2021 Sydney Underground Film Festival

CONTENTS WELCOME.................................................................3 PARTNERS................................................................4 BUY TICKETS..........................................................5 TAKE48 CHALLENGE .....................................6 SPECIAL EVENTS

OPENING NIGHT FILM: SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT............. 10 INHUMAN SCREENS ACADEMIC CONFERENCE................................ 12 BRAIN FREEZE........................................................ 14 THE LAND (+ Q&A)............................................. 15 THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL & MISS OSBOURNE............................................. 16 MU-MESON PRESENTS SHAKE HANDS WITH DANGER...................... 17 STRANGER ............................................................... 18

DOCUMENTARIES

ALIEN ON STAGE................................................... 20 CANNON ARM & THE ARCADE QUEST..... 21 FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK......................... 22 LYDIA LUNCH: THE WAR IS NEVER OVER............................... 23 MOMENTS LIKE THIS NEVER LAST........... 24 ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES.................................. 25 POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ................... 26 SLEEZE LAKE: VAN LIFE AT ITS LOWEST & BEST........................................... 27 THE WORLD’S BEST FILM............................... 28

FEATURES

AN IDEAL HOST...................................................... 30 BAD GIRLS................................................................ 31 BONE CAGE............................................................... 32 DANNY. LEGEND. GOD........................................ 33 EXTERNO.................................................................... 34 FALL BACK DOWN................................................ 35 FIRST DATE............................................................... 36 HOTEL POSEIDON................................................. 37 KRATT........................................................................... 38 LORELEI...................................................................... 39 NINJA BADASS....................................................... 40 ROUTINES.................................................................. 41 SHIT & CHAMPAGNE........................................... 42 SWEETHURT............................................................. 43 WONDERFUL PARADISE................................... 44 ZERO FUCKS............................................................ 45

SHORT FILM SESSIONS

EXPLODING EYEBALLS..................................... 48 LOVEABLE IDIOTS................................................ 50 LOVE/SICK................................................................ 51 LSD FACTORY.......................................................... 52 OTHER WORLDS.................................................... 54 OZPLOIT!.................................................................... 56 REALITY BITES....................................................... 58 SHIT SCARED.......................................................... 60 WTF!.............................................................................. 61

WELCOME Take a cinematic trip without leaving your living room! Yes, our in-the-flesh desires were thwarted again this year (pandemic edition 2.0), except this time we return with a huge program running for 18 DAYS from Thursday 9th – Sunday 26th September 2021!

Streaming on-demand to Australia and the world, we are bringing you 30 features and documentaries and 9 jam-packed short film sessions! Plus, the Inhuman Screens Academic Conference is back and so is the Take48 Film Challenge! Plus, we have exclusive Q&As, bonus content and a little surprise screening up our sleeves! We understand that it’s incredibly important to have creative outlets, whether it be watching, discussing or making films – so hopefully we can provide a little enjoyment in times like these.

Kicking off our opening night, we are proud to present the Australian Premiere of SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT by Kazakhstan Director Yernar Nurgaliyev. It’s a hilarious no-holds-barred road trip film about a man who decides to get away from his nagging wife with his friends, befallen by a series of highly entertaining and incomprehensible events. Wildly funny; it’s perverse, it’s original and it’s the perfect opening night film!

We are also very proud to present the Australian premiere of THE LAND. An incredibly captivating and moving microbudget, improvised, cinematic experiment between internationally renowned photographer Ingvar Kenne, academic Gregory Ferris, and awardwinning actors Steve Rodgers (Rush) and Cameron Stewart.

Plus there is comedy and feel-good movies galore with ALIEN ON STAGE, CANNON ARM AND THE ARCADE QUEST, AN IDEAL HOST, SWEETHURT, KRATT and just for good measure we have a virus zombie film BRAIN FREEZE! For those whose tastes lend themselves to the camp, absurd and ridiculous, there is NINJA BADASS, ROUTINES and SHIT & CHAMPAGNE. Those who prefer more darkness, drugs and misanthropy in their humour will enjoy DANNY. LEGEND. GOD or HOTEL POSEIDON. Eye-opening music documentaries are always on the menu with women at the forefront including FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK, revealing the untold story of a Filipina American garage band that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny; and POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ, in which the death of punk icon and X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene sends her daughter on an intimate journey through her mother's archives.

The life and times of some of the world’s most provocative and challenging artists are explored in some must-see docos, with indie director Beth B’s LYDIA LUNCH: THE WAR IS NEVER OVER, and Cheryl Dunn brings us MOMENTS LIKE THIS NEVER LAST, about another New York native, the late Dash Snow, who documents his turn from notorious graffiti tagger into international art star in the late 90s.

There is literally too much to poke a stick at so have a look at what’s on offer and join us virtually in 2021!

Stay safe, stay weird and enjoy!

PARTNERS SUPPORTING PARTNER

PR PARTNER

SCREENING PARTNERS

TAKE 48 PARTNERS

PRODUCTION PARTNER

WEB DESIGN & MARKETING PARTNER

BUY TICKETS SUFF have partnered with Eventive, an online screening platform, to bring you 30 feature films and documentaries and 100 short films across 9 sessions, over 18 days. Plus SUFF is also hosting the 5th annual Inhuman Screens Academic Conference plus a bunch of bonus screenings and content!

GET YOUR TICKETS AND PASSES HERE Individual tickets ...... $12 4 film pass ................ $35 + booking fee 10 film pass ............... $85 + booking fee All-Access Pass ........ $194 + booking fee

ONLINE

SUFF.COM.AU

The All-Access Pass allows you to watch ANY session over the 18 days but once you start watching you only have 48 hours to finish watching that session.

All sessions are 15+ unless otherwise indicated.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FOR AN ONLINE FESTIVAL Where do I purchase session tickets or passes for the festival?

For individual session tickets - head to watch.eventive.org/suff2021 For special prices - the all-access festival pass, 4 film pass or 10 film pass head to suff2021.eventive.org/passes/buy Can I watch the films/sessions outside the festival dates of 9-26 September 2021?

No, just like you would at our festival, you can only view films/sessions online during the festival dates which is Thursday 9 September - Sunday 26 September 2021.

Can I watch the films/sessions on demand during the festival dates of 9-26 September 2021?

Yes, you can by unlocking (i.e. buy) any session but once you start watching, you will have a 48 hour viewing period to complete watching that session.

If I buy a Festival Pass, can I watch any films/sessions on demand during the festival?

Yes, if you purchase a festival pass you will be able to watch any session at any time over the festival dates. Once you start you must complete watching that session/fill within 48 hours. If you purchase a pass, you’ll be able to select any film with your pass. Only one ticket to each session per pass.

Can I buy a session or Festival Pass as a gift for a friend?

Yes, Passes can be bought as a gift! Just need an email to transfer the pass to.

Can I download the films to watch at a later time?

No, you just get the ability to watch it from any device over the 18 day festival.

Please note: Your information will only be used in relation to your purchase and not used by SUFF (unless you opt-in to join the mailing list).

It will not be used by Eventive or any third party.

TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE SCREENING We are so excited to be back for another year of TAKE48!

TAKE48 is a filmmaking challenge that dares you to battle against the clock, creating a film from start to finish over an intense and exciting 48 hours!

To spice things up, all films must include the mystery item and line of dialogue, which is revealed as the challenge begins. Interstate and international participation is welcome through our online portals, so you don't have to be in Sydney to participate!

TAKE48 Challenge Dates

SCREENING

TAKE48 2021 will run from 7.00pm, Friday 3rd September to 7.00pm, Sunday 5th September (AEST time)

You also have the chance to see your film screened at the special TAKE48 screening during the Sydney Underground Film Festival!

All submissions are watched by the TAKE48 and SUFF crew, with the best films being chosen and curated to screen.

REGISTER NOW! Don’t miss out – register now at www.suff.com.au/take48

Take48 is stoked to announce Guest Juror Nat for 2021!

PAGE 6 TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE

WIN PRIZES VALUED AT $16,500 PRIZES Prizes for TAKE48 winners include camera packages, software suites, audio equipment and gear hire vouchers thanks to our amazing partners Sony Australia, Maxon, RENTaCAM Sydney, Synco Audio, Final Draft and Digital Pigeon.

TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE PAGE 7

NEVER. NOT. STAND OUT. The Video Creation Experts.

Proud sponsors of the Sydney Underground Film Festival since 2017 p2.com.au

SPECIAL EVENTS

9 EVENTS

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT Dir. Yernar Nurgaliyev | 2020 | 84 mins | KAZAKHSTAN Dastan (Daniar Alshinov) can no longer stand the constant nagging of his highly pregnant wife (Asel Kaliyeva) and decides to run away for at least one day with his friends - a would-be businessman, and a district police officer. The men decide to go fishing and everything would have gone smoothly, if not for a series of unforeseen, sudden, incomprehensible, violent, and irreversible events. Kazakhstani director and co-writer Yernar Nurgaliyev brings us a black crime comedy that plays out like an Eastern European Coen brothers film, packed with eccentric characters making bad choices that lead them further down the spiral to… well, that would be telling. Genuinely surprisingly, shocking, and hilarious, Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It is a comedy of errors with guts.

“…imagine if The Hangover was directed

by The Coen Brothers.”

“…an exciting, scary, and funny ride, with a rather terrific ending.”

