2022 Sydney Underground Film Festival Program

THE 16TH ANNUAL

SUFF.COM.AU

TI CK E

TS O N SAL OW! EN

@sydneyundergroundfilmfest #suff2022

PROGRAM AT A GLANCE F = Features

D = Documentaries

S = Short Films

THURSDAY 8 SEPTEMBER OPENING NIGHT FILM AND PARTY

I LOVE MY DAD Dir. James Morosini | USA | 2022 CINEMA 9 PG 10

F

6.00pm DRINKS AND CANAPÉS ON ARRIVAL 7.00pm WELCOME AND OPENING FILM 9.00pm AFTER PARTY, DJ JACK SHIT

FRIDAY 9 SEPTEMBER

5.45pm

| THE PAWNSHOP

F

7.15pm

| WTF! SHORT FILM SESSION

S

CINEMA 11

PG 53

CINEMA 10 PG 65

7.00pm

CINEMA 9

PG 19

| BODIES, BODIES, BODIES

F

7.30pm

| DUAL

F

9.15pm

| PIG KILLER

F

9.30pm

| ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS

F

CINEMA 11

PG 22

CINEMA 10 PG 27 CINEMA 11

PG 18

SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 11.00am

| HOMEBAKED AUSSIE SHORTS

S

11.15am

| EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE

D

1.15pm

| THE PEZ OUTLAW

D

1.00pm

| GIVE ME PITY!

F

3.00pm

| CULT HERO

F

2.45pm

| SOMETHING IN THE DIRT

F

3.30pm

| THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR

F

4.45pm

| SWALLOWED

F

5.00pm

| WARM BLOOD

F

5.30pm

| THE CIVIL DEAD

F

7.20pm

| PUB: THE MOVIE

D

7:15pm

| ON THE COUNT OF THREE

F

7.30pm

| DUAL

F

9.15pm

| PUSSYCAKE

F

9.00pm

| MEGALOMANIAC

F

CINEMA 11 CINEMA 10 CINEMA 11 CINEMA 10 CINEMA 11 CINEMA 10 CINEMA 9 CINEMA 10 CINEMA 11 CINEMA 9 CINEMA 11 CINEMA 10 CINEMA 9 CINEMA 11 CINEMA 10

PG 58 PG 42

PG 54

PG 23

PG 21 PG 31

PG 34

PG 32

PG 37

PG 33

PG 50 PG 26 PG 22

PG 28

PG 25

F = Features D = Documentaries S = Short Films

PROGRAM AT

SUNDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 11.00am

| I GET KNOCKED DOWN

D

CINEMA 10 PG 45

11.15am

CINEMA 11

PG 60

| LOVE/SICK SHORTS DOCS

S

12.45pm

| A LIFE ON THE FARM

D

CINEMA 10 PG 40

1.30pm

CINEMA 11

PG 48

| NO BAD GUYS

D

2.45pm

| IN THE COURT OF CRIMSON KING

D

| RHINO (UKRANIAN CHARITY EVENT)

F

CINEMA 10 PG 46

4.00pm

CINEMA 9

4.15pm

PG 29

CINEMA 11

PG 33

| THE CIVIL DEAD

F

4.30pm

| SICK OF MYSELF

F

CINEMA 10 PG 30

CLOSING NIGHT FILM AND CELEBRATION

MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON Dir. Ana Lily Amirpour | 2021 | USA | 86 mins

6.00pm

CINEMA 9

PG 12

F

F = Features

A GLANCE

D = Documentaries S = Short Films

ONLINE ONLY FILMS COMPULUS

F

PG 20

D

STILL STOKED

D

TERRA FEMME

D

ZERO BUDGET HEROES: THE LEGEND OF CHRIS SEAVER AND LOW-BUDGET PICTURES

D

LSD FACTORY

S

REALITY BITES

S

RE:ANIMATION

S

SH!T SCARED

S

PG 48

LANDLOCKED

F

PG 24

PG 51

THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY PG 35

PG 52

TRIPLE TROUBLE

F

PG 36

CIRCUS OF THE SCARS: THE INSIDER ODYSSEY OF THE JIM ROSE CIRCUS SIDESHOW PG 41

PG 55 D

PG 61

F@CK THIS JOB

D

PG 43

PG 62

GIRL GANG

D

PG 44

MIKE MIGNOLA-DRAWING MONSTERS PG 47

NIGHTCLUBBING: THE BIRTH OF PUNK ROCK IN NYC

PG 63 D

PG 64

12-25 SEPT | VIRTUAL PROGRAM VIA EVENTIVE All film/session rentals .......................... $12 5 Film Pass ..........................$45 (Save $15) 10 Film Pass ....................... $85 (Save $30) Full Pass ............................ $130 (Save $50)

For more film information and how to purchase your tickets, go to: suff2022.eventive.org

CONTENTS WELCOME................................................7 PARTNERS...............................................8 HOW TO BUY TICKETS..............................9 OPENING NIGHT I LOVE MY DAD......................................10 CLOSING NIGHT - MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON.........................12 TAKE 48 CHALLENGE.............................14

FEATURES...........................17 ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS...18 BODIES BODIES BODIES........................19 COMPULSUS..........................................20 CULT HERO.............................................21 DUAL......................................................22 GIVE ME PITY! .......................................23 LANDLOCKED.........................................24 MEGALOMANIAC....................................25 ON THE COUNT OF THREE......................26 PIG KILLER............................................27 PUSSYCAKE...........................................28 RHINO....................................................29 SICK OF MYSELF...................................30 SOMETHING IN THE DIRT.......................31 SWALLOWED.........................................32 THE CIVIL DEAD ....................................33 THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR.......................................34 THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY...........35 TRIPLE TROUBLE...................................36 WARM BLOOD........................................37

DOCUMENTARIES...........39

A LIFE ON THE FARM ............................40 CIRCUS OF THE SCARS..........................41 EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE ........................42 F@CK THIS JOB....................................43 GIRL GANG.............................................44 I GET KNOCKED DOWN...........................45 IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING......................................46 MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS....47 NIGHTCLUBBING: THE BIRTH OF PUNK ROCK IN NYC .......48 NO BAD GUYS........................................49 STILL STOKED........................................50 PUB: THE MOVIE....................................51 TERRA FEMME.......................................52 THE PAWNSHOP (LOMBARD).................53 THE PEZ OUTLAW...................................54 ZERO BUDGET HEROES: THE LEGEND OF CHRIS SEAVER AND LOW-BUDGET PICTURES...............55

SHORT FILM SESSIONS...57

HOMEBAKED (AUSSIE SHORTS).............58 LOVE/SICK.............................................60 LSD FACTORY.........................................61 REALITY BITES (SHORT DOCS)...............62 RE:ANIMATION.......................................63 SH!T SCARED.........................................64 WTF!......................................................65

WELCOME WELCOME TO THE 16TH EDITION OF THE SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL! It’s with great excitement that we’re able to officially announce our return to cinemas for the first time since 2019, from the Thursday 8 – Sunday 11 September at a new location; Event Cinemas, George Street. While the venue may have changed, we can’t wait to bring the festival’s atmosphere of raucous revelry to a brand-new home and celebrate the year’s weirdest and wildest films together!

The impact of the pandemic over the past two-years has really reinforced the importance of the arts and particularly the continued support of alternative culture.

While it was a great to be able to present our festival online these past two years, we are thrilled to return to cinema and to be able to offer the opportunity for film fans to come together and experience film as intended, in darkened theatres in front of the big screen.

SUFF is pleased to present a wide variety of cinematic offerings in 2022. There’s twisted dark comedies I LOVE MY DAD, SICK OF MYSELF and THE CIVIL DEAD, fantastically wacky docs THE PEZ OUTLAW, A LIFE ON THE FARM and THE PAWNSHOP, sci-fi mind-benders DUAL and SOMETHING IN THE DIRT, exciting Oz cinema with THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR and PUB: THE MOVIE, high body count with BODIES BODIES BODIES and PUSSYCAKE, bugs and body horror with ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS and SWALLOWED, awesome music docs, skater flicks, art docs, found footage films and a whole bunch more! Not to mention, a tonne of incredible shorts films! Finally, closing the festival with a bang is Ana Lily Amirpour’s phantasmagoric fairy-tale MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON! In the spirit of accessibility and deeper connection, we will also be presenting a digital component to the festival from Monday 12 – Sunday 25 September plus the TAKE48 screening will be at Dendy Newtown Friday 16 September, which is sure to be a riot! So, join us any way you can this September!

LONG LIVE CINEMA! X SUFF X

PARTNERS MAJOR PARTNER

FESTIVAL VENUE PARTNER

PRODUCTION PARTNER

PR PARTNER

MEDIA PARTNERS

SCREENING PARTNERS

TAKE48 MAJOR PARTNER

TAKE48 SUPPORTING PARTNERS

BUY TICKETS 8-11 SEPT IN-CINEMA PROGRAM EVENT CINEMAS, GEORGE STREET, SYDNEY

12-25 SEPT VIRTUAL PROGRAM ONLINE ONLY, EVENTIVE

Standard.................................................. $20 Concession .............................................. $18 Opening Night ....................................... $35 Closing Night ......................................... $25

You can watch anything from Monday 12 - Sunday 25 September but once you start watching, you have 72 hours to finish watching.

Ticket prices include GST and booking fee of $1.50 per ticket. All ticketing terms and conditions are found on the website. All sessions are unclassified 18+ unless noted otherwise.

WANT TO SEE MORE FOR LESS?

WANT TO SEE MORE FOR LESS? A 5 or 10 Film lets you watch more for only $15 or $12.50 per ticket! (Excluding opening and closing night).

5 Film Pass ..............................................$75 10 Film Pass ..........................................$125 www.eventcinemas.com.au/Cinema/ George-Street

EVENT CINEMAS | BUY TIX

All film/session rentals .......................... $12

5 Film Pass ..........................$45 (Save $15) 10 Film Pass ....................... $85 (Save $30) Full Pass ............................ $130 (Save $50)

VIRTUAL | BUY TIX For more information on how to purchase your tickets, go to: suff2022.eventive.org

OPENING NIGHT FILM AND FESTIVAL KICK-OFF THUR 8 SEPT | FROM 6.00PM | EVENT CINEMAS, GEORGE ST, SYDNEY IT'S FINALLY TIME TO HEAD BACK TO THE CINEMA FOR SUFF #16!

