2017 Sydney Underground Film Festival Program

THE 11TH ANNUAL

A 4 DAY CINEMATIC ADVENTURE WITH 100+ FILMS, MUSIC AND WORKSHOPS.

THURSDAY 14 SEPT DOORS OPEN 6.00pm

FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL

With Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher live on stage!

(Direct from the USA) PARTY until 12am Page 8-9

FRIDAY 15 SEPT DOORS OPEN 6.00pm CINEMA 1

SESSION ONE

8.30pm 10.00pm

Tragedy Girls page 34

SESSION THREE 10.30pm - A Dark Song page 18 12.00am

CINEMA 3

CINEMA 4

page 38

LSD FACTORY SHORTS

Love and Saucers

Prevenge

KFC

Umbilical World

Bunch of Kunst

6.30pm 8.00pm

SESSION TWO

CINEMA 2

page 53

page 29

page 24

Neighbourhood Food Drive

Late Night Cartoon Cereal Party

page 27

CINEMA 5 16MM SOIRÉE page 12

page 46

page 35

The Endless page 32

page 15

SATURDAY 16 SEPT DOORS OPEN 9.00am CINEMA 1

CINEMA 2

SESSION ONE 9.30am 11.30am

SESSION TWO 12.00pm 1.30pm

SESSION THREE 2.00pm 3.30pm

SESSION FOUR 4.00pm 5.30pm

CINEMA 3 Breakfast Cartoon Cereal Party

CINEMA 4

CINEMA 5

page 14

Dave Made a Maze

The Endless page 32

OZPLOIT! SHORTS

Exprmntl

Tragedy Girls

Where is Rocky II?

Fags in the Fast Lane

Lunar Orbit

Liberami

Watch The Sunset

Love and Saucers

page 20

page 34

Lemon page 25

page 50

page 45

page 54

page 21

page 36

page 42

page 47

page 46

16MM BOLEX WORKSHOP page 60

16MM BOLEX WORKSHOP page 60

16MM LASER PRINTING WORKSHOP page 60

SATURDAY 16 SEPT [CONTINUED] CINEMA 1

SESSION FIVE 6.00pm 7.30pm

CINEMA 2

It Stains the Sands Red

The Allins page 48

page 23

SESSION SIX

Found Footage 8.00pm - Festival Live!

9.30pm page 13

SESSION SEVEN 10.00pm 11.30pm

SESSION EIGHT 12.00am

CINEMA 3 LOVE/SICK SHORTS

page 39

L7: Pretend We’re Dead

Prevenge page 29

page 24

The Evil Within

The Crazies

Samurai Rauni

KFC

page 31

page 33

page 26

CINEMA 5

Craigslist Allstars

page 52

page 44

Meatball Machine Kodoku

CINEMA 4

page 30

Cult of Chucky page 16

SUNDAY 17 SEPT DOORS OPEN 12.30PM CINEMA 1

SESSION ONE 1.00pm - Infinity Baby page 22 2.30pm

CINEMA 2

CINEMA 3

Freedom For The Wolf

3.00pm 4.30pm

page 41

page 56

SESSION THREE

The Colossus 5.00pm - Dawson City: of Destiny : A Frozen Time Melvins Tale 7.00pm page 40

HORROR SFX WORKSHOP

page 55

page61

Neighbourhood Food Drive

VIRTUAL REALITY WORKSHOP

page 18

WTF! SHORTS

DRIB

page 61

page 27

Dave Made a Maze

page 50

CINEMA 5

REALITY BITES SHORTS

A Dark Song

page 43

SESSION TWO

CINEMA 4

The Evil Within

page 20

page 33

SUNDAY 17 SEPT 7.30pm

FEATURE FILM: KUSO

Dir. Flying Lotus | 107 mins | USA | 2017 CLOSING NIGHT PARTY until 12am

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MAJOR PARTNER

SCREENING AND MEDIA PARTNERS postproduktiv

HAPPY MAG

FOOD AND BEVERAGE PARTNERS

SUPPORTING PARTNERS Workshop for Potential Cinema

WORKSHOP FOR N E W T O W N POTENTIAL CINEMA

FILM CLUB

DOCUMENTARIES OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT

SPECIAL EVENTS

FEATURE FILMS SHORT FILMS

WORKSHOPS

ON TOUR

Boasting 57 events over four and wonderful up to 11, while uncovering the freshest days in five cinemas, this Festival Stefan lineupDirectors represents our Popescu biggest cinematic curios to melt your and Katherine Berger minds. Films that blur the line festival to date, so join us from September 14 to 17 for between reality and fiction, a smorgasbord of cinema short film showcases that’ll knock your socks off, a tribute to satisfy all tastes. Thank you to all of the filmmakers, to the legendary George A. Romeo, a return of even attendees, volunteers, patrons and partners who have crazier cartoon cereal parties and a range of fun filmmaking made this year happen — we hope you enjoy this year’s workshops on offer — you’ll find it all in our stacked 2017 festivities! program.

It’s SUFF time again, so strap yourselves in for another wild cinema ride. We’re ecstatic to open the festival with an Australian exclusive, with the riotous Found Footage Festival live on stage — and to close with one of the most controversial and jawdropping film’s of the year, Kuso. Don’t say that you haven’t been warned!

Now in our eleventh year, we’ve ratcheted the weird

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GETTING THERE • 5 min bus ride from Newtown Station.

• 15 min walk from Sydenham and Marrickville SY DN EY PA RK RD stations. railway • 20 min walk from Newtown Station.

• Bicycle racks and limited street parking is also SYDNEY available nearby.

PARK • Go to transportnsw.info for transport options.

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alcoholic beverages. ISLAND BOYS will be serving up delicious Caribbean cuisine with daily specials and aLApop-up Serendipity Ice cream cart will also CO PE ND ST be onsite. For further venue information, including ERSKINEVILLE disability access, please visit factorytheatre.com.au

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VENUE N S T INFORMATION The venue bars offer ILSO Wconfectionary, snacks, and non-alcoholic and

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Buying tickets to the 2017 Sydney Underground Film Festival is easy - whether to a single session, or any combination of passes listed below and can be made by the following ways:

IN PERSON

ONLINE

SUFF.COM.AU

PHONE

FESTIVAL HOTLINE (02) 9550 3666

TERMS AND CONDITIONS • Ticket prices include GST and booking fees.

• A transaction fee may apply per transaction for bookings made over the phone only.

• Seating is limited, therefore early purchases are always recommended. Please arrive at least 15 minutes before the session starts.

• Concessions are available to full-time students, pensioners, seniors, health care card holders • Companion cards accepted.

Concession cards must be shown.

• All sessions are 18+ unless otherwise noted.

THERE MAY BE A LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AND PASSES AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR, IF NOT SOLD OUT PRIOR. OUR SESSION TIMES ARE FILM START TIMES, DON’T BE LATE!

ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE, 130 ENMORE RD, NEWTOWN MON - FRI 9AM - 6PM, SAT 10AM - 4PM OR FESTIVAL VENUE ON THE NIGHT.

ALL ACCESS FESTIVAL PASS....................Adult/Conc.

• Includes opening night pass, closing night pass, Friday pass, Saturday pass, Sunday pass, Workshops and Found Footage Festival ......................... $165 / 150 OPENING NIGHT PARTY PASS • Opening night (includes live show & screening, food & complimentary drinks).................... $53 / 48 CLOSING NIGHT PARTY PASS • Closing night film and party (includes film, ice cream & complimentary drinks) ......... $26 / 24 FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL TICKET • Live show Sat 16th Sept 8pm​​.​.................... $26 / 24 FRIDAY PASS all-day pass................................. $33 / 30 SATURDAY PASS all-day pass.......................... $66 / 60 SUNDAY PASS all-day pass .............................. $48 / 44 4-FILM PASS • 4-film pass (excludes opening & closing night, and Found Footage Festival) ........ $47 / 43 WORKSHOPS ......................................................... $16 / 14 INDIVIDUAL FILM/ SESSION ........................... $16 / 14

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With The Found Footage Festival taking over the opening night festivities, you won’t want to miss this one-of-a-kind show with Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher direct from the USA! Enjoy complimentary food prior to the show thanks to Island Boys and their tasty Jamaican fare. Plus complimentary drinks courtesy of Coopers and Chain of Fire Wines included with your ticket, this one is going to be a ripper!

food and beverages supplied by co-presented by

LIVE!

Dir. Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher | 90 mins | USA | 2017 | First time in Australia Live!

All hail VHS! For the first time ever in the country, SUFF are proud to present living legends Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher, the masterminds behind the Found Footage Festival - a one-of-a-kind live happening.

Hosts Pickett (The Onion) and Prueher (Late Show with David Letterman) make their Australian debut with an all-new edition of the Found Footage Festival, featuring newly unearthed VHS gems found at thrift stores across America.

Unreleased Volume 8 highlights include: A collection of satanic panic videos from the 80s, including “The Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults”, outtakes and on-air bloopers from twenty years of North Dakota local news, a star-studded Desert

Storm parade sponsored by Taco Bell, highlights from David Letterman’s Video Collection, inherited by the Found Footage Festival when Dave retired and never-before-seen footage from the fake strongman prank Pickett and Prueher pulled on local morning news shows earlier this year. Prepare yourself for an evening of live comedy and video insanity you’ll never forget, no matter how hard you try! An Opening Night spectacular for the ages, don’t miss this unique event that will have you rolling in the aisles.

Be sure to stay on afterwards for complimentary drinks and SUFF’s infamous Opening Night party that will kick off the festival with a bang!

THURS 14 DOORS OPEN 6.00 PM FILM 8.00 PM A trashy delight…the total experience has the rubbernecking appeal of a traffic accident, except that no one gets hurt.

