Our latest blog posts

MIFF picks for book lovers

This year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) program features some great films inspired by literature. Here are some of our favourite picks for book lovers in 2016.

We’ve also compiled a list of family-friendly films, shared our staff picks, and prepared a quick ‘at-a-glance’ guide for the time-poor.

THE HANDMAIDEN

Directed by Park Chan-wook | Based on Sarah Water’s Fingersmith

Sooki, a beautiful young pickpocket, has been dispatched by a master conman known as The Count to become…

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A quick guide to MIFF 2016

by Stella Charls

Here’s a quick ‘at-a-glance’ guide to this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF). You can see the full program here.

We’ve shared our top picks for book lovers, compiled a list of family-friendly films, and you can also find out which films our staff are planning to see here.

Most buzzed about

We recommend: High-Rise Runner up: Gimme Danger

Feel good film

We recommend: Toni Erdmann Runner up: Slack Bay

Psychological thriller

We recommend: The Handmaiden

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MIFF picks for kids and teens

Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) curates a program of entertaining and thought-provoking cinema for a youth audience with Next Gen. Here’s what’s on offer for kids and teens in 2016.

We’ve also compiled a list of literary-inspired films, shared our staff picks, and prepared a quick ‘at-a-glance’ guide for the time-poor.

RECOMMENDED FOR 8+

Mune: Guardian of the Moon

France | English

In a fantastical universe where the Sun and the Moon are protected by fabled warriors…

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What we’re watching at MIFF 2016

Staff share what they’re planning to see at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) this year. You can find the full program here.

We’ve also prepared a quick ‘at-a-glance’ guide to the program for the time-poor, shared our top picks for book lovers, and compiled a list of family-friendly films.

Lian Hingee’s wishlist includes films about conspiracy theories and cats.

I’m a sucker for space, conspiracy theories and mockumentaries, so Operation Avalanche kind of looks like it…

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What we're reading: Wendy Orr, Hans Fallada and Julie Koh

Each week we bring you a sample of the books we’re reading, the films we’re watching, the television shows we’re hooked on or the music we’re loving.

Mark Rubbo is reading Nightmare in Berlin by Hans Fallada

Interest in Hans Fallada was re-ignited with the republication of his great anti-fascist novel, Alone in Berlin, a few years ago. His new work, Nightmare in Berlin, is partly autobiographical and set just as Germany is falling to the Russian troops…

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Our favourite new young adult books in July

by Holly Harper

From a gender-bent Vlad the Impaler to the wisdom of Oscar Wilde, here are our top young adult picks for July.

(You can find out find our top children’s book picks here.)

YOUNG ADULT BOOK OF THE MONTH

When Michael Met Mina by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Mina is a refugee who has fled Afghanistan. She has done her time in refugee camps and detention centres, and now she has worked hard to secure her place as a scholarship student. Michael…

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Our favourite new children's books in July

by Holly Harper

From geriatric paper route wars to a hilarious family of hyenas, here are our top children’s book picks for July.

(You can find out find our top young adult book picks here.)

2016 READINGS CHILDREN’S BOOK PRIZE WINNER

We’ve just announced the winner of this year’s Readings Children’s Book Prize: Run, Pip, Run by J.C. Jones.

Run, Pip, Run is a heartfelt read about a young girl on the run from the authorities after her foster grandfather is sent…

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Our top picks of the month for book clubs

For an elegant affair involving Shakespeare…

Vinegar Girl: The Taming of the Shrew Retold by Anne Tyler

In this offbeat comedy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler reimagines The Taming of the Shrew for today. Kate Battista’s eccentric scientist father has cooked up an outrageous plan to prevent his brilliant young lab assistant, Pyotr, from being deported – but it relies on his forthright and strong-willed daughter being, well, less forthright and strong-willed than usual. Our reviewer promises that this modern…

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