Tree, Wasted on the Young in SFF competition

Julie Bertucelli’s The Tree and Ben C. Lucas’ Wasted on the Young will represent Australia in the Sydney Film Festival Official Competition.

They will compete against Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, Heartbeats, How I Ended this Summer, If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle, The Killer Inside Me, Life During Wartime, Lola, Women Without Men, Four Lions and Moloch Tropical for the $60,000 cash prize.

The Jury president is producer Jan Chapman, joined by Sundance director John Cooper and three other jurors, which will be announced in the coming weeks.

This year’s edition of the SFF will open on June 2 with Shirley Barrett’s local film South Solitary, starring Miranda Otto and Barry Otto. The closing night selection is the American production The Kids Are Alright, directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Julianne Moore, Annette Bening, Mark Ruffalo and Australian actress Mia Wasikowska.