DUANE DUDEK, MILWAUKEE JOURNALSENTINEL

EVENTS | 9

SUFF “Dead Oscar� awards will be presented before the closing night film.

food and beverages supplied by

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SUNDANCE

FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Dir. Flying Lotus | 107 mins | USA | 2017 | Drama/Horror This year, we’ve saved our weirdest and most controversial film for Closing Night with the Australian premiere of Kuso, the most talked about film at Sundance this year. Directed by musical visionary Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison), written by demented demi-god David Firth (creator of Salad Fingers) and Zach Fox, and starring the likes of Hannibal Buress, Tim Heidecker and George Clinton, Kuso presents a mind-bending freakshow of a debut feature.

Eschewing anything that even resembles standard narrative structure, Kuso loosely frames four interwoven vignettes through the prism of a postapocalyptic California, with an earthquake eradicating the majority of humanity, and leaving those who

remain scarred and covered in hideous boils. Broadcast through a makeshift network of discarded televisions, Ellison travels between screens and aftershocks to delve into the twisted lives of those that survived. This outrageous fever dream counts influences all the way from David Cronenberg’s most gruesome body horror and David Lynch’s groundbreaking animated work to the kind of thing that might melt your brain at the latest hours of an Adult Swim programming block. From its jaw-dropping imagery to its stomach-churning special effects, Kuso presents a challenge for even the most hardened of film buffs — the kind of film you’ll never be able to un-see but may just wish you could!

FILM FESTIVAL 2017

SUNDAY 17 7.30 PM CINEMA 1 Kuso is a hallucinatory, scatological, grotesque, and occasionally hysterical work of utter mania, the kind of wild cinema that cuts through the noise of all safer, more marketable filmmaking.

DOMINICK SUZANNEMAYER, CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND.

EVENTS | 11

FRI 15 6.30 PM CINEMA 5

Take a step back from the world of digital proliferation, as Workshop for Potential Cinema presents an exciting slate of 16mm films that celebrate the analogue medium. These films are eclectic and focus on the material potential of the medium; dealing with chance, uncertainty, decay, failure, the non-standard and the impermanent.

It’s a soirÊe, complete with cheese and crackers!

Workshop for Potential Cinema

WORKSHOP FOR

EVENTS | 12 CINEMA POTENTIAL

Workshop for Potential Cinema (WPC) is an artist-run film work space located at the Sydney College of the Arts. WPC exists to serve those who continue to explore photo-chemical filmmaking on 8mm and 16mm, and film technologies in expanded forms.

Our focus is on experimental printing and darkroom processes, collaborative work, open dissemination of technical knowledge, and a continued desire for greater autonomy in the production of finished works on film. workshopforpotentialcinema.org

SAT 16 8.00 PM CINEMA 1

Found Footage Festival “CHERISHED GEMS”.

Dir. Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher | 90 mins | USA Comedy | Australian Premiere

Since those fellas from the Found Footage Festival have travelled all the way from the US especially for SUFF, we thought we better treat you to a special edition of the Found Footage Festival. Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (Late Show with David Letterman) will present their all-time favourite VHS finds from thrift stores across America.

Highlights include: Outtakes from an ill-fated Winnebago industrial video featuring Jack Rebney, the world’s angriest RV salesman, a

montage of unwittingly hysterical exercise videos, starring Angela Lansbury, adult film star Traci Lords, and a bearded hippie named Zar, a high-concept video from 1987 called “Rent-A-Friend,” aimed at lonely people with VCRs and highlights from Pickett and Prueher’s appearances on local morning news shows as a fake yo-yo expert, fake celebrity chef and fake strongman duo, Chop & Steele. Catch them while you can, it’s going to be a riot!

LIVE ON STAGE! No mortal man could possibly come up with something this entertaining...

It’ll be an experience you’ll be talking about for a long time to come.

ERIC CAMPOS, FILM THREAT.

EVENTS | 13

SAT 16 9.30 AM CINEMA 3

SUFF’s Cartoon Cereal Party | 120 mins | Australia | 2017 | Australian Premiere Back by popular demand!

Remember being able to laze around in your pajamas all Saturday morning and watch your favourite cartoons after indulging in bowl after bowl of colourful cereal for breakfast?

As adults, we don’t often give ourselves permission to be that lazy on Saturdays but the time has come to return to the simple pleasures of our childhood! So set aside your Saturday morning; assemble your family and friends and see just how good it feels to be a kid again. Pop on your

SPONSORED BY EVENTS | 14

favourite PJs and join us for an all-you-can-eat cereal buffet and Pop Tart station thanks to Kelloggs, whilst enjoying a non-stop retro toon showdown.

There will be old favourites and obscurities with outrageous vintage commercials and PSAs in between. Get a rush of sugar and nostalgia to the head!

Prizes for best dressed! Open to all ages, come on down and bliss-out on as much cereal as you can handle.

FRI 15 10.30 PM CINEMA 3

SUFF’s Cartoon Cereal Party | 90 mins | Australia | 2017 | Australian Premiere For the night owls and not the early birds! Fill your eyeballs with animated antics and your stomach with all-youcan-eat cereal. Long for a return to those high school years of staying up late with a bowl of cereal and watching whacked out cartoons on the box that’d make your head spin? Well SUFF has the ultimate cartoon extravaganza for you. After the success of last year’s All-You-Can-Eat-Saturday Morning-

Cartoon-Cereal-Party, we’ve decided to host a wickedly delightful session just for grown-ups. We’ve got all your favorite up-late cartoons, alongside a smorgasboard of cereal! While the exact lineup of toons will remain a mystery until the night, rest assured that the program will feature some of the most subversive, trippy and mindbending animations you’ve likely to have ever seen.

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AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

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FRIGHTFEST FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Dir. Don Mancini | 91mins | USA | 2017 Straight from its world premiere at FrightFest 2017, SUFF is delighted to announce a very special Midnight screening of the tantalizingly twisted Cult of Chucky! Everyone’s favourite murderous doll is back with a vengeance for installment number seven, now modeled in glorious CG and ready to settle some old scores, the bloodiest way possible. Directed by Don Mancini, the original creator of the Child’s Play series, the film finds Nica Pierce (the protagonist from 2013’s Curse of Chucky) confined to an insane asylum, convinced that she, not Chucky, murdered her entire family. When her psychiatrist introduces a new therapeutic “tool” - the all-toofamiliar “Good Guy” doll - a string of grisly deaths begins

to plague the asylum, and Nica begins to question if maybe she isn’t crazy after all. Andy Barclay, Chucky’s now-grownup original nemesis races to Nica’s aid but he’ll have to get past Tiffany, Chucky’s bride, who will do anything, no matter how deadly or depraved, to help her beloved devil doll.

With a wicked wit, some of the year’s most inventive kill sequences and a body count that just keeps stacking up; Cult of Chucky is a fiendish treat, not only for lovers of the original series but for all midnight movie maniacs at heart. Do not miss this!

Chucky’s bloodiest outing to date.

JOHN SQUIRES, BLOODY DISGUSTING.

FRI 15 10.30 PM CINEMA 1 SUN 17 1.00 PM CINEMA 3 Wow. Literally, A Dark Song was intense as all Hell. It’s the perfect stormy night feature that will leave you shaken long after the credits roll.

I can’t rave about this movie enough.

9/10.

HORROR SOCIETY.

Black magic rituals have long been a regular fixture in horror movies, but few have tackled the subject with quite the same level of forensic detail as A Dark Song.

STEPHEN DALTON, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Liam Gavin | 100 mins | Ireland | 2016 | Horror An unusual story of a black magic ritual that takes place over the course of six months, A Dark Song heralds the arrival of an individual and idiosyncratic voice within the horror genre.

Structured around a single, gruelling ceremony, the film follows two strangers as locked in a remote house, testing the limits of their physical and mental breaking points by trying to conjure a guardian angel who will grant them each an impossible wish. Catherine Walker stars as Sophia, a woman drowning in her grief over the death of her young son. In over her head but willing to do whatever it takes to see him again, she recruits OFFICIAL SELECTION

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UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Joseph Solomon (Steve Oram; SUFF 2016’s AAAAAAAAAH!), an experienced but aggressive practitioner of the dark arts who wields his superior knowledge with contempt. While A Dark Song might be soaked in sorcery, its true magic lies in its construction: shot in just 20 days in and around Dublin, the movie has a spare, simple style and rhythms that mimic the characters’ steady and strong, racing and faint, irregular and jumpy heartbeats. Best experienced knowing as little as possible, this debut from Liam Gavin is a clever puzzle that’s bound to frighten and astound.

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FILM FESTIVAL 2016

SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Peter Vack | 74 mins | USA | 2017 | Comedy

FRI 15 6.30 PM CINEMA 1 SUN 17 3.00 PM CINEMA 2

Like a microbudget cross between “Salò, or the 120 Days of Sodom” and “The Squid and the Whale,” Peter Vack’s impressively disgusting ASSOHOLES is the kind of movie that you wish you could un-see, the kind of movie that you have to watch in your peripheral vision because staring at it straight-on would be way too nauseating.

DAVID ELRICH, INDIEWIRE.

