DOORS OPEN 6PM FILM STARTS 7PM
OPENING NIGHT FILM AND PARTY
THURSDAY 12 SEPTEMBER THE
THE NEW COMEDY FROM HARMONY KORINE DETAILS PAGE 12
DOORS OPEN 7PM FILM STARTS 7.30PM
CLOSING NIGHT FILM AND PARTY
SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER FROM GOODNIGHT MOMMY DIRECTORS SEVERIN FIALA & VERONIKA FRANZ DETAILS PAGE 14
FRIDAY 13 SEPTEMBER
9am - 5pm
DOORS OPEN 9AM
6.30pm - 8pm
DOORS OPEN 6PM
2
SESSION
10.30pm - 12 midnight
SESSION
8.30pm - 10pm
SESSION
1
3
INHUMAN SCREENS - ACADEMIC CONFERENCE
Presented by SUFF and the University of Sydney - Sydney College of the Arts, this year's theme focuses on embodiment and the tensions and contradictions of digital selfhood and identity, with a focus on social media, cinema and propaganda. PAGE 64
CINEMA 1
CINEMA 2
CINEMA 3
TONEDEAF
FLYING BAPTISTS OVER NOLLYWOOD
RUDEBOY: THE STORY OF TROJAN RECORDS
PAGE 39
PAGE 62
PAGE 51
PAGE 58
THEM THAT FOLLOW
LSD FACTORY
UNDERGROUND INC.
(SHORTS)
GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR
PAGE 38
PAGE 56
PAGE 25
PAGE 53
DREAMLAND
RED LETTER DAY
WHERE DOES A BODY END?
FINGERS
PAGE 21
PAGE 34
PAGE 52
PAGE 22
F = Features
D = Documentaries
S = Short Films
CINEMA 4 REALITY BITES (SHORTS)
S = Special Events
SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER
12 noon - 1.30pm
DOORS OPEN 11.30AM
2
SESSION
4pm - 5.30pm
SESSION
2pm - 3.30pm
SESSION
1
3
CINEMA 1 CINEMA 2 CINEMA 3 CINEMA 4 CINEMA 5 FRIEDKIN UNCUT
EXTRAVAGANZA
J.R ''BOB'' DOBBS AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUB GENIUS
THE WOLF HOUSE
SCRIPTWRITING WORKSHOP
PAGE 45
PAGE 63
PAGE 47
PAGE 37
PAGE 66
MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN
BRAINIAC: TRANSMISSIONS
ALICE
(SHORTS)
LOVE/SICK
THE DARK ART OF THE INTERVIEW
PAGE 49
PAGE 43
PAGE 19
PAGE 55
PAGE 66
THE BEACH BUM
INDEPENDENCE, ROCKETS & BORSCH
USE ME
HAM ON RYE
MUSIC FOR FILM WORKSHOP
PAGE 60
PAGE 40
PAGE 27
PAGE 66
PAGE 13
F = Features
MOON CONSPIRACY
AFTER ZERO
(SHORTS)
D = Documentaries
S = Short Films
S = Special Events
W = Workshops
SATURDAY 14 SEPTEMBER 6pm - 7.30pm
CINEMA 1 CINEMA 2 CINEMA 3 CINEMA 4 CINEMA 5
5
SESSION
10pm - 11.30pm
SESSION
8pm - 9.30pm
SESSION
4
6
GREENER DREAMGRASS LAND
HOT MESS
ALBANIAN GANGSTER
FINANCIAL DOMINATION
PAGE 26
PAGE 21
PAGE 28
PAGE 18
PAGE 67
THE ART OF SELFDEFENSE
TONEDEAF
(SHORTS)
OZPLOIT!
BRAID
PAGE 36
PAGE 39
PAGE 57
PAGE 20
FIRST LOVE
FUCK YOU ALL: THE UWE BOLL STORY
MOPE
JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY
PAGE 23
PAGE 46
PAGE 32
PAGE 29
F = Features
D = Documentaries
S = Short Films
S = Special Events
W = Workshops
11am - 12.30pm
DOORS OPEN 10.30AM
2 3 4
CINEMA 1 CINEMA 2 CINEMA 3 CINEMA 4 CINEMA 5 SWORD OF TRUST
FRIEDKIN UNCUT
FRANCES ROMANTIC FERGUSON COMEDY
PAGE 35
PAGE 45
PAGE 24
PAGE 50
PAGE 67
KNIVES AND SKIN
COOL DADDIO
LOCUSTS
MARCEL DUCHAMP: ART OF THE POSSIBLE
MASTERCLASS
PAGE 30
PAGE 44
PAGE 31
PAGE 48
PAGE 67
THE BEACH BUM
BOY HOWDY! THE STORY OF CREEM MAGAZINE
THE ART OF SELFDEFENSE
(SHORTS)
WTF!
SFX FOR LOW-BUDGET FILMS
PAGE 13
PAGE 42
PAGE 36
PAGE 59
PAGE 67
GREENER GRASS
PORNO
TAKE48 SCREENING
BRAID
PAGE 26
PAGE 33
PAGE 61
PAGE 20
MAKING A WEB SERIES
DIRECTING
CLOSING NIGHT FILM AND PARTY
7.30pm
SESSION
5pm - 7pm
SESSION
3pm - 4.30pm
SESSION
1pm - 2.30pm
SESSION
1
SUNDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
FROM GOODNIGHT MOMMY DIRECTORS SEVERIN FIALA & VERONIKA FRANZ
PAGE 14 F = Features
D = Documentaries
S = Short Films
S = Special Events
W = Workshops
CONTENTS
Welcome / Venue Information......................... 8 How to Buy Tickets............................................. 9
OPENING & CLOSING NIGHT Opening Night Film & Party ........................... 12 Closing Night Film & Party ............................. 14
FEATURE FILMS
Albanian Gangster ........................................... 18 Alice ..................................................................... 19 Braid ................................................................... 20 Dreamland .......................................................... 21 Fingers ............................................................... 22 First Love ........................................................... 23 Frances Ferguson ........................................... 24 Girl on the Third Floor .................................... 25 Greener Grass .................................................. 26 Ham on Rye ...................................................... 27 Hot Mess ........................................................... 28 Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway.... 29 Knives and Skin ................................................30 Locusts .................................................................31 Mope .................................................................. 32 Porno .................................................................. 33 Red Letter Day ................................................. 34 Sword of Trust .................................................. 35 The Art of Self-Defense ................................. 36 The Wolf House ............................................... 37 Them That Follow ........................................... 38 Tone-Deaf .......................................................... 39 Use Me ............................................................... 40
DOCUMENTARIES
Boy Howdy! The Story of Creem Magazine .... 42 Brainiac: Transmissions After Zero ............. 43 Cool Daddio: The Second Youth of R. Stevie Moore....44 Friedkin Uncut .................................................. 45
Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story ................ 46 J.R. "Bob" Dobbs and the Church of the Subgenius ......................................................... 47 Marcel Duchamp: Art of the Possible ......... 48 Memory: The Origins of Alien ...................... 49 Romantic Comedy ........................................... 50 Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records ....... 51 Where Does a Body End? ............................. 52 Underground Inc – The Rise and Fall of Alternative Rock .............................................. 53
SHORT FILMS
Love/Sick ........................................................... 55 LSD Factory ...................................................... 56 Ozploit................................................................. 57 Reality Bites ...................................................... 58 WTF...................................................................... 59 Independence, Rockets & Borsch .............. 60
GRASSROOTS FILM HUB
TAKE48 Screening ........................................... 61 VR Hub ................................................................ 61 Flying Baptists over Nollywood ................... 62 Moon Conspiracy Extravaganza .................. 63
CONFERENCE
Inhuman Screens...............................................64
WORKSHOPS
Script-writing Workshop ................................ 66 The Dark Art of the Interview ....................... 66 Music for Film Workshop................................ 66 Financial Domination ...................................... 67 Making a Web Series ...................................... 67 Directing Masterclass...................................... 67 SFX for Low-Budget Films ............................ 67
2019 SUFF TEAM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR/ PROGRAM DIRECTOR - Stefan Popescu FESTIVAL DIRECTOR - Katherine Berger PROGRAM MANAGER - Nathan Senn GRAPHIC DESIGNER - Liz Berger WEBSITE DESIGNER - Jehanzeb Alvi
MARKETING COORDINATOR - Laura Carlson MARKETING ASSISTANT - Jeremy Word EVENT COORDINATOR - Toni Clancy VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR - Stephanie Gal
TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE ORGANISERS - Lauren Barrett and Chris David CONFERENCE ORGANISERS - Dr Stefan Popescu & Dr Aleksandr Wansbrough
GRANTS OFFICER - Andrew Robards SUFF EVENT MCs - Jaimie Leonarder & Alexei Toliopoulos 2019 KEY ART DESIGNER - Ben Brown 2019 PATRONS - Deb & Ian
WELCOME Beyond our line-up of films, we’re also proud to present a tonne of short films, Inhuman Screens conference, Take48 Film Challenge, filmmaking workshops, Q&As, parties and special guests! Over four jam-packed days of films and activities, book your tickets now and join us us on a journey of cinematic wonder and merriment that only SUFF can provide.
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twitter.com/SUFFfilmfest instagram.com/SUFFfilmfest
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STANMORE ST AN MO RE
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• 5 min bus ride from Newtown Station. • 15 min walk from Sydenham and Marrickville railway stations. • 20 min walk from Newtown Station. • Bicycle racks and limited street parking is also available nearby. • Go to transportnsw.info for transport options.
G
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GETTING THERE
UNIVE OF SY
EN
For venue information, including disability access, please visit factorytheatre.com.au
#SUFF2019
TA RD
SS
105 VICTORIA RD, MARRICKVILLE
MI
VENUE INFORMATION
ER
We’ve got absurdist masterpieces including contender for weirdest film of the year Greener Grass, the best indie comedies including Riley Stearn’s The Art of Self-Defense, and a bunch of kickass films by female directors including Jennifer
Our lineup also boasts some of the year’s most remarkable documentaries including a bunch of killer music docs and films that celebrate art and cinematic cult heroes with Friedkin Uncut, Marcel Duchamp: Art of the Possible and Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story and to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Ridley Scott’s Alien, it’s Alexandre O Philippe’s must-see Memory: The Origins of Alien.
LIB
We’re super stoked to open SUFF with the latest misadventure from festival favourite, Harmony Korine, whose neon-drenched provocation, The Beach Bum, is one psychedelic trip you won’t want to miss.
Saving the best for last, we’re very excited to bring the festival to a glorious close with the latest unhinged chiller from Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (directors of Goodnight Mommy), The Lodge.
