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The 71st edition of Australia’s Sydney Film Festival (Sff) closed on Sunday June 16 amid a wave of optimisim with a wealth of prizes, a likely rise in ticket sales, and an influx of young cinemagoers.

Ticket sales were estimated to be more than 10% up on last year, making 2024 the second biggest year on record after 2019.

“It’s been quite phenomenal and we feel very optimistic about the future,” said festival director Nashen Moodley. “We can’t tell with precision, but judging by which films sold, the younger demographic is increasing.”

Paola Cortellesi’s post-Second World War Italian melodrama There’s Still Tomorrow,...

Legally Blonde 3 could not happen without the participation of one returning star, affirms Reese Witherspoon. Witherspoon originated the role of Elle Woods in 2002's Legally Blonde, an adaptation of the Amanda Brown novel of the same name, which was followed by 2003's Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, the spinoff Legally Blondes, and a Broadway musical adaptation. The hotly anticipated Legally Blonde 3 was announced in 2018, but the pandemic shutting down theaters and the 2020 revelation that the script was being retooled by Mindy Kaling and Dan Goor have caused significant delays.

Entertainment Tonight had the opportunity to speak to Witherspoon at the premiere of her new Netflix rom-com Your Place or Mine. When asked about a report that original actor Jennifer Coolidge hadn't been contacted about returning for Legally Blonde 3, Witherspoon praised Coolidge's recent work. She went on to say that "there is no Legally Blonde 3 without Jennifer Coolidge.

Fans are eagerly waiting for Elle Wood’s return in Legally Blonde 3. The 2001 movie based on Amanda Brown’s book introduced the audience to the fashionable sorority girl who followed her boyfriend Warner to Harvard Law School. Starring Reese Witherspoon in the leading role, the movie made an instant connection with fans and propelled into a franchise with a sequel in 2003, Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde, and a 2009 direct-to-dvd spin-off, Legally Blondes.

Eva Orner’s Burning is the winner of Sydney Film Festival’s inaugural Sustainable Future Award.

Selected from eight nominees, the $10,000 cash prize will be presented to the Amazon Australian Original for deepening the knowledge and awareness of the impact of the global climate emergency.

The award, which has been funded by climate activists, is philanthropically motivated.

Burning, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), looks

at the unprecedented and catastrophic Australian bushfires of 2019-2020 from the perspective of victims of the fires, activists and scientists.

Produced by Propagate Content, Cate Blanchett’s Dirty Films and Amazon Studios, the film marks Amazon’s first feature-length Australian documentary commission. In addition to directing, Orner produces with Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens, and Jonathan Schaerf.

Burning was selected as the winner by a jury of filmmakers and climate advocates: school student and Strike4Climate activist Natasha Abhayawickrama; documentary filmmaker Bettina Dalton...