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SYDNEY PREMIERE

SAT 16 12.00 PM CINEMA 1 SUN 17 5.00 PM CINEMA 3

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Dir. Bill Watterson | 80 mins | USA | 2017 | Comedy/ Adventure The most spectaculous Upon returning from a business Charlie Kaufman, Bill Watterson’s independent trip, Anna curiously discovers feature debut re-imagines classic ‘80s adventure films a large pile of cardboard boxes film I’ve with a modern comedic edge, taped together in her living seen in some higher body count and a unique, room. In an attempt to create years…A cardboard style all of its own. something of significance, it triumph of The film’s low-fi, DIY fantasy seems her boyfriend Dave has design and world (assembled using over built a maze — but in doing 30,000 square feet of cardboard) creativity… so, has inadvertently fallen bursts to life with ingenious Dave Made A victim to the intricacy of his puppetry, stop-motion animation own design. Now trapped in a Maze is the and in-camera optical illusions structure filled with booby traps kind of film that dazzle throughout. and fantastical pitfalls, Dave that only must guide a search-and-rescue One of the most vivid, comes around team comprised of his partner imaginative, and original and very best friends through once in a his ever-changing mythical movie worlds in recent decade labyrinth to escape. What starts cinema…we have the out full of whimsy soon takes BEARS FONTE, makings of a stone-cold cult AMFM. a dark turn as the maze starts classic with this one. growing increasingly sentient,

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and murderous, by the minute.

Like Labyrinth as if directed by

NATHANEAL HOOD, THE YOUNG FOLKS.

SYDNEY PREMIERE

WITH FILMMAKERS IN ATTENDANCE!

Dir. Josh ‘Sinbad’ Collins | 90 mins | Australia | 2017 | Comedy Fans of trash-art lo-fi cult classics like Pink Flamingos, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and Rock ‘n’ Roll High School will fall head-over-studdedstiletto heels for the debauched deviant charm of Fags In The Fast Lane. When Beau and his Herculean sidekick set off to avenge a spree of violent attacks on their fellow gays, they’re waylaid on a vital mission from Beau’s beloved mama, Kitten. It turns out her GILF bordello has been robbed by the giantess leader of a grotesque burlesque show, and Beau must set things right.

With the help of a lethal crossdressing Persian Princess and a Bollywood eunuch assassin, this unlikely team of avengers set off to retrieve Kitten’s beloved

jewels and magical golden phallus in a full-throttle, rock ‘n’ roll feast of camp destruction and dangerous dance numbers.

Featuring queen of erotica Kitten Natividad (Russ Meyer’s ex-muse), cult retro-rocker King Khan, Mexican Elvis El Vez, narration by Aussie rock devil Tex Perkins and a stomping soundtrack by some of Melbourne’s finest garage rockers, Fags In The Fast Lane is set in a hyper-real world packed with bizarre characters, revolting villains and largerthan-life heroes.

SAT 16 2.00 PM CINEMA 3

This movie is RiDICKlous, I gotta get me my own Golden Cock!

PEACHES.

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MELBOURNE

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION

SAN FRANCISCO FILM FESTIVAL 2017

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SYDNEY PREMIERE

SUN 17 1.00 PM CINEMA 1

FEATURES | 22

Dir. Bob Byington | 80 mins | USA | 2017 | Comedy Welcome to the near future, where you can become the proud parent of an Infinity Baby. These special babies take the pressure off because they never cry, never age past three months, never become teenagers or leave the nest, and they only need one feeding and one weekly diaper change.

Alas, Infinity Baby salesman Ben (Kieran Culkin) is having a hard time settling down — bouncing from relationship to relationship, he bores easily, leading prospective partners on until the inevitable meeting with his domineering mother (Megan Mullally) sends them packing.

Meanwhile, when two of his sales reps go rogue and take an Infinity Baby for themselves, Ben is forced to come face-to-face with the terrifying spectre of

his own maturity. Birthed from the warped minds of director Bob Byington (7 Chinese Brothers) and writer Onur Tukel (Applesauce, Catfight), and starring a remarkable ensemble of some of this generation’s best comedic actors, this is a highly droll, absurdist black comedy where fear of decision-making is taken to bizarre and hilarious extremes.

Infinity Baby is an endlessly funny and surprisingly rich treat.

ZACH GAYNE, SCREEN ANARCHY.

A dark delight for twisted minds.

SILVERSCREENRIOT.COM

The best zombie movie since ‘Shaun of the Dead’.

SCREAM MAGAZINE

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POPCORN FRIGHTS

SYDNEY PREMIERE

FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Dir. Colin Minihan | 92 mins | USA | 2017 | Horror On a lonely, two-lane highway in southern Nevada, Molly and her boyfriend Nick have put Las Vegas – and the encroaching zombie apocalypse – in their rearview mirror. Alas, during an unexpected stop, a lone traveller stumbles into sight, and Nick scrambles for his gun in the glove compartment. Poor aim, an empty clip and a rut in the sand leave the couple trapped in their car, and face to face with their darkest fears. When things take a turn for the worst, Molly will have to summon the strength she never knew she had to face both the zombies and the demons that have chased her all her life. As she’s pursued by the threatening yet slowmoving creatures relentlessly on her trail, the film becomes a

character study of victims, both monster and human — a zombie humanised with a happy past, and a woman desensitised by a more troubled one. Featuring a powerhouse performance from lead Brittany Allen, writerdirector Colin Minihan, one half of the Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters, Extraterrestrial), offers a unique and visceral take on the classic zombie narrative.

SAT 16 6.00 PM CINEMA 1

It Stains the Sands Red is a refreshing new zombie film that is the perfect antithesis to ‘The Walking Dead’. It’s smart, funny, scary, and oh so entertaining.

MARK PACIS, NERD REACTOR.

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FRI 15 8.30 PM CINEMA 3 SAT 16 8.00 PM CINEMA 4

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

Dir. Lê Bình Giang | 69 mins | Vietnam | 2016 | Horror A necrophilic doctor, a man wearing headphones and a bunch of cannibals: they’re just a few of the characters in this bizarre debut by director Lê Bình Giang, which explores the cyclical effect of violence. Pure evil exists and it lives in Hanoi, in a small house that has been partly converted into an operating-theatre-cumtorture-chamber. Here, patients are hacked up into bite-size pieces, then posthumously abused by a cannibalistic doctor and his taciturn sidekick. Of course, this amoral violence inevitably passes down to the next generation, setting a cycle of cruelty in motion. Deeming this out-of-control orgy of revenge ‘bizarre’ is an understatement, with cryptic dialogue and plastic, almost detached depictions of deliberate torment

only adding to the unsettling effect.

Certainly not for the faint-hearted, KFC is art-house gore so out on its own that it’s almost impossible to describe. If Fellini had made a cannibal horror flick, it might have looked something like this.

A splatterfest where elements of gore, cannibalism, necrophilia and “ultra-violence” are mixed, elements that follow one another in a gloomy Hanoi, where consumption of fast food and meat sheds light on the consumer culture that has been emerging in Vietnam in the last decade.

JOSÉ SARMIENTO HINOJOSA, DESIST FILM.

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IFFR FILM FESTIVAL

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2017

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BEUNOS AIRES FILM FESTIVAL 2016

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BAFICI 2016

SAT 16 4.00 PM CINEMA 1

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IFFR FILM FESTIVAL 2017

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MELBOURNE

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SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2017

SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Janicza Bravo | 83 mins | USA | 2017 | Comedy Isaac Lachmann has seen better days. Recently 40, his acting career is tanking while his colleagues succeed, his blind girlfriend of 10 years plans to leave him and his own family brands him a constant disappointment at their latest reunion. Even when he takes a chance on new romance, Isaac struggles to define his place in a world that has seemingly turned against him. Famed short filmmaker Janicza Bravo unleashes her descriptiondefying debut feature Lemon, a film that will delight and unsettle audiences in equal measure with its unique brand of discomforting humour.

Here, Bravo unflinchingly strips down her stellar lead,

co-writer and real-life husband Brett Gelman (Funny Or Die, Fleabag) to appalling levels of vulnerability, as hilariously emphasized by idiosyncratic supporting turns Michael Cera (Arrested Development) and Gillian Jacobs (Community) as horribly mismatched actors, Fred Melamed (A Serious Man) and Rhea Perlman (Cheers) as Isaac’s parents, and Nia Long (The Best Man) as a romantic interest and Isaac’s last hope. A very dry, alternatingly hilarious and alienating tragicomedy about the facing the likelihood of failure, Lemon feels like a call back to the classic films of Todd Solondz by way of master of the absurd Quentin Dupieux.

To say that Lemon is quirky would be like saying that a lemon is yellow: It’s the nature of the object.

The film’s entire raison d’être is to be as quirky and anomalous and avant-weird as possible.

Mission accomplished.

OWEN GLEIBERMAN, VARIETY.

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Dir. Yoshihiro Nishimura | 108 mins | Japan | 2017 | Action/Comedy/Horror If you only see one utterly insane, blood-and-guts-soaked, action-packed Japanese cyberpunk comedy about villainous alien Necroborgs turning unsuspecting humans into hyper-violent killing machines this year, make it Meatball Machine Kodoku. It doesn’t matter which door he knocks on, debt collector Yuji will not see any money. Insults, ridicule and laughter come in abundance, however, and then there’s the beating he can expect from his boss when he comes back empty-handed yet one more time. There’s also the cancer, which has reduced his life span to a mere three months.

In his circumstances, an alien invasion mightn’t necessarily be the worst thing in the world especially after an attack by the parasitic Necroborgs leave him with super powers. On the outside, Yuji looks completely different, but on the inside his mind is still his own - now it’s time to get some revenge on everyone who has ever done him wrong. Yoshihiro Nishimura, director of all-out bonkers action films such Tokyo Gore Police, Helldriver and Zombie TV returns with a new hyper-violent, gore-drenched riot. Along the way, blood will be spilled limbs will fly and nipple guns will be fired with maniacal glee.

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FRI 15 10.30 PM CINEMA 2 SUN 17 3.00 PM CINEMA 4 Dir. Jerzy Rose | 85 mins | USA | 2017 | Comedy Budding Chicago restaurateurs Naomi and Madeline know that image is everything for a new business, so when a negative review says their restaurant “perfectly summarizes the hypocrisy of the bourgeoisie”, they know just what they need to do to change people’s minds: host a neighborhood food drive.