JOHN DOTSON, MONSTERS & CRITICS

BOBBY LEPIRE, FILM THREAT

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FANTASIA 2021

CLICK TO WATCH

OPENING NIGHT FILM THURS

7.30PM 9 SEPT

OFFICIAL SELECTION

WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL 2021

SPECIAL EVENTS PAGE 11

INHUMAN SCREENS FRIDAY 24 SEPTEMBER

CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR PLACE FOR THE LIVE STREAM LIVE STREAMING FRIDAY 24 SEPT 10AM - 5PM OR WATCH ON DEMAND FROM 24 SEPT - 26 SEPT This year marks the fourth annual Inhuman Screens Academic Conference. As people spend more and more time in front of screens amid COVID, never has there been a more important time to analyse our relationships to, and dependence on the screen. From bingeing programs to online forums, the screen presents us with core challenges to how we understand ourselves and one another. What political function does the screen serve? What is its role in art and education today? What threats and innovations does the screen present us with?

ABIGAIL CHILD

DR GREGORY FERRIS

PAGE 12 SPECIAL EVENTS

TICKETS ONLY $12

This conference explores these fundamental topics, covering: • Digital Addiction and predatory Tech companies • Privacy in the digital age & the need to regulate tech giants • Gender norms and troubles, online and offline • Contemporary realism in screen culture • The Role of AI in Higher Education • Robotics, AI & the posthuman subject • Cinematic, Televisual and Digital Aesthetics

In addition to the 3 main keynote speakers, there are also several great panellists: • Filmmaker Abigail Child [Dir. Origin of the Species pg 25] • Professor Katina Michael Arizona State University • Artist John Tonkin • Associate Professor Bruce Isaacs University of Sydney • Dr Gregory Ferris, from UTS [Producer: The Land PG 13].

ACADEMIC CONFERENCE

LIVE STREAMING 10AM-5PM Adam Geczy

Artist and writer who teaches at the University of Sydney.

His artworks have been shown across Australia, Asia and Europe and is held in numerous major collections. Having published some 20 books, his most recent title (with Vicki Karaminas) is Gaga Aesthetics: Art, Fashion and the Up-Ending of Tradition, a study of popular culture using Adorno’s theories of aesthetics. He is founding editor of the journals The Journal of Asia-Pacific Pop Culture, and ab-Original (both Penn State University Press).

Lizzie O'Shea Founder and chair of the Digital Rights Watch, is a lawyer and writer. Digital Rights Watch advocates for human rights online. In 2019, she was named a Human Rights Hero by Access Now. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, the Guardian, and Sydney Morning Herald. Her book, Future Histories (Verso, 2019), (shortlisted for the Premier’s Literary Award) looks at radical social movements and theorists from history and applies them to debates about digital technology today.

Nina Power

Cultural critic, social theorist, philosopher and translator.

She was a senior lecturer in philosophy at Roehampton University and the author of One-Dimensional Woman.

She served as both editor and translator (with Alberto Toscano) of Alain Badiou's On Beckett. She is the author of One-Dimensional Woman and her forthcoming book, What Do Men Want: Masculinity and Its Discontents is published by Penguin. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian and The Spectator among others.

Convened by Dr Aleks Wansbrough For more information, visit: suff.com.au/inhuman-screens

SPECIAL EVENTS PAGE 13

BRAIN FREEZE AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT IANI BÉDARD

MARIANNE FORTIER

ROY DUPUIS

JULIEN KNAFO BARBARA SHRIER

un film de UNE PRODUCTION DE

Claire Ledru Léonie Ledru Anne-Élisabeth Bossé Claudia Ferri Mylène Mackay Stéphane Crête Louis-Georges Girard Mahée Paiement Simon Olivier Fecteau Jean-Pierre Bergeron FILMOPTION INTERNATIONAL PRÉSENTE UNE PRODUCTION DE PALOMAR JULIEN KNAFO JEAN BARBE MARC SIMPSON-THRELFORD DAVID PELLETIER CAROLINE BODSON EDWINA VODA ERIK GOSSELIN NATHALIE BOUTRIE PIERRE BERTRAND CHRISTIAN RIVEST GAVIN FERNANDES CAS JULIEN KNAFO GLENN BERMAN SCÉNARIO

COSTUMES

SON

&

CONCEPTION SONORE

CONCEPTION MAQUILLAGES

PRODUIT AVEC LA PARTICIPATION FINANCIÈRE DE

DIRECTION PHOTO

DIRECTION ARTISTIQUE DISTRIBUTION DE RÔLES

&

MIX

MUSIQUE

MONTAGE

EN COLLABORATION AVEC

Dir. Julien Knafo | 2021 | 91 mins | CANADA Welcome to Peacock Island's idyllic gated community with a golf course that remains operational year-round thanks to its chemically treated greens and fairways. This is where we find teenager Andre, his baby sister and Dan the security guard who seem to be the only people in town who haven’t been turned into zombies. Bringing some zombie fun to the festival, this is a tale of eco-revenge; and while its green ooze and its plant-related zombie theme may be reminiscent of Troll 2, it's thematically timely concerns of

environment, viruses, and class struggles would make Romero proud.

“Brain Freeze thaws out zombie formula with smart commentary and humour (and) wields its satire in an engaging way that keeps this zombie comedy moving along at a quick and entertaining pace.”

MEAGAN NAVARRO BLOODY DISGUSTING

PRESENTED IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

PAGE 14 SPECIAL EVENTS

Q&A

WITH CAST & CREW INCLUDED

THE LAND AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Dir. Ingvar Kenne | 2020 | 93mins | AUSTRALIA A microbudget, improvised drama, The Land follows the lives of its three main characters over a few tense days, as their lives quickly implode after an old friend returns to bring some long-held secrets to the fore. Filmed over the course of three years, it's a cinematic experiment between academic and filmmaker Gregory Ferris, internationally renowned photographer Ingvar Kenne, and the award-winning actor/ playwright Steve Rodgers (Rush) and award-winning actor/writer Cameron Stewart. The film stars Rodgers and Stewart, alongside Anna Lise Phillips (Animal

WINNER

NEW YORK INDEPENDENT CINEMA AWARDS 2021

Kingdom, The Boys). A story of a friendship tested by a very dark secret with a storyline that fractures into two distinct parallel narratives, The Land is a bold and confronting character-driven drama.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

“We’re transported to a different kind-of civilization where two men have to face the music when they find themselves abusing their power in society.”

FRANKIE STEIN, FILM DAILY

WINNER

BERLIN MOVIE AWARDS 2021

SPECIAL EVENTS PAGE 15

AGES 18+ COPRESENTED

BY A NIGHT OF HORROR FILM FESTIVAL

40 YEAR ANNIVERSARY

THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL & MISS OSBOURNE ORIGINAL TITLE: DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Walerian Borowcyzk | 1981 | 91 mins | FRANCE/WEST GERMANY In 19th Century London a vicious sex maniac infiltrates the engagement soirée of Dr. Henry Jekyll to Miss Fanny Osbourne, ravishing and ravaging with equal abandon. Directed by the infamous provocateur who gave us such erotic and aberrant fare as Immoral Tales and The Beast, this surreal staging of Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale is as ripe as it is perverse. Murder and debauchery abound as the doctor (legendary Udo Kier), his curious fiancée (Marina Pierro), and shocked guests, including Patrick Magee (A Clockwork Orange) and Howard Vernon, seek shelter in a labyrinthine Victorian mansion, as the wicked

Mr. Hyde (Gérard Zalcberg) runs amok. A fantastic, nightmarish depiction of animal lust that demands your attention from the very start. Essential viewing for lovers of kinky, elevated exploitation.

“Potent and poetic, mischievous and macabre, Borowczyk s film shows how many imaginative worlds the horror movie can open up when the right artist holds the keys.” NIGEL ANDREWS, FINANCIAL TIMES

“Beautiful, shocking, and highly memorable fusion of antiquity, sensuality and violence.”

– MONDO DIGITAL

PAGE 16 SPECIAL EVENTS

MU-MESON ARCHIVES PRESENTS SHAKE HANDS WITH DANGER Jay Katz and Miss Death host and commentate this special presentation for SUFF, guiding you through highlights of vintage educational safety films. They are picking only the crème of the crop, spanning the 1950's to 80's, these films were designed to scare the pants off kids and keep them safe from horrific car accidents, playing with fireworks, illegal drug use and the nightmare that is Stranger Danger just to name a few. It’s going to be like Jay Katz and Miss Death will be in the room

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

with you, breathing down your necks!

Jaimie (SBS Movie Show, Love And Anarchy) and Aspasia (FBI Naked City) Leonarder are cocurators of the Mu-Meson Archives (repository of film, literature and vinyl) and co-hosts of the Naked World podcast. For well over 3 decades they have provided Sydney with a plethora of alternatives to mainstream culture.

Organising events of an experimental nature that range from the fringes of film music and philosophy.

SPECIAL EVENTS PAGE 17

WINNER

FANTASPOA 2020

Curated by Julian Knysh

FOCUS ON NEW UKRAINIAN CINEMA

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

“Stranger is creative, unusual, striking and complex…”

FILM CARNAGE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FRIGHTFEST 2020

STRANGER (СТОРОННІЙ)

Dir. Dmitriy Tomashpolskyi | 2019 | 90 mins | UKRAINE [MA15+] A synchronized swimming team has disappeared in the swimming pool during a performance. A patient at a water-therapy clinic has disappeared while taking a bath. How are these cases connected and how does a doll with real hair relate to it? Assigned to investigate, an inspector with no unsolved cases (Anastasiya Yevtushenko) finds herself uncovering secrets about her own identity. Ukrainian writer and director Dmitriy Tomashpolskyi opens his film with quote from H.P Lovecraft and things just get weirder and more foreboding from there, taking us down a dark rabbit hole of Lynchian horror from which there is no escape.

Elliptical and unsettling, Stranger ebbs and flows on the dark tides of the subconscious, asking us to confront what lurks beneath the surface.