Reeder’s Knives and Skin. Plus supporting homegrown talent with Heath Davis’ outback noir Locusts, postmumblecore comedy Hot Mess and SXSW Grand Jury prize-winner, Alice.
EN
For some, thirteen is a lucky number, and if you like your films freaky, fantastic and not for the faint-of-heart, then you’re most definitely in luck.
SYDNEY PARK
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HOW TO BUY TICKETS Buying tickets to the 2019 Sydney Underground Film Festival is easy. You can purchase single-session tickets or passes in 3 different ways.
ONLINE
SUFF.COM.AU
PHONE
FESTIVAL HOTLINE (02) 9550 3666
IN PERSON
ENMORE THEATRE BOX OFFICE, 130 ENMORE RD MON - FRI 9AM - 6PM, SAT 10AM - 4PM OR AT THE FACTORY THEATRE DURING FESTIVAL HOURS 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 fulltime 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!
ALL-ACCESS FESTIVAL PASS Includes all film screenings plus opening and closing nights, Inhuman Screens conference and workshops.
ADULT $185 CONCESSION $170
OPENING NIGHT PARTY PASS Opening night includes film, after-party, food and complimentary drinks.
ADULT $55 CONCESSION $50
CLOSING NIGHT PARTY PASS Closing night film and party, includes film, ice cream & complimentary drinks.
ADULT $30 CONCESSION $25
INHUMAN SCREENS CONFERENCE All day academic conference, includes Friday night films.
ADULT $50 CONCESSION $30
FRIDAY PASS all-day pass (excludes conference).
ADULT $35 CONCESSION $30
SATURDAY PASS all-day pass (excludes workshops).
ADULT $70 CONCESSION $65
SUNDAY PASS all-day pass (inc closing, exc workshops).
ADULT $55 CONCESSION $50
4-FILM PASS 4-film pass (exc opening, closing, workshops).
ADULT $55 CONCESSION $50
WORKSHOPS
ADULT $25 CONCESSION $20
WORKSHOPS PASS
(x7 workshops).
ADULT $90 CONCESSION $85
INDIVIDUAL FILM/SESSION
ADULT $16 CONCESSION $14
9 TICKETS 9
Image: Magdalena Pacheco, House Taken Over, 2015 Sydney College of the Arts is a distinguished partner of the Sydney Underground Film Festival.
The art of filmmaking
Sydney College of the Arts will be relocating to the Camperdown/ Darlington Campus in 2020.
sydney.edu.au/courses/ master-of-moving-image
CRICOS 00026A
Create a complete film project while benefiting from industry‑focused learning across new and traditional platforms within contemporary film and media production.
19/8159
The Master of Moving Image at Sydney College of the Arts gives you the creative freedom to realise your personal filmic vision.
THANKS TO OUR PARTNERS DISTINGUISHED PARTNER
CULTURAL PARTNERS
PRODUCTION PARTNER
SCREENING AND MEDIA PARTNERS
HOSPITALITY PARTNERS
VENUE PARTNER
SUPPORTING PARTNERS
PR PARTNER
OPENING NIGHT THURS 12 DOORS OPEN
6PM
CINEMA 1
FOOD & BEVERAGES SUPPLIED BY
Dig out those Hawaiian shirts and come on a psychedelic trip with THE BEACH BUM on the big screen, with added ODORAMA! On opening night, SUFF will get you in Moondog mode with our special Odorama Screening, just as Harmony Korine iintended. The theatre will release appropriately timed bong fog (totally legal, cannabis/THC free folks) to enhance your viewing pleasure! Tickets also include complimentary beer, wine and tasty Jamaican fare, thanks to Island Boys Foods. Grooves and party tunes provided by Happy DJs.
CO-PRESENTED BY HAPPY MAG
12 OPENING
FILM AND PARTY THE THE NEW COMEDY FROM HARMONY KORINE
SYDNEY PREMIERE
Harmony Korine | 95mins | USA | Comedy | 2019 For our Opening Night extravaganza, we’re thrilled to present the latest film from master provocateur Harmony Korine – The Beach Bum. Re-teaming with cinematographer Benoît Debie (Climax) Korine serves up his latest slice of neon-hued debauchery – trading in the gun-toting college co-eds of Spring Breakers for a bongo-playing, bong-smoking hippie by the name of Moondog (Matthew McConaughey, in the role he was born to play). Moondog used to be a successful poet, but these days he’s too busy smoking
weed, hitting the bottle and romancing the ladies to do anything remotely creative. Since his wife is stinking rich, there’s really is no great urgency but when his luck runs out and he finds himself without a cent to his name, it becomes time to finish the novel he'd always been meaning to write. But it sure can be hard to focus when you’re surrounded by such colourful characters; a religiously inspired pyromaniac, a dolphin-obsessed sea captain, a suave marijuana connoisseur, a scruffy beach singer, and a coke-addicted parrot just to name a few. Costarring Snoop Dog, Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence and Isla Fisher, The Beach Bum is a refreshingly free-spirited and subversive comedy, one part farce, one part stoner satire and one hell of a rollicking good time.
OPENING 13
CLOSING NIGHT Join us for our closing night extravaganza and after-party featuring one of the year’s most anticipated films; atmospheric mindf**k, THE LODGE. Your ticket includes complimentary Serendipity ice cream on arrival - a custom-designed flavour made especially for SUFF! After the film, enjoy Chain of Fire wines, beer thanks to Grifter while FBI DJ Jack Shit will turn up the heat after such a spine-tingler! Closing night is always an experience and always sells out, so don't miss out! SUFF “Dead Oscars” will be presented just before the closing film. Handmade awards by Sydney glass artist, Mark Wotherspoon.
14 CLOSING
GET A FREE SERENDIPITY ICE CREAM
FILM AND PARTY SYDNEY PREMIERE Severin Fiala & Veronika Franz | 100mins | UK/USA | Horror | 2019 Join us as we bring SUFF to a close with a bang with Veronika Franz and Severin Fialaare latest psycho-chiller The Lodge a bizarro mind-bender that’s one half The Shining, one half The Endless but a beast altogether its own. Following on from the freakishly fiendish debut that was Goodnight Mommy, the maverick duo ratchet up the tension way past 10 with this taut, ice-cold tale of wintery dread and psychological terror. Devoted to their deceased mother (Alicia Silverstone), siblings Aidan and Mia resent Grace (Riley Keogh), the younger woman their father intends to marry.
“This is classy, intelligent horror, and the actors keep you watching, especially Keough, who goes all in with fanatical-evangelical whack-job fervour.” - Hollywood Reporter
They reject all her attempts to bond but soon they find themselves snowed in with her in a cabin at a remote holiday village. An unnerving turn of events for Grace, the sole survivor of an evangelical cult - why is Catholic paraphernalia suddenly filling the lodge? Is she right to suspect the children of manipulating her or are malevolent spirits actually haunting this cabin, stuck somewhere outside space and time? As temperatures drop and paranoia grows, The Lodge builds to a climactic twist that will leave jaws on floors, with a cinematic sleight so astounding it puts M. Night Shyamalan to shame.
SUN 15 DOORS OPEN
7PM
CINEMA 1
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL, MIFF, FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
CLOSING 15
Tropea and cowriter/editor Robert A. Emmons Jr. fashion a tale as absurd as it is disturbing. Sickies of the world, unite!. . CHRISTOPHER LLEWELLYN REED, HAMMER TO NAIL.
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 fatherand 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.” For all catering needs, contact: islandboyfoods@gmail.com
NEWTOWN Boutique accommodation with an industrial style nestled in the heart of funky Newtown.
Book directly with The Urban Newtown at www.theurbannewtown.com.au Use the promo code SUFF2019 to get 15% off the best available rate.
The Urban Hotel Advert SUFF 2018 promo code SUFF2018
Special Festival Rate Available
FEATURES
High quality wines, from rich volcanic soils, formed thirty million years ago.
ALBANIAN GANGSTER
SAT 14 6PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 4
Dir. Matthew A. Brown | 81mins | USA | Crime | 2018 Once, Leon was a legend. A senior member of the Albanian mafia, he was respected, feared and had New York in the palm of his hand. Now, after 18 years in prison, Leon’s fame is quickly relegated to a fading memory. Living in his mother’s basement, he’s a rabid dog, harbouring untold grievances and desperate for the life and dreams he once knew. But everything is about to change for Leon, when he bumps into the man who ratted him out all those years ago, a former colleague, turned informant. Ingratiating himself into the real OFFICIAL SELECTION BEST ACTOR
THE METHOD FEST INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL
18 FEATURES
AUS PREMIERE
Albanian mafia and shooting in authentic locations with a cast of non-actors playing fictional versions of themselves, director Matthew A. Brown has weaved together an artful hybrid fiction that stands assuredly next to gangster classics like Scorsese’s Goodfellas and Garrone’s Gomorrah. * Introduced by Bryn of
cultprojections.com
SYDNEY PREMIERE
ALICE
“Piponnier dominates every frame, with a mesmerizing screen presence … a festival breakout.” – IndieWire Dir. Josephine Mackerras | 103mins | Australia | Drama | 2019 Alice (Emilie Piponnier) lives what seems to be the perfect life in Paris with her husband, François and their son, Jules. When François suddenly disappears however, Alice discovers his addiction to escorts has left her neardestitute. As the bills pile up and she is threatened with eviction, Alice finds herself drawn into the world of high-end prostitution to provide for herself and her son. At times bitterly funny but always brutally honest, the film traces Alice’s journey towards her own kind of freedom. WINNER 2019
GRAND JURY PRIZE SXSW
Winner of this year’s Grand Jury Award at SXSW, with Alice, Australian filmmaker Mackerras has crafted an understated and unadorned debut, striking for its lack of melodrama and unsensationalised representation of sex work. Piponnier rivets as a woman who has always done what’s expected of her suddenly pushed to do what she never imagined she could. Her transformation revolutionary – defying patriarchy’s suffocating constraints and raising complex ethical questions without ever moralising.
