The Ice Tower – Film Screening with Q&A
Saturday 2 May from 1:30pm to 3:30pm
A dark reimagining of The Snow Queen.
France | 2025 | French with English subtitles | Drama / Fantasy | MA15+
Celebrated director Lucile Hadžihalilović returns with her fourth feature, a darkly beautiful reworking of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale The Snow Queen. In her second collaboration with Academy Award-winner Marion Cotillard, Hadžihalilović delivers a richly textured meditation on longing, isolation, and desire, with a film which was awarded the Silver Bear for Outstanding Artistic Contribution at 2025 Berlin Film Festival.
A runaway teenage orphan Jeanne (the sublime Clara Pacini in her feature debut) finds refuge inside a film studio where a new adaptation of The Snow Queen is being shot. There, she becomes drawn into the orbit of Cristina , the film’s enigmatic and emotionally fragile star. As the two form a bond, a mutual and sinister fascination takes hold.
In addition to winning accolades from director Guillermo del Toro, The Ice Tower ranked number 18 on Sight & Sound’s list of “50 best films of 2025”.
This screening is followed by an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with Director Lucile Hadžihalilović, in conversation with Australian film critic Nadine Whitney.
Presented by Sydney Opera House