01.10.25, 20:30, Sweetie (1989)

Quickly enter your room and close the door, as Kinoautomat invades your living space with the bittersweet Sweetie.

With this bold and insistent debut film, Jane Campion took the Australian film scene by storm in the late 1980s. Sweetie follows the neurotic Kay in her struggle with a lazy boyfriend, crazy family members and an unrelenting fear of trees. To make matters worse, Kay's sister Dawn (also known as Sweetie) returns home. A free spirit and unabashed chatterbox, Dawn gets on Kay's nerves, but at the same time something grows between the sisters. Campion sketches the dysfunctional family dynamics with surrealistic verve. A cocktail of crazy situations, bright colours and dreamy interludes comes together here to create a viewing experience that is as cringe-worthy as it is endearing.

Our guest speaker delves into her own roots for a short lecture on brother-sister bonds. Although friendship and romantic love are much-explored themes, family relationships often remain underdeveloped in cinematic imagination. With Sweetie as a starting point, the complexities of sisterhood are honoured in all their beauty and annoyances.

This film will be introduced by cinephile and proud sister Cynthia Vandenbruaene.