SAT 14 2PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 3
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL, MIFF
FEATURES 19
AUS PREMIERE
BRAID
“I’ve never robotripped, ingested geltabs of acid or licked stimulant toad excretions, but if I did, I’d imagine the experience to resemble watching Mitzi Peirone’s Braid.” - /Film Dir. Mitzi Peirone | 82mins | USA | Mystery, Thriller | 2018
SAT 14 8PM
SESSION 5 CINEMA 4
SUN 15 5PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 4 20 FEATURES
After a random drug bust goes horribly wrong, lifelong best friends Petula and Tilda are on the lambs and looking for a place to evade the police and their pissed-off dealer. Their hideout location is obvious: a mansion occupied by childhood friend Daphne, an agoraphobic heiress who teeters on the edge of sanity. At first, the pair think they’ll just need to entertain Daphne’s seemingly playful world of make-believe; however, they soon come to realise that their old friend’s mental state is wildly disturbed
(to put it lightly). What starts out as innocent role-playing and dress-up quickly devolves into torture, madness, and bloodshed. Genre fans on the lookout for bold new filmmaking voices need look no further than first-time writerdirector Mitzi Peirone. A candy coloured, hallucinogen-fueled lunacy binge, makes one hell of a first impression, applying a dizzying sense of dream logic and an uncompromisingly feminist edge to a Gothic, almost fairy tale-like psychological horror. OFFICIAL SELECTION
TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, NORTH BEND FILM FESTIVAL
AUS PREMIERE
DREAMLAND
“Equal parts violent, tragic, comic, silly and surreal…Dashes of Léon and Eyes Wide Shut are sprinkled in, making a manic story that vacillates between somber introspection and bigger-than-life explosions.” Fantasia Fest Journal - Jason Gorber Dir. Bruce McDonald | 92mins | Canada | Comedy/Horror | 2019 From the acclaimed director of Pontypool and Hellions (SUFF, 2015) comes Dreamland, one of the year’s most raucous, weird and downright unpredictable delights. On the orders of his boss, the low-level gangster Hercules (Henry Rollins) and hitman Johnny (Stephen McHattie) must cut off the pinkie finger of celebrated jazz trumpeter The Maestro (Stephen McHattie, again) before a highprofile wedding gig. Like all movie hitmen, Johnny is thinking of getting out of the game and as night falls, he promises himself that he will leave this world behind and seek redemption by building his own family out of his victims.
A night club called Al Qaeda, an old-world vampire, a junky child bride, a femme fatale with a sideline in stand-up comedy (Juliette Lewis), a handful of severed fingers and a palace ballroom full of music, machine gun fire and mayhem…this is just another night in Dreamland.
FRI 13 10.30PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 1
SAT 14 6PM
OFFICIAL SELECTION
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL, BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL, FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL
SESSION 4 CINEMA 2 FEATURES 21
FINGERS
AUS PREMIERE “One of the more intelligent indie horror films I’ve had the pleasure of watching... Funny, smart, and creepy enough to deserve being seen by a large audience.” – Nightmarish Conjurings
FRI 13 10.30PM SESSION 3 CINEMA 4
22 FEATURES
Dir. Juan Ortiz | 87mins | USA | Comedy, Horror | 2019 If you loved An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn (SUFF 2018), welcome to your new quirky and off-the-wall jam. Amanda has a finger-phobia and an abject loathing of all human strangeness. As her quirks grow and intensify, her marriage quickly begins to crumble. In an attempt to repair relations with her husband, Amanda decides to start taking pointers from a highly-recommended self-help book, Dr Scotty’s ‘Follow Me: I Know the Way’. Meanwhile, two hitmen are hired by the mysterious Fox (Michael St. Michaels from The Greasy Strangler) to cut the fingers off the mild-mannered Talky
Panda to satisfy his lust for revenge. As these two timelines converge, things go from bad to worse for Amanda, sending her spiralling into a confounding world of horror and crime.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
CHATTANOOGA FILM FESTIVAL, FRIGHTFEST
SYDNEY PREMIERE
FIRST LOVE
“Full-bore filmic frenzy as only Miike can make.” – Sight and Sound Dir. Takeshi Miike | 108mins | Japan/UK | Crime, Action | 2019 Bowing at Cannes 2019, First Love is characteristic Miike: a brutal, bloody, hyper-violent and hyperreal tale of searing love and redemption. Taking place over one night in Tokyo, Leo is a down-on-his-luck young boxer who has just discovered that his time on earth may be cut short. When he meets Monica, a young addict who’s been driven
into sex work to pay off her inherited debts, he falls head over heels and with nothing left to lose, decides to go for broke. But when Monica gets caught up in a drug-smuggling ring, the two must escape the clutches of a corrupt cop, a gang of yakuza, Leo’s arch rival and a female assassin sent by the Chinese Triads. From the brilliant mind behind classics like Ichi the Killer, Audition and Yakuza Apocalypse (SUFF 2015), First Love delivers another characteristically pulpy explosion of breakneck, anarchy and slapstick lunacy.
SAT 14 10PM
SESSION 6 CINEMA 1
OFFICIAL SELECTION
CANNES, MIFF, NIFFF
FEATURES 23
FRANCES FERGUSON
AUS PREMIERE “Byington has crafted a funny dark comedy that’s at once a playful and sardonic tale of an outsider, and a brilliant commentary on gender roles.” – Robert Daniels
SUN 15 11AM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 3
Dir. Bob Byington | 75mins | USA | Comedy | 2019 Frances Ferguson (played by Kaley Wheless in what is sure to be a star-making turn) is feeling discontented. Choleric and callous, she is weighed down by her family and trapped in a dead-end job as a substitute teacher in middle-ofnowhere Nebraska. And how does Frances attempt to break from her persistent bout of ennui? An affair with a student of course! In this blackerthan-pitch-black comedy, Bob Byington (7 Chinese Brothers, Infinity Baby SUFF 2017), confidently channels a brew of disturbing humour and witty
discontentedness, delivering the eponymous Frances as at once simultaneously loathsome and frighteningly relatable. Narrated by the legendary Nick Offerman and featuring a cast of all-star alternative comic actors, Frances Ferguson lands somewhere between the careful calibration of Arrested Development and the grotesque humour of Todd Solondz’s Happiness. For lovers of black comedy, this is perhaps the only tale of statutory rape that is guaranteed to have you rolling in the aisles.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW, MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL, SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, MONT CLAIR FILM FESTIVAL, DALLAS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
24 FEATURES
GIRL ON THE THIRD FLOOR AUS PREMIERE
“A highly accomplished haunted house story for the #metoo generation, and an examination of antediluvian male drives (for sex and power) that even the perfect domestic situation struggles to contain.” - SciFiNow
Dir. Travis Stevens | 93mins | Horror, Comedy | USA | 2019 Get ready for this skin-crawling, edge of your seat, and wickedly weird haunted-house opus that plays like The Haunting of Hill House reimagined by David Cronenberg! Bursting pipes, rotting walls and unidentifiable slime were not what Don Koch (WWE legend Phil ‘CM Punk’ Brooks) expected when he convinced his pregnant wife he could renovate their new Victorian home all by himself. What starts as an aspirational DIY project soon sees Don not only giving in to old temptations (the allure
of his mysteriously seductive neighbour) but discovering that the house has a dark and very sordid history of its own. Girl on the Third Floor is a tale of sinister unease and straightfaced madness that is sure to have your blood pumping and stomach curdling. Featuring a distinctive score by Big Black founder Steve Albini, this is a haunting shocker that marks the visionary directorial debut of Travis Stevens (Cheap Thrills, Teenage Cocktail, 68 Kill), a genre-star on the rise.
FRI 13 8.30PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 3
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW, BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL, CHATTANOOGA FILM FESTIVAL, FRIGHTFEST LONDON
FEATURES 25
GREENER GRASS
SYDNEY PREMIERE
“Simply put, Greener Grass is destined to be a cult classic. It’s fun and fucked up in the best way possible.” – Birth.Movies.Death Dir. Jocelyn DeBoer & Dawn Luebbe | 95mins | USA | Comedy | 2019
SAT 14 6PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 1
SUN 15 5PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 1 26 FEATURES
Writers, directors, and stars Jocelyn DeBoer and Dawn Luebbe confirm their penchant for outrageous absurdity in this dark debut comedy, a perkily unsettling satire of upward mobility and political correctness gone all wrong. On a whim, Jill gives her baby to her neighbour, Lisa. When Jill’s other child turns into a dog after falling into their pool, she wants her baby back, but Lisa refuses. And just who murdered the local yoga teacher that has been stalking them for weeks? Welcome to the braces-wearing, golf-
cart driving, pastel coloured insanity of a suburbia that could only exist in a subdivision of hell. Eschewing all decorum and boundaries, Greener Grass mercilessly shreds all the institutions western society holds dear. Played with deadpan brilliance by its awesome cast, including Beck Bennett (Saturday Night Live), D’Arcy Carden (The Good Place), and Janicza Bravo (Lemon), this deranged lovechild of John Waters and Tim & Eric grows more inappropriate, unhinged, and surreal by the frame. OFFICIAL SELECTION
SUNDANCE, SXSW, SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, MIFF, OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL
AUS PREMIERE
HAM ON RYE
“Ham on Rye is a truly unique. If you like works that are off the beaten path, in terms of pacing and storytelling, it’s an excellent film to watch.” – The Film Magazine Dir. Tyler Taormina | 85mins | USA | Comedy, Drama | 2019 Imagine, for a moment, if prom really was the most important night of a person’s life, that the night determined the full expanse, or confines, of your future. This is the central premise of Ham on Rye, a vivid and surreal dry comedy, where a bizarre gathering at a local deli serves as a pivotal initiation into adulthood for the youth of a seemingly normal suburb. Replete with poop talk, Slim Jims, dueling cliques, and cameos from Nickelodeon stars of yesteryear, Tyler Taormina’s debut feature is a mass ensemble driven coming-of-age story that looks at American suburbia in both its idealized and dystopian forms,
conjuring the jittery excitement of youth’s golden hour, before descending into the mysterious nightfall of adulthood. Expertly choreographed and lensed, Ham on Rye is a hypnotizing collection of precisely measured scenes and an inspired cross between The Virgin Suicides, Dazed and Confused and Twin Peaks.
SAT 14 4PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 4
OFFICIAL SELECTION
MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL, OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL, SARASOTA FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURES 27
HOT MESS
SYDNEY PREMIERE
Actors Sarah Gaul and Marshall Campbell in attendance
“One of the Best Films of 2019… it’s immediately clear that Lucy Coleman is one of the most exciting new voices in Australian cinema.” - The Curb
SAT 14 6PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 3
Dir. Lucy Coleman | 90mins | Australia | Comedy | 2019 In what is easily the funniest Australian film of the year, aspiring playwright, unidropout, and all-round fuck up Loz (inimitable comedienne Sarah Gaul) sets her sights on a sweet-seeming divorcé, hoping that an upswing in her dating life will remedy all her other failures. Loz is twenty-five and could have a promising career as a playwright ahead of her. The only problem is her artistic ambitions have stalled, her friendships are strained, and her love life has is nonexistent. Meanwhile everybody around her seem to be more OFFICIAL SELECTION
SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, REVELATION PERTH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
28 FEATURES
successful in relationships, in work, even in sex. And then she meets Dave (Marshall Campbell). Soon, she learns just how hard it is to balance new relationships with her small circle of friends—the only people willing to put up with this hot mess. Writer/director Lucy Coleman makes her feature debut with this ribald, distressingly relatable slacker comedy you won’t want to miss.