THE SECOND WAVE Dir. Maria Stoianova | 2021 | 5mins | UKRAINE

Future comes now and in the next second, like waves; while the photography stays at the depth where the wave no longer moves the water particles. This depth is equal to about one half the distance between me and my grandfather; a wavelength. [PG]

MARIA Dir. Vladlen Odudenko | 2021 | 15mins | UKRAINE

Maria (16) is in despair after the death of her mother. Every day turns into a trial. She is being isolated and abused in a small apartment in one of Kyiv's Residential districts. Maria decides on a desperate deed to put an end to years of violence from which she has suffered. [R18+]

IVAN & LILY SEMCIW

PAGE 18 SPECIAL EVENTS

LUBA KAYE

GOOD BOY Dir. Mariia Ponomarova | 2021 | 15mins | UKRAINE Business analyst Andriy, loaded with his work affairs and responsibilities, takes care of his father's post-surgery rehabilitation.

Trying to be in several places at the same time and worrying about the needs of others, Andrew forgets about his own. [PG]

DOCUMENTARIES

"The perfect pick-me-up, the quintessential reachfor-your-dreams reminder, and the ultimate document of outsider art".

JONATHAN DEHAAN, NIGHTMARE ON FILM STREET

NSW PREMIERE

ALIEN ON STAGE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Danielle Kummer, Lucy Harvey | 2020 | 86 mins | UK On stage, no one can hear you scream. In this joyous documentary we follow the fortunes of amateur theatre troupe the Paranoid Dramatics as they stage a sceneby-scene remake of Ridley Scott’s seminal sci-fi/horror movie, Alien.

After the initial show bombs these unlikely legends get an unexpected second chance, and so this joyous documentary follows their journey from their tiny local theatre to the West End as their pie-in-the-sky drama project becomes a genuine cultural sensation. Alien on Stage is a winning story about film, theatre, and passion that is sure to be one this year’s most talkedabout movies.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

SXSW 2021

PAGE 20 DOCUMENTARIES

CO-PRESENTED BY "The climactic performance combines the crafty ingenuity of Be Kind Rewind and the earnest fun of Waiting for Guffman".

CHRISTOPHER JAMES - THE FILM EXPERIENCE

"Immersive and fun from start to finish".

NATE ADAMS, - THE ONLY CRITIC

OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL 2021

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

CANNON ARM AND THE ARCADE QUEST OFFICIAL SELECTION

HOT DOCS 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FANTASIA 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

CPH:DOX 2021

Dir. Mads Hedegaard | 2021 | 97 mins | DENMARK Kim Cannon Arm is not your average grandpa. With killer hand-eye coordination and a mean mullet, he's a legendary fixture at Copenhagen's Bip Bip Bar, and renowned for playing the 80s arcade game Gyruss for 49 hours straight on a single

“Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest is as stylish as a documentary can be.

80’s graphics and a synthheavy score complement the arcade aesthetic…

Wonderfully cinematic with a beautiful message of teamwork at its centre.”

MUSANNA AHMED - FILM INQUIRY

coin. With help from his buddies at the bar, a community of heroic outsiders who support one another no matter what, Kim attempts to obliterate his previous record and play for 100 consecutive hours. It’s like a cross between The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and The Big Lebowski, and while Mads Hedegaard’s feature debut may have set out to originally capture Kim’s Gyruss attempt (which is indeed a nail-biter), what he uncovers is a delightful exploration of the importance of community through Kim's eccentric gang of gamer friends.

Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest is funny, philosophical and will stay with you long after you’ve watched it.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 21

FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Bobbi Jo Hart | 2021 | 96 mins | USA In 1960's Sacramento two Filipina-American sisters got together with other teenage girls to play music. Little did they know their garage rock band would evolve into the legendary rock group Fanny, the first band of women to release an LP with a major record label. Despite recording a handful of albums and amassing a dedicated fan base including David Bowie, the band all but disappeared from music history. Featuring interviews with Bonnie Raitt, Def Leppard's Joe Elliott and the GoGos’ Kathy Valentine, this film not only tells the story of the band's

OFFICIAL SELECTION

HOT DOCS 2021

PAGE 22 DOCUMENTARIES

rocking past, but also the next chapter: now in their 60s, the bandmates are recording a new album. Fighting early barriers of race, gender and sexuality in the music industry, the women of Fanny are ready to take their place in the halls of rock 'n' roll fame.

“Thoroughly engaging thanks to the demonstrable talent and brassy forthrightness of its central personalities.”

DENNIS HARVEY, VARIETY

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FRAMELINE 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

OUTFEST 2021

NSW PREMIERE

LYDIA LUNCH: THE WAR IS NEVER OVER Dir. Beth B | 2019 | 75 mins | UK Indie filmmaker Beth B accompanies the legendarily boundary-pushing No Wave musician and underground performance artist Lydia Lunch on her latest tour and, through interviews with her collaborators and Lunch herself, examines the qualities that have been present in her provocative and powerful art since the beginning. Combining rare archival footage of Lunch in the hardscrabble New York City music scene of the ‘70s fronting bands like Teenage Jesus and the Jerks with new interviews and shows with her current group, Retrovirus, The War is Never Over is an immersive portrait of one of the underground’s true cultural heroes.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL 2021

Q&A

WITH BETH B

CLICK TO WATCH

CO-PRESENTED BY

ON DEMAND “Whenever the camera is trained on its subject, the effect is nothing short of electric.”

9-26 SEPT

OSCAR GOFF, BOSTON HASSLE

“…an underrated influence on her peers and subsequent generations of punkinfluenced music artists.”

CARLA HAY, CULTURE MIX

OFFICIAL SELECTION

INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2020

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 23

NSW PREMIERE

MOMENTS LIKE THIS NEVER LAST CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Cheryl Dunn | 2020 | 96 mins | USA Dash Snow rejected a life of privilege to make his own way as an artist on the streets of downtown New York City in the late 1990s. Starting off as a notorious graffiti tagger, Snow soon developed into an international art star, exhaustively documenting his drug- and alcohol-fuelled nights with the surrogate family he formed with friends and fellow artists Ryan McGinley and Dan Colen. Snow tragically passed away from a heroin overdose in 2009, but his artistic legacy remains. Drawing from Snow’s unforgettable body of work and involving archival footage, filmmaker and photographer Cheryl Dunn, a

close friend of Snow’s, presents us with an exceptional portrait that captures his all-too-brief life of reckless excess and creativity.

“A cinematic portrait of a brilliant young man and artist…”

CROMBIE, MONSTER CHILDREN

“…a personal, up-close depiction of the artist‘s raw, contagious energy, and his troubled life.”

ALEXANDRE STIPANOVICH, INTERVIEW MAGAZINE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MIFF 2021

PAGE 24 DOCUMENTARIES

OFFICIAL SELECTION

DOC NYC FESTIVAL 2021

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES Dir. Abigail Child | 2020 | 73 mins | USA Abigail Child has been at the vanguard of experimental media since the 1980s. In her latest project, she offers viewers an eerie and exciting look into the present and future of artificial intelligence including potential medical applications and exploitation in the arena of sexual fantasies. We are led on these explorations by an artificial construct known as BINA48 (Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture), modelled after a black lesbian and designed to test hypotheses concerning the ability to download a person's consciousness into a nonbiological or nanotech body.

Child’s thought-provoking film reveals the contemporary dance between metal and flesh as humans become

more mechanical while robots, those human mirrors, approach consciousness.

Child also considers the emerging technology’s ethical and emotional implications, presenting a speculative not-toodistant future grounded in sci-fi.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

"Origin Of The Species is both insightful and artistically poignant" FILM FESTIVAL TODAY

“…a technology movie for people who don’t like boring technology movies…”

CULTURE MIX ONLINE

DIRECTOR ABIGAIL CHILD IS A SPECIAL GUEST OF INHUNAN SCREENS CONFERENCE PG 12-13 CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 25

CO-PRESENTED BY

NSW PREMIERE

POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Celeste Bell and Paul Sng | 2021 | 96 mins | UK Poly Styrene, frontwoman for the brilliant X-Ray Spex, was a key figure in the UK punk scene and the first woman of colour to front a sucessful rock band.

She introduced the world to a new sound of rebellion, using her unconventional voice to sing about identity, consumerism, postmodernism, and everything she saw unfolding in late 1970s Britain. Inspiring generations to come – riot grrrls especially, she didn't just leave behind an immense cultural footprint. She was survived by a daughter, Celeste Bell, who became the unwitting guardian of her mother's legacy and her mother's demons.

Misogyny, racism, and mental illness plagued Poly's life, while their lasting trauma scarred

Celeste's childhood and the pair's relationship. Featuring unseen material and diary entries narrated

by Oscar-nominee Ruth Negga, this documentary follows Celeste as she examines her mother's artistic archive and traverses three continents to better understand Poly the icon and Poly the mother.

“This must-watch documentary tells a story often erased from rock history.”

LEONIE COOPER, NME

“…an essential music documentary crafted with warmth and wit.”

CHRISTOPHER SCHOBERT, THE FILM STAGE

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PAGE 26 DOCUMENTARIES

CPH:DOX 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MIFF 2021

NSW PREMIERE

SLEEZE LAKE: VAN LIFE AT ITS LOWEST AND BEST

Dir. Nick Nummerdor & Andrew Morgan | 2020 | 57 mins | USA Mid-seventies Chicago. While the stories of Woodstock, Studio 54, and CBGBs are well established in counter culture history, Sleeze Lake tells the tale of a different subculture: custom van culture - vanners. In 1977 this blue collar subculture created their own utopia: Sleeze Lake. A ramshackle, makeshift, frontierstyle town on the banks of a pond, that was built purely for having a good time. Telling the story of the vanners and Sleeze Lake through home movies and photographs, alongside interviews with veteran vanners, this documentary shows exactly OFFICIAL SELECTION

SALEM FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2020

what happened when 6,000 vans and 20,000 people turn up for a good time in a town that boasted an x-rated movie theatre, a disco, a barber shop, a maze, and much, much more. Sleeze Lake is a cinematic celebration of an unknown subculture and a town on the edge of reality.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

"It certainly revels in its celebration of lowlifes living their best life."

