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MIFF 2022 Is Celebrating Its 70th Anniversary With Its Biggest Program Yet, Here’s What To See

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Celebrating its very own jubilee, MIFF 2022 (Melbourne International Film Festival) is returning for its 70th instalment. The cinephile and movie-lover event is a pillar of Melbourne's winter season and this year's lineup doesn't fall short with an absolutely stacked program of events, talks, quality features, virtual reality experiences, documentaries, short films and more spread out across both the digital and in-person landscape. 

Here's everything you need to know for MIFF 2022: 

MIFF will be running from Thursday 4 August through to Sunday 21 August. The screenings will return to familiar spots like the Capitol Theatre and ACMI in the city alongside a slew of Melbourne suburbs including Yarraville and Coburg and even regional precincts such as The Sun Cinema in Bright, and Sorrento's Peninsula Cinema. They’ll also be continuing the online screenings which are available nationally on the MIFF Play digital platform from Thursday 11 August. 

The platinum anniversary event will see a slew of Australian and international films descend upon Melbourne. Kicking off at the Opening Night Gala will be the MIFF Funded, 'Of an Age', a classic Australian coming-of-age tale by highly touted filmmaker, Goran Stolevski. 

The headline titles of the event are all laden with a pedigree of supreme talent. Taking out the Cannes film award for best director, Decision to Leave is an intense lust-infused crime thriller by visionary Korean director, Park Chan-wook (Old Boy, The Handmaiden).  

There's also Holy Spider, which follows the hunt for a serial killer in Iran from the perspective of a female journalist—portrayed by Zar Amir-Ebrahimi who was rewarded with Best Actress at Cannes for the performance. 

One of the biggest pictures to arrive in Melbourne will be Moonage Daydream, way more than a documentary, this collection of archival footage from the Bowie estate is a psychedelic exploration of David Bowie and his musical transcendence from filmmaker Brett Morgen. 

Documentary-wise, there's also Diamond Hands: The Legend of WallStreetBets the incredible meme-fuelled tale of the Gamestop stock, as well as Age Of Rage, a dive through the Australian punk revolution throughout the 1970s and 80s. 

If you feel like celebrating Australian pop culture you can also head to the 'Hear My Eyes' events at the Astor Theatre; a live rescoring of the classic film, Chopper, by Mick Harvey (Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds). 

Taking out the Best Film award at the 2022 Berlin Film Festival, Alcarràsis an incredibly soulful tale of a family's upheaval from their family orchard. Based in a village of Catalan (Spain), the narrative weaves between the loving family members as they fight for their home. 

The Hugo Weaving narrated, Franklin, is also receiving plenty of buzz. Centred around a young Tasmanian activist as he fights to protect and save the natural treasure, The Franklin River Wilderness. 

Looking into the current housing crisis and homelessness impacting women in Australia is 'Under Cover'. Narrated by Margot Robbie, the documentary explores the stories of 10 women and their experiences of homelessness and the impacts of immigration, domestic violence and unemployment on their lives. 

One not to miss the MIFF XR. The virtual reality program features several immersive experiences, foremostly, Gondwana; a true innovation in VR installations that transports you to the possible futures of the planet's oldest tropical rainforest. Having appeared previously at SXSW and Sundance the VR event inserts participants amongst ancient trees, flora and animals of the Daintree. 

The closing of the festival will see the incredible documentary 'Clean'. Hot off the tails of premiering at SXSW, the real-life tale of Sandra Pankhurst rose to attention through her the book 'The Trauma Cleaner' by Sarah Krasnostein. Now, critically acclaimed director, Lachlan McLeod is bringing Sandra's inspirational journey to the big screen.

Tickets are available exclusively for MIFF Members from 7.30pm Tuesday 12 July, general public tickets are available from 9am Friday 15 July. Head over here to secure yours

Image credit: MIFF 2022

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