Fwends

The 72nd Sydney Film Festival (4–15 June) today revealed a sneak peek of 16 bold new films set to screen this June, offering a taste of the 2025 program ahead of the full Festival announcement on Wednesday 7 May.

“This first look offers a cross-section of the bold storytelling and distinctive voices that can be found at this year’s Festival,” said Sydney Film Festival Director Nashen Moodley. “From inventive new Australian work to major prize-winners from the international circuit, these films reflect the ingenuity and diversity of cinema today, and offer a glimpse of the rich and rewarding program to come.”

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Two new Australian features will have their premieres at this year’s Festival. Fwends, the debut feature from Sophie Somerville, a two-time Dendy Award-winner (Peeps, SFF 2021; linda 4 eva, SFF 2023), is a fast-talking buddy comedy about modern female friendship. In Lesbian Space Princess, a Berlin Teddy Award-winning animated feature, an introverted heir to the throne goes on a mission to rescue her ex-girlfriend from evil incel aliens.

FWENDS
Dir. Sophie Somerville | Australia | 92 mins | In English and French with English subtitles | Australian premiere
Two besties reunite over a weekend in Melbourne in this freewheeling, fast-talking buddy comedy about modern female friendship. A buoyant, Berlinale prizewinning feature debut. 
Taking a breather from her Sydney lawyer job, Em heads to Melbourne to reconnect with her old friend Jessie for the weekend. Where Jessie’s head is in the clouds, Em is decidedly more level-headed. From the city to the inner north, the two twentysomethings walk and talk, bonding over office horror stories, breakups and existential crises. Long takes and meaty monologues lend a distinct vulnerability to this tale of modern female friendship from two-time Dendy Award-winning filmmaker Sophie Somerville (for Peeps, SFF 2021, and linda 4 eva, SFF 2023). Fwends, her feature debut and winner of the Berlinale Forum’s Caligari Film Prize for innovation, is a prickly and perceptive slice of mumblecore, Australian style.

LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS
Dir. Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs | Australia | 86 mins | In English | Australian premiere
Introverted lesbian space princess Saira goes on an inter-gay-lactic mission to rescue her ex from evil incel aliens in this riotous, Berlin Teddy Award-winning Aussie animation. 
Awarded LGBTQIA+ cinema’s highest honour at Berlin, this rip-roaring comedy centres on Saira, introvert heir to the throne of planet Clitopolis. She’s still reeling from being dumped by her hot bounty hunter girlfriend, Kiki, when Kiki is kidnapped by the “Straight White Maliens”. Steeling herself, Saira recruits the help of an enby popstar and a cantankerous boomer spaceship and launches a mission to rescue Kiki and, she hopes, win her back. The love child of Adelaide’s Leela Varghese and Emma Hough Hobbs, complete with a stellar voice cast including Shabana Azeez (Birdeater, SFF23), Richard Roxburgh, and the Aunty Donna boys, Lesbian Space Princess is a one-of-a-kind, out of this world triumph.

MAKE IT LOOK REAL
Dir. Kate Blackmore | Australia | 78 mins | In English | NSW premiere
For the first time on screen, witness the important work of an intimacy coordinator, one of the most discussed film industry jobs today, in this buzzy Australian SXSW title. 
Claire Warden is an internationally in-demand intimacy coordinator who has helped to choreograph numerous sex scenes in major Hollywood films and TV shows. Hired for the Australian film Tightrope by director Kieran Darcy-Smith, Warden must balance his vision with the safety and comfort of the actors, ensuring both parties feel supported. There are scenes to be blocked and modesty garments to be designed, all in line with the actors’ personal boundaries. Blending insight and entertainment, this layered documentary feature debut from SFF alum Kate Blackmore (The Butter Scene, 2021) illustrates the benefits of having an intimacy coordinator on set as it reveals how the illusion of sex on screen is made.

Flexipasses and Subscriptions to Sydney Film Festival 2025 are on sale now.  Call 1300 733 733 or visit sff.org.aufor more information. The full Sydney Film Festival program is announced on Wednesday 7 May 2025, when tickets to specific film sessions will be on-sale.

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