SCREENANARCHY, KURT HALFYARD

"It's like Disneyworld on Acid"- What more needs to be said?"

SCREEN MAGAZINE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

BRAINWASH DRIVEIN MOVIE FESTIVAL 2020

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 27

NSW PREMIERE

THE WORLD’S BEST FILM CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Joshua Belinfante | 2020 | 89 mins | AUSTRALIA In March 2014, Australian filmmaker Joshua Belinfante was told he had only a short time left to live. Forced to confront his own mortality, he thought about what he would do with his life if he was somehow given a second chance. He realised that he wanted to travel the world and find people that

"…a highly personal globe-trotting documentary about people and their passions.”

DOV KORNITS, FILMINK

“The World’s Best Film may cause you to pause and think life over.”

DOCUMENTARY DRIVE

PAGE 28 DOCUMENTARIES

were fulfilling what their inner child always dreamt of doing.

At the time of his diagnosis, Joshua was studying to become a solicitor and had put off his dreams to become a filmmaker.

‘The World’s Best Film’ is an anthology documentary about 13 individuals striving to be the world’s best at their passions.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

THE NEWSFEST LAS VEGAS 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL 2021

FEATURES

NSW PREMIERE

AN IDEAL HOST CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

PAGE 30 FEATURES

Dir. Robert Woods | 2020 | 84 mins | AUSTRALIA A fast-paced, highly original low budget masterpiece of Australian Independent Cinema. Liz (Nadia Collins) and her partner Jackson (Evan Williams) have moved back to their hometown to settle down. Liz just wants to host a perfect dinner at their new rural property but an unexpected guest sends the evening into chaos, with potentially apocalyptic consequences.

An Ideal Host is a thoroughly entertaining ride, with unexpected turns and twists to the plot with an enthusiastic glee. Screening at festivals across the globe, and garnering awards for Best Horror Comedy and Best Screenplay it’s the perfect movie if you are craving a sci-fi / horror flick, but also want to laugh your head off.

“Although Woods is playing with tropes descended from decades of sci-fi and horror, he never lets An Ideal Host feel unoriginal.”

OLIVER SWIFT, CLAPPERLTD.CO.UK

"Australian horror-comedy that actually delivers both."

READY STEADY CUT OFFICIAL SELECTION

TORONTO INDIE HORROR FEST 2021 WINNER

NEW YORK CITY HORROR FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

GRIMMFEST FILM FESTIVAL 2020

NSW PREMIERE

BAD GIRLS AGES 18+

Dir. Christopher Bickel | 2021 | 97 mins | USA Robbery! Violence! Car chases!

Crime! Criminals! Cops!

And that’s just the first few minutes of Bad Girls. Following the interstate crime spree undertaken by the titular bad girls, the movie - Bickel’s second - embraces the visceral energy of exploitation cinema, b-movies, and cult films, delivering a highoctane thrill ride that plays like the demented offspring of Jack Hill, Richard Kern, and Russ Meyer. But Bad Girls is definitely its own beast!

WINNER

GRINDSPLOITATION FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH FILM FESTIVAL 2021

Director Christopher Bickel’s movie is true underground pleasure, a cult film in the making, and definitely a must see.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

"Though there’s a nihilistic streak underlying the transgressive punk energy of Bad Girls, I came away almost giddy with pleasure.”

PAUL BRIAN MCCOY - PYSCHO DRIVE-IN

"A Shocking Drug-Fuelled Post-Modern Female Rage-Odyssey" TOM STOCKMAN - WE ARE MOVIE GEEKS

FEATURES PAGE 31

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

BONE CAGE

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Taylor Olson | 2020 | 89 mins | CANADA Director, writer, and star Taylor Olson plays Jamie, a young man who works as a clear feller, destroying acres of forest for a local pulp mill. It’s grinding, soul-destroying work, and so is living in his tiny, backwoods Nova Scotia hometown. At the end of each shift, he repentantly looks for injured animals and rescues those he can. Something’s got to snap – will it be him? Adapted from Catherine Banks’ Governor General award-winning play, this micro-budget Canadian feature is an unflinching look at the crushing pressure of rural toxic masculinity, featuring a bravura central performance and a commitment to emotional truth.

“The brute force of the film is matched by its raw humanity and deeply sensitive approach…”

BENJAMIN POOLE, - THE MOVIE WAFFLER

“This film is a raw, intense, and disquieting odyssey.”

PAT MULLEN - THAT SHELF WINNER

FIN ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

QUEENS WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 32 FEATURES

BROOKLYN FILM FESTIVAL 2021

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

DANNY. LEGEND. GOD

Dir. Yavor Petkov | 2019 | 106 mins | BULGARIA/UK DANNY is an influential city councillor and businessman in an unnamed Eastern European town. He is young and charismatic and some of the things he says are funny in the extreme.

Danny has agreed to be the subject of a documentary on money laundering. But as soon as they arrive, Danny tells the film crew to forget about their script and just follow him and film everything. The documentary is now a feature called “DANNY. LEGEND. GOD.” Danny’s antics and penchant for violence prove to be too much for the reporter Susan and she quits the project. The unnamed Cameraman and the boom operator Jamie stay put and become the silent witnesses of increasingly disturbing events.

“A well-executed debut with an amazing performance from leading man Alexiev.”

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

KATIE SMITH-WONG, FLICKFEAST

WINNER

CARDIFF INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTION

SOFIA INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTION

WARSAW FILM FESTIVAL 2020

FEATURES PAGE 33

NSW PREMIERE

EXTERNO CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

PAGE 34 FEATURES

Dir. Jonathan Taub, Leandro Taub | 2021 | 83 mins | USA Written by Jonathan Taub, staring his brother Leandro, and codirected by both, Externo tells the story of how a revolutionary businessman tries to conquer the world with a mere $2,000 dollars. What unfolds is a kind of cinematic polemic: a lo-fi, conspiratorial, revolutionary riff on The Big Short, outlining a complex theory on the power of money and how financial systems are rigged to benefit a vanishingly small number of elite players, even if they’re starting capital is only two grand. Of course it’s all fictional, right? But do the ideas underpinning Externo bear fruit in the real world? Incendiary, insistent, and sure to provoke fierce post-viewing debate, this one is a must see.

“…a captivating look at what drives mankind to thirst for more at the expense of others.”

ADAM MOCK - FILM INQUIRY

“Externo is smart, sharp, observant and artistic.”

FILM CARNAGE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MIDWEST WEIRDFEST 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

CANNES WORLD FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

BYRON BAY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2021

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

FALL BACK DOWN Dir. S. B. Edwards | 2019 | 104 mins | CANADA Sarah Beth Edwards’s nihilistic, anarcho-punk rom com follows depressed former left wing political activist Nick (Andrew Dunbar) as he finds himself stuck in a dead end job in sweatshop. Teaming up with his argumentative new coworker, Reena (Aadila Dosani), they discover something diabolical is going on at the factory, and resolve to get to the bottom of it. All this takes place in a 20s something milieu of punk music, shared housing, drugs, booze, and poor choices. Coming across as a kind of 21st century Dogs in Space, Fall Back Down is rebel cinema for the new kids.

“…fun and chaotic, random and strange, frustrating and complicated, full of wild characters, and leads you into all sorts of off-kilter adventures.”

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

BRENT MCKNIGHT, THE LAST THING I SEE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FEMALE EYE FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL 2019 OFFICIAL SELECTION

UTAH FILM FESTIVAL 2021

FEATURES PAGE 35

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

FIRST DATE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Manuel Crosby. Darren Knapp | 2021 | 102 minutes | USA Somehow Mike gets conned into buying a ’65 Chrysler but any date plans with Kelsey are doomed, because there’s a whole lot of trouble just around the corner. Criminals, cops, car owners and seemingly everyone else, are showing an interest in Mike and his 50-year old car. An indie comedy that’s shot through with a dose of dark humour and crime, First Date never lets up, delivering a high velocity thrill ride, and plays like a demented comic caper movie.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 36 FEATURES

INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL BOSTON 2021

“First-time feature filmmakers Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp take us on a hilarious joy ride with a jaunty comedy/thriller that is fondly inspired by the likes of Robert Rodriguez, John Hughes and Quentin Tarantino.”

RANDY MYERS - SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS

“Funny yet full of action with a generous helping of a timeless romance for good measure.”

MONICA CASTILLO ROGEREBERT.COM

AGES 18+ AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

HOTEL POSEIDON OFFICIAL SELECTION

FANTASIA 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

FRIGHTFEST 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

GRIMMFEST 2021

Dir. Stefan Lernous | 2021 | 90 mins | BELGIUM Having inherited a bizarre seathemed establishment from his late father, reluctant hotelier Dave (Tom Vermeir) goes through the motions of keeping the decaying flophouse running, even though it’s closed to guests. However, when a young woman comes begging for a room, he finds he cannot refuse her, and the hermetically sealed universe of Hotel Poseidon is soon invaded by a number of oddball characters, upsetting Dave’s equilibrium.

Hailing from the world of theatre, with his first feature Belgian director Stef Lernous has given us a tour of a pocket universe of decay and entropy where the peeling walls of the Poseidon mirror our main character’s parlous mental state. Fans of Delicatessen should book a room immediately.

“Lavish sets and eccentric costuming push the boundaries of the norm beyond their limits and settling into Hotel Poseidon is like stepping into a fever dream brought to life.”

