screening again in Melbourne and Sydney and expanding to the first time to cinemas in Brisbane, Hobart and Auckland

For one month, from 19 February to 19 March, the festival will present an exciting line-up of European cinematic treasures, comprising 43 films from 22 countries.

The festival has announced its opening night film, Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee, the remarkable true story of the founder of the devotional Christian sect known as the Shakers in the mid-18th century.

The third feature directed by Norwegian Mona Fastvold (co-written with her partner Brady Corbet, their follow-up to the Academy Award-winning The Brutalist), The Testament of Ann Lee is an ambitious and visually stunning musical portrait of an unconventional religious leader, played with reverent commitment by Amanda Seyfried, who is nominated for a Golden Globe for the role.

The film will screen on Thursday 19 February at Classic Cinemas and Lido Cinemas in Melbourne, Ritz Cinemas in Sydney, Angelika Cinemas in Brisbane, State Cinema in Hobart and Bridgeway Cinema in Auckland.

In Sydney at Ritz Cinemas, the film will screen in 70mm.

“We couldn’t be more excited to open our festival with this impressive feature from Mona Fastvold that is as propulsive and passionate as its subject” said Artistic Director Spiro Economopoulos. “This film encapsulates what Europa is all about: bold filmmaking and epic storytelling that spotlights fascinating subjects and showcases European talent.”

The festival has also announced its first retrospective strand spotlighting one of the most revered and influential directors of the 20th century with Michelangelo Antonioni: Modernist Master, which includes four films from the Italian director’s artistic zenith.

Collaborating with icon and muse Monica Vitti on L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse and Red Desert, Antonioni shaped a century and invented a new film language that dissected the tensions between people and their modern worlds with an elegant, eerie cool. The four films will screen throughout the festival in Melbourne and Sydney.

For up-to-date information about the festival please go to their site: or Facebook or their Instagram page

Q Magazine wishes all involved a truly fabulous time and hope the audiences are plentiful and the reactions positive.

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