Sydney Film Festival Review: Slow West (USA, 2015)

Slow West is the story of a young, wide-eyed Jay Cavendish (Kodi Smit-McPhee) who undertakes a journey to find his ‘true love’, Rose (Caren Pistorius). Silas Selleck (Michael Fassbender) soon enters the picture, vowing to help him survive his journey for a small fee. Unbeknownst to Jay, a bounty has been placed on the heads of Rose and her father (Rory McCann) – a bounty that Silas plans to secretly seize. “You’re a jackrabbit in a den of wolves”, Silas explains to Jay, who soon becomes increasingly aware of his vulnerability in a world that is constantly littered with fresh corpses.

Film Review: Petting Zoo (USA, 2015)

To the untrained eye, Petting Zoo presents itself as your typical coming-of-age story told through the perspective of a pregnant teenager – a trope that has been documented countless times in today’s cinema. However, this film explores the issue of teenage pregnancy through an impoverished Texan youth, delivering a perspective that is separated entirely from politics and instead focusing on the poignant journey of the protagonist, leaving the viewer in an emotional mess.

The Next Big Thing: Take a look at these Aussies who have films screening at SXSW

The SXSW Film Festival kicks off on March 13th, in Austin Texas, and as always, a few Australians are showing off their works. I’ll take you through the Australian screenings which have been announced so far:

Does Being Snubbed By The Academy Really Matter?

The snubbing of Selma in the Best Director category has brought outrage to black and feminist communities around the world, reigniting the idea that these minorities are still under constant scrutiny from the world of film. Still, it stands that no black woman has ever been nominated for a Best Director Oscar, a fact that won’t be changing this year. Though this has sparked much outrage, the question should not necessarily be why this film was disregarded in Oscar nominations. Rather, it should be does it necessarily matter whether it was snubbed, especially given the history of well-regarded films that were not nominated for Oscars.