We can't think of a better way to kick-off the festival, than with a pitch-black comedy! Head to the SUFF HUB onsite at Event Cinemas (next to the Candy Bar) from 6pm and while FBi DJ Jack Shit provides the tunes, enjoy a complimentary beer or wine on arrival and canapés. Then from 7pm, head to the cinema with our MC Jay Katz and get ready to laugh, cry and squirm!

6.00pm DRINKS AND CANAPÉS ON ARRIVAL 7.00pm WELCOME AND OPENING FILM 9.00pm AFTER PARTY, DJ JACK SHIT

PAGE 10 OPENING NIGHT

“Hilarious cringe to the max anchored by genuinely terrific performances from Patton Oswalt and James Morosini.”

- Robert Kojder Flickering Myth

I LOVE MY DAD

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE

Dir. James Morosini | USA | 2022 | 96 mins After taking home the Grand Jury Prize & Audience Choice Award at this year’s SXSW, the darkly hilarious I LOVE MY DAD is finally coming to the big screen in Australia for its International Premiere!

Independent filmmaker and actor James Morosini (whose micro-budget THREESOMETHING played to critical acclaim in 2018), used his own, bizarre reallife experiences to write the award-winning script for I LOVE MY DAD and managed to put together an incredible cast including legendary actor and comedian Patton

Oswalt, along with the always entertaining Rachel Dratch and Claudia Sulewski (in what is sure to be a starmaking turn).

The film is a sidesplitting ride as we follow Chuck (Oswalt), a hopelessly estranged father who desperately wants to reconnect with his troubled son, Franklin (Morosini).

Blocked on social media and concerned for his son’s life, Chuck impersonates a waitress online and starts checking in with Franklin.

But things begin to spiral when Franklin falls for this imaginary girl (Sulewski)

and wants nothing more than to meet her in person, as Chuck has inadvertently catfished his own son.

This is DEFINITELY the kind of film that was made to be enjoyed in-cinema. It will have you cringing between bouts of raucous laughter.

This is also the rare kind of film that balances great emotional sensitivity with its surprisingly affecting story.

Don't miss securing your tickets to the opening night of SUFF 2022!

OPENING NIGHT PAGE 11

CLOSING NIGHT FILM AND CELEBRATION SUN 11 SEPT | FROM 6.00PM | EVENT CINEMAS, GEORGE ST, SYDNEY Closing night is always a blast and we have a wickedly subversive treat in store! Join us for a drink at the SUFF HUB before the film, then collect your complimentary icecream at the door and be transported to the lurid streets

of New Orleans with writer/ director Ana Lily Amirpour’s mind-bending, fantasy thriller MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON!

THE SUFF DEAD OSCARS HOMEBAKED AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD AUSTRALIAN RENEGADE SHORT FILM AWARD INTERNATIONAL RENEGADE SHORT FILM AWARD Handmade awards by Sydney Glass Artist Mark Wotherspoon

PAGE 12 CLOSING NIGHT

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INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL ROTTERDAM 2022 OPENING NIGHT

SITGES FILM FESTIVAL 2022 OFFICIAL SELECTION

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2021

AGES 18+ NSW PREMIERE

MONA LISA AND THE BLOOD MOON Dir. Ana Lily Amirpour | 2021 | USA | 86 mins For most of her life, Mona Lisa Lee has been institutionalised – straitjacketed and nearly catatonic. But under the influence of a blood moon, she decides to break free, finally tapping into her supernatural ability to control human minds.

Escaping into New Orleans’ French Quarter, she must figure out how to survive in a world she doesn’t understand, and no-one can stand in her way. Starring a ferociously bewitching Jeon Jong-seo, Iranian-American director Ana Lily Amirpour’s (A Girl Walks Home at Night) new film explodes onto the screen with her trademark

bold visual stylings and twists on genre. Soaked in neon, New Orleans is imbued with a carnivalesque feel that is matched by its kooky inhabitants, including a stripper (played with trashy relish by Kate Hudson) who exploits Mona Lisa’s talents for financial gain and the dogged cop (an unusually straight-faced Craig Robinson) hot on the escapee’s trail. A hostile world, dark humour, odd pairings, superpowers – this subversive horror-comedy thrill ride inspired by your beloved 80s fantasyadventure movies will have you hypnotised.

“With its hypersaturated mood, hypnotic music and highly stylized cinematography, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon will surely thrill the director's existing fans and convert new ones.”

- Lovia Gyarkye, Hollywood Reporter.

TAKE48 FILM

WE CAN'T WAIT TO KICK-OFF 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!

CHALLENGE DATES | FRI 19 AUG - SUN 21 AUG TAKE48 2022 will run from 7.00pm, Friday 19 August to 7.00pm, Sunday 21 August (AEST time).

FRI 16 SEPT | FROM 7.00PM | DENDY CINEMA, NEWTOWN You also have the chance to see your film screen at a special SUFF TAKE48 event on FRIDAY 16 SEPTEMBER 2022 at DENDY CINEMAS, NEWTOWN! All submissions are watched by the TAKE48 and SUFF crew, with the best films being chosen and curated to screen.

PAGE 14 TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE

REGISTER NOW AT

TAKE48.COM.AU/2022

CHALLENGE WIN PRIZES VALUED AT $11,000 PRIZES We have some amazing prize packs up for grabs for this year’s winners – you can check them out in more detail at www. take48.com.au/2022. A big thank you to our prize partners for making this possible - Maxon, RENTaCAM Sydney, Digital Pigeon, Final Draft and Rode.

TAKE48 FILM CHALLENGE PAGE 15

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

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

FEATURES

FRI 9 SEPT | 9.30pm | CINEMA 11

ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS Dir. Alex Phillips | 2022 | USA | 71 mins | AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE After discovering a hidden stash of powerful hallucinogenic worms, Roscoe, a maintenance man for a seedy motel, follows a path of self-destruction through the alleyways of Chicago.

Guided by visions of a giant floating Worm, he encounters Benny, a moped enthusiast trying to manifest a baby from an inanimate sex doll. Together, they fall in love with doing worms before embarking on a euphoric, hallucinatory odyssey of sex and violence.

A microbudget flick with a vastly creative design and twisted story, Alex Phillips’ debut feature ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS is a squirmy

PAGE 18 FEATURES

trip into the depths of arthouse horror cinema. A cavalcade of upcoming performers, as flamboyant and daring as John Waters’ dreamlanders, bring a vibrating excess to their wormhead characters. Inspired

by Cassavetes and Hennenlotter, Phillips delivers a wriggling, drug-induced creature feature nightmare, TRAINSPOTTING meets BRAIN DAMAGE with a dash of VIDEODROME. Underground filmmaking at its best for a ride to hell. Become one with the dirt! Realise your full potential! Nothing is real and everything is permitted.

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FRI 9 SEPT | 7.00pm | CINEMA 9

“A terrific horror-comedy evisceration of TikTok-era entitlement and rich, Gen-Z privilege.” – The Playlist

BODIES, BODIES, BODIES Dir. Halina Reijn | 2022 | USA | 95 mins | NSW PREMIERE A bloody, wildly funny Gen-Z horror-comedy that remixes CLUELESS, SCREAM and MEAN GIRLS for the digital age.

Sophie (Amandla Stenberg, The Hunger Games) and new girlfriend Bee (Maria Bakalova, breakout star of Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) arrive at the suburban mansion owned by the out-of-town parents of David (Pete Davidson, Saturday Night Live). They join their drug-taking, rich-kid friends – including toxic truth-teller Jordan and neurotic, self-deprecating Sarah – who decide to play a game of ‘Bodies Bodies Bodies’, a murder-in-thedark-style lark to pass the time OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

while they’re stuck without wi-fi.

But when someone actually dies, the party spirals into a savage, hilarious web of paranoia and blame. A smash hit out of SXSW, this whip-smart horror-comedy from Dutch director Halina Reijn, working from a story conceived by ‘Cat Person’ author Kristen Roupenian, has the entitlement of Gen-Z brats locked squarely in its sights. Mixing the classic whodunnit with reality-show sass, Hollywood teen-flick wit and ‘For You’ Page mania, Reijn’s English-language debut is deliriously funny, anxietyinducing and instantly quotable.

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SXSW 2022

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SUNDANCE 2022

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LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2022

FEATURES PAGE 19

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

COMPULSUS Dir. Tara Thorne | 2022 | CANADA | 81 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Spoken-word poet Wally (Lesley Smith) is a queer woman who sympathizes with her straight girlfriends’ struggle to meet reliable, non-violent men. News of non-consensual incidents with a particular guy—a popular chef in the neighbourhood— makes the women want to exact revenge on violent men. Wally has her own dating woes, but after a successful night with Lou (Kathleen Dorian), she impulsively attacks the chef in question. She’s exhilarated by the rush of violence and the power she wields; seduced and fuelled by the women who applaud the mystery attacker.

PAGE 20 FEATURES

Reports sent to her anonymous tip line enforce the urge to attack men behind numerous assaults. When she enlists her lover Lou as backup and suspects her sister may be in an abusive relationship, Wally’s intense need for power and vengeance may jeopardize everything.

“Guaranteed to get people talking about women’s power, consent and the end of violence against women.”

– Carolyn Mauricette OFFICIAL SELECTION

POPCORN FRIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SAT 10 SEPT | 3.00pm | CINEMA 11

CULT HERO Dir. Jesse Thomas Cook | 2022 | CANADA | 94 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Dale Domazar (Ry Barrett) is a washed-up private investigator and “cult-buster” whose last cult bust resulted in a mass suicide.

Kallie Jones (Liv Collins) is a realtor who needs to control everything. With her husband Brad (Justin Bott) sleepwalking through life, Kallie is certain a stay at Master Jagori’s (Tony Burgess) retreat for men will help their marriage. But when Brad extends his stay against Kallie’s wishes, she suspects he’s been indoctrinated into a cult and calls Dale for help. This moment couldn’t have come at a OFFICIAL SELECTION

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL 2022

better time, giving Dale a chance to redeem himself with this “Karen” lite, and—you guessed it—mayhem ensues, especially when they discover Master Jagori’s sinister plan.