At the nearby college, students Steven and Bianca are having relationship problems, so they eagerly volunteer to help out with the party planning as a therapist-suggested bonding activity. Winning over customers and working through romantic issues — what could go wrong?

With this bunch, just about everything. You see, Naomi, Madeline and their friends are painfully divorced from the real world, and as Neighborhood

Food Drive progresses it becomes clear that the road to hell is actually paved with the witless desires of egomaniac restaurateurs and their interns.

Delivered with a blackly absurd sense of humour, Neighborhood Food Drive offers a terrifying glimpse into the abyss of contemporary self-indulgence.

Watching it is to enter a deranged world populated with self-congratulatory entitlement, psychological dysfunction and the relentlessness of the modern middle class.

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Frankly, it’s a pretty damn awesome It’s a refreshing change movie. of pace from mainstream BOSTON HASSLE comedies and their mandatory gooey, feelgood moments.

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Medal winning ice creams with real Belgian chocolate

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SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Alice Lowe | 88 mins | UK | 2016 | Black Comedy Alice Lowe (SUFF 2016’s Aaaaaaaah!; Sightseers) is a triple threat in Prevenge, acting as the writer, director and star of this pitch-black comedy about a pregnant woman whose unborn child psychically propels her to commit ghastly acts of murder.

Ruth is seven months pregnant, and, like many expectant mothers, believes that her baby is speaking to her through an inner voice — the only difference being that her misanthropic tot is advising her to go on a killing spree. Still mourning the death of her husband just months earlier, Ruth allows her baby to push her on a quest to dispatch those who stand in her way, from a pet shop owner to a DJ to a lonely businesswoman. Through all of the carnage, Ruth’s bulging belly

serves as a perfect alibi; after all, who would ever suspect a coldblooded killer could be lurking behind the sweet, glowing visage of a visibly pregnant woman? Gleefully defying the usual depictions of saintly motherhood, Lowe (who shot the film when she was seven months pregnant herself) delivers a darkly humorous directorial debut, slyly testing societal preconceptions with a grizzly exploration of life, death and the space in between.

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Gory to the max, darkly hilarious from start to finish, and soaked in hormonal rage, Prevenge is the perfect midnight movie.

DAVID EHRLICH, INDIEWIRE.

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Dir. Mika Rättö | 80 mins | Finland | 2016 | Action Set in Finnish coastal town Meri-Pori, Mika Rättö’s fierce debut feature tells the peculiar story of an equally admired and feared rascal named Rauni Reposaarelainen. When this chubby and booze-swilling oddball isn’t pursuing the beds of local geishas, he blows through the town like hurricane, wreaking havoc wherever he goes.

Finally fed up with Rauni’s reign of terror, a mysterious figure places a bounty on his head, leading to an endless barrage of assassination attempts. Far from pleased, Rauni must kill, drink and fornicate his way towards the one who wants him eliminated in order to exact sweet revenge. A refreshing and wild cocktail of Japanese samurai cinema, sailor OFFICIAL SELECTION

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2017

romance, hyper-surrealism and Finnish dipsomania, Samurai Rauni is one of this year’s most unique and unmissable films. If Tarantino and Winding Refn were put in a blender together with Jodorowsky and Kusturica, this offthe-wall genre mish-mash would be the end result — a highly creative and well-crafted affair that has such an enormous heart.

This is certainly the weirdest movie in the year. It’s strange and at the same time most original. This could be the future of cinema!

PERTTI AVOLA, HELSINGIN SAROMAT.

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AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE (RESTORATION) Dir. George A. Romero | 103 mins | USA | 1973 | Sci/Fi/Horror/Action Celebrating the life and work of horror maestro George A. Romero (1940 - 2017), SUFF is proud to present the Australian premiere of his restored cult classic The Crazies. Set in the small suburban town of Evans City outside of Pittsburgh (a signature locale in almost all of Romero’s films), his unnerving effort charts the aftermath of an accidental release of a military biological weapon that transforms normal citizens into violent homicidal maniacs. Bouts of insanity quickly lead to murder and rioting, until the US army turns up – and things really start going to hell. Ambiguous to the end, The Crazies is a vastly under-appreciated work in Romero’s oeuvre — a brilliant allegory that doesn’t distinguish

between the madness induced by infection, and the mass hysteria caused by martial law and the military’s shoot-to-kill measures. As in so many of the horror maestro’s movies, the most alarming aspect is the fine line between sanctioned and deviant behavior, and between us and them, themes still as pertinent today as ever before.

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The Crazies is a tense, visceral, politically aware cult classic.

ERIC HENDERSON, SLANT MAGAZINE. .

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SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead 111 mins | USA | 2017 | Horror

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After narrowly escaping a UFO death cult as children, brothers Aaron and Justin (directors Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson) are still living hand-to-mouth almost a decade later. When they receive a mysterious message in the mail that seems to be from their former ‘family’, Aaron insists that they investigate — even though the protective Justin remains reluctant. Soon, Aaron is drawn back under the thrall of the cult’s intensely magnetic leader Hal (Tate Ellington), while Justin is still uneasy. Then inexplicable happenings begin to occur in the group’s desert encampment, forcing both Aaron and Justin to conclude that the cult’s strange and supernatural axioms might just be proving true. The question is: will they

unearth the cult’s mysterious secret in time to prevent history from repeating itself? Following their breakout Resolution and sleeper hit Spring, Benson and Moorhead’s The Endless is this year’s most chilling, intensely original genre hybrid — a parthorror, part-sci-fi package of creeping dread that skirts the supernatural - this will keep you guessing right until the very end.

I’ll go out on a limb and say that the new film – The Endless – is the film to beat, come time to make my end-ofthe-year list.

MICHAEL KLUG, HORROR FREAK NEWS.

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Dir. Andrew Getty | 98mins | USA | 2017 | Horror

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life. Inspired by the debilitating With an origin story almost as mistake, The nightmares Getty experienced whacked out as the film itself, Evil Within is as a child, the story centres on The Evil Within is an equally Dennis, an intellectually impaired very clearly hilarious and confounding, discombobulatingly singular vision man who is compelled by his own the handiwork that has to be seen to be believed. demonic reflection to kill everyone of a rank around him. The Evil Within is a Directed by Andrew Getty, the amateur under drug-fuelled, politically incorrect unemployed, meth-addicted heir trip down the rabbit hole. Imagine the influence to the five-billion-dollar J. Paul a surreal fever dream that merges of powerful Getty oil fortune, it represents the narrative stylings of Tommy his attempt to fulfil a life-long narcotics.

Wiseau with the visual ambition of CHARLES dream to become a legendary David Lynch, and you’d start to get BRAMESCO, THE horror filmmaker. Self-funding the GUARDIAN close to the one-of-a-kind viewing movie to the tune of $6 million experience that is The Evil Within. dollars, shooting began in 2002 OFFICIAL SELECTION and stretched out over five years, NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL It is unique, original and with Getty personally creating FILM FESTIVAL 2017 all of the sets, camera rigs and inappropriate — with no elaborate animatronic robots.

OFFICIAL SELECTION real redeeming qualities DEAD BY DAWN Post-production then lagged for except that this was FILM FESTIVAL 2017 almost a decade as the eccentric, someone’s life work, and it wannabe director labored over blows my mind. every single frame before an LA ZOMBIE GIRL, overdose in 2015 ended his MORBIDLY BEAUTIFUL.

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Dir. Tyler MacIntyre | 90 mins | USA | 2017 | Horror/Comedy At once giddily postmodern and subtly disturbing, this hilarious Gen Y splatter-farce follows social media-obsessed high school teens Sadie and McKayla, who are fixated on becoming famous — before a serial killer moves into town.

Amateur vloggers looking for their 15 minutes of fame and frustrated that things don’t move fast enough for their ruthless ambitions, they decide to take matters into their own hands. Deliriously anarchic in its deconstruction of genre, Tragedy Girls is a gleeful must for horror diehards, nodding to everything from Carrie to Cannibal Holocaust while delivering fantastically gooey practical splatter FX in spades.

The absurdly fun and inventive film explodes with laughs and

gore, driven by an energy reminiscent of Detention yet married to a decidedly darker soul south of Clueless by way of Scream. This is a ruthlessly smart and measured movie, with potent observations about mercenary selfishness, and the car crash between youth narcissism and social media, all wrapped up in a delirious blood-red candy wrapper of provocation. When all’s said and done, you’ll be physically sore from laughter yet more than a little disturbed by it all.

A rich and wild mustsee, full of eye-popping gore, gleeful gallows humor, and addictive attitude.

KRISTY PUCHKO, CBR.

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Dir. David Firth | 89 mins | UK | 2016 | Animation Best known as the cult creator of the animated web series Salad Fingers David Firth creates morbidly fascinating worlds that delve deep into the darkest recesses of the human psyche.

It’s fair to say that once you lay eyes on his shorts, it’s hard to shake their visceral effect in a hurry. Eleven years after first screening his work at SUFF, Umbilical World represents a curation of Firth’s most popular shorts to date, each bookended by brand new transitional animations. Using surrealist techniques to explore depression and mental illness with some of the darkest humour this side of the twenty-first century (his work has been featured on Charlie Brooker’s Screenwipe and Mitchell & Webb), Firth has become one of the world’s

most significant, independent animators. Umbilical World is a brain-melting celebration of Firth’s short but prized career — a dog-stew of animated fancies from the scabland toybox that is his mind. Plus, this up-late trip into his weird and wonderful world serves as the perfect precursor to SUFF’s most f#*ked up closing night film to date, with Firth also the co-writer of the near-indescribable Kuso.

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For long time fans of Firth, this is a wonderful collection of some of his best material, and for those who are unfamiliar, it’s a bracing deep dive into the mind of a unique creative voice.