AUS PREMIERE
JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY
“It’s almost as if Harmony Korine went back in time to make a version of Inception with some help from Lloyd Kaufman, David Lynch, and Jess Franco, replete with the classic semi-mismatched English dubbing.” – Film Threat
Dir. Miguel Llansó | 83mins | Spain | Comedy, Sci-Fi | 2019 One of the most peculiar and entirely singular, films you’re ever likely to see, this unclassifiable scifi adventure will knock you off your seats with its cornucopia of weirdness, interdimensional travel, astonishing subterfuge and kick-ass kung-fu adventures. Special Agent DT Gagano dreams of leaving the CIA to open a business with his wife Malin. The night he’s about to present his resignation letter a strange cyber virus attacks the agency’s operating system
effectively side-tracking his plans. Traveling into virtual reality dimensions, Gagano and his partner must infiltrate the system to eradicate the virus but things do not go as planned, leaving the entire world’s stability in jeopardy. While the capabilities of the virus start reaching out into the real world, developing obscure and complex political plots, Gagano, trapped in the virtual reality must find a way to guarantee his survival despite nothing being what it seems.
SAT 14 10PM
SESSION 6 CINEMA 4
OFFICIAL SELECTION
FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL, NEUCHATEL INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL, MONTEREY FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURES 29
KNIVES AND SKIN
AUS PREMIERE “Feels like one of the more empowering feminist declarations in years. It may be the most anarchic and refreshing take on the American teen’s existential malaise since Heathers.” - Demetrios Matheou, SCREEN
SUN 15 1PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 1
Dir. Jennifer Reeder | 111mins | USA | Mystery, Drama | 2019 Surreal forces lurk behind the fluorescent facade of an unassuming Midwestern town in Jennifer Reeder’s hyperstylized Knives And Skin. Sophomore year of high school is upended when Carolyn, an awkward, bespectacled teen, goes missing after a late night out. In the wake of her mysterious disappearance, a dark abyss widens among the inhabitants of Big River as the ripples of anxiety and mistrust begin to permeate through the high school halls and beyond.
The serpentine secrets are just the outer layer of the latest from the outré Reeder, who cross-pollinates John Hughes with lurid Lynchian melodrama, stabs of horror, sparks of magical realism, and a bracing jolt of girl power to cultivate a subversive, deliciously strange teen flick reinvention. Abetted by a terrific young cast, lush neon-kitsch production design and, in the movie’s most ingenious narrative stroke, a Greek chorus of New Wave hits rearranged for choir.
OFFICIAL SELECTION
BERLINALE, TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL, OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL, FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL, NORTH BEND FILM FESTIVAL, OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL
30 FEATURES
SYDNEY PREMIERE
LOCUSTS
Director Heath Davis and actors in attendance
“A tense, twisty, stylish noir featuring an A-list ensemble of Australian character actors...” - FilmInk Dir. Heath Davis | 87mins | Australia | Thriller | 2019 From award-winning director Heath Davis (Broke, Bookweek) and featuring an all-star cast of some of Australia’s finest character actors including Ben Geurens (Reign) Jessica McNamee (Battle of the Sexes, The Meg), Andy McPhee (Sons of Anarchy) and the final screen performance from the immensely talented Damian Hill (Porno, West of Sunshine), Locusts presents a gritty outback noir for the ages. When tech entrepreneur Ryan Black returns to his remote hometown to attend his father’s funeral, old family tensions are soon reignited. Dark secrets lie deep beneath the surface of this small town and Ryan quickly becomes entangled
with a gang of thugs from his father’s past, the target of a deadly extortion racket. Already garnering comparisons to stone-cold classics like the Coen Brothers’ Blood Simple and Oliver Stone’s U-Turn, Locusts is undoubtedly the must-see Australian genre film of the year.
SUN 15 1PM SESSION 2 CINEMA 3
OFFICIAL SELECTION
GOLD COAST FILM FESTIVAL, REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURES 31
MOPE
AUS PREMIERE
“Is Mope a “must see?” If you love movies that start off insane and ends even crazier, then yes, Mope is a must see in every way.” – Film Threat
SAT 15 10PM
SESSION 6 CINEMA 3
Dir. Lucas Heyne | 105mins | USA | Comedy, Drama | 2019 In the world of pornography, the term mope refers to a low-level, wannabe porn actor who perhaps isn’t quite well endowed or attractive enough to achieve the success granted to “bigger”-name porn stars. Mopes are the lowest of the low, hanging around sets and taking on menial jobs with aspirations of being called upon to participate in a colossal gang-bang scene that could (but most likely won’t) lead to their big break. In this sordid drama, based on a you-won’t-effin’believe-it’s-all-true story, we are treated to a perverse peek OFFICIAL SELECTION
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behind the stained curtains, where a chance meeting between two delusional dreamers, Steve Driver and Tom Dong takes place. But when Driver’s erratic behaviour escalates, his relationship with Dong begins to slide, as does the film’s tone from sketchy offbeat character drama to something much darker. Firsttime feature director Lucas Heyne crawls right under the skin of this grimy landscape, crafting a melancholy portrait of two misguided souls seeking love and acceptance, just like the rest of us.
SUNDANCE, NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, TORONTO TRUE CRIME FILM FESTIVAL
AUS PREMIERE
PORNO “This gory teen comedy blends laughably outrageous carnage with a legitimately scary plot to delightful ends. Throw in a winking fetish for cinephile culture and audiences are sure to go wild for the gutsy film.” – Indiewire
Dir. Keola Racela | 98mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | 2019 It’s the job that most film buffs would die for: working in an art deco, single-screen theatre. Our story takes place in one such venue, circa 1992 with films like Encino Man and A League of Their Own, mainstays. Besides being total film geeks, our heroes — assistant manager Chastity, Heavy Metal Jeff, Peeping Tom buddies Abe and Todd, and jock Ricky — are also devout Christians, serving under the watchful eye of manager Mr. Pike. Late one night, the gang stumble upon a dusty film can and unspool the ancient celluloid. It’s a scratchy arthouse skin flick that switches reels to reveal a
satanic ritual. The popcorn hits the floor and the shit hits the fan when this secret screening unleashes upon the world a sexy succubus with violent mayhem on her mind. Boasting laughably outrageous carnage and seriously grotesque gore, this take-no-prisoners horror sex comedy ensures a truly splatterific experience that won’t disappoint.
SUN 15 5PM
SESSION 4 CINEMA 2
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW, FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL, OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURES 33
RED LETTER DAY
AUS PREMIERE
"Like a Twilight Zone episode on steroids." - horrorbuzz.com
FRI 13 10.30PM SESSION 3 CINEMA 2
Dir. Cameron Macgowan | 76mins | Canada | Horror, Comedy | 2019 The Edwards family, matriarch Melanie and her two teen kids have just moved into the affluent, peaceful (and very white-bread) neighbourhood of Aspen Ridge. Little do they know that their tranquil life in the burbs is about to be plunged into murderous chaos, in an occurrence that would be far too much for a Twilight Zone episode. On a day off, they find three red envelopes in the mailbox, telling them they each have to murder a neighbour before that OFFICIAL SELECTION
neighbour murders them. At first, they think it’s a lame prank but when they learn that the entire community has received the same letters, victims start falling and things get deadly serious. With the streets literally running red and social media going berserk, panic and paranoia reach unprecedented heights. Cameron Macgowan’s feature debut is hilarious and blood-curdling in equal parts, paying homage to films like Shivers and Re-Animator while in a class all of its own.
CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, BRUSSELS INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL, CINEQUEST
34 FEATURES
SYDNEY PREMIERE
SWORD OF TRUST
“Marc Maron is better than ever in Lynn Shelton’s endearing misadventure.” – IndieWire Dir. Lynne Shelton | 88mins | Comedy | USA | 2019 When Cynthia & Mary (Jillian Bell & Michaela Watkins) show up to collect Cynthia’s inheritance from her deceased grandfather, she’s disappointed to learn that the only item she’s received is an antique sword that was supposedly serves as proof that the South won the Civil War. This unique bequeathment leads to a world of trouble as they team up with curmudgeonly pawn shop owner (the magnificent Marc Maron) and go on an unexpected road trip to try to sell the sword. The adventure that ensues takes the four of
them on a wild journey into the depths of conspiracy theory and Southern disillusionment. The latest film by Lynn Shelton (Your Sister’s Sister, TV’s GLOW), gets the chemistry just right. A talented ensemble elevates this improv-heavy wildly irreverent story with quick wit and charisma and faithfully showcases Shelton’s impressive penchant for acerbic quirk.
SUN 15 11AM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 1
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, SXSW, MIFF
FEATURES 35
THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE “A dark comedy that’s equal parts amusing and disturbing…a twisted take on 'The Karate Kid,' it quickly morphs into a cautionary tale in the vein of 'Fight Club.'" - RogerEbert.com
SYDNEY PREMIERE Dir. Riley Stearns | 104mins | USA | Comedy | 2019
SAT 14 8PM
SESSION 5 CINEMA 1
SUN 15 3PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 3 36 FEATURES
Imagine Fight Club, penned by Paul Schrader and featuring the kind of characters that typically inhabit a Jared Hess film and you’re part way to picturing the one-of-a-kind oddity that is The Art of Self-Defense. After a humiliating attack at the hands of group of bikers, mild-mannered accountant Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) enrols himself in a local karate class to try and reclaim his power. He quickly falls under the spell of his macho Sensei (a brilliantly deadpan Alessandro Nivola) and begins a dark transformation into OFFICIAL SELECTION
precisely the kind of bully he once sought to overcome. As pointed as it is hilarious, The Art of Self-Defense is a darkly comic, often shocking takedown of toxic masculinity and cultural appropriation that intelligently explores the shortcomings of aggression while mining plenty of uncomfortable laughs along the way.