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

KAT HUGHES, THN

“Hallucinatory, hilarious and probably the most toe-curlingly unsavoury film ever made.”

WENDY IDE - SCREEN INTERNATIONAL

FEATURES PAGE 37

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

KRATT CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Rasmus Merivoo | 2020 | 107 mins | ESTONIA Esotonian with English subtitles Bored and bereft of internet access at their grandmother’s house, teens Mia (Nora Merivoo) and Kevin (Harri Merivoo) resort to visiting the local library, where they find a tome outlining a ritual for creating a kratt - a magical creature who will do whatever its master says. Of course, these kind of magical gifts always come at a cost, and it isn’t long before the bodies being to pile up and our unwitting teens, along with their new friends, local twins Juuli (Elise Tekko) and August (Roland Teima) must try to undo their spell before it all gets too out of

OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 38 FEATURES

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL 2021

hand. Estonian director Rasmus Merivoo dips into his country’s rich folklore to bring us a family friendly horror comedy that is sure to please fans of Sam Raimi and Peter Jackson, and their kids.

“Kratt is an enjoyable and crazy romp.. and the story is unique.”

BOBBY LEPIRE - FILM THREAT

“Kratt is at once a deadpan horror-comedy and a modern fairytale.”

CASS CLARKE, CBR

OFFICIAL SELECTION

BLACK NIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2021

OFFICIAL SELECTION

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL 2020 OFFICIAL SELECTION

FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL 2021

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

OFFICIAL SELECTION

CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021

LORELEI

Dir. Sabrina Doyle | 2020 | 111 mins | USA Wayland (Pablo Schreiber) has been in prison for 15 years for armed robbery. Upon his release, he returns to his blue-collar hometown and inadvertently reconnects with his high school girlfriend Dolores (Jena Malone), now a single mother struggling to support her three kids, who are all named after different shades of blue. Soon after their reunion, Wayland moves in with the chaotic family and becomes a reluctant yet much-needed father figure. Struggling to pay the bills, Wayland finds himself drawn back to his old ways as Dolores yearns for her pre-motherhood dream of living in Los Angeles.

This stunning feature debut from Sabrina Doyle and the producers of The Florida Project features stellar chemistry between its two

leads, who are struggling at the margins of society, and strong supporting performances from the three kids. Tackling the all-toofamiliar struggle of the working class in America with beautiful cinematography and an affecting score, every element of this film contributes to a deeply felt sense of place.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

"Lorelei is compelling and heart-wrenching, with emotional intelligence and sophistication that strikes deep. A beautiful film with truly impressive chemistry out of the leads."

CAITLIN KENNEDY, FILM INQUIRY

FEATURES PAGE 39

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

NINJA BADASS CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Ryan Harrison | 2020 | 103 mins | USA The Ninja VIP Super Club is doing a slow drag across the American Midwest, culminating in female sacrifice. When they kidnap a super hot babe that local scumbag Rex (Ryan Harrison) has his eyes on it's up to him to become a ninja to steal her back from them. Then she can have his babies! Join Rex, his armless sensei, a badass ball ripper, a dragon, a gang of puppies, some detached feet, and a mean ninja motherf**ker who trains by beating up cows for a messed-up experience that'll make you wanna eat egg rolls until you poop your pants.

Rebel auteur Harrison acts, writes, directs, produces, and handles the visual effects on this underground opus, delivering a guerrilla gem of outlandish creativity.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 40 FEATURES

MIDWEST WEIRDFEST 2021

“If Napoleon Dynamite was a ninja.”

JOSH BURKEY, VICTIMS AND VILLAINS

"A non-stop freak-adoo-thrillride filled with gags, random humor, and the dumbest (in the best possible way) characters you are likely to see on a movie screen this side of Tim and Eric.

- it's a perfect "getting drunk with friends" action comedy."

SMASHISM OFFICIAL SELECTION

SOUTH TEXAS UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2020

AGES 18+

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

ROUTINES Dir. Domenic Migliore | 2020 | 88 mins | USA Routines follows a stand-up comedian Bruce Mann, whose unique offensive take on stand-up comedy isn’t totally landing with the audience, and whose very existence seems to grate on those around him. But then the prospect of love rears its head in the form of Darling Wednesday. But once tragedy upends their happiness, we follow his misadventures full of drugs, sex, and madness. Routines is a misanthropic and dark comedy, with a bat-shit crazy storyline that will have you laughing and cringing, and sometimes both at the same time.

Routines is like the story of Sid and Nancy meets Withnail and I meets Tim & Eric’s The Comedy.

WINNER

ACTION ON FILM FILM FESTIVAL 2021

“Routines is terrific.

I can’t stress that enough. It’s a great mega low budget dark comedy. You will laugh, you will cringe, you will laugh hard.

If you’re a fan of mega low budget dark comedies you absolutely need to see it.”

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

411MANIA. COM

OFFICIAL SELECTION

LAUGH OR DIE COMEDY FEST 2021

FEATURES PAGE 41

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

SHIT & CHAMPAGNE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. D’Arcy Drollinger | 2020 | 90 mins | USA After her fiancé, Rod, and her half-sister, Brandy (the worldrenowned calf model) are both brutally murdered, stripper and serial divorcee Champagne Horowitz Jones Dickerson White (D’Arcy Drollinger) teams up with tough detective Jack Hammer (Seton Brown) and pulls out all the stops to take on her arch-nemesis Dixie Stampede (Matthew Martin), evil mastermind behind the largest sex, drug and back-to-school clothing ring in the country. San Francisco drag legend Drollinger writes, directs, and stars in this deliriously sleazy dragsploitation parody that invokes the spirit of the Pope of Trash, John Waters, in its fervent quest to shock, offend, and entertain.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 42 FEATURES

FRAMELINE 2021

CO-PRESENTED BY “Ruthlessly campy and insurmountably queer, Shit & Champagne is the type of film begging to be billed at midnight screenings for a nocturnal crowd of weirdos, creeps and freaks.”

AIDAN CROFT, SLUG MAG

“Shit & Champagne is fiendishly fun wall-towall slapstick and camp.”

CINDY LOU PEEPLES, FRAMELINE OFFICIAL SELECTION

OUTFEST LOS ANGELES 2021

“With the frenzied and relentless gags, and on-point delivery, it’s an entertaining form of chaos. Meet Sweethurt on its own terms and you’ll be in for a real ribbruising.” CAIN NOBLE-DAVIES - FILMINK

SYDNEY PREMIERE

SWEETHURT

Dir. Tom Danger | 2021 | 93 mins | AUSTRALIA Sweethurt is a young adult comedy with two interwoven stories of love, friendship, and the paralyzing fear of dying alone.

The story revolves around Jacob, a young man who embarks on a road-trip to a small, beach-side town with his two best friends and sociopath sister, for what promises to be a fun weekend of going through their newlydeceased grandfather's stuff - but upon arrival, Jacob's true motivations are revealed; his ex-girlfriend, Olivia, lives in the town, and Jacob wants one last shot at probably disappointing

OFFICIAL SELECTION

NEW JERSEY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021

her again. Meanwhile, elsewhere in the same town, Skye has just had her heart broken, and the only one who can pick up the pieces is her best friend Carly - together, they go on a voyage through the night, having to deal with perverts, pirates, and worst of all - her parents. There is also a baby goat, of course.

It features a wonderfully diverse cast of lead characters in a coming-of-age story very much in the same vein as 80's and 90's classics such as Say Anything, Chasing Amy and American Pie.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

OFFICIAL SELECTION

BYRON BAY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2021

FEATURES PAGE 43

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

WONDERFUL PARADISE CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

Dir. Masashi Yamamoto | 2020 | 97 mins | JAPAN Japanese indie maverick Masashi Yamamoto (Carnival In The Night, Junk Food, Robinson’s Garden) returns with an anarchic and unpredictable absurdist comedy.

On the brink of being evicted from their luxury home in the Tokyo suburbs, Akane (Miyu Ogawa) and her family decide to end things with a bang, tweeting out an open invitation to all-comers for one final goodbye party.

Akane’s estranged mother (Kaho Minami) soon turns up, followed by a steady stream of strangers— including a gay couple seeking a wedding venue, a cross country cyclist, Taiwanese tourists, and even a ghost or two. As the night goes on, the party becomes OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 44 FEATURES

FANTASIA 2021

an increasingly surreal matsuri (local festival) celebrating life, death, love and second chances that culminates in a drug-fuelled funeral, blood-spattered wedding and a coffee bean kaiju battle.

“Yamamoto makes a film that perfectly matches the punk ethic of his early days: he attacks social constructions family, social class and Japanese decorum - and leaves behind him a good mayhem!”

STÉPHANIE CUSSON, FANTASIA OFFICIAL SELECTION

LAUSANNE UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2020

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

ZERO FUCKS Dir. Ben Eckstein | 2020 | 78 mins | USA Stuck in a fallout shelter together, four people and a talking cat named Donald Pump (John Pirruccello) think they’re the only survivors of a global nuclear holocaust, until Ivanka Pump (Keelin Woodell) crashes into their hermetically sealed world, determined to destroy what’s left of civilisation. Surreal, silly, and full of sexual tension, Ben Eckstein’s microbudget political allegory echoes then handmade aesthetic of early Terry Gilliam and Paul King (The Mighty Boosh), while asking us to consider why we’re drawn to the powerful yet deranged.

Zero Fucks is a dark, subversive, political satire- Friends meets The End of the F***ing World.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

TAMPA BAY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2020

"Audiences will laugh their asses off, be surprised and delighted by the performances and filmmaking. Two days after watching the movie, you might have a strange, uneasy feeling in your stomachs that, behind the million jokes, [this] was a scary and troubling story that shakes you to the core."

