If you’re a Western Sydney Uni student, the Sydney Film Festival want you to watch more movies! Use the code WUSC25SFF to redeem free tickets to selected sessions at this year’s film festival, including daytime, weekday tickets to some of the most popular screenings at the State Theatre (public holidays not included). Come to the the State Theatre and watch these breakout Aussie films listed below for free.
Thursday 5
10:00am – The President’s Cake
Winner, Caméra d’Or, Cannes 2025. A rare film from Iraq, this Cannes Director’s Fortnight selected charmer is a humorous and touching debut about a young girl’s daring quest to bake a cake in the time of Saddam Hussein.
12:30pm – The Mother and The Bear
In this endearing and quirky comedy, a doting Korean mother creates an online dating account for her comatose daughter, set on catfishing a boyfriend for her. Toronto 2024.
3:15pm – Farming the Revolution
This immersive documentary captures a mass movement in vivid close-up, as 12 million farmers challenge the Indian government, forcing it to retract its unjust farm laws.
Friday 6
10:00am – Agatha’s Almanac
This exquisite and delightful portrait of 90-year-old Agatha, who lives and thrives alone on her farm with quiet joy, was lovingly crafted by her artist niece. Hot Docs 2025.
12:15pm – DJ Ahmet
Charming, funny and uplifting, this Sundance Audience Award-winner tells the story of a 15-year-old North Macedonian boy who finds refuge in dance music and in first love.
3:00pm – Spirit World
Cinema icon Catherine Deneuve stars in this gently supernatural road movie as a French singer who dies on tour in Japan and is guided in the afterlife by a devoted fan. Closing Film, Busan 2024.
Tuesday 10
10:00am – Always
Winner of the top prize at CPH:DOX, this strikingly beautiful film follows a boy poet’s coming of age in rural China, and marks the arrival of a major new voice in Chinese cinema.
12:00pm – On Becoming A Guinea Fowl
In Rungano Nyoni’s surreal and searing Cannes-selected drama, a Zambian family comes to terms with hard truths as the funeral of a relative sparks revelations and disputes.
2:15pm – Eighty Plus
Winner of the 1969 Berlinale Golden Bear, Želimir Žilnik returns with a very funny and extremely charming film about a musician travelling to Serbia to reclaim a family property.
Wednesday 11
10:00am – Mirrors No. 3
SFF favourite Christian Petzold (Afire, SFF 2023; Barbara, SFF 2012) reunites with Paula Beer in this Cannes selected, intrigue-filled, intimate drama about a woman who gets entwined with a family following a car crash.
12:00pm – All That’s Left Of You
Cherien Dabis (Amreeka, SFF 2009) directs and stars in this deeply moving epic chronicling the loves, hopes, losses and traumas of a Palestinian family over seven decades. Sundance 2025.
3:00pm – Ancestral Visions of the Future
After stunning audiences with 2019’s This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection, Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese returns with a personal and visually astonishing meditation on home and exile. Berlinale 2025.
Thursday 12
10:00am – The Wolves Always Come At Night
A Mongolian family must leave their nomadic desert life after a devastating storm in Gabrielle Brady’s stunning, Toronto-selected follow-up to her multi-award-winning debut.
12:25pm – The Heart is a Muscle
When his son goes missing, a father enacts misdirected retribution – in turn resurfacing dark, suppressed chapters from his past. A hit from the 2025 Berlinale.
2:40pm – The Secret Agent
Sydney Film Prize winner for Aquarius (SFF 2016), Kleber Mendonça Filho returns with his Cannes Competition entry – a rousing and tense political thriller starring Wagner Moura (Narcos; Praia do Futuro, SFF 2014). Winner of Best Actor, Best Director and the International Critic’s Prize (Fipresci) at Cannes 2025.
Friday 13
10:00am – My Father’s Shadow
The first Nigerian film in the Cannes Official Selection, this bold, poetic drama set over a heady day in Lagos is sure to be one of the year’s most acclaimed debuts and stars Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù (Slow Horses, Gangs of London). Caméra d’Or – Special Mention, Cannes 2025.
12:30pm – Orwell: 2+2=5
Direct from Cannes, Raoul Peck’s (I Am Not Your Negro, SFF 2017) powerful exploration of George Orwell and his novel Nineteen Eighty-Four reveals just how deeply his warnings resonate today.
3:00pm – Sorry, Baby
This breakout Sundance hit and screenplay award winner is a witty and fearlessly vulnerable dramedy about an English professor trying to overcome the unspeakable. Direct from Cannes Directors’ Fortnight.
To redeem, enter WUSC25SFF in the “Book on a Pass / Discount Code” section when selecting your ticket. The code can be used to claim one free double pass at a time.
Whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker or just a movie lover, don’t forget to come to the Filmmaker Community Connect on Saturday 14 June. Come to network or just party at the Festival Hub where you can meet filmmakers and film lovers.
Find out about the rest of the events at the Hub this year, including, talks about making your first feature, pitching new film ideas, and discussions on the rise of the re-release. Find out more here.
