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Ari Mattes

Ari Mattes

The Conversation

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The five best films from Sydney Film Festival

The five best films from Sydney Film Festival

This year’s Sydney Film Festival offered a strong field of films beyond Hollywood’s familiar moral economy, with strange melodramas, existential...

21.06.2026 10

Pearls and Irritations

Ari Mattes

The 5 best films from this year’s (outstanding) Sydney Film Festival

The 5 best films from this year’s (outstanding) Sydney Film Festival

Our expert watched some 40 films from this year’s line-up, and nearly all of them – apart from one dud – were excellent.

16.06.2026 10

The Conversation

Ari Mattes

Beast: Australia’s first MMA film, starring Russell Crowe, is cheesy yet oddly comforting

The new Stan sports drama is brimming with cliches. But there are some standouts among the cast.

04.06.2026 10

The Conversation

Ari Mattes

Seven good films out of ten – a surprisingly strong year for the Oscars

For the first time in years, most of the films nominated for Best Picture are genuinely good. From Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value to Ryan...

14.03.2026 40

Pearls and Irritations

Ari Mattes

The Oscars are usually a mess, but this year’s Best Picture nominees are strong. Here’s who should win

Are people once again hankering for a quality cinematic experience? The 2026 nominees suggest so.

11.03.2026 30

The Conversation

Ari Mattes

The 2025 Sydney Film Festival reminded me: there is nothing like a bunch of strangers assembling in the dark

From unsettling horror thrillers to intergenerational social satires, here are the top five films of this year’s Sydney Film Festival.

17.06.2025 20

The Conversation

Ari Mattes