Sydney Film Festival

From the award-winning film Beasts of the Southern Wild

The cold, heavy rain last week signaled not only the start of winter here in the southern hemisphere, but also the 59th Sydney Film Festival. I was fortunate enough to get a last-minute ticket through work to attend opening night at the regal State Theatre, and the premier of Not Suitable for Children. It was fabulous.

On the red carpet!

I accompanied the 4 film students who are studying here in Sydney in time for the festival, we got all dressed up to the nines and fled through the rain to the magnificent State Theatre in downtown Sydney. At the entrance was the red carpet (which despite our protests, we were not allowed to walk through…) with all the directors, producers and actors in the festival posing for photographs. I distinctly remember one actor who was hiiiiilarious to watch as he posed for the camera-- he would turn to the camera, and squint his eyes, purse his lips. Sound familiar? Yes, I too am sure he got his inspiration from the movie Zoolander. It was exciting to witness the glamour of the red (albeit small) carpet.

This guy

Once we piled into the plush velvet red seats with our exorbitantly priced popcorn, we heard speeches from the Chairman of the SFF, Director of the festival Nashen Moodley, the Lord Mayor of Sydney Clover Moore, and the director of the opening film, Peter Templeman. The film was fantastic--about a playboy living in the Inner West of Sydney who finds out he has testicular cancer, and has less than a month to procreate. The results are hilarious. Starring Ryan Kwanten (best known for his thick Louisiana accent on True Blood, even though he's Aussie) and the beautiful Sarah Snook.

At the State Theatre

After the film, I ran into half the cast in the Butterfly Lounge, a fancy-schmancy bathroom in the State Theatre. Sarah Snook was standing behind me! So I casually asked if I could take a photo next to her…
The after-party was at the swanky Bungalow 8 in Darling Harbour, with an open bar! Instead of mingling with famous Aussie celebrities and what-not, I chose the more fun route…which involved doing Totoro impressions and talking about other Miyazaki films with my friend Eddie.

Actress Sarah Snook and Ryan Corr