The Sydney Film Festival has shared its full program for 2025, screening films from around the world for its 72nd year running. Heading up the program’s music section is Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds, a documentary about the making of Williams’ latest studio album Te Whare Tīwekaweka. Released last month, the album is Williams’ first to be recorded entirely in te reo Māori. The film was directed by Ursula Grace Williams, an award-winning Aotearoan documentarian.
Also included in the program is One To One: John & Yoko, a new documentary focusing on the late John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono. Directed by Scottish filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, who has previously made documentaries on the likes of Mick Jagger and Bob Marley, the documentary looks at the pair’s performance at Madison Square Garden, and their time living in New York City.
Marlon Williams: Ngā Ao E Rua – Two Worlds
Elsewhere in the Sydney Film Festival program, Selena y Los Dinos looks at the late Tejano popstar Selena through “never-before-seen family archives”, while Move Ya Body: The Birth Of House looks at the history of the dance music subgenre through its roots in Chicago’s Black LGBTQ+ community. On the local front, Songs Inside is an Adelaide documentary focusing on the Songbird program, which teaches female prisoners how to sing and play music. The full program can be viewed here.
SFF last ran in June 2024. Its music program that year featured a new documentary on Blur, To The End, as well as the premiere Australian screenings of Kneecap‘s critically acclaimed eponymous biopic. It also featured the A24 film I Saw The TV Glow in its program, which featured a cameo from Phoebe Bridgers and a bit part from Limp Bizkit frontman (and occasional director) Fred Durst.
Further Reading
Marlon Williams Review – Warmth and Waiata at Melbourne Gig
A New Book About The Beatles’ 1964 Australian Tour Is Coming