LUKE SHAW, EYE FOR FILM.

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SYDNEY PREMIERE

Dir. Tristan Barr & Michael Gosden | 82 mins | Australia | 2017

Watch The | Drama Sunset should Australia’s first one-shot feature be shown and one of the most impressive to every movies this country has made budding in years, dramatic crime-thriller Watch The Sunset uses a filmmaker single, unbroken take to witness about to a man on the run from a dark embark on past he can’t seem to escape. their first This powerful film follows feature film ex-bikie Danny Biaro (played as a guideline with bravura by director Tristan Barr) as he tries to reunite his of how to broken family, which has been make an torn apart by his devastating ice impressive addiction. Like Animal Kingdom debut. meets Elephant, Watch The COOL PERTH NIGHTS.

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Sunset dives head-first into a world fuelled by narcotics, violence and a brutal fight for redemption, with the visceral, tense and nerve-wracking effort unfolding in real time. More

than just a gimmick, the film’s pacing adds to the tight knot of tension growing in your stomach, making for an emotionally raw, overwhelming intense and genuinely edge-of-your-seat experience that doesn’t let-up until the final credits roll.

A riveting experimental film that grips with immense power, a transfixing visual and auditory experience that will challenge you in remarkable ways… a jarringly effective piece of filmmaking.

DAVID DUPREE, THAT MOMENT IN.

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Dir. Christine Franz | 103 mins | Germany | 2017 | Documentary Sleaford fookin’ mods, innit! With their clattering lo-fi beats, social realist-shouting rhymes, dirty humour and fuck-you attitude, the British DYI duo Sleaford Mods have given working-class England its own, rowdy sound.

The band ooze a catchy bastard of grime and punk, which has sent the two friends from small pub gigs to shows in front of thousands of fans and a contract with Rough Trade. Rock legend Iggy Pop has called them “the world’s greatest rock ’n’ roll band,” and yet, you’ve probably never even heard of them.

That’s not surprising; just two years ago they were recording in a bedroom in Nottingham and playing in tiny pubs. Like most overnight sensations, this rage-punk duo had been slaving

in obscurity for years before their big break finally came.

This pleasingly unpretentious rock-doc follows the pair through their breakthrough year of 2015 - Bunch Of Kunst is a raw and heartfelt music portrait that shows that three ordinary guys can still take on the music business without sacrificing their sense of self.

Just like the Sleafords themselves, Christine Franz’s film is unpretentious and unfiltered, and it brilliantly captures the momentum and excitement of a band as they make their breakthrough.

JAMIE HEALY, RADIO TIMES

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Dir. Samira Elagoz | 65 mins | Finland/The Netherlands | 2016 | Documentary their first encounters in a candid, Like Gumtree meets Adult Friend transparent cinema verité style Finder, Craigslist is a digital that has been updated for the repository for everyone from YouTube generation. Taking the the lonely to the depraved to role of behavioural scientist, the opportunistic. Completely Elagoz is both enticing and unregulated, anyone is allowed risk-taking, putting herself in a to post anything there: sales, job position to be the object of the listings and all sorts of variations male gaze, but also capturing it of “man seeks woman” pleas. and returning it with measured Enter Samira Elagoz, a young defiance.

Finnish performance artist who decides to post an open casting call as the catalyst for her latest Craigslist All-stars is film. The set up is simple — she an exploration of intimacy brings a camera, and films how they get to know each between strangers, and all other. From Amsterdam all the the different forms desire way to Tokyo, Elagoz meets a and human connection can cavalcade of men (a magician, take. Funny, disturbing, an exhibitionist, a sadistic video moving and honest. artist and a soft-core porn director among them), filming MARIJN LEMS, HET HUIS UTRECH.

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Dir. Bill Morrison | 120 mins | USA | 2016 | Documentary One of the year’s most breathtaking experimental films, Dawson City: Frozen Time is a mesmerizing new piece from New York artist and filmmaker Bill Morrison (Decasia) — an immersive, archival journey through a forgotten history of North America’s rarely-seen nitrate cinema. Located just south of the Arctic Circle, the former Canadian town of Dawson City was home to an incredible discovery in 1978: 533 nitrate films from the silent era were uncovered, preserved in the frozen ground where they’d been buried and presumed lost since. Morrison chronicles the life-cycle of the singular film collection through its exile, burial, rediscovery and salvation. Lovingly recut

and recycled, this lustrous footage forms a revelatory history of both Dawson City and American cinema itself, its rapturous montage — set to a beautiful score by Sigur Rós collaborator Alex Somers (Captain Fantastic) — touching on figures as diverse as Charlie Chaplin, Ken Burns and Donald Trump.

The film represents a captivating time capsule that delivers a poignant paean to a long-gone cinematic era.

FRANK SCHECK, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

SUN 17 3.00 PM CINEMA 1 In your face, as the saying goes, and the blood is all part of the punch-line DAVID D’ARCY, SCREEN DAILY.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Dir. Kristoffer Borgli | 90 mins | Norway | 2017 | Docu-Fiction A thrilling docu-fiction takedown of advertising and consumerism, Drib presents a no-holds-barred satire of Los Angeles’ advertising culture and the ways that capitalism co-opts just about anything — including the film that you are watching. In short, it’s the perfect encapsulation of consumer nihilism for 2017.

Here, Amir is a performance artist and stand-up comedian who creates authentic characters and stories that unfold online in real time. When his staged fight videos from the streets of Oslo go viral and make international news headlines in 2014, a Los Angeles-based advertising agency mistake them for reality and decide to exploit Amir’s newfound, controversial fame.

They want to make his work part

of an edgy marketing campaign for an energy drink, but Amir has his own plans. Enter Norwegian filmmaker Kristoffer Borgli, who offers to tell Amir’s story after things go pear-shaped. Blurring the lines between fact and fiction, Drib starts out as a documentary and unfolds largely as recreations, revealing itself to be a delightfully meta affair. This is a slick, consumer-ready product — both a potent prank and a legitimately thoughtful experiment that turns all expectations about art and commerce on their heads.

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A delightfully warped fish-out-of-water satire that takes a torch to the absurdities of branding.

DAVID EHRLICH, INDIEWIRE.

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Dir. Brecht Debackere | 65 mins | Belgium | 2016 | Documentary When experimental film emerged as an international phenomenon in the midtwentieth century, nothing was more important to its ascendance than the five EXPRMNTL film festivals. As well as being the initiator and, for many years, the heart and soul of the Brussels film archive, the enigmatic Jacques Ledoux organised a showcase of Dir. Paul Winkler | 8mins | Australia | 2016 avant-garde film in the casino | Sydney Premiere of the Knokke resort. More a Mirror mirror on the wall who is the prettiest of them meeting ground than a regular all? Crass images of the beautiful people floating festival, EXPRMNTL was held by, all telling the viewer they are it. Even the angels in 1949, 1958, 1963, 1967 and are consumed by the 1974; gaining a reputation as rampant commercialism of it all. some of the most exceptional happenings in the history

ANGEL

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of experimental film. After a first edition that brought the pre-war avant-garde to the younger generation, the second event united what would become the canon of postwar experimental filmmakers, including Stan Brakhage, Peter Kubelka, Robert Breer, Len Lye and Kenneth Anger.

This insightful documentary paints a fascinating portrait of Ledoux while also opening up the legacy of EXPRMNTL for a contemporary audience thanks to riveting testimonies from participants such as Agnès Varda, Jonas Mekas, Harun Farocki, Birgit Hein, Boris Lehman and Michael Snow.

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Dir. Rupert Russell | 89 mins | Germany | 2017 | Documentary Filmed over three years in five countries, Freedom From the Wolf is an epic investigation into the modern, worldwide corruption of the democratic process. An examination of the very concept of the nature of freedom itself, the film adroitly explores the way in which radical changes to this idea are quickly transforming the world. It’s about how people from all walks of life — from Tunisian rappers to Indian comedians, and from America’s #BlackLivesMatter activists to Hong Kong’s students — are joining in the fight against elected leaders who trample on human rights, minorities and their political opponents. Their common enemy is governments that combine dictatorship and democracy, or what political scientists call “illiberal

democracy”. In an attempt to understand what freedom means in different cultural contexts, sociologist-turned-filmmaker Rupert Russell traverses the globe to find out how people are now battling for it. Sensitively researched, the resulting documentary features interviews with key counter-political players around the world as well as commentary from today’s most eminent scholars, providing a rousing and timely examination of a world in political disarray.

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Plays out like a video essay — it’s a fascinating and depressing piece of documentary film-making, making and justifying its arguments with aplomb.

ROB ALDAM, BACKSEAT MAFIA.

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Dir. Sarah Price | 93 mins | USA | 2016 | Documentary Grab your backstage pass and take a visceral trip to the 1990s with one of the decade’s seminal grunge punk bands, L7.

Pigeonholed as an all-female group despite their every effort, L7’s fierce members struggled against music industry and fan expectations even as they contended with questions of celebrity and success. The narrative of the L.A. rock quartet had been lost in the sands of time until their own fans demanded it be told on L7’s terms. The Kickstarterfunded L7: Pretend We’re Dead spans their original 16-year run and lives up to their high expectations, with director Sarah Price (American Movie, The Yes Men, Summercamp) compiling her thorough documentary from

more than 100 hours of footage.

Chronicling everything from the band’s formation in 1985 to their height as the ‘queens of grunge,’ the film takes a rollercoaster ride through L7’s triumphs and failures, providing a compelling insight into their eventual dissolution in 2001.

Shows the thread of influence the band had not only on rock and roll but on future generations of women everywhere and is, at the end, a testament to the pioneering spirit of a band that refuses to take anything lying down.