SXSW, MIFF, SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, NZIFF, EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL
THE WOLF HOUSE
SYDNEY PREMIERE
“An innovative stopmotion animation film; as a disturbing horror film; as a commentary on Chilean history; and as a meditation on the rationalizations for and trauma of childhood abuse” – America Magazine
Dir. Joaquín Cociña, Cristóbal León | 75mins | Chile | Animation | 2018 Inspired by the infamous Colonia Dignidad, a German commune that doubled as a clandestine torture camp under Augusto Pinochet, The Wolf House distils the horrors of history into a hellish folktale - an exquisitely handcrafted surrealist docu-horror that challenges the very nature of mainstream animation. The story follows María, a teen who runs away to avoid impending punishment. With a wolf hot on her heels, she finds shelter in a house that changes shape at will. The place seems abandoned, except for some
pigs that Maria attempts to mould into children, a decision she soon comes to regret. Using stop-motion techniques and combining elements of various fables, photography, sketches, sculpture, and stage performance, Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León have crafted a piece of filmmaking that is remarkably assured in its intentions and astute in how it achieves them. This is a dark, compelling, enigmatic puzzle box of a film that will continue to burrow deep into your subconscious long after the credits roll.
SAT 14 12PM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 4
OFFICIAL SELECTION
FANTASTIC FEST, BERLINALE, HONG KONG FILM FESTIVAL, ANNECY FILM FESTIVAL, THESSALONIKI INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
FEATURES 37
SYDNEY PREMIERE
THEM THAT FOLLOW
“As the movie progresses, it also dips into full-blown body-horror territory, with hideous snake bites, gory self-mutilation, and a last-minute surgical procedure performed by a clearly unsterile tree saw. The filmmakers don’t flinch away from any of this.” - /Film
FRI 13 8.30PM SESSION 2 CINEMA 1
Dir. Britt Poulton & Dan Madison Savage | 98mins | USA | Thriller | 2019 Amongst the mountains of Appalachia resides a community whose lives are centred around their church - the kind of fundamentalist sect that involves speaking in tongues and handling venomous snakes during sermons. As the preacher’s daughter, Mara (Alice Englert) is seen as the image of purity but she has a dark secret threatening to tear her town apart. Though she’s committed to the devout and well-respected Garrett, her heart lies with childhood
sweetheart, Augie (Thomas Mann), who has strayed from the church. Though Mara has always placed her faith in God, as things start to unravel, she begins to question the veracity of what she’s always been taught. Featuring an all-star cast including Oscar Winner Olivia Colman, Walton Goggins, and Jim Gaffigan, Them That Follow catapults its audience into a world where morality and belief don’t always align, and consequences can be devastating when faith is stretched past breaking point. OFFICIAL SELECTION
SUNDANCE, MIFF, EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL, CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
38 FEATURES
TONE-DEAF
AUS PREMIERE
“You’ll laugh, and feel bad about yourself for laughing, but just long enough to get sideswiped by the next punchline (or gutpunch, as the case may be). TONEDEAF is acrid, caustic satire, but hard to shake off.” - Boston Hassle Dir. Richard Bates Jr. | 87mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | 2019 Tone-Deaf marks the return of electrifying auteur Richard Bates Jr, who dazzled us with his ferocious Excision, Suburban Gothic (SUFF, 2014) and Trash Fire (SUFF, 2016). His latest film presents a bleakly hilarious allegory, lampooning our delusional society in the age of Trump, and inciting us to burn it all down. After losing her job and imploding her latest relationship, millennial Olive (Amanda Crew) heads off for a peaceful weekend in the country. Unfortunately, she rents a house from Harvey, (Robert Patrick) a widowed, OFFICIAL SELECTION
angry-with-everything MAGA senior who’s struggling to hide his psychopathic streak. Soon two generations collide with terrifying results in this home invasion horror that doubles as a darkly comedic critique of today’s bizarre cultural and political climate. The film’s ensuing bloodbath is laced with rapid-fire dialogue, venomous witticisms and no shortage of Bates’ unique brand of shock value - a wildly entertaining affair loaded with scathing social commentary, searing wit, and shocking what-the-fuckery.
SXSW, BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL
FRI 13 6.30PM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 1
SAT 14 8PM
SESSION 5 CINEMA 2 FEATURES 39
AUS PREMIERE “Use Me is an engaging, intriguing ride. Blurring the line between fantasy and reality in ways both subtle and overt, it manages to keep you guessing right up until the end.” – FilmInk
SAT 14 4PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 3
With Julian Shaw and Ceara Lynch in attendance
Dir. Julian Shaw | 91mins | Australia | Drama | 2019 Australian filmmaker Julian Shaw (as himself) travels to the United States to direct a documentary featuring ‘mental humiliatrix’ Ceara Lynch (as herself). She dominates a new niche of online sex work and has made a fortune by humiliating men online without ever exposing herself or meeting them in person. With his camera in hand, Julian delves into Ceara’s unconventional life, filming her while she shoots simulated sex scenes and while she teases and abuses men through her webcam. Soon, Julian develops OFFICIAL SELECTION
BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL
40 FEATURES
USE ME
feelings for her but could it be that Ceara is blackmailing clients who trusted her with deeply personal material? An initially tantalizing documentary project turns into a private investigation as the jilted Julian digs deeper into his subject’s morally questionable professional life. When he engineers a real-world encounter between Ceara and one of her suspected marks, what was meant to be entertainment becomes a matter of life and death.
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AUS PREMIERE BOY HOWDY! THE STORY
OF CREEM MAGAZINE
“A careening survey through the publication’s two-decade life and times, filled with colourful personalities and commentary. Vintage rock fans will be in high heaven.” - Variety
SUN 15 3PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 2
Dir. Scott Crawford | 75mins | USA | Music Doco | 2019 The latest film from maverick director Scott Crawford (Salad Days, SUFF 2015), Boy Howdy! chronicles what many consider to be the greatest rock ‘n’ roll magazine ever published. Started in 1969 by Barry Kramer, the magazine aimed to be the anti-Rolling Stone - instead of covering artists in New York and Los Angeles, Creem was devoted to the sounds of the Midwest, particularly the booming scene in its local Detroit. They were the first to feature such bands as The MC5, The Stooges, Alice Cooper and Parliament OFFICIAL SELECTION
Funkadelic but they weren’t just known for their work; the motley crew of a staff lived rockstar lifestyles themselves, their headquarters a renowned destination for debauchery. Featuring a treasure trove of archival footage and interviews from Cameron Crowe, Kirk Hammett, Joan Jett, Michael Stipe, Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Chad Smith, Peter Wolf and Wayne Kramer, Boy Howdy! tells the ever-fascinating story of the early days of big rock and one of its most important print media outlets.
Introduced by Jay Katz
MARYLAND FILM FESTIVAL, CLEVELAND FILM FESTIVAL, TRAVERSE CITY FILM FESTIVAL.
42 DOCOS
BRAINIAC: TRANSMISSIONS SYDNEY PREMIERE AFTER ZERO “Compelling… ‘Transmissions After Zero’ chronicles Brainiac’s unlikely rise and subsequent fall with intelligence and humor.” -Variety
Dir. Eric Mahoney | 108mins | USA | Music Doco | 2019 By the mid-90s Dayton, Ohio had become a hotbed of indie rock superstars, spawning the likes of The Breeders and Guided by Voices. The most innovative of them all however, was Brainiac, led by musical genius and charismatic frontman Tim Taylor. While their songs maintained a pop sensibility, Taylor’s penchant for experimentation made them wholly unique. But on the eve of signing with a major label, tragedy would strike with Taylor shockingly killed in a bizarre car accident. Offering a fitting tribute to a sonic pioneer,
Transmissions After Zero features ripping live footage and candid interviews with members of Nine Inch Nails, The Melvins, The Mars Volta, The National, and Hole, all of whom were greatly influenced by Brainiac’s sound. A must see for all music-lovers, the filmexplores the band’s legacy, its influence on pop culture and how people survive grief and the loss of those they hold most dear.
SAT 14 2PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 2
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW, CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, OAK CLIFF FILM FESTIVAL
DOCOS 43
COOL DADDIO: THE SECOND YOUTH OF R. STEVIE MOORE “R. Stevie Moore may well be the most talented, interesting pop musician never to have released a record on a major label.” – Pitchfork
SUN 15 1PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 2
Dir. Imogen Putler, Monika Baran | 78mins | UK | Music Doco | 2019 Son of Nashville session bassist Bob Moore (who played with Elvis and Roy Orbison), young Robert caught the music bug early. This self-confessed recluse would spend decades crafting catchy beat pop, lo-fi rock and freak-folk tunes, distributing cassettes by mail order to outsider art obsessives. It took 40 years (and over 400 albums) for Rolling Stone to proclaim his 1976 compilation Phonography as one of the most significant indie albums ever made and for Wire to finally put him OFFICIAL SELECTION
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44 DOCOS
on their cover. Today, he is regularly hailed as the greatest musical genius you’ve probably never heard of. Aghast that his talent remained unrecognised, directors Imogen Putler and Monika Baran spent over a year shadowing Moore, from his bedroom, onto the stage and out in the world. Featuring never-before-seen footage, music, and praise from superfans The Strokes, Ariel Pink, MGMT, Mac DeMarco and more, Cool Daddio cements Moore’s legacy as one of the weirdest and most compelling musicians alive today.
SYDNEY PREMIERE
FRIEDKIN UNCUT
SYDNEY PREMIERE
“The film’s focus on the work of its subject and desire to learn more from it is what really makes it worth watching. Come for the exorcisms, stay for the jokes.” – Film Inquiry
Dir. Francesco Zippel | 106mins | Italy | Documentary | 2018 Can the director of the most terrifying movie in the history of the cinema also be one of the most amusing and intriguing people you are ever likely to meet? Friedkin Uncut offers an introspective glimpse of the life and artistic career of William Friedkin, the extraordinary and unconventional director of cult classics such as The Exorcist, The French Connection, Sorcerer, Cruising and To Live and Die in L.A. This time, Friedkin is in front of the camera, laying himself bare and guiding viewers through a OFFICIAL SELECTION
VENICE BIENNALE, MIFF, CHICAGO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
fascinating exploration of the themes and stories that have had the greatest influence on his life’s work. Featuring captivating interviews with Quentin Tarantino, Edgar Wright, Wes Anderson, Ellen Burstyn, Matthew McConaughey, Francis Ford Coppola, Dario Argento, Damien Chazelle, Willem Dafoe and Gina Gershon, Friedkin Uncut presents a portrait of an artist whose candour and eccentricity have made him one of cinema’s greatest living storytellers.
