Missing MIFF

Before the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival (one of the best ever) becomes a distant memory, below is a short list of my favourite films. They are in no particular order - although if pressed to name my number 1, I guess the top spot would be be shared equally between Deniz Gamze Erguven's Mustang and Sebastian Silva’s Old Cats. 

Although he is only 36 years old, Silva rated a survey season at this year’s MIFF. We also saw his most recent film, Nasty Baby. Unfortunately I only discovered his work when the season was half over, but lost no time in racing to see was left, namely The Maid and Life Kills Me, both of which have also made the list.

Old Cats (Chile/USA, dir. Sebastian Silva, 2010)

Mustang (France/Germany/Turkey/Qatar, 2015, dir. Deniz Gamze Erguven, 2015)

She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry (USA, dir. Mary Dore, 2014)

Body (Poland, dir. Malgorzata Szumowska, 2015)

Tales (Iran, dir. Rakhshan Banietemad, 2014)

Tehran Taxi (Iran, dir. Jafar Panahi, 2015)

The Spiderwebhouse (Germany, dir. Mara Eibl-Eibesfeldt, 2015)

Listen to Me Marlon (UK, dir. Stevan Riley, 2015)

The Thoughts That Once We Had (USA, dir. Thom Andersen, 2015)

The Postman’s White Nights (Russia, dir. Andrei Konchalovski, 2014)

Life Kills Me (Chile, dir. Sebastian Silva, 2007)

The Maid (Chile/Mexico, dir. Sebastian Silva, 2008)

Tea Time (Chile, dir. Maite Alberdi, 2014)

One Floor Below (Romania, dir. Raphael Elisha, 2015)

Spartacus and Cassandra (France, Henry Thong, 2015)

Palio, (Italy/UK, dir. Cosima Spender, 2015)

Another MIFF highlight was British film historian Adrian Wootton’s talk on the incomparable Fred Astaire. 

Our longtime favourite MIFF venue is the Forum Theatre, a once spectacular picture palace, now in need of some TLC, but glorious nonetheless. Its Mandala Lounge (formerly the theatre's stalls) is a very civilised spot to unwind after a hard day’s MIFF-going.

Shane in the Mandala Lounge, Forum Theatre, Melbourne

It was all over far too fast. Goodbye, MIFF, till 2016.