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AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Dir. Federica Di Giacomo | 89 mins | Italy | 2016 | Documentary Every now and then, horror films about gory exorcism cases pop up in cinemas, usually retreading the hallowed ground first laid down by The Exorcist. No matter how bloody or how “inspired by true events” they claim to be, these films are clearly works of fiction, attempting to spook the audience with jump scares and fantastical imagery. Then there’s Italian director Federica Di Giacomo’s powerful documentary Liberami, which provides a glimpse into several real-life rituals conducted in recent times

by Vatican-approved priests.

Charting the surge of popularity of exorcisms in the contemporary world, the film follows a growing number of people who label their personal sense of unease as a case of possession. A beguiling observational documentary,

Liberami contrasts the act of exorcism with everyday life — as well as the ancient and modern, the religious and profane — in a manner that’s sometimes disturbing, sometimes exhilarating. A deeply confronting film that packs a punch while refraining from judging its subjects, this is an intelligent rumination not so much on religion itself, but on the nature of belief and the responsibilities of religious institutions which many devotedly trust.

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Deftly and elegantly spliced together…Liberami moves between moments which are equally revelatory, absurd, thought-provoking and moving.

SARAH WARD, SCREEN DAILY.

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FRI 15 6.30 PM CINEMA 4 SAT 16 4.00 PM CINEMA 4 Unlike other documentaries that have an agenda to prove or disprove the existence of UFOs, or that subtly coach their subjects to look or sound ridiculous, director Brad Abrahams simply allows David to tell his intimate, fascinating and incredible story.

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Dir. Brad Abrahams | 67 mins | USA | 2017 | Documentary When life gets tough, many of us look to the heavens for solace, sensing that there might be more to our universe than we currently know. Brad Abrahams’ new documentary Love and Saucers introduces us to someone unusually invested in that vision of intelligent life on distant planets, telling the bizarre story of David Huggins. The 72 yearold Hoboken, New Jersey resident claims to have had a lifetime of encounters with otherworldly beings, sincerely and steadfastly recounting his experiences — which include a romantic liaison with an extraterrestrial woman he says took his virginity. With Dave already chronicling his

past incidences in a series of vivid impressionistic paintings, the film follows his efforts to use them to guide us through his storied life, from first contact to his contemporary relationship with these mysterious alien beings. Filmed in an intimate, non-judgmental style, Abrahams presents a fascinating character study, letting David tell his story, and in turn allowing the audience to decide what they believe to be fact or fiction. Wondrous, fun and ultimately respectful, Love and Saucers is an out-ofthis-world trip that will leave you questioning what you know to be true, and if some greater truth really might be out there.

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PRESENTS

SYDNEY PREMIERE

Dir. Patrick Buchanan | 70 mins | USA | 2016 | Documentary The Orb are pioneers of electronica; innovators of ambient house, a mix of acid house and ambient music. Indeed, their seminal ground breaking 1991 album “The Orb’s Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld” has been widely recognized as one of the truly great electronic albums of all time. The Orb is Alex Paterson, former roadie for the legendary post punk band Killing Joke before forming his own label WAU Mr. Modo with lifelong friend and longtime Orb collaborator Youth.

Swiss composer/producer Thomas Fehlmann completes the other half of the current lineup. Patrick Buchanan’s Lunar Orbit explores The Orb’s unique creative process, delving into the remarkable story behind the development of their sound and revealing the surprising history of their unique origins.

WINNER

MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY

FILM FESTIVAL Offering a blend of live concert 2017 footage, rare unseen archive material and unprecedented OFFICIAL SELECTION studio access from the duo’s MANCHESTER FILM FESTIVAL 2017 Moonbuilding 2703AD recording sessions in Berlin, the film features OFFICIAL SELECTION interviews with key creative TORONTO INDEPENDENT players Youth, Guy Pratt, Mixmaster FILM FESTIVAL 2017 Morris, Matt Black, and many other OFFICIAL SELECTION current and former members of DOC N’ ROLL the Orb’s extended family. A joy FILM FESTIVAL 2017 for lovers of any music genre, Lunar Orbit provides an insightful and touching rumination on sonic experimentation and creative collaboration.

Lunar Orbit, like the music of The Orb, is probing, inquisitive, nostalgic, playful, conversational and most importantly a lot of fun.

MOHINI HERSE, THE IRIS.

DOCOS | 47

OFFICIAL SELECTION

CPH:DOX 2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2017

SYDNEY PREMIERE

SAT 16 6.00 PM CINEMA 2

DOCOS | 48

Dir. Sami Saif | 74 mins | Denmark | 2016 | Documentary Late American extreme punk rock musician GG Allin is best remembered for his notorious live performances, which often featured transgressive acts such as self-mutilation, eating his own faeces and attacking the audience. In 1993, he died of a heroin overdose. Thanks to The Allins, we meet his two remaining family members: mother Arleta; and brother Merle, who is still active in GG Allins’ old backing band The Murder Junkies. From award-winning director Sami Saif, the film opens on the 20th anniversary of GG’s death, when his headstone is removed from the cemetery in New Hampshire. Merle accuses both the town police and priest of being behind it, but Arleta, tired of fans vandalising her son’s grave, is actually the culprit. She

wants to preserve GG’s memory, but Merle is afraid that it will disappoint the visiting fans and dampen his business. Focusing on a mother-son duo struggling with the ghosts of their past, The Allins paints a blistering portrait of an extraordinary loving family honouring their lost loved one in their own unique way.

Brave, bold and unfiltered, the film also stands as a testament to the loss-fuelled human need to create our own versions of the past in order to move towards a brighter future.

Wipes the shit off the retro canvas and paints a poignant portrait of GG’s family life.

GRAHAM RAE, DIABOLIQUE MAGAZINE.

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Introduced by JACK SARGEANT

Dir. Bob Hannam | 125 mins | USA | 2016 | Documentary anything else, a determination to Blistering rock-doc The Colossus continue following their muse no Of Destiny: A Melvins Tale matter what. Don’t take our word tells the extraordinary story for it, with a veritable who’sof a band who have defied all who of musicians attesting to the rules for over 33 years and the influence and legacy of the counting — and still managed band, including Mike Patton, the to succeed on their own terms. late Chris Cornell, Jello Biafra, The film charts the journey of Gene Simmons, Krist Novoselic, band members King Buzzo and J. Mascis, Josh Homme, David Dale Crover, through rarely seen Yow and many more. Capped off behind-the-scenes material from with truckloads of ear-bursting their early days to captivating Melvins rock, this is mandatory footage from their multiple viewing whether you’re a diemodern incarnations speaking to hard fan or simple lover of music the enduring influence the band history. has had throughout their long and storied history. Throughout it all, The Melvins have overcome OFFICIAL SELECTION OFFICIAL SELECTION DON’T KNOCK pitfalls that would’ve ended SUPERSONIC THE ROCK FILM FILM FESTIVAL FESTIVAL lesser groups with a sense of 2017 2017 humor, a shrug and, more than

SUN 17 5.00 PM CINEMA 2

DOCOS | 49

SAT 16 2.00 PM CINEMA 2

OFFICIAL SELECTION

HOTDOCS 2016 OFFICIAL SELECTION

CPH:DOX 2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION

IFFR

FILM FESTIVAL 2017 OFFICIAL SELECTION

DOCVILLE 2016 OFFICIAL SELECTION

SYDNEY PREMIERE

PERTH

REVELATION FILM FESTIVAL 2017

Bismuth ties the film’s Dir. Pierre Bismuth | 93 mins | France | 2016 | Documentary three narratives together and two acclaimed In 1979, American artist Ed into one cohesive piece Hollywood screenwriters Ruscha allegedly made a of meta-storytelling. The fake rock out of resin and to pick up the trail in their film works on multiple separate and distinctive hid it among real ones levels; cinephiles will ways. Each constructs somewhere in California’s theories and deduces vast Mojave Desert. appreciate Bismuth’s motives, muddying the few Named Rocky II after the brilliant craftsmanship known facts with highly Sylvester Stallone film, and his deconstruction plausible and deeply the work is never spoken of Hollywood chicanery, engaging “fake fiction”. about publicly, nor is it while others will be Probing and inventive, listed in any catalogue of Where is Rocky II? is as drawn into the mystery Ruscha’s work. Obsessed enigmatic as the puzzle it with this mystery piece, at the center of the seeks to solve. Bismuth’s Academy Award–winner movie. This is a bizarre, quest for Ruscha’s Rock Pierre Bismuth sets out to surreal, and enjoyable is primarily an alibi to find it. It’s clear from the look at how off the reconnoitre the landscape outset of this fantastical mark art can be when of today’s art world, raising tale that Bismuth, the questions about the writer for Michel Gondry’s imitating life.

VICTOR STIFF, POPOPTIQ.

DOCOS | 50

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, won’t take a conventional approach.

Instead, he hires a hardboiled private investigator

creation of myth and the general Hollywoodisation of modern life in a brilliantly fake documentary about an authentic artist.

SAT 16 6.00 PM CINEMA 3

Kinky is to use the feather, perverted is to use the whole chicken.

A SHORT FILM SESSION

DRY DAYS Dir. Will Welles | Drama | 12mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere Alex’s upscale co-workers all think she’s going on a pleasant vacation. Instead, she descends into New York in search of the vile.

GHOSTING THE PARTY Dir. Carlos Alberto Fernandez Lopez | Comedy | 8mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere A gang of gal pals conjure up a frenzy at a Halloween party after a drug-fueled dare exposes the true nature of a mysterious guest.

SHORTS | 52

NOCTURNALLY YOURS PASSION Dir. David Ferino | Comedy | 11mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere A man dies on the night of his engagement and returns as a ghost, only to discover that wooing his estranged lover will require the help of a dating app.