SAT 14 12PM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 1
SUN 15 11AM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 2 DOCOS 45
SYDNEY PREMIERE
FUCK YOU ALL: THE UWE BOLL STORY
“I happen to love documentaries about films and the filmmaking process, and Fuck You All: The Uwe Boll Story is one of the best I’ve ever seen in this category. Shaul’s documentary is hysterically funny, a wildly entertaining ride and the best movie Uwe Boll has ever been a part of.” – Film Threat
SAT 14 10PM
SESSION 6 CINEMA 2
Dir. Sean Patrick Shaul | 96mins | Canada | Film Doco | 2018 One question has plagued Uwe Boll for the bulk of his career: is he the worst filmmaker of all time? From honing his craft as an indie filmmaker in Germany through to working with Oscar-winning actors and making films on multi million-dollar budgets, Fuck You All explores how Boll came to be the most hated man in Hollywood. Churning out a string of critical flops such as Bloodrayne, Postal and Rampage, Boll quickly earned the reputation of a modern-day Ed Wood. Despite several of his actors publicly OFFICIAL SELECTION
MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL, CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
46 DOCOS
disparaging their films with him and sizable online petitions demanding his retirement, Boll was always prolific, amassing 32 directorial credits and never swaying from what he set out to create. Through personal interviews with Uwe Boll himself, the people who have worked faithfully alongside him, his harshest critics and everyone in-between, this film offers an entertaining and by turns shocking portrait of this notorious renegade filmmaker.
J.R."BOB" DOBBS AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS
“Not only a colorful piece of weird-Texas history but a surprising commentary on the current state of the world.” – The Hollywood Reporter
SYDNEY PREMIERE
Dir. Sandy K. Boone | 85mins | USA | Documentary | 2019 What started out as an inside joke amongst two selfproclaimed weirdos in Texas soon became much more than they bargained for. Frustrated by the sharp rise of consumer culture, besties Douglass St. Clair Smith and Steve Wilcox decided to turn conservative southern ideology on its head and invent a new religion all their own. Spurred by the overreach of Christianity and zealous televangelists of the day, the pair concocted religious monikers (Reverend Ivan Stang and Dr. Philo
Drummond), a newly minted prophet (J.R. “Bob” Dobbs), and devised a crusade to expose the conspiracy of normalcy by using humour as the ultimate weapon. With contributions from SubGenius participants and devotees including Richard Linklater, Nick Offerman, Penn Jillette and Devo’s Gerald Casale, J.R. "Bob" Dobbs captures the hilarious history of this cosmic prank that challenged the mores and mendacities of its moment, and anticipated is the existential insanity that’s infiltrated our own.
SAT 14 12PM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 3
OFFICIAL SELECTION
SXSW, FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL, MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL
DOCOS 47
MARCEL DUCHAMP: ART OF THE POSSIBLE “Duchamp broke down hierarchies and empowered the individual... He equalized everything.” - Jeff Koons “Duchamp's legacy never dies. There are so many things still for us to discover. ” - Marina Abramovic
SUN 15 1PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 4
Dir. Matthew Taylor | 86mins | USA | Arts Doco | 2018 What is art? This was the question posed by the father of conceptualism, Marcel Duchamp, when he installed a urinal in an art exhibition in 1917. With his new film The Art of the Possible, Matthew Taylor unpacks the paradigm shift of art in the 20th century by exploring Duchamp’s radical and enigmatic works that challenged the status quo and unlocked unlimited potential for the generations that followed him. The film not only breaks down Duchamp’s legacy, applying it to historical events and trends in modern OFFICIAL SELECTION
IDFA
48 DOCOS
day conceptual art, internet and meme culture but also highlights the singular impact of Duchamp’s philosophy and practice. Featuring interviews with some of the world’s greatest contemporary artists; Jeff Koons, Marina Abramovic, Michel Gondry, Paul Matisse, and Edward Ruscha, Art of the Possible reveals how Duchamp’s vision shifted public consciousness, our understanding of aesthetics and the world we live in.
MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN
SYDNEY PREMIERE
“With the 40th anniversary of 'Alien' around the corner, 'Memory' delivers as a love-letter and film essay to O’Bannon, Scott, and Giger’s collective imagination”. – Alan French
Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe | 95mins | France | Film Doco | 2019 From its face-hugging and chest-bursting creatures to its iconic logline, “no one in space can hear you scream,” few films have invaded our collective imaginations quite like Ridley Scott’s seminal masterpiece, Alien. But what is it about this film that 40 years later, still enthrals us so? As in his previous film, 78/52, which put the iconic shower scene from Psycho under the microscope, Memory presents a substantial collection of in-depth interviews, original story notes, rejected concepts
and previously unseen footage that will excite even the casual fan. Throughout, Philippe explores how an aborted 1971 script called Starbeast would add the influences of HP Lovecraft, Francis Bacon, underground comics, and esoteric mythologies to form the film we know and love today. Here, Philippe analyses Alien’s poignant sexual and gender-based commentary providing a richly satisfying reading that will enhance the way audiences experience this modern classic.
SAT 14 2PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 1
OFFICIAL SELECTION
HOT DOCS, DOC EDGE, SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL, EDINBURGH FILM FESTIVAL, MIFF, REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL
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ROMANTIC COMEDY
AUS PREMIERE
SUN 15 11AM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 4
Dir. Elizabeth Sankey | 78min | UK | Film Doco | 2019 In her youth, director Elizabeth Sankey was obsessed by romantic comedies. Films like My Best Friend’s Wedding, Runaway Bride and When Harry Met Sally coloured her perception of relationships. It seems obvious that basing your love life on rom-com conventions – the meet-cutes, the public displays of affection, the happy-ever-afters – is a recipe for potential heartbreak, yet we’ve all fallen for them time and time again. Looking back, she now realises that the genre is intrinsically conservative: the
protagonists are often white and heterosexual, the story is often misogynistic and oversentimental, and the gender roles always traditional. Using a large number of clips from well-known and classic films as well as testimony from fellow cinephiles, Sankey delivers a celebration of the rom-com while unpacking its notions of perfection and the romantic ideal. A feminist film for those with a passion for the cinema, Romantic Comedy intelligently muses on ideas of gender, sexuality, race and class representation in one of the world’s most beloved genres.
“The film expertly chips away at the dismissal of rom-coms as frivolous guilty pleasures for a mostly female audience.” - Hollywood Reporter
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OFFICIAL SELECTION
IFFR, SXSW, SHEFFIELD DOC FEST
RUDEBOY: THE STORY OF TROJAN RECORDS “This love letter to one of Britain's first multicultural pop movements is an effortlessly enjoyable viewing experience with a rich, sunny, consistently uplifting soundtrack.” – Hollywood Reporter
Presented by Groovescooter
Dir. Nicolas Jack Davies | 85mins | UK | Music Doc | 2018 London’s Trojan Records is one of the most influential record companies in history. It’s music was the lifeforce of the cultural revolution which first unfolded on UK council estates and dancefloors during the late 60s and early 70s. By tapping into Jamaican migration to England, the label became integral in spreading ska, rocksteady and reggae to new audiences. Combining archival footage and freshly shot interviews, Rudeboy explores the development of the soundsystem culture in Jamaica, the growth of the island’s recording
industry and the birth of ska, through to the effect Trojan's music had on Britain’s workingclass youths and the conflicting experiences of newly arrived Afro-Caribbean immigrants. With a cast featuring legendary artists Marcia Griffiths, Pauline Black, Lee ‘Scratch' Perry, Toots Hibbert, Ken Boothe, Dave Barker, Dandy Livingstone, Derrick Morgan, Bunny Lee, Sly & Robbie, Lloyd Coxsone, Neville Staple and more, this is a visually striking masterwork that explores the power of music to break down cultural barriers and change lives.
FRI 13 6.30PM
SESSION 1 CINEMA 3
OFFICIAL SELECTION
DOC N’ ROLL FILM FESTIVAL, DOC NYC, REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL
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WHERE DOES A BODY END? “Marco has created a vision… physically incarnate - that has told a story that must be told and never allowed to be forgotten.” – Joey Pan
SYDNEY PREMIERE
FRI 13 10.30PM SESSION 3 CINEMA 3
Dir. Marco Porsia | 121mins | Canada | Music Doco | 2019 Where Does a Body End? is an intimate portrait of the band Swans, from their roots as a confrontational post-punk band that emerged from the same environment as Sonic Youth (and somehow, Madonna) through their ill-fated bid at mainstream success in the 90s indie-rock goldrush. It traverses breakups and chaos (on and offstage) and their odds-defying current status as one of the most accomplished and ambitious bands in the world, whose concerts are more like ecstatic rituals than nostalgic trips back through their most popular songs. OFFICIAL SELECTION
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CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL, REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL
Featuring interviews from rock luminaries like Thurston Moore, Lee Ranaldo, Amanda Palmer, Devendra Banhart and Blixa Bargeld, director Marcos Porisa works with unfettered access to hundreds of hours of Swans archives to present us with a blistering portrait of one of the most iconoclastic bands of our times.
* Introduced by Jack Sargeant
UNDERGROUND INC - THE RISE & FALL OF ALTERNATIVE ROCK “This film is a great look historically, from the inside, at what went down in the music world in the 90’s. A must see!!” – Kellii Scott – A Perfect Circle / Failure
Director Shaun Katz in attendance
WORLD PREMIERE Shaun Katz | 96mins | Australia | Music Documentary | 2019 After winning the SUFF Audience Choice award for his killer short Sleeping in Blood City in 2012, we’re proud to present the world premiere of Shaun Katz’s debut feature documentary Underground Inc. The film tells the blistering story of the rise and fall of the alternative rock scene, in the wake of Nirvana’s unprecedented success. Starting with its roots in the 80s underground punk, witness alt-rock’s meteoric rise to mainstream dominance and how it all came crashing down against a world of excess and greed. Told by the artists who pioneered a sonic sub-culture themselves, including members
of White Zombie, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bad Religion, Ministry, Helmet, Steve Albini and many more, this rollicking doc relives the triumphs, tragedies and raucous energy of the time. This is the story is the music business colliding with some of the most important and overlooked musicians of the period - a must see for all serious music lovers!
FRI 13 8.30PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 4
DOCOS 53
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SHORTS
Let us entertain you
LOVE/SICK DEEP TISSUE
Meredith Alloway | 9mins | USA | Horror, Romance | Aus Premiere | 2019 A girl orders a special massage.
SHORT FILM SESSION Kinky is to use the feather, perverted is to use the whole chicken.
DOCKING
Trevor Anderson | 4mins | Canada | SciFi, Comedy | Sydney Premiere | 2019 Are you a member of the Mile-High Club? What about the 62-Mile-High Club?
MEET CUTE
Oscar Alex Thorberg | 10mins | Australia | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 A case of mistaken identity sparks romance between a lonely lady looking for drugs and a down on his luck gentleman searching for a sex worker.
TECHNOLOGY LAKE: MEDITATIONS ON SEX AND DEATH
Brandon Daley | 8mins | USA | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 A dog and her owner navigate the perils of modern technology.
PEOPLING
Lucas Amann | 14mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 When George accidentally births a doppelgänger, he finds competition for his mother’s affection.