"The screenplay is filled with witty one-liners and nonsequiturs. But the writing isn’t only funny, it’s also very clever.

While the best word to describe Cult Hero might be ‘fun,’ it isn’t just superficial entertainment.

The film’s narrative concern with cults – and people who are trying to find some kind of meaning and belonging in these groups – is also its thematic preoccupation."

- Our Culture Mag

FEATURES PAGE 21

FRI 9 SEPT | 7.30pm | CINEMA 10 SAT 10 SEPT | 7.30pm | CINEMA 9

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DUAL Dir. Riley Stearns | 2022 | USA | 94 mins | NSW PREMIERE In his latest provocation and most eccentric premise yet, satire master Riley Stearns (The Art of Self-Defense, SUFF 2019) asks: if you had to duel your own clone to the death, would you win? Starring as Sarah alongside hilarious Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as madcap sensei Trent.

PAGE 22 FEATURES

Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) is Sarah, a woman who learns she is dying of a rare illness and agrees to undergo a cloning procedure that will create a “replacement” for her when she’s gone. It will look just like her, and Sarah’s last days will be spent teaching her double how to replace her. But after nearly a year of watching this alternate version insinuate herself into her life, Sarah’s mysterious illness completely vanishes. When she tries to have

her clone decommissioned, it refuses to be terminated, and exercises its right to challenge her to a duel to the death, which will be broadcast for a popular TV show. Straddling a line between savage deadpan satire and highconcept storytelling, Stearns takes us on a sci-fi journey into the ways a catastrophic lifechange can force reconsideration of one’s entire existence.

Gillan delivers two hilarious performances, and Aaron Paul’s crazy supporting turn as Sarah’s personal combat trainer just adds to the ruthless, deeply cynical, and jet-black humor of this darkly off-kilter comedy.

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SAT 10 SEPT | 1.00pm | CINEMA 10

“A singular vision for audiences with a taste for lurid cinematic mischiefmaking. - Wendy Ide, SCREEN DAILY

GIVE ME PITY! Dir. Amanda Kramer | 2022 | USA | 80 mins | NSW PREMIERE Drawing from her background in dance and theatre arts, rising indie filmmaker Amanda Kramer (Please Baby Please) invites us to a Primetime Saturday Night Network Television Spectacular!

A delightful, horror-tinged cringe-comedy that would be perfectly at home on late-night Adult Swim, GIVE ME PITY! is a satirical send-up of American television—complete with musical numbers, commercial breaks, thematic segments and a melting, analogue video OFFICIAL SELECTION

aesthetic mined for all its psychedelic potential. Embodied

by Sophie Von Haselberg’s spectacular performance in the lead role, Kramer’s daring monologue confirms a rare talent for words. Here is an extravagant “hour of television” composed with exquisite wit and intelligence, doubling as a thorough takedown of noxious, showbiz expectations— performance of gender, of beauty, of success—that cast a long shadow on women’s limelight.

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FEATURES PAGE 23

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

LANDLOCKED Dir. Paul Owens | 2021 | USA | 74 mins Summoned to his soon-to-be demolished childhood home, Mason discovers an old VHS camera that can see into the past, driving him to record as many memories as possible before the doomed house is destroyed. Utilising the director’s actual home movies, filming in his now-dilapidated childhood home and casting real-life family members to play fictionalised versions of themselves, LandLocked combines narrative and documentary with horror and sci-fi to create a movie unlike any other.

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PAGE 24 FEATURES

SAN FRANCISCO INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL 2022

“Paul Owens has crafted the most strikingly original debut feature since Donnie Darko.”

- Simon Foster, Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival

"...a family affair of passion and DIY ingenuity that exemplifies the power of a new cinematic voice. " - CineNiche OFFICIAL SELECTION

BOSTON UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2021 OFFICIAL SELECTION

SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTON FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SAT 10 SEPT | 9.00pm | CINEMA 10

"Executed with stunning visual composition, a powerful pulsing score, and production design to die for, Megalomaniac is an impressive creation. It’s not one you’ll soon forget." ihorror.com

MEGALOMANIAC Dir. Karim Ouelhaj | 2022 | BELGIUM | 100 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE 1997, Mons, Belgium. The “Butcher”, one of Europe’s most notorious serial killers, strikes and abruptly vanishes.

He leaves behind him no clues other than a trail of trash bags, bits and scraps of femme-flesh in ruin, sole testimony to his brutal killings. Born in blood and rage, his offspring, Martha (Eline Schumacher) and Felix (Benjamin Ramon), must carry on with their gruesome heritage.

They take over his eternal wrath and, through agony and revenge, fall into the realm of absolute darkness.

Prolific filmmaker Karim Ouelhaj delivers his fourth feature, and by far the most savage.

His sharp examination of societal anguish blends into

this genre-adoring film that no horror devotee would dare to miss. A visceral film about the torture of madness that blurs the line between victims and executioners. Carried by the breathtaking performance of lead actor Eline Schumacher and her descent into insanity, the film digs deep into one of Belgium’s deepest traumas, the real-life sordid story of the Mons Butcher. The film is a nightmare of mystical violence anchored in the reality of female persecution and gender-based abuse, a radical yet subtly nuanced take on the evil of patriarchy and its undying legacy. – Celia Pouzet WINNER BEAST FEATURE

FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL 2022

FEATURES PAGE 25

SAT 10 SEPT | 7.15pm | CINEMA 10

“(The) most nihilistic of buddy comedies is unexpectedly lifeaffirming.” - MIFF

ON THE COUNT OF THREE Dir. Jerrod Carmichael | 2021 | CANADA | 86 mins NSW PREMIERE In this boldly bleak tragicomedy from rising star Jerrod Carmichael, two best friends decide today will be the day to end their lives.

Val is sick of life. He hates his job, and freaks out when he learns his girlfriend is pregnant.

The one person who gets him is his traumatised best friend Kevin, who’s currently in hospital after a suicide attempt; now, Val breaks Kevin out and convinces him they should both go out with a bang. But only after a day that’s part reminiscence and part reckoning: Val wants to confront his abusive dad, while Kevin seeks revenge on the child psychiatrist who abused him. Of all days, though, why

PAGE 26 FEATURES

must everything go pear-shaped today? On the Count of Three is a carefully calibrated feature debut, delicately tackling its dark themes and ensuring its humour offers dimension over derision.

“The film is so skillful at navigating the difficult topic at its center, you will almost miss the clever and necessary things it has to say about gun control, race, or even homosexuality.”

– Observer (New York) OFFICIAL SELECTION

SUNDANCE 2022

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FRI 9 SEPT | 9.15pm | CINEMA 10

PIG KILLER Dir. Chad Ferrin | 2022 | USA | 120 mins | WORLD PREMIERE Based on the terrifying story of Robert 'Willy' Pickton, the pig farmer cum prolific lady killer whose horrific crimes shocked the world.

With his herculean hog, Balthazar, by his side, Willy (Jack Busey) and his menagerie of colourful cohorts terrorised Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for almost two decades until his 2002 arrest that uncovered the most bizarre series of murders Canada has ever seen.

In chilling detail, the sometimes darkly humorous PIG KILLER

spins a tale of true-crime terror, sheathed in sadism and splattered in gore, as it graphically depicts Pickton's felonious farmhouse of torture and slaughter. This portrait of a reclusive, pig-farming serial killer is not one you will soon forget.

Directed by cult underground horror filmmaker Chad Ferrin (The Deep Ones, Exorcism at 60,000 Feet, Parasites, Someone's Knocking at the Door, Easter Bunny, Kill! Kill!, Tales from the Crapper and Night Caller).

“The film bridges reality and elements of the classic horrorfilm genre. In addition to the genius effects of Joe Castro, real blood was shed in the making of this extraordinary little film."

- Kate Patel, Producer of Pig Killer

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SAT 10 SEPT | 9.15pm | CINEMA 11

PUSSYCAKE Dir. Pablo Parés | 2021 ARGENTINA | 82 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE The Argentinean gorefest PUSSYCAKE carries a reverence for many of the eighties classics we so love — especially Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead — and promises monsters, interdimensional journeys, kickass music, and of course, lots and lots of gore! In this pure, uncut Midnighter fodder, that’s absolutely frantic, manic, and off the wall, a struggling all-girl rock band kicks off a new tour, hoping

“PussyCake is a wild and crazy ride that delivers all the bloody goods.”

- Brandon Hill, Cinedigm

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to rekindle their popularity. But when they catch the attention of horrors from beyond our reality, the band realizes that being forgotten by their fans is the least of their problems.

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NIGHT VISIONS FILM FESTIVAL 2022 OFFICIAL SELECTION

POPCORN FRIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2022 OFFICIAL SELECTION

NEUCHÂTEL INTERNATIONAL FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SUN 11 SEPT | 4.00pm | CINEMA 9 "A stylish tale of gangland violence in post-Soviet Ukraine."

- Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

RHINO (NOSORIH) Dir. OleH Sentsov | 2021 UKRAINE | 96 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Starting out as an aggressive delinquent, a young man nicknamed Rhino works his way up the criminal hierarchy in the 1990’s Ukraine. But navigating through post- Soviet times in a cutthroat society does not come without sacrifices. With nothing left to lose, will he finally find a chance at redemption? Director Oleh, the Internationally awardwinning Ukrainian film maker, Sentsov was arrested during the 2014 annexation of Crimea and unlawfully sentenced to 20 years imprisonment. While in prison, he received the European Parliament Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. He was finally released in 2019, after massive International pressure

Ukrainian Charity Screening

including from the global film community. Rhino was his first feature after his release and he is now serving at the front lines in Ukraine’s defence for freedom against russia’s genocidal war.

Thanks to WestEnd Films, Ivan & Lily Semciw, Knysh & Associates, Dorosh Heritage Tours & the Embassy of Ukraine in Australia.

This special charity screening of Rhino to be opened

by His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Ukraine to Australia followed by a unique interview with Sensov at front line of the war alongside Julian Kynsh (guest programmer for SUFF).