Dir. Arthur Vernon | Comedy | 14mins | France | 2016 | Australian Premiere A team of scientists are paralysed by a virus. One of them drinks the only remaining antidote, and drives full speed to make more before his colleagues die. On his way, he bumps into a woman with whom he starts making love passionately.

MY SHEPHERD Dir. Lucy McKendrick | Drama | 11mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere A young couple leave their religious community to seek out a procedure.

UNDRESS ME NOU NEN FEAT.UTAE Dir. Sawako Kabuki | Animation | 3mins | Japan | 2017 | Australian Premiere A kaleidoscopic reverie of sexual encounters fluidly morphing to the jubilant beats of Japanese pop music.

Delightfully animated by the cult animator behind such boundary-pushing works as Anal Juice and Summer’s Puke Is Winter’s Delight.

RUBBER HEART Dir. Lizzy Sanford | Drama | 8mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere After a painful dry spell, a woman attempts to have a one-night stand.

Dir. Amelia Moses | Horror | 13mins | Canada | 2016 | Australian Premiere A socially awkward college freshman begins to experience a mysterious and gruesome physical deterioration after a chance encounter at a frat party.

FRI 15 6.30 PM CINEMA 3

A SHORT FILM SESSION

ANNIHILATION

EVE BEFORE

Dir. Robbie Ward | Animation | 6mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere Created by keyboardist Robbie Ward using handdrawn paper cutouts and stopmotion animation techniques.

Dir. Quentin Jones | Drama | 8mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere Eve (Jessica Biel) hasn’t been herself since the birth of her child. Not only can she not remember who she once was, but when we find her, she cannot find her child.

, BLOOP S BIRTHDAY Dir. Julian Glander | Animation | 3mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere Bloop is the little pink buddy that everyone loves. She’s so excited for her birthday. As her friends plan a party, a dark shadowy figure looms over everything.

SPACESHIPS & TIME MACHINES Dir. Eric Ostrowski | Experimental | 3mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere Explores inter-dimensional travel through hallucinatory visuals.

GOODBYE CARLOS Dir. Gurcius Gewdner | Drama | 17mins | Brazil | 2016 | Australian Premiere Carlos finds himself troubled by a powerful restlessness.

At the same time, his analyst is obsessed with the idea that he should delete Carlos in order to save his island of Florianópolis.

GREAT CHOICE Dir. Robin Comisar | Comedy | 7mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere A woman gets stuck in a Red Lobster commercial.

NEST Dir. Rex Kane-Hart | Drama | 12mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere Alone and afraid, young Martin must navigate through a labyrinth of an uncertain future. Finding himself lost in a perplexing whirlwind of emotion, Martin finds guidance through an imaginary rat.

THE SACRED MUSHROOM EDITION Dir. Ryan Betschart | Experimental | 4mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere An ode to the 1978 version of Kenneth Anger’s film Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (dubbed The Sacred Mushroom Edition), and its peculiar use of Electric Light Orchestra’s album El Dorado over images of a ritual orgy between gods.

PUSSY Dir. Renata Gąsiorowska | Animation | 8mins | Poland | 2017 | Sydney Premiere Things don’t exactly go to plan for a woman attempting to have some sexy alone time.

THE LAUGHING SPIDER Dir. Tanaami Keiichi| Animation | 7mins | Japan | 2016 | Australian Premiere A psychedelic fantasmagoria from Japan’s greatest veteran animator, based on childhood memories of air raids.

YULETIDE Dir. Marinah Janello | Experimental | 5mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere Krampus seeks revenge on a child who has been spying on him in the woods, and is later transmitted through a television where he haunts kids at church services and Christmas festivities.

SHORTS | 53

SAT 16 12.00 PM CINEMA 3

An outrageously diverse session of short films

by Aussie filmmakers!

A SHORT FILM SESSION

CARAVAN Dir. Nathan Lacey | Horror | 10mins | Aus | 2017 | Sydney Premiere Home invasion on holiday.

Caravan is a cautionary tale that follows a young family on a road trip. As night falls, the family pull in for a routine rest stop where their caravan is invaded by a malevolent intruder.

CIGARETTE Dir. Paul Nelson | Thriller | 8mins | Aus | 2016 | Sydney Premiere When a woman invites her date up to her apartment, she surprises him by performing an impromptu striptease. But is this a seduction... or an evaluation? And will he fail horribly?

HELL OF A DAY

LOTUS

Dir. Evan Hughes | Horror | 12mins | Aus | 2016 | Sydney Premiere A lone survivor in a postapocalyptic world finds herself trapped in a basement below a zombie-infested inn. But her greatest challenge isn’t the terror of stalking corpses, but the day-by-day battle of solitude she must endure to stay alive.

Dir. Blake Ternacz | Music | 10mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere Lotus follows the evolution of a young, aspiring actress who succumbs to the pressures of the film industry. In her quest to become a star, she is forced to face the ideals of perfectionism, fear and self-loathing.

I KILLED PAUL ALLEN WITH LADYLIKE Dir. Tel Benjamin | Comedy | 7mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian AN AXE TO THE FACE Premiere Dir. Lauren Barrett & Chris David | Thriller | 5mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere Using pre-existing clips, the film constructs an intense story about a murderer and a telephone conversation that unfolds after.

SAFETY FIRST SHORTS | 54

Dir. Kyle McComb | Comedy | 5mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere A car thief gets much more than he bargains for when he discovers the car is sentient.

Maya and Cassie are going to rob Wayne Mason’s house, and it should be one of the easiest scores they’ve ever made. Until they begin to reevaluate how their rebellious actions in the present will affect their future…

LIZ DRIVES Dir. Mia’kate Russell | Thriller | 8mins | Aus | 2017 | Australian Premiere For estranged sisters Liz and Ellie, being a family has never been easy – but there are some horrors you create yourself.

SMILE BABY, SMILE Dir. Guillermo Pena Sanchez | Romance | 5mins | Aus | 2016 A freshman photographer, James, sexually assaults a model called Johanna under the influence of Mr. Anderson, the owner of a rather alternative business.

SYDNEY I LOVE YOU Dir. Yiani Andrikidis | Comedy | 4mins | Aus | 2016 | Australian Premiere A short film about two sock puppets falling in love in the harbour city.

WINDOW Dir. Vonne Patiag | Drama | 9mins | Aus | 2016 | Sydney Premiere A young dormant man in suburbia develops a fascination with his neighbour that reignites a long forgotten desire.

A program of fascinating real-life narratives in short bite-sized pieces.

SUN 17 1.00 PM CINEMA 4

A SHORT FILM SESSION

BALLOONFEST Dir. Nathan Truesdell | Doc | 6mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere In 1986, an armada of balloons was unleashed over the city of Cleveland, causing mayhem for days to come.

EVERY GHOST HAS AN ORCHESTRA Dir. Shayna Connelly | Doc | 7mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere Paranormal researcher and experimental composer Michael Esposito straddles the line between spiritual and material, asking the audience to reflect on our purpose, legacy and what our actions say about who we are.

I MADE YOU, I KILL YOU THE DUNDEE PROJECT THE TALK: TRUE Dir. Alexandru Petru Bădeliță Dir. Mark Borchardt | Doc STORIES ABOUT THE | Doc | 14mins | Romania/ | 17mins | USA | 2017 | France | 2016 | Australian Australian Premiere BIRDS AND THE BEES Premiere In this follow-up to 1997’s Coven, In an exercise of self-exorcism, Alexandru Petru Bădeliță gives a moving personal account of his traumatized childhood with a rich profusion of narrative layers and artistic techniques.

THE BODY HEALS Dir. Annelise Ogaard | Doc | 7mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere A dreamy non-fiction dispatch from a plastic surgery vacation in Miami, reflecting on beauty in the moment of metamorphosis after the knife goes in — but before the bandages come off.

Mark Borchardt steps behind the camera again to chronicle a small-town UFO fest. *With producers Joe Pickett & Nick Prueher in attendance!

THE KODACHROME ELEGIES Dir. Jay Rosenblatt | Doc | 11mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere A short experimental documentary that evokes the bygone era of Kodachrome’s pinnacle. While it offers a paean to this lost filmstock, the film suggests the end of an era and the loss of innocence.

Dir. Alain Delannoy | Doc | 9mins | Canada | 2016 | Australian Premiere This hilarious animated romp looks at a group of men recalling their awkward parental “talk,” which did little to unmask the mystery.

COMING OF AGE Dir. Jan Soldat | Doc | 13mins | Germany | 2017 | Australian Premiere Two men express their love between diapers and handcuffs.

SHORTS | 55

SUN 17 3.00 PM CINEMA 3 Shorts so mindmeltingly weird, you’ll be left asking...

A SHORT FILM SESSION

A CARTOON ABOUT APPLES Dir. Nathan Armstrong | Animation | 7mins | Australia | 2017 | Australian Premiere A short animation seen through the eyes of a disturbed man obsessed with apples.

BUZZCUT

ISLANDS

MISTER POPULAR

Dir. Michael Marrero, Jon Rhoads | Comedy | 9mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere Jane is just a girl trying to get some loving from her girlfriend Melanie, who refuses to have sex until Jane’s awful haircut is fixed. While Jane is in the process of having her head shaved, the apocalypse happens and her barber is reduced to a pile of ash, leaving Jane’s hair in even worse condition.

Dir. Yann Gonzalez | Fantasy | 23mins | France | 2017 | Australian Premiere With the soberly lyrical and infinitely gracious Les Îles (Islands), Yann Gonzalez gives his personal version of La Ronde by Max Ophüls.

The endless circularity in the mechanisms of desire are conveyed in joyful sequencing from the actors to the spectators.

