BREC International Film Festival Winter 2022: Award winning international films come to South West screen

Award winning films from across the globe are set to hit the South West screen in July for the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre’s winter International Film Festival, with all new classic and French film takeovers. BREC’s eclectic program will include 36 screenings of 14 films from nine different countries that take viewers through experiences of love, laughter, fear and fantasy. Happening over 19 days — starting on July 6 and ending on July 24 — BREC’s winter film festival will include stories from Australia, Iran, Denmark, Finland, France, Hungary, Japan, New Zealand and the US. In-line with the festival’s theme “illuminate” BREC Program Manager Meg Shields said she hopes the films “paint with international light” across the South West cinema screen. “The BREC International Film Festival Winter 2022 offers to emblazon stories from across the globe and brighten the winter month of July,” she said. “You find celebration in these stories of the incredible and resilient human condition.” New to this years program is Classic Film Wednesday’s and French Film Friday, with 1927 musical-romance Singin’ in the Rain set to screen on opening day and second screenings of French Films BAFTA-nominated Petit Maman, Rumba Therapy and Farewell, Mr. Haffmann taking over on Friday July 22. Rom-com classic Breakfast at Tiffany’s and adventure-thriller The Great Escape are also set to star in BREC’s classic Wednesday’s. Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix joint winner Finland’s Compartment No. 6 will be included in this year’s drama line-up as well as Japan’s multi-award winning Drive My Car, French film My Brothers and I and New Zealand’s Juniper. Denmark’s Academy Award nominated animated film Flee, along with the voice of Willem Dafoe in Australia’s River, will fill out the festival’s documentary program. Iranian drama-comedy Hit The Road will tell the story of a chaotic and mysterious road trip while Hungarian psychological thriller Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time will portray a more fearful side of the unknown. For movie snacks as diverse as the program the Entertainment Centre’s Festival Hub will offer international beers, cocktails, toasted paninis, chips, popcorn, gelato and coffee for festivalgoers to enjoy. Singin’ in the Rain — US In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound. Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds star in one of the best-loved Hollywood musicals. Filled with memorable songs, lavish routines and Kelly’s fabulous song-and-dance number performed in the rain. Screening(s): Wednesday July 6, 1:00pm Hit The Road — Iran Hit The Road follows a family on a chaotic and mysterious road trip across the rugged landscape of Iran, a journey shrouded in mystery and filled with evasive behaviour and humour. Dad has a cast leg, Mum laughs to hide her anxiety and the kid explodes into karaoke as they fuss over their sick dog, leaving a mysterious older brother to drive the car. Screening(s): Thursday July 7 , 11.00am — Sunday July 17, 11.30am — Saturday July 23, 5.30pm Rumba Therapy — France Bus driver Tony is going through a midlife crisis. He lives a solitary life and after surviving a heart attack decides to reconnect with his estranged daughter who is a dance teacher. Tony signs up for her classes, even though he hates dancing and has two left feet. Screening(s): Thursday July 7, 2.30pm — Thursday July 14, 11.00am — Friday July 22, 5.30pm La Traviata, My Brothers and I — France This Cannes Film Festival selected film tells the story of Nour, the youngest of four brothers who live in a French housing project and care for their mother who is in a coma. Between community work and rising tensions at home, Nour dreams of escaping to a faraway place. When he crosses paths with Sarah, an opera singer teaching summer classes, he finds the opportunity to explore new horizons through music. Screening(s): Thursday July 7, 6.00pm — Friday July 15, 5.30pm — Sun July 24, 11.30am Farewell, Mr. Haffmann — France Based on a multi award-winning play, Farewell, Mr. Haffmann centres on the Faustian pact between a Jewish jeweller and his assistant in World War II occupied Paris as German authorities close in. Screeing(s): Friday July 8, 2.00pm — Saturday July 16, 2.00pm — Friday July 22, 8.00pm Juniper — New Zealand Self-destructive teenager Sam returns home from boarding school for holidays to abruptly discover his gin-soaked grandmother Ruth — Charlotte Rampling — has moved in. A battle of wills ensues, leading Sam to embrace life again and Ruth to face her own mortality. Screening(s): Friday July 8, 5.30pm — Sunday July 17, 2.00pm — Saturday July 23, 2.00pm Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time — Hungary Marta, a 40-year-old neurosurgeon, falls in love at a US medical conference and upon her return to Budapest she awaits to meet the love of her life. When he fails to appear, Marta starts a desperate search and when he is finally found, he claims to have never met her. Screening(s): Friday July 8, 8.00pm — Thursday July 14, 2.30pm — Thursday July 21, 11.00am River — Australia Narrated by Willem Dafoe, River takes viewers on a journey through space and time. Spanning six continents and drawing on extraordinary contemporary cinematography, the film explores rivers from perspectives never seen before. A profound cinematic and musical reflection on how rivers have shaped both the planet’s elaborate landscapes and all human existence. Screening(s): Saturday July 9, 2.00pm — Friday July 15, 2.00pm — Sunday July 24, 2.00pm Drive My Car — Japan Yusuke Kafuku accepts an invitation to direct Uncle Vanja at a theatre festival in Hiroshima as a means to cope with the loss of his wife. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman appointed to drive his car. Secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions are unveiled. Screening(s): Saturday July 9, 5.30pm — Thursday July 21, 6.00pm Flee — Denmark Academy Award nominated Flee tells the true story of Amin Nawabi, an Afghan refugee with a painful secret he has hidden for 20 years and now threatens to derail his life. Made with a striking blend of animation, intimate interviews, ‘80s music and archival footage, Flee details an unforgettable story of self-discovery and the relentless will to survive. Screening(s): Sunday July 10, 11.30am — Friday July 15, 8.00pm Petite Maman — France BAFTA nominated Petite Maman is a captivating coming-of-age story that explores a mother-daughter relationship across time. When Nelly loses her grandmother and arrives at her mother’s childhood home, she explores the surrounding woods where her mother built a treehouse. When Nelly’s mother abruptly leaves, she meets a girl in the woods. Screening(s): Sunday July 10, 2.00pm — Thursday July 14, 6.00pm — Friday July 22, 2.00pm The Great Escape — US The Nazis, exasperated at the number of escapes from their prison camps by a relatively small number of Allied prisoners, relocate them to a high-security “escape-proof” camp to sit out the remainder of the war. Undaunted, the prisoners plan one of the most ambitious escape attempts of World War II. Screening(s): Wednesday July 13, 1.00pm Compartment No. 6 — Finland Joint winner of the Grand Prix at Cannes, Compartment No. 6 unfolds as an unconventional love story when two strangers share a Russian train journey through the Arctic Circle. Laura and Vadim experience rough terrain in more ways than one as the train moves towards Murmansk and an unexpected bond is formed between these two vastly different people. Screening(s): Saturday July 16, 5.30pm — Thursday July 21, 2.30pm Breakfast at Tiffany’s — US Holly Golightly is an eccentric New York City playgirl determined to marry a Brazilian millionaire. But when young writer Paul Varjak moves into her apartment building, her past threatens to get in their way. Screening(s): Wednesday July 20, 1.00pm