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

WINNER BEST COMEDY

INDIE GATHERING INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2021

FEATURES PAGE 45

The Sony Film Festival celebrates the best short-form filmmaking shot on Sony cameras across Australia and New Zealand.

For more information, visit sony.com.au/filmfestival

WATCH THE FESTIVAL LAUNCH VIDEO CAPTURED ON THE CINEMA LINE FX6

SHORT FILM SESSIONS

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

EXPLODING EYEBALLS BOBBY PINWHEEL

Dir. Robert Kleinschmidt |2020 | 2:59 | USA Birthday boy Reginald has a special visitor! The mime, mimic and maniac Bobby Pinwheel!

ËDHÄ DÄDHËCHA̧ / MOOSEHIDE SLIDE

Dir. Dan Sokolowski | 2020 | 4:15 | CANADA A film about the historic rock-slope/landslide in Dawson City, Yukon, which is known by the local Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in as Ëdhä Dädhëcha / or Moosehide Slide. It examines the scientific reasons for the occurrence versus the legend that the local Indigenous people say it was the actual creation event.

ANOTHER HORIZON

Dir. Stephanie M Barber | 2020 | 9:00 | USA The horizon, where the sky and the earth meet, is always elsewhere, a promised place where these two elements come together.

CONTAGIOUS LONELINESS

Dir. Carina-Susann Krause | 4:04 | GERMANY Touch. It gives you a sense of security, comfort and energy. A world consisting of the dynamics of touch and interaction is constantly in motion. It lives and grows through closeness and feelings.

HYBRID

Dir. Steven Lapcevic | 2021 | 4:24 | USA Time and Recollection Officer D51 patrols his route for irregular memories. Meanwhile, a disillusioned citizen demands egress from his station and is quickly punished for his disobedience.

COMTE

Dir. Natalia Ryss | 2020 | 3:09 | CANADA Juan, don’t talk a lot, otherwise you’ll become bald...

DISAPPEARING PATHWAYS

Dir. Michael Covello, Elizabeth Schneider | 2020 | 12:41 | USA A meditation on what it feels like to both belong and not belong within a community.

Exploring issues of metal health, in relation to hallucinations, dreams, addictions, and family entanglements.

PAGE 48 SHORTS

JUNE NIGHT

Dir. Mike Maryniuk | 5:00 | CANADA Juxtaposing archival imagery with handcrafted animation, Maryniuk conjures up a shimmering utopian dreamscape, a postCOVID world shaped by the primordial forces of nature—haunted by the genial spectre of Buster Keaton.

Eyeball-bursting, finger-twitching and soul inspiring works, from the comic to the existential, the hilarious to the poetic.

A selection of animation from across the world that’ll inspire and stimulate!

LULLABY FOR A PANDEMIC

Dir. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster | 2020 | 1:00 | USA Lullaby for a Pandemic is a cineaste's pandemic lullaby for nodding off to dreamland. A Surrealist dream, filmed and edited under quarantine, made during the pandemic of Spring 2020.

MODORU

Dir. Kate Schumann | 3:30 | AUS A trip to Japan’s countryside inspires this campy horror adventure.

PICNIC PALS IN DREAMLAND

Dir. David Ferino | 2020 | 13:00 | USA Three friends dream-share. Psychic adventure ensues.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

PIGS PD

WILDERNESS DAYS

POOP SHOES

ZOMBIE'S STORY

Dir. Preston Ghanfili | 3:00 | USA A comical statement against law enforcement, police brutality, and the prohibition of marijuana in the United States.

Dir. Tamir Rawlings, Bradley Oliver Wilkinson-Vega | 2021 | 00:15 | USA Brand Spankin' New, feast your eyes on POOP SHOES! A commercial for a new form of faecal footwear. These shoes stink! Get your poop shoes today!

Dir. Jason Younkman | 2021 | 11:11 | USA Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur Summer(s) in New York City reassembled as a scrolling (de)collage.

Dir. Daito Nagura | 2021 | 2:04 | JAPAN Zombie friends hear gunshots or is it something else? Dinner is ready. Are we alive?

SAD BEAUTY

Dir. Arjan Brentjes | 2020 | 9:50 | NETHERLANDS In a heavily polluted world, a young woman mourns the disappearance of animal species.

When she falls ill due to a bacterial infection, nature appears to send her a message in her hallucinations.

SHORTS PAGE 49

SHORT FILM SESSION

LOVEABLE IDIOTS

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

A HANDFUL OF TOENAILS

Dir. Tristan Winter | 2020 | 15:22 | AUS A poolside story about two best friends and their diabolical tales of retribution.

PAGE 50 SHORTS

Meet teenage virgins, loser dealers and wannabe crims and enjoy diabolical tales of retribution. This session is comical AF.

GCOBISA

REAL BAD IDIOT

Dir. Alanah McKellar | 2019 | 40:27 | AUS Dirk Harrellssonn, a freckled teenage virgin sporting a mullet, is determined to lose his virginity to his high school crush, Tiny Beth. When the spunky and relentless Chad Groper interrupts his feeble attempt at seduction, Dirk seeks revenge in the most perverted way possible.

Dir. Adrian Collins | 2021 | 26:34 | SOUTH AFRICA Callum’s in trouble, a massive drug deal he took a chance on as a once-off, blew up in his face. He has run away to the family country estate he inherited after his father’s recent death (well, him and his two brothers; Finn and Rhys... and his wife Irene) and that's where he’s hiding.

TOUGH

Dir. Kieran Wheeler | 2020 | 22:45 | AUS An aspiring young criminal is sent to do his first hit, but when things don’t go to plan, he quickly finds himself trapped in a deadly situation with no way out.

AGES 18+

SHORT FILM SESSION

LOVE/SICK CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

1800-D-DIRECT

Dir. Clare Macdonald | 2020 | 11:23 | UK Joyce and Frances work at 1-800-D-Direct, the latest and greatest Dishwasher sales company in 1960’s Manhattan. But when a customer is given the wrong data, the women must navigate her out of a life-ordeath situation.

9-26 SEPT ROMY & LAURE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE ENCHANTED PLUG

Dir. Romy Alizée & Laure Giappiconi | 2020 | 12:00 | FRANCE Besties Romy and Laure move in together with their friend Elisa and Titi, the curious cat.

One day, a shiny new butt plug mysteriously appears at their door. Its sexual power may be dangerous – will they be able to resist its extraordinary appeal?

A GIRL'S BEST FRIEND Dir. Alex Dona | 2021 | 11:55 | AUS A couple, deep in love, make quite unusual requests of one another.

Who doesn’t like a good romance? This series of salacious shorts are sure to stimulate, titillate and offend in equal measure. Exploring expressions of sexuality in all its forms, Love/Sick presents the oddest, funniest, sexiest, touching and sometimes most disturbing love stories we could find… the perfect accompaniment to your date night!

STUCK DOING THE ROBOT

Dir. David Mikalson | 2020 | 13:51 | USA A gymnastics coach must deal with a man who has taken an interest in the young girls she coaches. The man makes a bold move and the coach responds with an even bolder one.

Dir. Ravi Guru Singh | 2021 | 4:33 | USA A woman meets her robot for the first time.

KOURTNEY OF PARKDALE

Dir. Razvan Anton, Jamieson Child | 2019 | 20:44 | CANADA A day in the kooky life of a street hustler from Toronto as she struggles to find herself amid colourful neighbourhood characters.

THE DISTANCE BETWEEN US

VOYEUR(S)

Dir. Arthur Delaire, Edouard de Luze | 2020 | 30:00 | FRANCE "Voyeurs" is the story of a man who has decided to make his hotel the laboratory for personal fantasies. Behind each door, in the intimacy of crossed paths in the middle of the night, scenes play out before prying eyes. At first glance, all seems normal. But sometimes one must take a look to realize that something is wrong.

Dir. Elisa Paloschi | 2021 | 17:13 | CANADA Suddenly separated by 1500 km during Italy's emergency Covid 19 lockdown, middle-aged Chiara and Marcello’s attempts at video sex led them to unexpected places.

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

AGES 18+

LSD FACTORY A-JEEB (TASTELESS)

Dir. Mantra Watsa | 2021 | 7:49 | INDIA A woman who can’t taste searches for pleasure and finds it unexpectedly.

ENDLESSNESSISM

Dir. Liam Clark | 2021 | 12:16 | AUS Endlessnessism is a 16mm experimental short about two friends who play a game where each rule prescribes them to act out their most violent and perverse private fantasies.

GET OFF THE GRASS

Dir. Kristina Cetinski | 2021 | 8:58 | AUS An Australian woman deals with some unwanted house guests.

MY DINNER WITH WERNER

Dir. Maverick Moore | 2019 | 17:49 | USA Based on real events, real people, and real things they actually said, MY DINNER WITH WERNER is a wildly bizarre and wacky farce about a 1987 dinner date with a murder plot as the main dish.

LEMONS

Dir. Isabella Moore | 2020 | 2:06 | AUS A short experimental student film about the dark reality of having big dreams. Shot during isolation.

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PENDULUMS

Dir. Neil Needleman | 2020 | 5:52 | USA A rhythmic, abstracted, hypnotic, seductive, symmetrical found footage film that is an ode to the act of physical love (mostly oral).

A potent mix of the year’s best psychedelic shorts, offering mind-melting experimentations that will take you down the rabbit hole. Playing with form and function with gleeful ingenuity, who needs druginduced highs when you have LSD Factory?

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT THE RING

Dir. Bill Morrison | 2021 | 7:30 | USA A heat-damaged 35mm print of Milos Forman’s “Loves of a Blonde” is re-imagined as a short film about a ring that spreads a communicable disease. Music by Yo La Tengo.

