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Media Release
09 May 2009
Screen classics Liza With a Z, Wake in Fright and
Overlord revived at Sydney Film Festival
The Sydney Film Festival today announced its restoration line-up and revealed that
Liza Minnelli will participate in a question and answer session via satellite as part of
the 2009 festival program (3-14 June). The legendary figure is the star of Liza with a Z,
one of three screen classics that have been ‘revived’ for the festival program. Wake in
Fright and Overlord complete the restoration category, with directors Ted Kotcheff and
Stuart Cooper attending as guests of Sydney Film Festival.
“We are privileged and thrilled to be connecting Sydney with the talented
creators behind three extraordinary projects from the 70s. Sydney Film Festival
plays a vital role not only in bringing the best contemporary cinema to Sydney
each June, but just as importantly, in reviving screen classics such as these for
new audiences and movie lovers.” – Clare Stewart, Festival Director
No-one twirls a feather boa, flutters a fake eyelash or struts a suspender with the
glittering pizzazz of “Liza with a Zee (not Lisa with an Ess)”. In 1972, the same year that
she and director Bob Fosse won Oscars for Cabaret, they collaborated on Liza with a Z
an exultant Broadway-style televised musical. Brilliantly choreographed and edited, shot
with an 8-camera set up (a first for network TV), and featuring a stunning selection of
‘numbers’, it went on to win 4 Emmy Awards. Subsequently unseen for over 30 years,
the project was lovingly restored by Michael Arick. It appears on the big screen for the
first time in Australia with a live-cross to the Queen of cabaret herself.
Liza with a Z screens Monday 8 June (Queen’s Birthday) 9.15pm The State Theatre
Followed by Question and Answer session, via satellite, with Liza Minnelli
Chugg Entertainment and David M Hawkins present Liza Minnelli on tour in October 2009
Decades of dust has finally been blown off
Wake in Fright, one of the greatest
Australian films ever made. After years of searching for a negative and a painstaking
restoration (a passion project for its editor Anthony Buckley), this cornerstone of the
Australian 70s filmmaking renaissance is presented at SFF hot-off-the-heels of its
Cannes Classics World Premiere (it first screened Cannes in 1971). Based on Kenneth
Cook’s blistering novel, an outback school teacher (Gary Bond) rubs the wrong way
against ‘Yabba’ locals resulting in a booze-fuelled gambling bender that rapidly
descends into violence and despair. The last film of iconic Australian actor Chips
Rafferty and the first of Jack Thompson was directed by Canadian Ted Kotcheff who
returns to Australia for SFF’s premiere.
Wake in Fright screens Saturday 13 June 11.45am The State Theatre
Followed by Question and Answer session with SFF special guest, director Ted Kotcheff
Presented in association with Madman Entertainment, the ‘Wake in Fright’ Trust, National Film and
Sound Archive and Atlab/Deluxe Australia
Stuart Cooper’s Overlord is a cinematic account of the D-Day landings and follows the
story of a young man who leaves his life behind as he reports for military duty. With
recreated sequences shot by cinematographer John Alcott, Stanley Kubrick’s frequent
collaborator, Overlord was a prize-winning entry in the 1975 Berlin Film Festival. It is a
unique war film that seamlessly blends fictional segments (vintage German lenses were
used to render the contemporary footage) with archival material (director Stuart Cooper
spent 3 years selecting footage from the archives of the Imperial War Museum). The
result is utterly transporting.
Overlord screens on 65th Anniversary of D-Day Saturday 6 June 10.30am Art Gallery
of New South Wales
Followed by Question and Answer session with SFF special guest, director Stuart
Cooper
###
The full program for the 56th Sydney Film Festival, 3–14 June 2009, will be
announced on Thursday 14 May 2009. The program guide will be included in The
Sydney Morning Herald on Friday 15 May. FlexiPasses are now on sale and single
session tickets will be on sale from 14 May.
For further information please contact The Lantern Group
M: 0408 114 864 E: victoria@lanterngroup.com.au
M: 0404 877 887 E: annaliese@lanterngroup.com.au
T: 02 9383 4034 E: natalie@lanterngroup.com.au
T:02 9383 4034 E: charlotte@lanterngroup.com.au
About Sydney Film Festival
Sydney Film Festival screens feature films, documentaries, short films and animations across
the city at the State Theatre, GU George Street Cinemas, Dendy Opera Quays and the Art
Gallery of NSW. The festival is a major event on the New South Wales cultural calendar and
is one of the world’s longest running film festivals. In 2008, SFF introduced the Official
Competition, a FIAPF-accredited competition for ‘new directions in film’, which rewards
courageous and audacious filmmaking. The Official Competition is supported by Events NSW
and the $60,000 cash prize is provided by Hunter Hall Investment Management. Celebrated
Australian filmmaker Rolf de Heer heads up the 2009 jury of three international and two
Australian industry figures.
The 56th Sydney Film Festival spools from Wednesday 3 June – Sunday 14 June 2009.
Stills from a selection of films in SFF 2009 are available for media at www.image.net
FlexiPasses are on sale now, and single session tickets are available from Thursday 14 May.
All tickets are available from the Sydney Film Festival website - www.sff.org.au.
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