This year's Melbourne International Film Festival have announced their 'First Glance' at the 2024 programming ahead of their return from 8–25 August this year.
Cinephiles can rejoice that there are some very exciting titles in the mix, including a highly anticipated new local feature screening at the Opening Night Gala, as well as a suite of international films straight from the festival circuit
If you're thinking of heading to the festival this year, we're eager to share with you our pick of the films we think you should watch...
1. I Saw the TV Glow
Perhaps one of A24's most highly anticipated flicks, I Saw the TV Glow will be screening at MIFF this year. If a plot about two teenage outsiders who form a bond over their shared love of a spooky TV show isn't enough to entice you, then we think some of the names attached this project will. With music by Caroline Polachek and yeule, and appearances from Phoebe Bridgers, Snail Mail and Fred Durst, we think this film will be one of this year's most-sought-after watches.
2. Cuckoo
Hunter Schafer has been busy this year, having just returned from the Cannes premier of her new Yorgos Lanthimos film, Kinds of Kindness. But if you've been waiting to see the Euphoria actress in something a little grittier, her new flick Cuckoo sees her go head-to-head with Downton Abbey alum Dan Stevens in this frightfully weird sophomore horror feature from German writer-director Tilman Singer.
3. We Were Dangerous
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Fiercely feminist and imbued with a wicked sense of humour, We Were Dangerous is an ambitious and comedic drama from debut Māori filmmaker Josephine Stewart-Te Whiu and executive producer Taika Waititi. Having made its international premiere in Texas at the SXSW earlier this year (where it won the Narrative Feature Competition Special Jury Award), the coming-of-age film follows the story of three friends, Nellie, Lou and Daisy, sent to an institution for delinquent girls on an isolated island.
4. Memoir of a Snail
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It might seem off-kilter, but this Docklands-shot animated film written and directed by Oscar-winning director Adam Elliot (Harvey Krumpet) will be opening this year's festival. Featuring a distinctly Melburnian cast of voices in Sarah Snook, Jacki Weaver, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dominique Pinon, Magda Szubanski and Eric Bana, the 70s-set film centres on a lonely hoarder who copes with familial tragedy by collecting snail ornaments.
5. Blue Sun Palace
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Recently winning the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week award, Constance Tsang’s Blue Sun Palace is another film high on our MIFF to-watch list. The film investigates the complexities of the migrant experience and the human hunger for connection, following two recently arrived Chinese workers in New York City.