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VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2021

FEATURES PAGE 29

SUN 11 SEPT | 4.30pm | CINEMA 10

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CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SICK OF MYSELF Dir. Kristoffer Borgli 2022 | NORWAY | 95 mins NSW PREMIERE An outrageously dark, funny and painfully relatable satire brimming with crippling narcissism, Norwegian director Kristoffer Borgli’s second feature (SUFF screened his first unforgettable DRIB in 2017) packs a visceral punch with his unromantic comedy about the relationship between the needy Signe (Ninjababy’s Kristine Kujath Thorp) and her equally self-absorbed artist boyfriend Thomas (Erik Sæther) to hilarious extremes.

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NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

"Horribly, shamefully, hilariously relatable... that’s what makes it such a vicious little treat to enjoy." - Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter

With their relationship seemingly based on mutual loathing and one-up-manship, Signe is cut down when Thomas finds a modicum of success with his artistic installations of stolen chairs. Desperate to wrestle the spotlight back for herself, Signe impulsively abuses a banned pharmaceutical with dangerous side effects in the hope of getting sick enough to garner the sympathy she so craves. — Michael McDonnell

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MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SAT 10 SEPT | 2.45pm | CINEMA 10

SOMETHING IN THE DIRT Dir. Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead 2022 | USA | 116 mins | NSW PREMIERE Hot on the heels of their Marvel debut directing episodes of Moon Knight and Loki, filmmaking duo powerhouse Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead return to their kitchen-sink roots with a DIY sci-fi mind-bender.

About to skip town for good, Levi holes up in a decrepit Los Angeles apartment for what he assumes will be a short stay as he sorts his stuff out. Instead, he meets and soon clicks with long-time resident John. When the pair start witnessing weird things in Levi’s lounge room, they hatch a get-rich-quick plan to film the phenomena and sell their footage to Netflix. Much as they did in The Endless (SUFF 2017), Benson and Moorhead direct, produce, edit and star in Something in the Dirt.

Set almost entirely within Levi’s apartment, against the backdrop of a semi-apocalyptic, fire-ravaged LA, the film is a COVID chamber piece of sorts. As it digs into its characters’ increasingly wild, conspiracy-fuelled psyches, it also offers a blackly comic take on filmmaking itself via a highly meta, mockumentary framework. It’s deliberately chaotic and loopy, like its protagonists’ unspooling brains, but through it all, Benson and Moorhead’s off-screen friendship imbues their onscreen IDs with a lived-in likeability – even as they spiral further towards delusion and possible doom.

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SUNDANCE 2022

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FEATURES PAGE 31

SAT 10 SEPT | 4.45pm | CINEMA 10

SWALLOWED Dir. Carter Smith | 2022 | USA | 92 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Set in a remote township on the border of Maine and Canada, Benjamin and his Dom are headed for the lights and promises of the city of angels, with the dream of Ben becoming a professional porn performer.

Attempting to earn some quick cash, they meet up with Alice (Jena Malone - The Hunger Games, The Neon Demon, Lorelei SUFF 2021). Smuggling drugs across the borders is no easy task. One does not become a mule overnight… though our two friends are “persuaded” by Alice to swallow up those little bags, and boy, that’s only the beginning of their troubles.

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FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL 2022

“An extreme piece of queer body horror and creepycrawly-fable of survival and heartwarming friendship is as delightfully grotesque and suspenseful as it is compelling and unsettling.

To be devoured without moderation.” – Celia Pouzet "SWALLOWED is the Transgressive Queer Cinema we need more of.”

- Terry Mesnard, GAYLY DREADFUL

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OVERLOOK FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SAT 10 SEPT | 5.30pm | CINEMA 9 SUN 11 SEPT | 4.15pm | CINEMA 11

THE CIVIL DEAD Dir. Clay Tatum | 2022 | USA | 103 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE A misanthropic, struggling photographer just wants to watch TV and eat candy while his wife is out of town, but when a desperate old pal resurfaces, his plans are thwarted, with spooky consequences. Writer/ Director/Actor Clay Tatum and Co-writer and actor Whitmer Thomas present an absurdist plot with understated (but very, very funny) comedy that deals with psychological themes such as friendship, the dynamics of marriage, and betrayal.

One of the best independent films of the year. Think if The

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SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2022

Duplass Brothers and M. Night Shyamalan decided to remake Ghost and you have THE CIVIL DEAD, one of the best independent films of the year!

“The Civil Dead couples its naturalistic storytelling with a visual style that captures the beauty of the mundane" – Film Cred "The deep, dark, and delicious finale is a marvelous payoff" – Film Threat

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FLORIDA FILM FESTIVAL 2022

FEATURES PAGE 33

SAT 10 SEPT | 3.30pm | CINEMA 9 OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022 OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVERLATION INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR Dir. Platon Theodoris | 2022 | AUSTRALIA | 77 mins NSW PREMIERE + Q&A WITH DIRECTOR PLATON THEODORIS AND THE CAST & CREW! An existential mishmash of Spike Milligan and Jacques Tati with Aussie flair, this is absurdist comedy at its weirdest and most charming.

Neville Umbrellaman is a verbose, velvet-voiced intellectual who hosts a late-night radio show from his parents’ garage. The alter ego of Rabindranath Chakraborty, Umbrellaman is deeply committed to the program, a labour of love and fantastical fancy that masks deeper, more tragic truths. Luckily, he’s got plenty of eccentric guests to help him out, from folk singer Kenneth Wong and Terry the neighbour to French baker Yvette and Chakraborty’s secret crush, Sabrina D’Angelo. But is anybody tuning in?

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This adaptation of Nitin Vengurlekar’s lauded stage show of the same name is a rare gem of independent local filmmaking. Starring Vengurlekar as Chakraborty/Umbrellaman – reprising the role he also played onstage – the film builds on the warped whimsy of award-winning director Platon Theodoris’s debut feature Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites (SUFF 2015), enabling him to stake a claim as one of the country’s most distinctive and curious filmmakers.

The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour is a hilarious, wonderfully weird delight.

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY Dir. Aristotelis Maragkos | 2021 GREECE/UNITED KINGDOM | 63 mins Mr Toomey obsessively tears paper to control his childhood monsters, but when he wakes mid-flight to Boston to find most of the other passengers disappeared, he must confront the paper nightmare which threaten to rip everything apart.

A classic Stephen King miniseries is re-envisioned in this radical collage experiment

by Greek director, Aristotelis Maragkos: A group of passengers aboard a routine flight to Boston wake up to find themselves alone on the plane. Things get even worse when they land and find a dead world, empty of all other human life. Unfortunately, one of the passengers, Craig Toomey is having a mental breakdown --

which summons the mysterious creatures known as the Langoliers.

Mr Toomey has an important business meeting in Boston, but he dreads the thought of arriving. The only relief from the screams of his father in his traumatic dreams of childhood, is obsessively tearing paper ripping it into strips. When he wakes on his flight, there seems to have been a tear in reality as most of the other passengers have vanished. When the survivors land, the airport is eerily empty of life, like a blank page. Something is coming to rip this weird paper purgatory of the mind apart: Monsters only Mr Toomey can confront.

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FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL AUSTRALIA 2022

FEATURES PAGE 35

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

TRIPLE TROUBLE Dir. Homer Flynn | 2022 | USA | 94 mins | AUS PREMIERE In the year 2023, following the death of Randy Rose, the lead singer of The Residents, his son Randy Junior discovers that his father’s ashes have been stolen and listed for sale on eBay by a mysterious culprit. While investigating, Junior discovers the footage for the group’s unfinished feature film Vileness Fats in a foot locker in his mother’s basement.

"Triple Trouble and the path leading to its completion was long – 50 years – and unusually convoluted, with some of the obstacles also serving as inspiration. The first and primary stimulus came from The Residents’ unfinished wannabe masterpiece, Vileness Fats. If you haven’t seen it, immediately

PAGE 36 FEATURES

go to YouTube and search for “Vileness Fats" and you’ll see what I mean. There’s nothing else quite like it." - Consequence Film.

Directed by Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation, the record label behind legendary art collective The Residents

"The Residents willingness to take chances, stretch credibility and ignore rules has been a constant source of inspiration for me for 50 years.

I can only hope for fifty more."

Homer Flynn OFFICIAL SELECTION

CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SAT 10 SEPT | 5.00pm | CINEMA 11

WARM BLOOD Dir. Rick Charnoski | 2022 | UNITED STATES/NEW ZEALAND | 86 mins | NSW PREMIERE Inhabiting the fringes of Modesto, California, in the toxic haze of the 1980’s, we meet Red, a young runaway who returns to her hometown to track down her wayward father. As she wanders the streets selling stolen drugs to finance her next move, she reflects on her early teen life by reading a journal that she finds in her old bedroom.

Shot on 16mm film by renowned cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt (Emma, Night Moves) and nine years in the making, WARM BLOOD is a politically subversive, raw, searing collage of sound, narrative, documentary and trash B movie meta narratives, which paints an evocative portrait of an underseen American underclass.

Co-written by Australian avantgarde director Courtin-Wilson, WARM BLOOD marks the feature debut of skater-turned-filmmaker Charnoski and his producer Coan “Buddy” Nichols. The pair began making DIY skate films in the late 90s and shot the dreamy super-8 sequences for Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park.

“Nobly transgressive …

Feels like a lost piece of cinema from the No Wave era that reveled in the New York underground, only relocated to NorCal.” – The Moveable Fest

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MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

FEATURES PAGE 37

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DOCUMENTARIES

TIME11DAY SEPT | CINEMA 10 SUN SEPTXX| 12.45pm

A LIFE ON THE FARM Dir. Oscar Harding | 2022 | UK | 75 mins NSW REMIERE + Q&A WITH PRODUCER DOMINIK PLATON When filmmaker Oscar Harding's grandfather passed away, his family inherited an extraordinary video tape - a feature-length home movie from neighbour Charles Carson, which can best be described as "Monty Python meets The Texas Chainsaw Massacre".

But there's so much more to the man than his bizarre videos - Charles was an inventor, an outsider artist, a farmer, and a unique figure.

