Building on the success of its 2021 Festival – SWIFF has cemented itself on the Australian film festival circuit as a largescale regional film festival. In addition to hosting over 80 different feature films in its 2022 film line-up, SWIFF’22 is looking to break its attendance record again with the addition of its new Storyland music festival to the line-up, which will take place on Saturday 23^rd April at Park Beach Reserve, headlined by Courtney Barnett and Hiatus Kaiyote. 

Opening the Festival in epic fashion, SWIFF audiences will be among the first in Australia to witness The Northman, the latest cinema masterpiece from visionary director, Robert Eggers, featuring an all-star line-up of Skarsgård (True Blood), Nicole Kidman (Killing of a Sacred Deer – SWIFF’18), Ethan Hawke (The Truth – SWIFF’20), Claes Bang (The Square – SWIFF’18), Anja Taylor-Joy (Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit), and Willdem Dafoe (The Lighthouse), and in an exciting return to the big screen after a 20-year absence, Björk (Dancer in the Dark, Best Actress Cannes 2002).

In 2022, the SWIFF program will comprise a line-up of the very best in new Australian films, including winner of the AWGIE Award from the Australian Writer’s Guild, Ablaze, directed by Alec Morgan and Tiriki Onus and Ithaka – the story of John Shipton, father of imprisoned Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, in his fight to save his son. John Shipton, Gabriel Shipton and director Ben Lawrence are guests of the Festival.

In an ode to one of the most audacious filmmakers of all time, Paul Verhoeven’s catalogue of films will take centre stage in a seven film program at SWIFF, including Basic Instinct, Robocop and new Palme D’Or nominee Benedetta, offering audiences a unique insight into the work of a pure provocateur whose heady cinematic cocktails mix violence, sexuality, and ambiguity, with lashings of social commentary.

The program will also showcase an extensive line-up of documentaries including Flee, a thrilling documentary fusing animation and archival footage to tell the story of a gay Afghan refugee, and the Australian Premieres of Sam & Mattie Make a Zombie Movie, a doco about two New England teenagers with Down syndrome who write and shoot their first feature film, Spring Break Zombie Massacre, and self-reflexive rock doc, I Get Knocked Down, from Chumbawamba founder and anarcho-punk rocker, Dunstan Bruce.

In 2022, SWIFF Live returns with the elevated cinematic experience of two film screenings accompanied by live music on stage; In Beautiful Dark: The Music of Twin Peaks, the iconic music of David Lynch’s masterpiece will be performed by Beautiful Dark, a 7-piece ensemble band, taking audiences on a journey through Lynch’s strange and mysterious world. And SWIFF’22 will partner with The Surf Film Archive, Light Sound Art Film to present the World Premiere of That Was Then, This is Now, collaborating with Australian director Jolyon Hoff (The Staging Post, SWIFF’18, Searching for Michael Peterson) alongside live music composers Headland, to screen on Saturday 30th April at the CHEC Theatre.

Not only focusing on Australian cinema, films from 40 countries will round out the program, making this year’s World Cinema program SWIFF’s most culturally rich to date. Highlights of the program include Kogonada’s After Yang (Film Prize Winner – Sundance), Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car (Best Screenplay Winner – Cannes, Best International Feature Film Nominee – Academy Awards), Sebastian Meise’s Great Freedom (Jury Prize Winner – Cannes, Best Feature Winner – Venice Film Festival) and Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero (Grand Prix Winner – Cannes).

Closing SWIFF’22 will be Everything Everywhere All At Once, by visionary filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, collectively known as Daniels (Swiss Army Man and The Death of Dick Long – SWIFF’20), a hilarious and big-hearted sci-fi action adventure starring acclaimed actress Michelle Yeoh (Sunshine and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Jamie Lee Curtis (True Lies, Halloween).

SWIFF’22 is proudly presented by Ashton Designs, with Storyland made possible by the Australian Federal Government’s RISE Fund, and the NSW State Government through the Regional Event Acceleration Fund, Create NSW, and Regional Arts NSW.  

SWIFF Artistic Director, Kate Howat says, “People are ready to embrace shared arts experiences again. Seeing the enthusiasm for the festival has given us license to grow bolder though – both in the addition of STORYLAND, and in the comprehensive film line-up we’ve made for all the film tragics out there, just like us.”