Dir. McLean Mills | Comedy | 5mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere In this horrific short, jock Sid is put off by the attention he receives from Ben, an outcast obsessed with his popular status. When Sid takes drastic measures, his own shot at being Mister Popular makes for a twisted finish.

BUSINESS Dir. Kati Skelton | Comedy | 8mins | USA | 2016 | Australian Premiere A young man pursues an exciting business opportunity.

SHORTS | 56

JULKITA Dir. Humberto Busto | Fantasy | 18mins | Mexico | 2017 | Australian Premiere Against gender violence and inglorious Mexican politicians, here comes Julkita and her monthly period... If only she could find the bravery to destroy her household enemy.

COP DOG Dir. Bill Plympton | Animation | 6mins | USA | 2017 | Australian Premiere The sixth installment in Bill Plympton’s Oscar-nominated Guard Dog series, in which our plucky hero has a new occupation — patrolling our airports sniffing for illegal substances. You know that’s not going to end well.

YOU DON,T KNOW THEIR JOURNEY Dir. Rob Sheens | Drama | 6mins | Aus | 2016 | Australian Premiere In an unforgiving town where dreams and people are broken, three girls strike back — but who are they really fighting?

Celebrating films that stand out and transgress the status quo, when it comes to film form and content. Prizes include the SUFF “Dead Oscar”, copies of Final Draft scriptwriting software and Audience Choice awards for short films.

Thanks to

Mark n spoo Wother

(Sydney-based Glass Artist) for creating the coveted SUFF Dead Oscar awards!

*Awards are presented on the closing night, just before the closing night feature.

SAM BRIGHT

WHITNEY MONAGHAN

JULIE LAWLESS

Sam is an Editor at Post-Production house Vandal and a freelance director, producer and experimental installation artist.

Whitney is a screen critic and academic, programming for Melbourne Women in Film Festival and Lecturing in Film and Screen Studies at Monash University.

Sydney Community Cup organiser & cheerleader.

Julie works in comedy management and promotion, covering all areas of funny business that don’t involve getting behind the mic.

THE VANDAL AUSTRALIAN SHORT FILM AWARD

The winning Australian short film will receive a Short Film Post Production Package thanks to VANDAL in Redfern, which includes a one day colour grade and a 2K DCP creation of their short film (up to 15 mins.)

PRESENTED BY

SUFF has partnered with Sydney College of the Arts - Sydney University to host the 3rd annual workshop program on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th September.

From the ultimate DIY workshops in 16mm, low-budget special FX and exploring the possibilities of virtual reality, these classes aim to give participants new skills, tools and invaluable insight to help them with future projects.

WORKSHOPS | 60

INTRODUCTION TO SHOOTING ON 16MM WORKSHOP

SAT 16 SEPT 12.00PM AND 2.00PM (2 SESSIONS) CINEMA 5

16MM LASER PRINTING WORKSHOP

SAT 16 SEPT 4.00PM CINEMA 5

The ultimate DIY 16mm filmmaking workshop! Learn how to use a domestic printer Learn how to use the iconic to make films on 16mm. Peter Bolex camera and shoot on Humble from Workshop for 16mm film. The workshop Potential Cinema will take taught by Peter Humble from us through his 16mm laser Workshop for Potential printing technique, adapted Cinema will cover using the from film artist Roger Beebe.

(Bolex) camera including Using clear 16mm film stock camera loading, exposure, we will feed it through a continuous and variable printer and onto the 16mm speed shooting, time lapse film. Please bring a laptop & time exposure, lenses, film with photoshop installed & sensitivity, light metering, one or more moving image film speed ISO/ASA/DIN. video files.

PRESENTED BY

BLOOD,, CUTS & GORE DAVE S HORROR FX WORKSHOP

SUN 17 SEPT 1.00PM CINEMA 5

Planning a horror film? Then come and learn basic horror special FX make up including blood, cuts and bruises and low-budget tips and tricks to make your next film a success. Dave has been creating props and special effects makeup for the past 10+ years for many major productions and events. His reputation is built on word of mouth and being extremely successful at his work; he is renowned for his signature zombie transformations.

WORKING IN VIRTUAL REALITIES WORKSHOP SUN 17 SEPT 3.00PM CINEMA 5

Greg Ferris will present and discuss his recent virtual reality work Only at the Air, Only at Each Other (Sydney Film Festival, Revelation Perth International Film Festival) and the processes that informed its creation, both aesthetic and technological. Greg will then examine the nature of AR (augmented reality), MR (mixed reality) and VR as mediums, their antecedents, and the ways in which these ‘hot’ formats are affecting practices of filmmaking, curation and exhibition.

In addition, he will examine emerging technologies and ways in which contemporary moving image artists and filmmakers can mobilise VR within their own practices across a range of genres.

WORKSHOPS | 61

SUN 24 AND SAT 30

Sydney Touring Underground Film Festival​! SUFF hits the road with the first two stops in Wollongong and Newcastle. Join us in another city for more film madness!

SUNDAY 24 SEPT

WOLLONGONG FRINGE FESTIVAL Venue: ​

University of Wollongong’s Innovation Campus​​ Time: ​6.30pm​ Book now: bit.ly/SUFFWollongong Music, pop​-​up bar and food a ​ vailable.

EVENTS | 62

SATURDAY 30 SEPT

THIS IS NOT ART​(TiNA)

Venue: ​ The Royal Exchange,

34 Bolton St, Newcastle.

8.00pm - 10.00pm Time: ​More info: thisisnotart.org Music, drinks and food available.

Full program & more details via www.suff.com.au

THUR 14 6.00 PM CINEMA 1 VOL. 8 - ALL NEW MATERIAL

OPENING NIGHT

'CHERISHED GEMS'

SAT 16 8.00 PM CINEMA 1

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The Chain of Fire is a chain of ancient, weathered, extinct volcanoes running from Queensland through Mudgee in the Central Ranges of New South Wales down to Victoria.

Formed over thirty million years ago, its rich volcanic soils create ideal conditions for the growth of high quality grapes.

Vulcan, the Roman God of Volcanoes is often depicted as a Blacksmith.

Boutique accommodation with an industrial style nestled in the heart of funky Newtown.

Book directly with The Urban Newtown at www.theurbannewtown.com.au Quote SUFF to get 10% off the best available rate and a free mini-bar package.

PC_SUFF_A6Ad_AW.pdf 1 1/8/17 12:26 pm The Urban Hotel Advert SUFF 2017

Special Festival Rate Available

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Jerk chicken & cornbread, Lamb Souvlakia with dips & pita, Pulled Pork with chips & slaw, Chickpea Curry with red beans & rice, daily specials

​“​The Jamaican style cooking was passed onto me by my mother and late father​ and various relatives​. ​They taught me all about herbs, spices and which wood to cook with. Now I close my eyes and I can smell food cooking.”

2017 SUFF Festival Team: Stefan Popescu (Festival Director / Program Director) Katherine Berger (Festival Director) Nathan Senn (Program Manager) Toni Clancy (Festival Coordinator) Liz Berger (Event Designer) Stephanie Gal (Volunteer Coordinator) Alvi Jehanzeb (Website) Bonnie Deidier (Festival Assistant) Sarah Ward (Words Editor) Akiko Uchida - King Record Co., Alison Smith - Really Happening Management, Balunn Jones - Yours & Owls Festival, Belinda Dyer KABUKU PR, Ben Bassauer - Monoduo Films, Ben Kenny - Film Club, Bob Hannam - Revolver Merchandise, Brad Abrahams, Brecht Debackere, Caroline Lichnewsky - Kaleidoscope, Celia Pouzet, Christina Robberds - Octapod, Claire Allon - Inner West Council, Codie Entwistle Arrow Films, Graham McDonald, Danny Gusman - The Exchange, David Sefex, Dean Bertram, Diane Paradiso - MPI, Dov Kornits - Umbrella Entertainment, Frauke Knappke - MAGNET Film, Gaetano Maiorino, Georgie Zuzak, Grace McCarthy, Grant Hardie - Monster Pictures, Greg Ferris, Harri Sippola, Helen Craig, Howard Duggan - Scenestr, Jack Sargeant, Jack Shit,

Jaimie & Aspasia, Jerzy Rose, Joe Caruso, Joe Pickett, John Holderried - Plymptoons, John Meyer, Josh Collins, Julie Lawless, Julie Massera - Coproduction Office, Karina Libbey, Karthik Ramamurthy, Kristine Genovese, Louise Rinaldi - Ecce Films, Leslie Morris - Bounty Films, Louise Thomas - POPCAR, Madeleine Molyneaux - Picture Palace, Martin Thorne Vandal, Martina O’Doherty, Michael Gosden, Michael Kosche - Screen Media, Michella Malin Petersen, Mikey Hamer - Postproduktiv, Milton Garcia - Borschtcorp, Nerida Olson, Nic Wheatley, Nick Prueher, Pam Otto, Paris Pompor, Pascale Ramonda, Pat - Factory Ops Mgr, Patrick Buchanan, Peter Brown, Peter Fawcett, Peter Humble, Phil - Island Boys, Reg Mombassa, Robert Fagan - Blue Hats Creative, Sam Bright, Sam Groth - FBi, Sam Nardo, Sam Wunderl - AMC Networks, Samira Elagoz, Sarah Loxton, Sarah Mandelson, Shane Smith, Timothy O’Brien Oration Films, Tristan Barr, Weinan Song, Whitney Monaghan, Wouter Jansen - Some Shorts, Yuri Hayashi - CaRTe bLaNChe, Zsofi Halasz + Anyone we may have missed!

A huge thank you to Reg Mombassa for creating the 2017 SUFF artwork!

SUFF Office HQ kindly provided by Sydney College of the Arts – Sydney University.

Thank you to our 2017 Patrons Deb Baumann + Ian Leithhead!

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