Laced with interviews from friends, community members, and associates, as well as OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 40 DOCUMENTARIES

REVELATION PERTH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

appearances from Derrick Beckles (TV Carnage) and Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher (The Found Footage Film Festival), A Life on the Farm is a fascinating and laugh-out-loud documentary about one man’s creativity, the wonder of found video recordings, and life on the farm.

“A must-see documentary that is at times disturbing, but ultimately heartwarming.” - Filmink “Quirky perfection” - Documentary Drive OFFICIAL SELECTION

CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2022

TIME ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 DAY - SUNXX25SEPT SEPT

CIRCUS OF THE SCARS: THE INSIDER ODYSSEY OF THE JIM ROSE CIRCUS SIDESHOW Dir. Chicory Wees | 2022 | USA | 95 mins | AUS PREMIERE A scrappy sensational sideshow revival act playing Seattle dive bars suddenly launches into the big time, riding the same wave that brought grunge rock crashing into mainstream culture. This microbudget documentary follows the infamous Jim Rose Circus Sideshow on a relentless and controversial world tour. Sold out audiences gape in horror and howl with laughter, but behind-the-scenes, inner struggles and battles with their maniacal hype master push the troupe ever closer to an early implosion.

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CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2022

Why did Slug the Sword Swallower choose to tattoo his entire body and become The Enigma? Why did the young Torture King stick pins into his arms in grade school?

Why did the eccentric pharmacist from Montana leave his high-paying pharmacy job to have his stomach pumped nightly?

And what inspired the Amazing Mister Lifto to lift two steam irons from his...?

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 41

SAT 10 SEPT | 11.15am | CINEMA 10

EXPOSING MUYBRIDGE Dir. Marc Shaffer | 2021 | USA | 88 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Exposing Muybridge tells the story of trailblazing 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge, who changed the world with his camera. Muybridge set the course for the development of cinema when he became the first photographer to capture something moving faster than the human eye can see--Leland Stanford's galloping horses. He also produced a sprawling and spectacular landscape catalog, ranging from Alaska to Central America, Utah to California.

Artful, resilient, selfish, naive,

eccentric, deceitful--Muybridge is a complicated, imperfect man and his story drips with ambition and success, loss and betrayal, near death experiences and even murder. "The machine cannot lie," Stanford declared of Muybridge's pioneering motion images. But what about the photographer? More than a century after his death, Muybridge's photographs have never ceased to seduce cutting-edge artists, scientists, innovators, and general viewers alike. Narrated by Gary Oldman.

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PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

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DOC NYC 2021

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

F@CK THIS JOB Dir. Vera Krichevskaya | 2021 | UK/GERMANY | 88 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE In 2008, Natasha, a newly rich woman, decides to open an independent TV station in Russia and builds an open-minded team of outcasts. By 2020, Natasha has lost everything to Russia's war between Propaganda and Truth.

Ten turbulent years behind the scenes at Russian TV channel Dozhd, following its flamboyant founder, Natasha Sindeeva.

What starts as a lifestyle channel ‘for normal people’ becomes one of Russia’s few independent news broadcasters. And also one of Vladimir Putin’s loudest rivals – with all the dangers involved.

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DOC NYC 2021

From a partying socialite who doesn’t even vote, Natasha Sindeeva becomes a determined force opposing Putin’s autocracy.

Slowly but surely, Dozhd’s reporting on subjects such as the situation in Ukraine and the downing of the MH17 plane, puts the channel further and further at odds with Putin.

Sindeeva and her co-workers are threatened, intimidated, censored and evicted from their studios. And when Dozhd is branded a ‘foreign agent’ by the government, the problems enter a whole new phase.

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THESSALONIKI DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL 2022

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MOVIES THAT MATTER FESTIVAL 2022

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ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

GIRL GANG Dir. Susanne Regina Meures | 2021 | SWITZERLAND | 98 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Shot over the course of four years, Swiss film-maker Susanne Regina Meures’ documentary GIRL GANG is fascinating and disturbing in equal measure.

The film follows Leonie, a teen influencer who lives on the outskirts of Berlin. She’s got a million followers and counting, and hordes of adoring fans. But the pressure to produce content is massive and she begins to struggle. Seeing economical potential in her internet stardom, her parents fire her agent and step into the role of full-time managers. As Leonie ventures OFFICIAL SELECTION

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HOT DOCS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

into the perils of puberty, her parents are suddenly faced with a difficult situation: to protect Leonie from the dangers of the internet as parents should or push her to work as her manager. This is a modern fairy tale about cyber-servitude, a girl with more followers than friends as she tries to strike a balance between the pressures of popularity, the murky role of parent/manager and child and branding herself within a new technological and financial system that will ultimately swallow its young.

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DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL 2022

SUN 11 SEPT | 11.00am | CINEMA 10

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SXSW 2022

I GET KNOCKED DOWN

PRESENTED BY

Dir. Dunstan Bruce, Sophie Robinson | 2022 UK | 88 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Dunstan Bruce (the lead singer of Chumbawamba) is 59 and he's struggling with the fact that the world seems to be going to hell in a handcart He is angry and frustrated. How does a middleaged, retired radical, who feels invisible get back up again?

You will remember the song but did you know Chumbawamba had been an anarchist U.K. band for 15 years before “Tubthumping” invaded the airwaves (and every drunken pub singalong) in 1997. They had been playing and releasing aggressive political punk rock

and touring the world before that song topped charts across the globe. In this film, Chumbawamba singer Dunstan Bruce aims to set the record straight on the band and their experience with the mainstream.

A thought-provoking and quirky look at how to change consumerist culture from inside the beast, I Get Knocked Down is also a personal story of one man reflecting on his wild past and his enduring quest to make a difference as one gets older in a culture continuously obsessed with the new.

“It’s at its best when it’s organically interrogating how punk rock ages in a way that feels vulnerable and true. We all get knocked down. The question is how many times we can get back up again in our lives.” - Brian Tallerico, RogerEbert.com

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 45

SUN 11 SEPT | 2.45pm | CINEMA 10

IN THE COURT OF THE CRIMSON KING

PRESENTED BY

Dir. Toby Amies | 2021 | UK | 86 mins NSW PREMIERE What began as a straightforward documentary about the cult rock band King Crimson as it turned 50, mutated into an exploration of time, death, family, and the transcendent power of music to change lives. But with jokes.

The documentary explores the unique creative environment of King Crimson, one in which freedom and responsibility

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SXSW 20222

PAGE 46 DOCUMENTARIES

conspire to place extraordinary demands on the band's members - only alleviated by the applause of an audience whose adoration threatens to make their lives even harder. It's a rewarding and perilous space in which the extraordinary is possible, nothing is certain, and not everyone survives intact.

“One of the finest rock documentaries I’ve ever seen.” - Kyle Smith National Review OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

"A delightful and skillfully crafted documentary that perfectly encapsulates Mignola’s work.

Even if you have only a slight grasp of comic books and who Mignola is, I encourage you to seek the film out." - Brant Lewis Slay Away

MIKE MIGNOLADRAWING MONSTERS Dir. Jim Demonakos & Kevin Konrad Hanna | 2022 | USA | 98 mins NSW PREMIERE The definitive story of one of the most influential and important comic book creators of all time.

When comic book creator Mike Mignola created Hellboy, he unleashed a visionary comic book character and launched an entire universe populated by unique heroes and creatures, misfits and monsters.

Demonakos and Hanna’s revealing documentary takes the viewer into the world of the artist including never-before-seen interviews conducted with the legendary creator at his studio, OFFICIAL SELECTION

REVELATION PERTH INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

drawing demonstrations, behindthe-scenes footage from comic book conventions, and so much more.

Featuring in-depth interviews with Mignola alongside appearances from the likes of Patton Oswalt, Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Rebecca Sugar and Victor LaValle, Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters is a film for fans of the Hellboy universe and the Hellboy movies, but more than this, it’s a film for anyone interested in creativity and the imagination.

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POPCORN FRIGHTS FILM FESTIVAL 2022

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ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

NIGHTCLUBBING: THE BIRTH OF PUNK ROCK IN NYC Dir. DANNY GARCIA | 2022 | SPAIN | 80 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Nightclubbing is the first-ever documentary about the renowned New York City nightclub Max's Kansas City (1965-1981) which made an indelible impact on the worlds of music, fashion, art, culture and the creation of the city’s punk rock scene.

Delve into the history of Max's and its famous back room, where you would find everyone from Andy Warhol, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground to David Bowie, Iggy Pop and the New York Dolls. Anything went at Max's

PAGE 48 DOCUMENTARIES

and sex and drugs weren’t only commonplace in the bathrooms, but in the entire club. Max’s was also an early safe haven for the city’s LGBTQ crowd including Candy Darling, Holly Woodlawn and Jackie Curtis. With unique archival footage and exclusive interviews, NIGHTCLUBBING features rare and unseen footage of Iggy & The Stooges, New York Dolls, Sid Vicious and Wayne/ Jayne County as well as classic footage from Johnny Thunders and The Heartbreakers.

"The scuzziness, excitement and history-making music of 70s club Max’s Kansas City thunders through Danny Garcia’s nostalgic documentary... those were the days." - The Gaurdian

SUN 11 SEPT | 1.30pm | CINEMA 11

WINNER BEST DOCUMENTARY

MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL 2022

NO BAD GUYS Dir. George Gittoes | 2022 | USA/AUSTRALIA | 81 mins NSW PREMIERE Englewood in Southside Chicago began to be called Chiraq when there were more deaths reported there, annually, than US soldiers killed in the combined wars of Iraq and Afghanistan.

George Gittoes who has spent the last 50 years covering wars as an artist, filmmaker and photographer turns his attention to the US and spends three years on May Block, the epicentre of gun violence. The situation gets too real when three of the characters are killed during filming. Between January and October 2021 there were 700-gun deaths and 3,766 woundings, doubling the casualty figures of 2018, when filming began.

No Bad Guys is an intimate and immersive,character-based film following the lives of both the gun-carrying perpetrators and the bereaved families of the victims. When asked “Who are the Bad Guys doing this to you?” the repeated answer is “There are no Good Buys of Bad Guys– it is other guys on other blocks just like us.” Everyone wants to see an end to the violence while the cycle of revenge turns relentlessly.