THE MIRAGE
Elvis Xia | 6mins | Thriller | Australia | Australian Premiere | 2019 When waking life turns into a unceasing nightmare, how can one ever escape?
WHO’S A GOOD BOY? Alexander Phillips | 10mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 A creepy park urinator is kidnapped by his victims and becomes their pet dog.
SAT 14 2PM
SESSION 2 CINEMA 4
WOMAN IN STALL
Dusty Mancinelli & Madeleine Simms-Fewer | 10mins | UK | Drama | Australian Premiere | 2018 A woman finds herself trapped in a bathroom stall by a man whose intentions are not entirely clear.
WUNDERKAMMER
Jennifer Linton | 6mins | Canada | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2019 Madelaine’s cabinet of curiosities contained a collection of wonders to both delight and horrify.
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LSD FACTORY SHORT FILM SESSION
Who needs drugs when you have LSD FACTORY - known to mess with your shit!
FRI 13 8.30PM SESSION 2 CINEMA 2
A BLANK CONTROL
Maëva Jacques | 7mins | Belgium | Animation | Sydney Premiere | 2018 Life-giving beings live in this world filled with diversity. But suddenly bird-headed humanoids turn up. They catch, use and suck the life out of these colorful beings until all resources are exhausted. This world’s colourful diversity fades until the planet is turned into a wasteland.
BARBIE AND FRIENDS
Paul Winkler | 11mins | Australia | Experimental | Australian Premiere | 2018 A parade of plastic icons marooned in a blizzard of digital glitch.
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BUDFOOT
Tim Reis & James Sizemore | 16mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 Indie toymaker Jo Carver’s latest creation has come to life, and it’s trying to kill him! The lines between reality and delusional paranoia are blurred as Jo battles his way through his cartoonish nightmare laboratory, set on destroying the demonic weed monster before it destroys him!
INTERSECTIONAL BIOPOLITICS OF SIZZURP
Eli Ayres | 3mins | USA | Animation | 2019 | Aus Premiere A journey through maximal nowhere.
GET UP, PIERROT
PLEASE SPEAK CONTINUOUSLY AND DESCRIBE YOUR EXPERIENCES AS THEY COME TO YOU
THE VIDEO STORE COMMERCIAL
Cody Kennedy & Tim Rutherford | 4mins | USA | Horror, Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 A desperate video store owner hires a crew to shoot a commercial in his shop. But when they accidentally destroy a cursed VHS, suddenly, all their lives are in danger - and worse yet, the commercial may never get finished...
Brandon Cronenberg | 10mins | Canada | Sci-Fi | Sydney Premiere | 2019 Emily is a patient at an experimental psychiatric facility where a brain implant prototype allows her to re-live her dreams.
THOSE PROGRESSIVE MEATS
NAKAGIN
Ryzsard Dabek | 6mins | Australia | Experimental | Australian Premiere | 2019 Shot on Super 8 in Tokyo during May 2019 Nakagin presents Kisho Kurokawa’s 1972 metabolist masterpiece, the Nakagin Capsule Tower as simultaneously a site of revolutionary intent and crumbling utopianism.
Stephanie Delazeri | 7mins | USA | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2019 An animated short exploring gender, labour, animation and weenie roasts.
PICNIC
Mike Pinkney, Michael Reich | 5mins | Japan | Horror | Sydney Premiere | 2018 Three women go for a picnic that does not go to plan.
Zim + Teemo | 7mins | USA | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2019 Pierrot is an existential pastry made by folding layers of identity upon itself with equal parts tears and smiles.
SUPERVISING THE SUPERVISION OF FEMALE WORKERS
SKЯONGM3N
Hutz | 9mins | Australia | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2019 Two wrestlers compete for survival in a post-apocalyptic hellscape.
Minoru Karasube | 4mins | Japan | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2018 A twenty-five-year-old selfstyled hermit who got it into his head that he has achieved enlightenment tries to neutralize people’s desire.
OZPLOIT! SHORT FILM SESSION
An outrageous collection of the year’s best homegrown shorts.
SAT 14 8PM
BLOOM
Kieran Wheeler | 7mins | Australia | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 When Andrew comes home from a weekend away and finds a single rose petal in his bed, he becomes convinced that his girlfriend has cheated on him.
SESSION 5 CINEMA 3
MY GHOUL
Andrew Robb | 5mins | Australia | Horror, Comedy | Sydney Premiere | 2018 Fed up with standing around in corners waiting to scare people, a lonely ghoul decides to leave her desolate damp mansion and go searching suburbia for a man.
TELOS BRUNCH SHIFT MASSACRE
Adam Boys | 14mins | Australia | Horror, Comedy | Sydney Premiere | 2019 A descent into the hellish depths of the life of a waiter during a busy brunch service that turns into a violent climb back to sanity.
MAGGIE MAY
Mia’Kate Russell | 14mins | Australia | Horror | Sydney Premiere | 2019 Sometimes doing nothing can be the worst move of all.
SIX PACK
Sean O’Keeffe, Ben Matei & Jennie Tkaz | 19mins | Australia | Drama | Sydney Premiere | 2018 An epic story of Greek gods, a complex father-son relationship and one man’s search for identity, Telos is a reimagining of Ocean Vuong’s poem ‘Telemachus’, inspired by Homer’s ‘Odyssey’.
OBSESSION/OUR GENERATION
THE TRUE HISTORY OF BILLIE THE KID
Madeline Mack | 6mins | Australia | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2018 Russell really loves beer.
James Dobbins | 4mins | Australia | Documentary | Aus Premiere | 2019 Our current generation of millennials have become addicted to the harsh realities of the internet. Diving into the deep web and it’s harsh content of murder, stupidity and it’s bizarreness. Their addiction becomes more and more intense.
Leticia Caceres | 8mins | Australia | Drama, Thriller | Sydney Premiere | 2018 Billie visits her ageing father in jail, revealing that her childhood in his care was not as safe and happy as he might have believed.
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REALITY BITES FRI 13 6.30PM SESSION 1 CINEMA 4
SHORT FILM SESSION A program of fascinating real-life narratives in short bite-sized pieces.
A-BU-JI
Mengxia Xu | 15mins | Australia | Documentary| Aus Premiere | 2019 From his time as a foot solider in the Korean War to preaching the gospel around the country, meet Namchul Central Station’s resident street clown and harbinger of joy to Sydney’s masses.
DEAR HATTETS
Kerry Barber | 6mins | Canada | Documentary | Aus Premiere | 2017 A personal account of a relationship torn apart by a suspected lie. Told in the form of a letter to a family it is accompanied by documentary images of the filmmaker’s life..
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EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SUDDEN BIRTH (*BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK)
GLORIA’S CALL
Cheri Gaulke | 17mins | USA | Documentary | Australian Premiere | 2018 From the cafés of Paris to the mountaintops of Samiland, a scholar’s life is forever changed through her friendships with the women artists of Surrealism.
LIMBOLAND
Lachie Hinton | 22mins | Australia | Human Rights Doc | Australian Premiere | 2019 Limboland illuminates the realities of Australia’s offshore processing system, unveiling the faces and stories of refugees and asylum seekers on Nauru.
Scott Calonico | 11mins | USA | Documentary | Aus Premiere | 2019 The true story of how the Berkeley police department, the Nazi invasion of the Netherlands, an Academy Award winner and Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame are all connected by ‘Sudden Birth’.
UNCAGED: A STAND-IN STORY FORETOLD
Lulu Keating | 8mins | Canada | Documentary | Aus Premiere | 2019 There is so much that we don’t understand. An injured artist ponders a seemingly prescient dream.
Blake Johnston, Kelso Steinhoff | 11mins | USA | Film Doc | Aus Premiere | 2019 The quirky tale of Marco Kyris, an aspiring actor whose only claim to Hollywood fame is working as a stand-in for Nicolas Cage — and living in the shadow of the electric, enigmatic star.
SHORT FILM SESSION
Shorts so mind-meltingly weird, you’ll be left asking...
WTF!
HERE TO ETERNITY WITH THE GODZ
BENNIFER
Jeffrey Wengrofsky | 10mins | USA | Music Doc | Australian Premiere | 2019 Here to Eternity with The Godz is a psychoactive documentary about The Godz, one of the first psychedelic rock bands.
Ryan McGlade | 13mins | USA | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 Jed’s family isn’t how he remembered it.
CHI CHI
David Nessl | 10mins | USA | Animation | Australian Premiere | 2019 My dog had a dream and he told me about it. I made a movie about that dream. This is that movie.
DILDO GUN
Ryan Rizvianto | 6mins | Australia | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 A young male stripper booked for a bachelorette party, who stumbles upon a home robbery after knocking on the wrong house. Mistaken for a real cop he reluctantly becomes a hero. Will he be able to save the day with his dildo gun?
SUN 15 3PM
SESSION 3 CINEMA 4
TRUMP BLOWS TRUMP
Christian Meola | 3mins | USA | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 In a world populated by Donald J. Trumps, two Trumps meet up for a quick softcore hookup.
HELSINKI MANSPLAINING MASSACRE
Ilja Rautsi | 15mins | Finland | Comedy, Horror | Sydney Premiere | 2018 One woman desperately struggles to survive a horde of men with frail egos, who just want to explain everything to her.
PLACE
Jason Gudasz | 11mins | USA | Comedy | Australian Premiere | 2019 Lauren moves into a house with her daughter and boyfriend wanting a fresh start, but the spirits of the house have plans to turn them all against each other in very bizarre ways.
VALERIO’S DAY OUT
Michael Arcos | 9mins | Colombia | Horror | Australian Premiere | 2019 A young jaguar (Valerio) goes on a killing spree when he escapes from his enclosure at a zoo. After he’s caught, sedated, and relocated he makes a video diary for his significant other. Their name is Lula.
Z-GOAT: FIRST BLEAT
Julien Jauniaux & Bertrand Leplae | 14mins | Belgium | Horror | Aus Premiere | 2019 In a dying world, Darwina the scavenger will face a new threat.
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Over 25 years in the making since Ukraine declared its independence.
SAT 14 4PM SESSION 3 CINEMA 2
INDEPENDENCE, ROCKETS & BORSCH Short Films by Ukrainian Filmmakers This session is dedicated to Ukrainian filmmaker political prisoner of the Kremlin Oleg Sentsov and to the Australian families, friends and relatives of victims of the downing of MH17.
