver Hermanus’ THE HISTORY OF SOUND, starring Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor and the incomparable Chris Cooper, is a beautifully lyrical film, the Brokeback Mountain of our time, a bromance centred around the power of music, its history and evolution, scored with a lingering refrain of melancholy.
Marking the highly anticipated return to the screen of Daniel Day-Lewis, ANEMONE is this year’s Festival Centrepiece. Heralding the directorial debut of son Ronan Day-Lewis, with whom Daniel Day-Lewis co-wrote the script, ANEMONE also features superb performances from Sean Bean and Samantha Morton. The film explores the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons and a formidable bloody great fish.
Closing the festival is Oscar winner Chloé Zhao’s radiant adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel HAMNET, starring Jessie Buckley as Agnes Shakespeare and Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare. It’s a sensitively observed, magnificently crafted tale about the complexities of love and the healing power of art and creativity, setting the stage for the creation of Shakespeare’s timeless masterpiece, Hamlet. An absolute gem.
In a special Retrospective entitled BRITISH BRILLIANCE, six iconic British films that have all won Best Picture at the Academy Awards are showcased on the big screen including CHARIOTS OF FIRE, GANDHI, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, THE ENGLISH PATIENT and THE KINGS SPEECH.
In a celebration of 25 years since its release, BILLY ELLIOT remains a heartwarming tale of grit and grace, following an 11-year-old boy who defies expectations, trading boxing gloves for ballet shoes in a celebration of passion, identity, and the courage to chase dreams.
The Russell Hobbs British Film Festival opens on Wednesday 5 November in Sydney, Palace Norton Street, Palace Moore Park, Chauvel Cinema, Palace Central, concluding on Sunday 7 December.
Tickets are now on sale www.britishfilmfestival.com.au
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