HAUNTED BURQA Dir. Hellen Rose | 2022 | 15 MINS | AFGHANISTAN

A deep and moving autobiographical short film experiencing a day in the life under the burqa for an Australian national.

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“You haven’t made it in the Melbourne music industry unless you’ve appeared in Fred’s Pub strip” – Rowland S. Howard

SAT 10 SEPT | 7.20pm | CINEMA 11

PUB: THE MOVIE Dir. Andrew Leavold | 2022 | AUSTRALIA | 105 mins NSW PREMIERE + Q&A WITH DIRECTOR ANDREW LEAVOLD AND FRED NEGRO! From the director of The Search for Weng Weng (SUFF 2014) comes a film as loud and delightfully irreverent as its subject, Fred Negro!

Fred Negro is an infamous Melbourne ratbag whose role in the local music scene cannot be underestimated: a musician and artist, an impresario and familiar local barfly, a satirist and cartoonist who chronicled his beloved St Kilda as the heart of musical talent in his weekly Pub comic strip. He takes audiences through the dirty and mythic Melbourne music scene, regaling stories that also reflect on the changing face of

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modern cities’ role in birthing the future of music. For his new film, director Andrew Leavold works off a wealth of archival material – photos, recordings, gig videos, newspaper clippings, fanzines, fliers, TV appearances and live performances – as well as new footage of the bars and pubs of St Kilda. Featuring a line-up of music legends including Tim Rogers (You Am I), Greg Macainsh (Skyhooks), Paulie Stewart (Painters and Dockers) and many more, Pub: The Movie is not to be missed by lovers of local rock and fans of documentaries.

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MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

STILL STOKED Dir. Paul Surety | 2022 | UK | 61 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Unlike most skateboarders of his generation, UK skate legend Sean Goff is refusing to give up.

Now well into his fifties, his skills may have diminished, but his love for adrenalin hasn’t. After skating as a pro in the ‘80s, he kept on competing, sticking two fingers up at the ageing process.

Now, he’s been told that another injury could permanently disable him. Sean’s response? He enters Vert Attack – a dangerous aerial contest on a terrifying 12ft high ramp. Not being able to skate is scarier than not being OFFICIAL SELECTION

ATLANTA UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL 2022

able to walk. This featurelength film with exclusive and unrestricted access to Sean, his family, friends and unseen 8mm archive is the story of one man’s determination to keep doing what makes him happy, even if it means risking everything.

With interviews from skating legends such as Tony Hawk, it’s a meditation on getting old and ‘raging against the dying of the light’ through the lens of the skateboarding explosion of the ‘70s and ‘80s.

WINNER

BRIGHTON ROCKS FILM FESTIVAL 2022

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SANTA CRUZ FILM FESTIVAL 2022

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 51

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

TERRA FEMME

Dir. Courtney Stephens 2021 | USA | 62 mins NSW PREMIERE

A beautifully realised essay film comprised of amateur travelogues filmed by women in the 1920s-1950s. The film weaves between geographical essay, personal inquiry, and historical speculation, examining these films as both private documents and accidental ethnographies. The films present a new type of traveler: no longer

a male seeker of conquests, she might be a divorcee on a tour of biblical gardens, or a widow on a cruise to the North Pole.

BUILDING AN EDGE Dir. Britany Gunderson | 2022 | USA | 4 MINS

Seeking out the edges of a landscape you've never been to, we keep finding ourselves at the centre of something.

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DADA SHIP Dir. Gwendolyn Audrey Foster | 2019 | 4 MINS A Dadaist time travel film.

A hand-made split-screen film using the technique of disrupted stereoscopy and collage détournement of found images.

Representing the world through women’s eyes, the films raise questions about female representation in the archive, the role of amateurism in early non-fiction filmmaking, and the politics of the Western gaze.

DEMANDS OF ORDINARY DEVOTION Dir. Eva Giolo | 2022 | BELGIUM/ITALY | 12 MINS Shot in 16mm, this beautiful riddle of shapes and gestures playfully celebrates both creation and labour.

REAR VIEW DIR. LULU KEATING | 2022 | CANADA | 2 MINS

A view to the future through a backwards facing cameracreation and labour.

FRI 9 SEPT | 5.45pm | CINEMA 11

THE PAWNSHOP Dir. Lukasz Kowalski | 2022 | POLAND | 81 mins NSW PREMIERE Black docu-comedy from the largest pawn shop in Poland.

Times are tough, bankruptcy looms, but then the two choleric proprietors get a bright idea. A hilarious, heartwarming film.

The humour is pitch-black and the cast a true pack of characters. You can find everything your heart desires in second-hand toasters and DVD players at the secondhand palace of the two choleric pawnbrokers, Jola and Wiesiek, who run the largest pawn shop in Poland. You can also have a sausage and a pat on the back if life is hard and your drunk husband has been a pain. But times are tough in the once bustling industrial town, and bankruptcy is looming until Jola

and Wiesiek come up with a fresh idea to save the business and give the locals new hope for the town. 'The Pawnshop' is a darkly funny docu-comedy with a heart, and with moments of genuine caring. And though they snap at each other, the customers and their three young employees, the two proprietors also see fit to give a homeless man a bowl of soup and a job shovelling snow, amid all the very low-level conflicts that surround them in their surreal Wunderkammer of a shop.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 53

“There’s something so darn charming about the low-stakes world of The Pez Outlaw …

Unlike the chalky sweet Pez candy, it never leaves a bad taste in our mouths.” – /Film

SAT 10 SEPT | 1.15pm | CINEMA 11

THE PEZ OUTLAW Dir. Amy Bandlien Storkel, Bryan Storkel | 2022 | USA | 85 mins NSW PREMIERE Corporate espionage thriller.

Globe-trotting heist caper.

Sweet rom-com. True-crime documentary. The Pez Outlaw is all these things and more.

This incredible fish-out-of-water story follows the adventures of Steve Glew, a small-town Michigan man, who boards a plane for Eastern Europe soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall. His mission is to locate a secret factory that holds the key to the most desired and valuable Pez dispensers. If he succeeds, he will pull his family out of debt and finally quit his job.

Steve becomes the hero of his own adventure, smuggling the rarest of goods into the U.S. and making millions in the process.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

PAGE 54 DOCUMENTARIES

SXSW 20222

It was all magical, until his archnemesis, The Pezident (CEO of Pez USA) decided to destroy him.

Glew emerges as a fascinating subject for this documentary executive-produced by Chris Smith (Tiger King, The Yes Men).

A man desperately searching for meaning, joy and dignity – all of which he found upon becoming the self-anointed “Pez Outlaw”. Ingeniously, directors Amy Bandlien Storkel and Bryan Storkel have Glew play himself in re-enactments, letting him tell his story as he sees it: a neo-noir spy drama and action-packed heist fantasy that would do his favourite author, Tom Clancy, proud.

OFFICIAL SELECTION

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL 2022

ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT

ZERO BUDGET HEROES: THE LEGEND OF CHRIS SEAVER AND LOW-BUDGET PICTURES Dir. Zach Olivares | 2022 | USA | 105 mins AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE Set against the filming of their latest effort, "Zero Budget Heroes" explores the life and times of Low Budget Pictures, an independent film group located out of western New York. With over 50 feature length "crapsterpieces" under their belt, this documentary uncovers the secrets of how this group actually works - much less exists.

In the early 1990s, armed with nothing but a VHS camcorder and unabashed love for genre films, Chris Seaver has created and cultivated a dedicated fan following around the globe with such “crapsterpieces” as “Mulva: Zombie Ass Kicker”, “Wet Heat”,

“Filthy McNasty”, among many others. The scripts are zany, the dialogue is grotesque, the cast are not professional actors. But year after year, members of this ensemble keep coming back to do it all over again.

With over 30 interviews with former and present members of the Low Budget Pictures family, including legendary B-movie actor Debbie Rochon (Tromeo & Juliet) and Hollywood screenwriter Trent Haaga (68 Kill). This doc shines a little light on these unsung heroes to show us exactly how to (or how not to) make a movie.

DOCUMENTARIES PAGE 55

2022 SUFF TEAM FESTIVAL DIRECTOR PROGRAMMERS TAKE48 DIRECTORS

KATHERINE BERGER NATHAN SENN KATHERINE BERGER STEFAN POPESCU CHRIS DAVID & LAUREN BARRETT

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

ELIZABETH BERGER

MARKETING

EMILY CHEN & LEANNE LE

PROGRAM CONSULTANTS

CELIA POUZET & JACK SARGEANT

FESTIVAL MC

JAIMIE KATZ

VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR STEPHANIE GAL SUFF 2022 KEY ARTIST

BEN ELY

SUFF PATRONS

DEB BAUMANN & IAN LEITHHEAD

THANK YOU TO OUR BOARD MEMBERS, VOLUNTEERS AND PARTNERS AGAR BURGOS, ALEX MCKENZIE, ALEX MUNT, ALISON DEBOO, ALISON MCKAY, AMIEL COURTIN-WILSON, ANASTASIIA CHERNAYA, ANDREW LEAVOLD, ANGUS CLUNIES-ROSS, ANJA DZIERSK, ASPASIA AND JAIMIE LEONARDER, AUSTIN KENNEDY, BELINDA DYER, BEN ELY, BOJANA MARIC, BRYN TILLY, CARLOS CARDENAS, CHRIS SMITH, CHRISTIAN FREI, CLAY TATUM, DANNY GARCIA, DEAN BETRAM, DENNIS IVANOV, DOMINIK PLATON, DOV KORNITS, EMMA VRANICH, FELIX HUBBLE, FRED NEGRO, FREYA VERVERIS, GEORGE GITTOES, GEORGIE ZUZAK, GILLIAN KAYROOZ, GINA RUBIANO, GREG FERRIS, HARRISON WILD, HEATHER DRAUGHTY, HELLEN ROSE, HOWARD DUGGAN, ISABELLA FEROS, IVAN AND LILY SEMCIW, JACK SHIT, JAMES HEWISON, JAMES MOROSINI, JANINE DE BRY, JASMINA VIGNJEVIC, JON NIGHTINGALE, JOSH MCEVOY, JULIAN KYNSH, JUSTYNA KORONKIEWICZ, KATE FITZPATRICK, KAYLINN SOLAZZO, KIRK COOPER, LAURA SALDANA, MARC COLLISTER, MIRO ERTEL, NIKITA LEIGH-PRITCHARD, NOAH LANG, OLEH SENTSOV, PARIS POMPOR, PAUL SURETY, PAUL TONTA, PLATON THEODORIS, PRAKASH PRABHAKHARAN, REBECCA NIVEN, ROM ABOULOUKME, SELIN KARLI, SHEA BENNETT, SIMON FOSTER, SOPHIE ROBINSON, THE BERGERS, THE CARTERS, TIM O'CONNELL, TOBY AMIES, TULAH BAKER, VERA KRICHEVSKAYA, WOUTER JANSEN, ZACH OLIVARES.

