British Film Festival 2014

Despite how far Australia is from Britain and how much we bag “Pommyland”, there’s just something charming about the motherland that keeps her in our minds, maybe even our hearts. I suppose you could say it’s Britain’s way to keeping it’s power over us psychologically, but now I’m just being silly (though look at Scotland’s recent referendum despite the Scots’ explicit views on freedom in Braveheart; all talk, no action, hehe).

So the British are coming back to create temporary settlements in cinemas across Australia for the second year, and Melbourne is one of the lucky spots to view these great movies, innit? How dandy! Though many movies will be playing, some noteworthy ones include the quirky comedy A Long Way Down starring Pierce Brosnan and Toni Collette, artist biopic Mr Turner (which is currently potential Oscar bait!),quirky muso flick God Help The Girl, The Imitation Game, the tale of how the British defeated the Nazis by breaking their Enigma code system, and many more!

To boot, it seems Britain still basking in the glory of the Swinging London days with the Six From The ’60s. That’s right, the festival are screening six movies from the decade that changed the world. There’s The Italian Job and Zulu, both starring a very young Michael Caine (yes, he wasn’t always Batman’s crusty old butler), the story of teenage rebellion If… (this one in particular looks amazing!), acclaimed British director John Schlesinger’s Billy Liar and Darling. But last, and definitely not least, is The Beatles’ very own movie A Hard Day’s Night, currently celebrating its 50th anniversary. (How can you mention 1960s London and not mention The Fab Four?)

Many of the movies being shown will be exclusively shown as part of the festival, so if you’re particularly keen on any of them, the British Film Festival is the way to go. And why not, it’s a festival, for movies!

British Film Festival
Wednesday November 5 – Wednesday November 26
britishfilmfestival.com.au