SHORT FILM SESSION A revolution in 2014 saw millions of Ukrainians take to the streets to overthrow a corrupt regime and to look to the west. A direct invasion and illegal bloody and hybrid war by Russia then created the biggest humanitarian crisis in Europe. In response, Ukraine has undergone a cultural and artistic revolution and a cinematic renaissance. While politics can be both stale and exhilarating, where hope resides, a new generation through their art are asking what
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kind of country, in what kind of world do they want to live in? Grappling with the everyday to the cosmic, with the realities of life and death, Ukrainian filmmakers use art as their weapon, their critical inquiry and as a mirror; spanning human rights & social justice, tragedy and comedy in a country undergoing enormous change. The final program will be revealed at suff.com.au/ ukrainianshorts and will include unmissable shorts screened at Odessa, Kyiv, Berlin and Cannes film festivals.
Curated by Julian Knysh
TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE SCREENING SHORT FILM SESSION
SUN 14
This program is made up of films that were submitted as part of TAKE48 - The 48 Hour Film Challenge, where filmmakers had to write, shoot, edit and submit a short film in only 48 hours! Awards and prizes will also be announced including camera packages, RedGiant software suites and RENTaCAM equipment hire vouchers! To find out more, visit: www.suff.com.au/take48
SESSION 4 CINEMA 3
FIND OUT MORE AND BOOK A FREE VR SESSION AT THE FESTIVAL BY VISITING: WWW.SUFF.COM.AU/VR-HUB
Come and visit the SUFF VR HUB during the festival to experience 360 videos and enjoy VR games. The screening program will focus on experimental VR narrative and documentary works and includes works by several Australian artists and filmmakers.
SAT 14
SUN 15
12PM - 3PM 12PM - 3PM 4PM - 7PM 4PM - 7PM The Grassroots Film Hub is funded by the NSW Government through the Stronger Communities Fund. Also, kindly supported by the University of Sydney - Sydney College of the Arts.
FILM HUB
VR HUB
5PM
GRASS ROOTS EVENTS 61
FLYING BAPTISTS OVER NOLLYWOOD
FRI 13 6.30PM
FILM HUB
SESSION 1 CINEMA 2
GRASS ROOTS 62 EVENTS
A West African DIY Cinema Primer Presented by Andrew Leavold.
90 minutes of the most demented African DIY movie mayhem: demons, witches, ninjas, midget gangsters and Antichrists, Ghanan Terminators and crap-CGI Spidermen run amok in a journey upriver into the dark heart of African Z-grade cinema. A video essay compiled, edited and introduced by filmmaker and B film historian Andrew Leavold (The Search For Weng Weng, TrashFest 2019) offers a literally eye-popping selection of film clips, trailers and documentaries from filmdom’s final frontier. “Flying Baptists Over Nollywood” is a 90 minute journey upriver into the dark heart of African Z-grade cinema: from Nigeria or Nollywood, the globe’s most prolific yet misunderstood film industry, populated with demons, witch children, midget gangsters and Antichrists; Uganda, and the film
factory of Wakaliwood’s RAMON Productions run by Isaac Nabwana, creator of the demented action sensation Who Killed Captain Alex; and Ghana’s Terminators and crap-CGI Spidermen from Ninja Productions and Rockson Emmanuel, as well as foaming-at-the-mouth Godsploitation horrors, all delivered with such terrifying conviction to scare the Bejeesus INTO its African audience! “Flying Baptists Over Nollywood” is both a detailed history and garish moving postcard of a startlingly original and sometimes genuinely dangerous film culture.
MOON CONSPIRACY EXTRAVAGANZA PRESENTED BY
SAT 14 12PM
On the 50th anniversary of the famed ‘moon landing,’ join Jaimie and Aspasia Leonarder on an audio-visual journey as they probe whether this fabled event could actually have been a full-blown hoax. From theories of Kubrick’s faked footage shot on a sound stage outside of Texas, to the conspiracy that forms the premise of Peter Hyams Capricorn One, cinema has long proved an effective tool for questioning the powers that be. Mining over 50 years-worth of underground guerrilla films, via their Mu-Meson Archives, Jaimie and Aspasia Leonarder will draw on an extensive collection of clips, news excerpts and images to mount the case for those who have questioned Apollo all along. Are you aware of the links between NASA and the Nazi party? Did you know that
every mission since Apollo has only remained in low Earth Orbit around 400 km and that we no longer have the technology to go to the Moon even if we tried? A 30 billion dollar lie that’s now been perpetuated for half a century – you’ll laugh, you’ll cry and learn that when it comes to space (travel) perhaps no one at Apollo wants to hear your screams!
FILM HUB
SESSION 1 CINEMA 2
GRASS ROOTS SHORTS 63 EVENTS 63
INHUMAN SCREENS FRI 13 9AM - 5PM
CONFERENCE
CINEMA 2
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SUFF and the University of Sydney - Sydney College of the Arts are pleased to announce the return of the “Inhuman Screens” conference. Extending on the success of last year’s conference, the theme of this year’s conference focuses on embodiment and the tensions and contradictions of digital selfhood and identity, with a focus on social media, cinema and propaganda.
The conference is pleased to announce four confirmed keynotes. Last year our keynotes were disembodied specters, presenting through the digital interface. We have at least one disembodied digital interview (pre-recorded) with world-renown philosopher and psychoanalyst Alenka Zupančič, a disembodied keynote by acclaimed film critic and academic Adrian Martin, and two embodied keynote presentations from Angela Ndalianis and Jack Sargeant.
TICKETS $50 CONCESSION $30
INCLUDES ENTRY TO FRIDAY NIGHT FILMS
ACADEMIC CONFERENCE Dr Alenka Zupančič
Dr Zupančič is the author of What is Sex? (MIT Press, 2017), Why Psychoanalysis (2008), The Odd One in: On Comedy (2007. Her reputation as a theorist and philosopher is unparalleled and we will be drawing on her knowledge to understand the Alt Right and the digital unconscious. Dr Martin is Adjunct Associate Professor in Film Culture and Theory at Monash University and a celebrated film critic. His recent books include Mise en Scène and Film Style: From Classical Hollywood to New Media Art (Palgrave, 2014) and Mysteries of Cinema (Amsterdam University Press, 2018).
Dr Jack Sargeant
Dr Sargeant is an expert on underground and transgressive cinema and is the author of Flesh and Excess: On Underground Film (2016) and Against Control (2014). Since 2007 he has been the program director for the Revelation Perth International Film Festival. He has curated fine art and photography exhibitions for the Horse Hospital, London, and cocurated shows at the Alaska Gallery, Sydney, and Strange Neighbour, Melbourne.
Dr Angela Ndalianis
Dr Ndalianis is a professor at Swinburne and the director of the Centre for Transformative Media Technologies. Her books include Neo-Baroque Aesthetics and Contemporary Entertainment (MIT Press 2004), and The Horror Sensorium: Media and the Senses (McFarland 2012). Her edited books include The Contemporary Comic Book Superhero (editor, Routledge 2009), and Fans and Videogames. PRESENTED BY
Convened by Dr Stefan Popescu & Dr Aleksandr Wansbrough For more information, visit: suff.com.au/inhuman-screens
CONFERENCE
Dr Adrian Martin
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WORKSHOP PROGRAM PRESENTED BY
CINEMA 5
The 5th annual workshop program takes place during the festival on Sat 14th and Sun 15th September at The Factory Theatre. A program for inquiring minds and aspiring, emerging and existing filmmakers to learn from leading directors, documentarians, artists and writers to broaden their skillsets. INDIVIDUAL WORKSHOPS $25/$20 conc. WORKSHOP PASS: $90/$85 conc.
WORKSHOPS
SCRIPT-WRITING WORKSHOP
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WITH NICO LATHOURIS SAT 14 SEP | 12 - 1.30PM
An award-winning actor, director, script editor, and dramaturge contributing to more than 300 screen hours of popular, award-winning Australian film and television, including his on-going collaboration with George Miller as both screenwriter and dramaturge on the ‘Mad Max Suite.’ A script-writing workshop for emerging screenwriters.
THE DARK ART OF THE INTERVIEW
WITH ANNA BROWINSKI SAT 14 SEP | 2 - 3:30PM
Just ask a question and shoot, right? Wrong. A good interview reveals things about your subject they normally keep hidden, and a good interviewer must play psychologist, parent, confidante, adversary and confessor to unlock the truth. Documentary filmmaker Anna has interviewed Chicago con-artists, military spin-doctors, alt-right politicians and the Kyoto Yakuza. Sharing secrets, tricks and survival tips, Anna will help you “unlock” a difficult subject and deliver captivating results.
MUSIC FOR FILM WORKSHOP
WITH MICHAEL LIRA SAT 14 SEP | 4 - 5.30PM
Learn how to tell a story with music. Award-winning composer Mikey Lira will discuss his processes from initial script to the final mix. Mikey has worked on both Roache-Turner projects: Wyrmwood: Road of the Dead and Nekrotronic, The Hunter (Willem Dafoe), A Turtle Odyssey narrated by Russell Crowe and an array of TV series including Rebel Wilson’s Bogan Pride.
SATURDAY AND SUNDAY FINANCIAL DOMINATION
WITH CEARA LYNCH SAT 14 SEP | 6 - 7.30PM
What is “financial domination?” Do people really get aroused giving women their money for “no reason?” Ceara Lynch (the star from USE ME, which screens Sat 4pm) gives you a behind-the-scenes peek at a day in the life of a financial dominatrix. In this workshop you’ll learn about her decade+ journey into this fascinating and mysterious kink plus practical tips for the aspiring financial dominatrix and fetish video producer.
MAKING A WEB SERIES
WITH BRENDAN DOYLE SUN 15 SEP | 11AM - 12.30PM
Brendan Doyle of Broken Yellow and recent award-winning True Crime web series “The Twist” (on ABC iview) will discuss how to write, create and find an audience for a web series. With online episodic stories as the new holy grail leading to career opportunities, don’t miss your opportunity to hear from one of Australia’s leading multi-platform directors.
DIRECTING MASTERCLASS
WITH KRIV STENDERS SUN 15 SEP | 1 - 2.30PM
One of Australia’s most prolific film directors (Blacktown, Lucky Country, Boxing Day, Red Dog, Kill Me Three Times, Danger Close) will present a special masterclass at SUFF and discuss his processes when directing and working with actors and the importance of finding your own unique voice, style and expression.
SFX FOR LOW-BUDGET FILMS
WITH BLOODHOUND FX SUN 15 SEP | 3 - 4.30PM Stuart Rowsell of Bloodhound FX is one of Australia’s leading special FX artists. Stuart has worked on over 30 features: Star Wars Ep II & III, Superman Returns, Wolverine, Great Gatsby, Mad Max: Fury Road, Gods of Egypt and Alien: Covenant. Learn from his 25+ years of experience in this intensive workshop on creating effective special FX for low-budget films.
WORKSHOPS
CINEMA 5
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