SHUDDER

Dir. Rob Ride | 2021 | 8:09 | UK A surreal world where the only inhabitants are war photographers. Unfortunate souls trudging their way through war-torn streets, hunting the perfect shot. With nothing but their own demise as a subject, they feast upon each other’s downfall with unnatural glee.

SNOWBLIND

Dir. Lucas Godfrey | 2020 | 29:00 | USA Snowblind, a heavy metal band on tour, Syd, Kurtis, Ransom, and Brent Hinds(Mastodon), indulging in the dark side of the road.

Drugs, booze, girls, and partying all come to a crossroad, where one man’s burden, becomes a metal band’s curse.

THE DAY OF THE COYOTE

Dir. Derek Hayes | 2021 | 4.06 | USA A coldly efficient hitman, with a politician in his sights, finds that ACME aren’t the best company to supply sniper’s rifles.

THE TRUTH ABOUT HASTINGS

Dir. Dan Schneidkraut | 2020 | 9:33 | USA Strange things are afoot in Hastings, Nebraska.

THE FLAW IN THE CRYSTAL

Dir. Ryan Betschart | 2021 | 3:01 | USA An exploration into Astral Projection via my diagnosis of Exploding Head Syndrome.

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

OTHER WORLDS Co-presented by Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival

DELEVE

Dir. Roma Glova | 2020 | 2:15 | RUSSIAN FEDERATION Teenage girl makes selfie when strange things start happening.

ALIEN VS PREDATOR

Dir. Ian Haig | 2020 | 2:00 | AUS A black blob of viscous fluid pulsates and moves about the screen, a kind of dark matter of undifferentiated tissue and unknown bodily origin. Alien vs Predator is the dark web manifest as flesh.

GENEVA JACUZZI'S CASKET

Dir. Chris Friend | 2021 | 6:06 | USA Los Angeles 2066AD: The Pleasure-U BioDrone, Kate Shaw's only assistant, has contracted an undiagnosed mentaldisease. The BioDrone’s head, inside a reprogramming bag, continuously calls to Kate’s brain with strange visions.

DYSTOPIA

Dir. Laura Ugolini | 2021 | 6:50 | NORWAY Forget reality shows and Instagram beauties; a young girl's fantasy becomes the playground for a gang of women set to create the perfect man, one limb at a time.

ON THE MARGINS OF METAXY

Dir. Sonia Albert-Sobrino, Miriam AlbertSobrino | 2021 | 3:00 | USA An experimental film that takes audiences to an imaginary world where the boundaries of the normal are broken or bent.

CRUSOE

Dir. Shane Acker | 2021 | 7:25 | USA This Sci-Fi action comedy follows the adventures of Crusoe, an astronaut stranded on an alien planet teeming with hostile life.

FLORENCE

Dir. Florian Thess | 2020 | 13:00 | UK A prototype therapy AI robot cracks under the pressure of meeting her inventor’s expectations and needs to decide to either help millions, or herself

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SLEEP TALKER

Dir. Carl Firth | 2021 | 7:00 | AUS A woman comes home to find that her husband is talking in his sleep, but soon realizes that something else is talking through him.

From near-future nightmares, uncanny Ais, alien visitors, and dancing from animation to surrealism, these science fiction, cli-fi, and post-cyber-punk shorts offer glimpses at imagined tomorrows and alternative todays.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT TELOS OR BUST

Dir. Brad Abrahams | 2021 | 15mins | CANADA/USA Ascended masters, new religions, inner earth cities, crystals and lost continents. Immerse yourself in the confluence of strange myths and beliefs of the citizens of Mount Shasta, California. A short documentary meant as a pilot for the docu-series Keep Folklore Alive.

STANDING WOMAN

Dir. Tony Hipwell | 2020 | 14:59 | UK A dystopian drama about a near future where the government, rather than imprisoning criminals or deporting immigrants, turns them into trees as part of an insidious environmental campaign.

THE DARK ODESSEY

THE HOST CELL

THE DEAD COLLECTORS

THE IDENTIFIER

Dir. Michael Lavine | 2020 | 8:31 | USA A brave captain and his faithful mate transport a captive warrior, who holds The Inventory of The Mind, across the interstellar line. When their ship is forced to navigate an asteroid field, their mission is jeopardised.

Dir. Brendan Cleaves | 2021 | 12:51 | UK During a pandemic in an alternate reality, two men have the job of collecting the deceased.

Dir. Joey Hamburger | 2021 | 3:00 | USA Tilly is watching a Sci Fi show about space commanders trying to kill a Robotic Host Cell that has infected humans and turned them into robots. While she watches, her parents argue about what to do with her degenerate grandfather who has become a burden on their lives.

Dir. Olly Geyl | 2021 | 6:00 | AUS In a future where memories can be embedded into physical objects for viewing and consumption, a young identifier is forced to authenticate the memory of a recently deceased murder victim whilst digging into the closed archives of a police precinct.

TIME WARP

Dir. Mark Howling | 2021 | 3:37 | CANADA Captain Pathfinder, pilot of the military orbiter Meteor Tree, is performing a spacewalk in his thick space suit. Only a few hundred feet away, there is the disturbing presence of an enormous and unknown saucer shape craft ready to make contact.

SHORTS PAGE 55

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

OZPLOIT! JACKS

Dir. Joel Stephen Fleming | 2020 | 9:15 A police officer’s first time undercover takes a series of surprising turns on the night he partakes in a gangland drug deal.

BARNACLE FACE

Dir. Jean David Le Goullon | 2021 | 5:55 Karl, an anxious teen, finds himself trapped in his tacky pink bathroom with an unusual zit growing on his face as birthday guests begin arriving for his 16th birthday.

BLACK CAT

Dir. Alan Phan Nguyen | 2020 | 15:00 An imaginative girl, and a Chinese cocaine dealer cursed with an evil spirit by a rival drug dealer.

CRIMINAL$

Dir. Frank Welsh | 2021 | 5:00 Two bozos dissecting the concept of currency and trade with the vocabulary of seagulls.

PAGE 56 SHORTS

GOLEM

Dir. Ryan Cauchi | 2020 | 5:00 Nazi-occupied Prague, 1939. A group of German soldiers search for a fugitive Rabbi in the basement of an abandoned synagogue unaware of the horror awaiting them.

LAND OF HONEY

Dir. Neal Engelbrecht | 2020 | 1:00 Patricia, AKA ‘Honey’, a timid, Canadian backpacker tries her luck dancing in an Australian strip club. Struggling to find a friend, let alone a fortune, opportunity presents itself when she least expects it.

SUFF’s annual celebration of homegrown shorts!

Expect an eclectic range of cinematic visions from some of the best emergent Australian talent; filmmakers who aren’t afraid to get their films made – from zits to mysticism, strip clubs to undercover cops, and everything in between!

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT METAVISION

Dir. Jai Love | 2020 | 12:06 Malcolm is an angry 26-year-old who lives on the fringes of society. While desperately straddling the blurred lines of sanity, Malcolm receives a self-help tape in the mail from an unusual organisation called MetaVision.

Soon, Malcolm finds himself slowly deconstructing his own identity as well as the societal constructs around him, as the tape might offer more than just harmless advice.

TWEAKERS

NAME CALLING

Dir. Dean Mathers | 2020 | 12:10 A comedic short about a garage band choosing a name for themselves before their first live performance. Not so simple when personalities clash, one band member insists on being controversial, while another wants universal appeal.

THE CLEANEST SWAN

Dir. Jack Bell | 2021 | 9:49 A high-octane grindhouse trip through a meth ravaged rural Australia. After an act of senseless violence, Lucy paves a path of bloody vengeance through a group of violent bikies.

Dir. Joseph Nizeti | 2021 | 2:02 An ex-ballerina, unhinged by her change in circumstances, finds a new obsession in the pursuit of cleanliness.

WINNER WINNER

Dir. Kalani Gacon | 2021 | 3:05 Against the laws of reality, a man is determined to bring a chicken carcass back to life.

SENTIMENT LOGISTICS Dir. Kate Neal | 2020 | 2:36 Various modes of transport, logistics and infrastructure within an urban setting offering a wry commentary on our own emotional burdens.

TRIP TO X

Dir. Shimmy Yang | 2021 | 7:41 SHIMX and GABX are friends who frequently explore abandoned buildings together. They discover an old disused power station, where life seems to have been sucked out, but the building itself is still very much alive and calls to daring visitors.

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

REALITY BITES DRUNK MOVIES - THE CLONE MAN

Dir. Tom Burgess, Lachlan Wilson | 2020 | 5.45 | AUS A mad scientist must stop his evil rival after finding out that he has taken one of his failed experiments, a defective clone, and plans to create a clone army.

BURIED NEWS

Dir. Bill Morrison | 2020 | 12:00 | USA In 1929, a bank manager in Dawson City, Yukon Territory buried hundreds of silent film reels in a defunct swimming pool, in an effort to dispose of them safely. Forty-nine years later, in 1978, the reels were uncovered.

Four extremely rare newsreels from 1917 and 1920, are used in this film to reveal how race has historically been used as a tool in the USA to divide people for the commercial or political gain of those in power. Including the extremely rare, and heretofore believed to be lost footage of the siege of the Lexington, Kentucky courthouse in 1920.

CHESTY AND OPAL

Dir. Jack Truman | 2020 | 10:55 | USA Burlesque legends Chesty Morgan and Wild Star share memories from their dancing days in the 60's and '70's. A hilarious, eyeopening, shocking underground short film, CHESTY & OPAL opens the audience's eyes to a lost era.

DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

PAGE 58 SHORTS

Dir. Brad Abrahams | 2020 | 12:00 | USA About the unofficial artist of conspiracy theory culture, the controversial and recently departed David Dees. An artist for Sesame Street for 13 years, Dees was on the track to a lucrative career as a commercial artist in Los Angeles. Then, 9/11 happened, and he forever went down the conspiracy theory rabbit-hole. But is there a way out of the darkness?

FRANK DAFT IN NZ

Dir. Clint Cure | 2021 | 4:02 | AUS An interview with Australian Film Maker Frank Daft and his humorous encounter with New Zealand custom officers.

I HOPE THIS FEELING DOESN'T LAST

Dir. Marie Boulougouris | 2021 | 5:21 | AUS An intimate and poetic documentary that presents itself as a moving commentary on the experiences of LGBT+ women in the Australian music industry. Starring Triple J alum Georgia Marley (she/they).

A program of engaging, real-life narratives in short bitesized pieces, REALITY BITES presents the year’s very best documentary shorts. From cinema verité to essay films, to hilarious encounters with fascinating subjects to buried films and burlesque legends. At a time when truth is so often stranger than fiction, these films are not to be missed.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT LAST NIGHT AT THE STRIP CLUB

Dir. Nicole Bauzin | 2020 | 11:40 | CANADA After losing her job as a stripper due to the pandemic, Andrea Werhun is exploring a new frontier of contactless sex work. She’s launched “Hire A Muse” a.k.a. H.A.M., which offers clients a range of services from topless book-reading to collaborative comic-making.

With her future at the strip club uncertain, Andrea’s balancing life as a “muse” for lonely men with her own creative dream: to become a full-time writer.

LOST BOYS OF WESTWAY

Dir. Luc La Rossa | 2021 | 15:48 | AUS LA deep dive into the controversial Australian band, ‘Sticky Fingers’, exploring their infamous rise to fame and their abrupt fall from grace. It shines a light on the serious allegations that the band had been caught up in that would see them blacklisted from the radio and ultimately outcast by the Australian music media.

THE GAYTRIARCHY AND WHY WE NEED PRIDE

Dir. TJ Narula | 2020 | 10:40 | AUS Through the eyes of Australia’s three leading LGTBQI+ activists, this documentary comments on the dogma and bigotry that take place in the name of religion as well as culture across oppressive countries and how it impacts the LGBTQI+ community. It aims to question the validity of purist versions of all religions and their application across the sexuality and the gender spectrum across conservative cultures.

WHEN LARRY MET STANLEY

Dir. Kate Darion | 2021 | 6:00 | USA In a beautiful moment of time, low-budget filmmaking legend, Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, The Stuff, Q, God Told Me To), has a chance meeting with legendary film master, Stanley Kubrick (The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, A Clockwork Orange). Larry, one of the greatest showbiz story tellers of all-time, delights us with this magical real-life tale.

NORMAL PORN FOR NORMAL PEOPLE

Dir. Amber Rose McNeill | 2020 | 3:47 | USA An appropriated media piece that offers a satirical commentary on the romanticising and normalization of violent imagery, while observing the link to commercial consumerism that exploits human sexuality, while simultaneously demonising it.

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

AGES 18+

SH!T SCARED

BIRD LADY

Dir. Susie Jones | 2020 | 12:22 | UK A young woman wanders confused and barefoot until she reaches a strange old house and its mysterious owner who takes her in.

BLUE BISON

Dir. Camrus Johnson, Stefano Pennisi | 2020 | 19:57 | UK A group of vigilantes abduct wrongdoers and coerce them into confessions, forcing them back on the straight and narrow. Tonight, their attempt at justice has unexpected consequences.

DARK PASSAGE

Dir. Roshni Bhatia | 2020 | 1:00 | USA A part time drivers last ride of the night maybe the last ride of his life.

FELLOW CREATURES CAN I INTEREST YOU?

Dir. Blake Constantine | 2020 | 7:55 | AUS Strange things are happening to Ursula...

What is this mysterious club her boyfriend has joined? Why are forgotten acquaintances acting so familiar? And who's that banging on her door?

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Dir. Jamie Glover, Jason Merrells | 2021 | 12:59 | UK Whilst tackling the stresses of weekend parenting, Tom opens the door to a mysterious stranger who presents an opportunity to play an intriguing game with escalating consequences.

Blood splattered, spooked out, soul swallowing, evil worshipping, darkness. A selection of films designed to have you check the door is locked and that there’s nothing behind the sofa, before you watch. And afterward, don’t forget to check under your bed, and just hope there’s nothing there looking back at you.

CLICK TO WATCH

ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DICKS

Dir. Ilja Rautsi | 2021 | 19:00 | FINLAND/ DENMARK A horror comedy about a woman who, fed up with getting dick pics, finds a pair of glasses that reveal which men are actual dicks - and the dicks are not happy about it.

KILLERS INC

Dir. Graham Peak | 2021 | 8:02 | UK Colin finds himself face to face with Jimmy, the most unassuming hitman on the planet.

But things go from strange to the ridiculous as Jimmy goes about his work, and Colin tries to find out how all of this started.

KOREATOWN GHOST STORY

Dir. Minsun Park & Teddy Tenenbaum | 2021 | 14:52 | USA In this supernatural horror tale based on a Korean ritual starring Margaret Cho and Lyrica Okano, a woman entertains a macabre marriage offer that would let her pursue her dreams, for better or for much, much worse.

PETER THE PENGUIN

Dir. Andrew Rutter | 2020 | 9:12 | UK Nigel is on his way to meet his partner’s daughter Emily for the first time. With high expectations in tow, he’s hoping to make a great impression.

TOAST

Dir. Oscar Axel Thorborg | 2020 | 3:45 | AUS A malicious toaster threatens the sanctity of a young woman’s night in.

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ON DEMAND

9-26 SEPT

SHORT FILM SESSION

AGES 18+

WTF!

WTF! Presents a package of confounding curiosities for the cinematically adventurous at heart.

These films all venture into subject matter sometimes disturbing, sometimes deranged but delightfully fun. Featuring films by some of independent cinemas’ most unique creatives, this collection of shorts is so mind-meltingly weird, you’ll be left asking…WTF!

BAG YOUR FACE SEXY FURBY

Dir. Nicole Daddona | 2021 | 14:00 | USA A suicidal girl's life changes when she encounters a man-sized Furby. A surreal daymare comedy exploring themes of grief, loyalty, and greed, set against the picturesque backdrop of rural northern Connecticut.

Dir. Keith Eyrich | 2020 | 20:08 | USA Laking the after-school special format and crashing it at high speed head-on with a whirligig of 90’s VHS/video game/ Nickelodeon trash imagery, Keith Eyrich’s short ‘Bag Your Face’ is pure Nuclear Nostalgia - The highly questionable neighbourhood traveling amusement park ride you can’t get off.

THE LAKE PARASITE

Dir. Joe Reilly | 2021 | 14:46 | USA Toxic waste runoff from a luxury resort creates a lake monster which wreaks havoc on the exclusive resort town.

TOSHIE THE NIHILIST FRUIT ANONYMITY GUARANTEED

Dir. Ivan Li | 2020 | 3:00 | CANADA/HONG KONG An in-depth technical analysis on Fruit.

Dir. Matthew Chozick | 2021 | 14:57 | JAPAN Cryptocurrency exchange secretary Toshie (Rino Higa) ought to be celebrating the release of her boyfriend (Taro Yabe) from jail. Instead, a freak accident compels her to swim from Japan to Hawaii with the child of an American-Vietcong war hero.

Dir. Paul Edward Armstrong | 2021 | 12:11 | USA Two men are brought together through a website whose purpose is not what it seems.

HOSPITAL DUMPSTER DIVERS PAGE 62 SHORTS

Dir. Anders Elsrud Hultgreen | 2020 | 25:00 | NORWAY Chaos breaks out at the hospital when a mutant dumpster troll is accidentally brought to life, as a result of shoddy waste management by the shuffle-dancing young man Rasmus.

WOLF IN DUDE'S CLOTHING

Dir. Solmund MacPherson | 2021 | 12:57 | CANADA A starving wolf finds a suit of human skin, crawls inside, and becomes a man.

2021 SUFF TEAM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR KATHERINE BERGER

PROGRAMMERS KATHERINE BERGER

STEFAN POPESCU

JACK SARGEANT

PROGRAM CONSULTANTS CELIA POUZET

NATHAN SENN

WILFRED BRANDT

TAKE48 DIRECTORS

FESTIVAL ASSISTANTS

LAUREN BARRETT CHRIS DAVID

TONI CLANCY STEPHANIE GAL

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

CONFERENCE CONVENOR

ELIZABETH BERGER

DR ALEKS WANSBROUGH

WEBSITE AND MARKETING

SUFF 2021 KEY ARTIST

PENGUINWOLF

GLENN SMITH

THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS AND PARTNERS SUFF PATRONS DEAN BERTRAM, DOV KORNITS, FELIX HUBBLE, GEORGIE ZUZAK, GORKA OJEDA, HANNAH DAY, HELENA & MICHAEL BERGER, HOWARD DUGGAN, JAIMIE AND ASPASIA LEONARDER, JAMES TSAI, JORGE MANSILLA, JOSH MCEVOY, JULIAN KNYSH, JULIE LAWLESS, JUSTYNA KORONKIEWICZ, KYLE GREENBERG, LAURA SALDANA, LISA ROSE, LUKE GALIAZZO, MARC COLLISTER, MARIA MERLE, MICHELLE CARTER, NAT & JULIA GEE, PARIS POMPOR, RICHARD WHITEFORD, ROB TOSCANO, RYOHEI MASUOKA, SEAN ELLISON, SHARON PINNEY, SIMON FOSTER, TAREK SHOUKRI, TRAVIS JOHNSON, YULIA TRAVNIKOVA.

DEB BAUMANN IAN LEITHHEAD