The 2025 Russell Hobbs British Film Festival, presented by Palace, lands in Byron Bay this November with a spectacular line up of exquisite dramas, fascinating documentaries, much-loved retrospectives, comedies and more at Palace Byron Bay and Ballina Fair Cinemas.
The festival centrepiece is the highly-anticipated drama Anemone starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean and Samantha Morton, in the directorial debut from Ronan Day-Lewis. In a script co-written by Daniel Day-Lewis and son Ronan, the film explores the complex and profound ties that exist between brothers, fathers, and sons. The explosive drama is Day-Lewis’ first film in eight years, in which he portrays a former British soldier who lives in the remote woods who must confront his past.
In icy suspense thriller The Dead of Winter, Emma Thompson plays Barb, a woman travelling alone through snowbound northern Minnesota. Barb interrupts the kidnapping of a teenage girl, and hours from the nearest town and with no phone service, she realises that she is the young girl’s only hope.
Moss & Freud is the biopic about the life of era-defining supermodel Kate Moss and her relationship with the acclaimed British artist Lucian Freud, starring Ellie Bamber, and Derek Jacobi as Freud. When Freud offered to paint Moss nude during the nine months of her pregnancy in 2002, it prompted her to embark on an intense journey of self-discovery.
At the age of 85, the inimitable John Cleese sets off on what might be his final European tour in John Cleese Packs It In. Covering five countries, 16 cities, 23 shows, and retaining just two original body parts, John Cleese Packs It In is a wry, behind-the-scenes portrait of a comedy legend on the road, battling various ailments, chaotic travel, and his own stubborn refusal to stop.
Scenic drama The North is an adventurous tale of two old friends who embark on a 600-kilometre journey through the Scottish Highlands. They seek to reconnect not only with nature but with each other and the parts of themselves they lost.
The Russell Hobbs British Film Festival opens on Wednesday, November 5 in Byron Bay, and ends on Sunday, December 7.
The full program can be viewed on the festival website: britishfilmfestival.com.au.
For more information and tickets, visit: palacecinemas.com.au.
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