PAGE 56 DOCUMENTARIES

SHORT FILM SESSIONS

HOMEBAKED AUSSIE SHORTS SAT 10 SEPT | 11.00am | CINEMA 11

SHORT FILM SESSION

From tales of the extraordinary: mythical mermaids, and interdimensional travel, to tales of revolution and crime capers gone wrong; the future of Australian film is as bright and wild as ever!

101 DAYS OF LOCKDOWN Dir. Jelena Sinik & Nicolette Axiak | 2022 | 02:10 | AUS | WORLD PREMIERE 101 Days of Lockdown explores the mundane domesticity of aloneness of the 2021 Australian pandemic. Following the lives of two best friends on opposite sides of Sydney, one second of animation per day documents moods and moments constituting the similarities and differences of life in the Western and Eastern Suburbs.

HATCHBACK Dir. Riley Sugars | 2021 | 12:00 | AUS | SYDNEY PREMIERE Vince and Ted try to dispose of a body, but things don’t go to plan. Vince (Stephen Curry - The Castle) attempts to dispose of a dead body for the mob, but when he reluctantly enlists the help of his dim-witted brother-inlaw Ted (Jackson Tozer - Rostered On), things don’t go to plan.

BATTLE OF GAMAN Dir. Auryn Rotten | 2021 | 06:35 | AUS | AUS PREMIERE In the Battle of Gaman, you carry your demons on your back. It is a place between realities where you will do anything to take back control. Set in an art exhibition space, coloured with kabuki, tigers, and sequinned bikinis – the Battle of Gaman queers’ discourse and bends time.

BLEED AUSTRALIAN Dir. Kii Belling | 2022 | 10:26 | AUS Vigilante couple Matt and Tahlia get much more than they bargained for when they stop in for a simple drink at a secret Nazi watering hole. Tensions mount and action kicks off in this explosive grindhouse inspired thriller.

JUNGLE Dir. Kieran Wheeler | 2021 | 15:42 | AUS A drug addicted young couple steal a kilo of heroin from a local drug dealer, but the plan soon unravels when the boy overdoses and the girl is left all alone in a hostile world with criminals closing in on her.

COME WITH ME Dir. Trevor Clarence | 20222 | 03:25 | AUS A bored couple is trying to decide what to have for dinner when a portal to another dimension opens up in their living room.

PAGE 58 SHORTS

HOMEBAKED AUSSIE SHORTS SHORT FILM SESSION SAT 10 SEPT | 11.00am | CINEMA 11 From tales of the extraordinary: mythical mermaids, and interdimensional travel, to tales of revolution and crime capers gone wrong; the future of Australian film is as bright and wild as ever!

PEBBLE

SHALLOW BREATH

Dir. Anastasia James | 2020 | 06:54 | AUS | SYD PREMIERE Posey gets side-tracked on a customer service phone call and begins to overshare details about difficulties in her life, using the metaphor of a pebble being left in her shoe.

Dir. Robbie Studsor | 2021 | 05:03 | AUS | SYDNEY PREMIERE A drowning survivor must confront the dangerous fixation she has on the near fatal accident, and the woman who saved her.

PINK REEF

Dir. Tristan Barr | 2022 | 06:10 | AUS & KOREA | AUS PREMIERE A pilot crashes in remote mountains, and before his badly injured co-pilot dies he hands a camera with a haunting message in Korean “The judgement day is coming..".

As he seeks salvation he is haunted by a mysterious woman who has survived without human contact for the past 20 years. rth.

SISYPHUS

Dir. Chloe de Brito | 2021 | 10:20 | AUS | SYDNEY PREMIERE A mermaid struggles with identity in an alienating suburban world without running water.

Dir. Edward King | 2021 | 07:47 | AUS | WORLD PREMIERE In a mechanised world of rigorous order and repetition, one worker attempts to break free from this cycle, unknowingly setting in motion a new sequence of inescapable certainty.

REVOLT

THE DEBUTANTE BALL

Dir. David Burrowes | 2021 | 10:05 | AUS When a disgruntled climate activist bumps into the CEO of a massive oil conglomerate in her local coffee shop she recognises that this is her big shot to finally DO something about the end of the world.

THE SECRET OF MT TROLLA

VISION OF THE VAMPYRE Dir. James Caley | 2022 | 06:10 | GERMANY | AUS PREMIERE When Vivien takes on a modelling job on a fashion shoot a dark secret within her is already seeking her next victim..

Dir. Cameron Davies | 2022 | 07:48 | AUS Mandy, a young woman struggling with a dissociative streak, makes her way across her city in the final hours before an unnamed existential threat ends all life on earth.

SHORTS PAGE 59

LOVE/SICK SUN 11 SEPT | 11.15am | CINEMA 11 A SUFF favourite, this session of salacious shorts will stimulate, arouse, and offend in equal measure…

Just what you need to get your blood pumping on a Sunday morning!

SHORT FILM SESSION

IN THE FLESH Dir. Daphne Gardner | 2022 | 12:45 | USA Jerking off with her bathtub faucet, Tracey’s desires, fears and anger reach a new climax.

REPRESSION Dir. Kevin K. Lee | 2022 | 12:12 | AUS A sexual predator roams the streets of Sydney in search of his desire for young Asian men.

ASPIRATIONAL SLUT Dir. Caroline Lindy | 2021 | 14:38 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A newly heartbroken woman, on the advice of a pizza guy, learns to separate love from sex and over a series of wild random hookups, she learns to put them back together.

LATE SUMMER Dir. Ryan Steel | 2022 | 11:11 | CANADA | AUS PREMIERE A young loner grows attached to his camp counsellor at a haunted summer camp.

SQUID IN THE OVEN Dir. Sasha Aubort | 2021 | 08:00 | AUS | SYD PREMIERE A depraved fishmonger helps a young bogan escape abuse by impregnating her with a squid.

BABY BOOM Dir. Thomas Lunde | 2021 | 13:31 | NORWAY | AUS PREMIERE The middle-aged alcoholic Runar believe he has scored the perfect date. Things take a strange turn when he realizes he's impregnated with her alien eggs.

PRETTY PICKLE Dir. Jim Vendiola | 2022 | 12:31 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Meet Sam and Sam—Samuel, a young man, and his new girlfriend, Samantha—in the “honeymoon phase” of their relationship. As Samuel sinks further down an Othellian spiral while privately dwelling on one of Samantha’s persisting quirks, he is led to a nightmarish discovery.

TWO PEOPLE, ONE RING Dir. Evan Richards | 2020 | 08:00 | USA/UK | AUS PREMIERE In a hotel room, two lovers who are recently engaged, live within their own rules of attraction.

REFUSED CLASSIFICATION UNICORN Dir. Chris Elena | 2021 | 13:19 | AUS Three people in love must justify their relationship and existence to the MPAA: Motion Picture Association Of America.

PAGE 60 SHORTS

Dir. Matt Porter | 2022 | 14:03 | USA | SYD PREMIERE A bisexual man meets an attractive couple to explore the possibilities of life as a ‘unicorn.'-- a drama free, emotionally non-threatening third.

LSD FACTORY SHORT FILM SESSION ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT Eyeball-melting experimentations that will take you on a trip down the rabbit hole of the year’s most visceral and aesthetically adventurous films.

@SCROLL_ALICE

Dir. Celine Efenast | 2021 | 03:37 | UK | AUS PREMIERE An experimental short about our love-hate relationship with Instagram and our photoediting mania.

ENJOYING A NICE LIFE Dir. Rainbow Timothy | 2021 | 04:46 | USA | AUS PREMIERE This little planet may soon shake us off like fleas. It really doesn’t matter, and I bet the trees won’t miss us, but I bet the earth will breathe a sigh of relief as she erodes this condom of concrete that we imposed upon her.

SWALLOW THE UNIVERSE Dir. Nieto | 2021 | 12:00 | FRANCE | AUS PREMIERE The extravagant blood-and-thunder saga of a young child lost in Manchuria’s deep jungles.

AU REVOIR JEROME! Dir. Adam Sillard, Gabrielle Selnet, Chloé Farr | 2021 | 07:44 | FRANCE | AUS PREMIERE Having just arrived in paradise, Jerome sets out to find his wife Maryline. In the course of his search, he sinks into a surreal and colourful world in which no one seems to be able to help him.

BAD ACID Dir. Sam Fox | 2021 | 06:34 | USA | SYDNEY PREMIERE Sheila, a self-obsessed aerobics fanatic, accidentally ingests toxic hair gel during her morning workout.

CHICKS Dir. Geena Marie Hernandez | 2022 | 12:22 | USA | WORLD PREMIERE A girly slumber party unravels when a shy teen becomes the centre of a bizarre night time ritual.

IN THE BIG YARD INSIDE THE TEENY-WEENY POCKET Dir. Yoko Yuki | 2022 | 06:37 | JAPAN | AUS PREMIERE A charming animation rhyme that weaves together the many days of observing, recording, and experimenting.

PARACOSM Dir. Adam Van Dyke |2022 | 10:11 | USA | WORLD PREMIERE A lonely woman takes a mysterious pill that throws her into the drug trip of her life...or death.

SPECK Dir. Diane Christiansen | 2022 | 03:15 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A femme hand is both drawn to and frightened by a world of interplanetary wonder.

UP CLOSE Dir. Sam Gurry | 2021 | 03:15 | USA | AUS PREMIERE An animated exhale of earthly hungers.

VADIM ON A WALK Dir. Sasha Svirsky | 2021 | 07:57 | RUSSIA | AUS PREMIERE Finally, Vadim goes out of a tight square space where he has been used to sitting.

