YOUNG AT HEART, the only film festival in the world catering to film lovers over 60 years of age starts from April 3-9 at Place Norton Street and Verona Cinema.

Its 2017 festival ambassador will be Lynette Curran. She begin her career in the 60s, she is one of Australia’s most respected film and television actors. From her early days in the soap opera Bellbird to classic Australian films such as Bliss, The Boys, Japanese Story, and Somersault, Lynette has made an enormous contribution to the local screen industry. She is currently seen in A Few Less Men, in which she turns the seniors stereotype on its head. Young at Heart warmly welcomes Lynette as the festival’s ambassador for 2017.

Here are some of the movies who will be featured during the festival:

THEIR FINEST

Lone Scherfig (An Education) returns with the comedy-drama THEIR FINEST, set during the Blitz of London in World War II. A young screenwriter Catrin Cole (Gemma Arterton) is charged with bringing a female perspective to morale-boosting war films made by the British Ministry of Information’s Film Division. Overflowing with witty banter and period detail, the film also stars Bill Nighy, Sam Claflin, Jake Lacy, Richard E. Grant, and Jeremy Irons. 

THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC 

Simon Aboud delivers a contemporary fairytale in the coming of age film THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC. In a dreamy spot in central London, Bella Brown (Jessica Brown Findlay, Downton Abbey) fantasises about writing and illustrating a successful children’s book. When forced by her landlord to deal with her neglected garden or face eviction, she meets her ultimate match in miserable green-thumb, Alfie (Tom Wilkinson, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel).

NERUDA is the audacious and grandly entertaining film from multi-award winning director Pablo Larraín (Jackie). A lavishly-mounted reimagining of the Nobel Prize-winning poet’s pursuit into political exile, the film is set in Cold War era Chile where Neruda (Luis Gnecco) accuses the government of betraying the Communist Party, and finds himself on the run from bumbling police prefect Oscar Peluchonneau (Gael García Bernal).

SOPHIE AND THE RISING SUN tells the dramatic story of interracial lovers swept up in the tides of history. An injured first-generation Japanese-American man (Takashi Yamaguchi) shows up unexpectedly in a small town, where he is cared for by a local townswoman (Julianne Nicholson). But the local community, driven by fear, reacts with unrelenting suspicion.   

The Young at Heart program will also feature 4K restoration screenings of two classic films:

THE TALES OF HOFFMANN (1951) is Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s impressive reinterpretation of the 1881 opera by Jacques Offenbach. Combining the best film, music and dance performers of its time, the 4K restoration features never-seen-before footage. Featuring Robert Rounseville in the title role of Hoffmann, a storyteller beyond compare, the film blends ballet and opera to great effect, showcasing the talents of legendary dancer and actor Moira Shearer.

THE THIRD MAN (1949) is the story of a Pulp novelist who visits Vienna, where he discovers that an old friend has died in puzzling circumstances. The film-noir classic is anchored by sterling performances from Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, and Orson Welles and striking Oscar-winning cinematography from Robert Krasker. Demanding to be seen on the big screen, the 4K restoration is regarded by the British Film Institute as the Best British Film of the 20th Century.     

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id_ZyNdvXKQ

Capping off the huge Young at Heart line-up are five previously announced titles. Catch the Australian premieres of VICEROY’S HOUSE and WHITELEY, the moving father-son drama TOMMY’S HONOUR, Jim Sheridan’s latest film THE SECRET SCRIPTURE, and a retrospective screening of THE LION IN WINTER, starring Katharine Hepburn in one of her Oscar-winning performances.

Download the full program here

Tickets are on sale now via www.youngatheart.net.au

YOUNG AT HEART Presented by Palace Cinemas

Sydney: April 3 – 9, Palace Norton Street and Verona

Source: www.youngatheart.net.au

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