If you’re anything like myself and looked at this year’s festival program and didn’t know where to start, it’s ok. Here at Novastream, we have an eclectic team with interests in all genres. Let us help you find a gem to watch this 70th anniversary with the Novastream’s Top 5. It’s a selection from each of our number 1 choices. Only the best for our readers.
In no order in particular, number 1 stars the superb Tilda Swinton in, Three Thousand Years of Longing.
It’s a story you’ll remember from your childhood. It also comes with one of life’s great questions, what would your three wishes be if they could be granted?
Alithea Binnie (Tilda Swinton) visits Istanbul for a conference and buys a glass bottle from the bazaar. Cleaning it a cloud of smoke forms and appears a djinn (Idris Elba). Alithea is granted three wishes but must navigate the djinn’s tales of love and arrogance.
Three Thousand Years of Longing comes from the great storyteller and visual master George Miller, famous for the Mad Max films. That alone will ensure a great experience.
In at Number 2, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. This is the mockumentary you never knew you needed to see.
Dean Fleischer-Camp the mastermind behind the viral sensation, wrote, directed and stars as himself, Dean. Recently split from his wife, Dean moves to an Airbnb where he meets a shell with one googly eye and a pair of shoes, Marcel.
Marcel’s family was separated when the couple who once lived there broke up. In a quest to find them Dean helps Marcel become a YouTube star and find his family.
Number 3 is the second entry into MIFF 70 from Director Goran Stolevski. You Won’t Be Alone is the tale of a shapeshifter with a gothic vision.
A young woman makes a deal with a witch and returns years later for what she is owed. But the witch finds the woman’s 16-year-old daughter Nevena and parts her ability to shape-shift upon her.
Nevena must now navigate her new ability in a world that doesn’t understand her.
Chomping in at Number 4, Flux Gourmet. If you have ever wanted to hear what music sounded like when it’s made with food, Flux Gourmet is exactly what you’d be looking for.
When a trio start a residency at an art school they create music with food and food-related items. It’s all done under the supervision of Jan Stevens who ends up causing friction between the trio.
But if their own bickering doesn’t break them apart, along comes a rival band the Mangrove Snacks.
And finally, at Number 5, Saloum. From West Africa’s Senegal comes a mix of genres to bring a tale of imagination amongst the turmoil.
When a group of mercenaries are transporting a Mexican drug dealer, their plane is forced to land at an eerie coastal town.
Here they meet a deaf woman and a cop when things start to get weird. As their journey continues, they find themselves in an otherworldly adventure.
The Melbourne International Film Festival runs from August 4 to 21 at cinemas and 11 to 28 streaming. Stay tuned for more highlights and reviews at Novastream.