YOUR HOUSEPLANTS ARE SCREAMING Dir. Benjamin Roberds | 2021 | 07:19 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Human houseplants are held captive by a giant plant creature.

SHORTS PAGE 61

REALITY BITES ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT SHORT FILM SESSION A program of engaging, real-life narratives in short bite-sized pieces; truth is often so much stranger than fiction, and these tales of real-life need to be seen to be believed!

ABYSS Dir. Jeppe Lange | 2022 | 13:26 | DENMARK | AUS PREMIERE Abyss is a chain of 10.000 images found by an Artificial Intelligence and depicts humanity as seen through the eyes of an awakening consciousness.

RADIANT REPTILIAN Dir. Alexandra Neuman | 2021 | 09:45 | USA | WORLD PREMIERE Radiant Reptilian portrays a day in Los Angeles with a more-than-human being named Tiamat Legion Medusa.

TEGOYO Dir. Guillermo de Oliveira | 2022 | 07:45 | SPAIN | WORLD PREMIERE In 1968, German filmmaker Werner Herzog recorded in the Island of Lanzarote his film ‘Even Dwarfs Started Small’. More than half a century later, a very unusual scientist will try to recover sounds from the past.

DEERWOOD'S DEATHTRAP Dir. James P. Gannon | 2022 | 09:00 | USA | AUS PREMIERE 50 years ago, Jack and Betty were hit by a train and survived. This is their story.

SPACE LADY

MARA

Dir. Sophia Feuer | 2021 | 16:53 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Isolated on the eerie plains of rural Colorado, Susan (aka 'The Space Lady') is beginning to receive notoriety for her early contributions to electronic pop music after decades of obscurity and homelessness.

Dir. Catharina Shuerenberg | 2022 | 14:00 | USA, GERMANY Mara explores the female body as a breeding ground for artistic expression and liberation for the female psyche.

STRANGER THAN ROTTERDAM WITH SARA DRIVER Dir. Lewie Kloster & Noah Kloster | 2021 | 09:49 | USA | AUS PREMIERE In 1982, the completion of Jim Jarmusch's sophomore film, Stranger Than Paradise, hinged on producer Sara Driver's willingness to smuggle one of the world's rarest and most controversial films across the Atlantic Ocean.

PAGE 62 SHORTS

THE MAN FROM TORMENTOR Dir. Cal Murphy Barton | 2021 | 09:00 | UK | AUS PREMIERE On an abandoned colliery in the Forest of Dean, a rubber engineer explores the sexual potential of junked scrubber-dryers.

WHAT I IMAGINED THE DYING FLY, WITH THE BROKEN LEG, WAS FEELING Dir. Hugh Clegg | 2021 | 04:41 | UK | AUS PREMIERE LIn his dying moments, a fly is given a voice.

RE:ANIMATION SHORT FILM SESSION ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT BEWARE OF TRAINS Dir. Emma Calder | 2022 | 12:47 | UK A woman with anxiety is consumed by four preoccupations – a chance encounter on a train, her dying father, her daughter’s safety and dreams of murder.

From claymation, puppetry and paintwork to digital design, collage and rotoscoping, devour this eclectic selection of animated curios from around the world!

OLDBOY'S APPLES BOOBS (LOLOS) Dir. Marie Valade | 2022 | 08:00 | CANADA A woman's journey exploring her love-hate relationship with her breasts.

CRUMBS OF LIFE Dir. KATARZYNA MIECHOWICZ | 2020 | 07:00 | POLAND The absurd adventures of inhabitants of a small seaside town

GRANNY'S SEXUAL LIFE Dir. Urška Djukić | 2020 | 07:00 | POLAND A trip into granny’s youth and intimate memories illustrate the lives of Slovenian women at the start of the 20th century.

KRASUE Dir. Ryo Hirano | 2021 | 12:06 | JAPAN | AUS PREMIERE During gang warfare, a drifter encounters the ghost of a floating female head with guts exposed.

Dir. Brad Hock | 2020 | 06:50 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Beyond the hedge, beneath the well, ancient spirits sing their song to reawaken the mystery of the hidden apple..

PARKED Dir. Yoon Hei Cho | 2011 | 03:52 | USA/ SOUTH KOREA | AUS PREMIERE An inconvenient attack at a parking lot.

Physical viewing of a random panic attack.

SEMEN RETENTION FOR A BETTER TOMORROW Dir. Alexandra Neuman | 2022 | 05:55 | USA | AUS PREMIERE How can we restore the wetness of our drought-stricken landscapes and so many famished vaginas?

SOMETHING IN THE GARDEN Dir. Algo en el Jardín | 2021 | 06:00 | CHILE | SYDNEY PREMIERE Nighttime in the suburbs and the stillness is interrupted by a strange presence.

TENNIS BALL ON HIS DAY OFF Dir. Julian Glander | 2021 | 02:35 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A tennis ball tries to enjoy his last day of vacation before a new season.

THE HORK Dir. Nicole Stafford | 2021 | 03:58 | USA | AUS PREMIERE The stoic god of PowerUnrecognized waits for unrelenting Greed to consume her power.

SOFT ANIMALS Dir. Renee Zhan | 2021 | 03:02 | UK | SYD PREMIERE Two ex-lovers cross paths at a train station.

SHORTS PAGE 63

SH!T SCARED ONLINE ONLY | MON 12 - SUN 25 SEPT SHORT FILM SESSION Tales of terrifying hauntings, demonic possessions, deranged serial killers and extreme blood-splattering, bone-shattering body horror – truly the stuff nightmares are made of!

BUG BITES Dir. Daniel DelPurgatorio | 2021 | 07:59 | USA Some house guests are a real pain in the ass.

GOOD BOY

SLEEP

Dir. Eros V | 2022 | 09:00 | UK | AUS PREMIERE A tiny, adorable Pomeranian turns out to be a psychotic killing machine,

Dir. Alexandra Pechman | 2022 | 03:46 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A woman struggles with her lifelong fear of home invasion, in this three-and-a-halfminute horror film told in a single shot.

CORPSE BONG Dir. Alec Basse | 2022 | 10:52 | USA | AUS PREMIERE When three friends get the idea to turn their friend’s corpse into a bong, they accidentally raise hell.

HELL GIG Dir. Ella Gale | 2022 | 09:05 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A young woman rescues her best friend from a road trip gone monstrously wrong.

THE FACE SNATCHER Dir. Nicole Daddona & Adam Wilder | 2022 | 03:00 | USA | AUS PREMIERE A rejected beauty queen does whatever they can to win the Miss Christmas pageant.

EARWORM Dir. Bryan M. Ferguson | 2022 | 01:39 | SCOTLAND/USA | AUS PREMIERE An ominous yellow cassette tape falls into the hands of two dimwits. This is one song their ears are not prepared for. Adult Swim presents a rip roaring film about two knuckleheads facing off against a gnarly tape cassette dwelling worm that really wants inside their ear holes.

THE LAMB Dir. Elijah Ziegler | 2021 | 11:01 | USA | AUS PREMIERE While on an awkward first date, timid Charlie tries to maintain his cool with Lucille, an odd and intense young woman who might have some ulterior motives.

PUMPKIN BOY Dir. Trent Shy | 2022 | 01:33 | USA | AUS PREMIERE This Halloween… he’s born.

PAGE 64 SHORTS

TRANSFER Dir. Jonas Govaerts | 2021 | 12:31 | BELGIUM | AUS PREMIERE When serial killer Elias Duyster is visited by his estranged daughter, his hopes for reconciliation fade.

VISITORS Dir. Kenichi Ugana | 2021 | 17:00 | JAPAN Three friends visit the home of their band member who’s cut contact with them, and find him behaving strangely.

From tales of the extraordinary: mythical mermaids, and interdimensional travel, to tales of revolution and crime capers gone wrong; the future of Australian film is as bright and wild as ever!

WTF!

SHORT FILM SESSION FRI 9 SEPT | 7.15pm | CINEMA 10

BUDDYMOVIE Dir. Ryan McGlade | 2022 | 11:48 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Two old friends reunite in the wilderness, over which an angry warehouse holds court.

CHRISTMAS MOVIE Dir. Owen Lawie | 2021 | 06:52 | AUS | SYD PREMIERE Rooming together in a garage, two friends' Christmas eve night escalates into a realm of psychedelic hedonism.

GUTS Dir. Chris McInroy | 2021 | 08:04 | USA | SYD PREMIERE A guy with his guts on the outside of his body really wants a promotion.

HAIRSUCKER Dir. Paddy Jay & Michael Jones | 2022 | 04:16 | AUS | AUS PREMIERE A woman receives a late-night visitor intending to suck away what is most important to her.

HORSE BROTHERS Dir. Milos Mitrovic Faban Velasco | 2022 | 08:00 | CANADA | SYD PREMIERE Two paranoid brothers are consumed with murderous fantasies after a horse convinces them that they are each other’s enemies.

HOUSE ON FIRE Dir. Jess Hole | 2021 | 06:40 | AUS A 6 minute walkthrough of Jane’s home life, as she battles attacks of disgust, seeking the refuge of her bedroom, tongue deep in satan.

MEAT FRIEND Dir. Izzy Lee | 2022 | 08:25 | USA | AUS PREMIERE An ex-con, sentient pile of hamburger meat teaches after-school lessons to a child.

THE BLOOD OF DINOSAURS Dir. Joe Badon | 2022 | 17:38 | USA | AUS PREMIERE Uncle Bobbo teaches children where oil comes from.

TRUCK DAD Dir. Tamir Rawlings / Bradley Oliver Wilkinson | 2022 | 05:17 | USA | AUS PREMIERE 4X4 ways for a father to leave his son…

WE WANT FACES SO BAD Dir. Matthew Van Gessel | 2021 | 11:00 | USA | AUS PREMIERE After an overnight transformation, Alexx joins her faceless friends in their nightly manifesting faces ritual.

SWEET MARY, WHERE DID YOU GO? Dir. Michael Anthony Kratochvil | 2021 | 16:58 | AUS | SYDNEY PREMIERE An escaped convict encounters time travellers from our future, on a journey to understand mortality.

SHORTS PAGE 65