BRITISH FILM FESTIVAL 2019

Presented by Palace, the MINI British Film Festival will screen nationally from 29 October.

The MINI British Film Festival will open nationally with 'Military Wives' from director Peter Cattaneo ('The Full Monty', 1997). Kristin Scott Thomas leads this inspiring drama about the bravery of the women of war, and the power of the music that saved them. And closing the festival will be the highly anticipated film 'The Good Liar'. Based on the widely acclaimed novel by Nicholas Searle, Oscar-winning screenwriter Bill Condon ('Gods and Monsters', 1998) directs this wicked thriller featuring magnificent lead performances by Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Ian McKellen.

Other highlights include 'Hope Gap', led by the brilliant and layered performances of Annette Bening, Bill Nighy, and BAFTA winner Josh O’Connor, this is a powerful story of finding hope after a marriage breakdown; uplifting and picturesque comedy 'Fisherman's Friends' tells the true story of the part-time Cornish sea shanty group that hit the big time; off the back of the smash hit 'Oasis – Definitely Maybe', we see Liam Gallagher’s revealing and entertaining expedition from the wilderness of booze and legal battles to his attempt to stage the greatest comeback in rock history in 'Liam Gallagher: As It Was'.

A stellar cast lead by Keira Knightly feature in Oscar-winning director Gavin Hood’s 'Official Secrets', a superb true-life political thriller about an accused British whistle-blower who leaked information about the Iraqi invasion; Ken Loach returns after his Palme D’Or-winning I, Daniel Blake, with 'Sorry We Missed You'. Another brilliant study of a struggling working-class couple caught in a hopelessly exploitative system; and audiences at festivals worldwide have fallen head over heels for 'Romantic Road' – the eccentric and adventurous road-trip documentary charting an elderly British couple’s ambitious journey across India in their 1936 Rolls Royce.

In addition to the latest films, this year’s festival retrospective Mirror on Mirren features some rarely seen hidden gems from Helen Mirren’s back catalogue, including: 'The Age of Consent' (1969), 'Savage Messiah' (1972), 'O'Lucky Man' (1973), 'The Madness of King George' (1994), 'Calendar Girls' (2003) and 'The Queen' (2006) for which Mirren won an Academy Award for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II.

To celebrate this year's British Film Festival 2019, we're giving you the chance to win a double pass.

To win one of five double passes, just make sure you follow both steps:

Competition opens at 5:00pm AEDT on Sunday 20th October 2019 and closes at 11:59 pm AEDT on Sunday 27th October 2019. Five winners will be chosen at random on Monday 28th October 2019. To successfully win, entrants must fulfil the above entry conditions before the time the competition closes. Current members/followers are eligible to enter the competition. Only one entry per person. Only one winner per household. To be a valid winner, the entrant must not have won a prize from SWITCH within the last 28 days. Each winner will receive one double pass to the British Film Festival 2019. By entering, you agree to receive occasional emails from SWITCH in the future. If you decide to unsubscribe from these updates, any further entries will not be applicable. Only Australian residents are eligible to enter.