Revelation Perth International Film Festival’s Director Richard Sowada and Program Director Jack Sargeant share their picks for the festival. . .
Richard Sowada
The strange year for the screen industry internationally just keeps rolling right along, but if there is any positive to come out of COVID it's that it’s forced the filmmakers and the industry as whole around the planet to look at the way they connect with audiences. It’s just so different. The upside is that it’s forced a change across the entire sector and the old structures are either lifting away or morphing into something else. This is something we really like – I think the instability and reinvention is allowing filmmakers and screen artists the opportunity to think differently, and we’re super happy about that.I think one of the most positive results for the Australian sector which is applicable to the world, is that the times have compelled screen artists to distil their craft to the core elements providing films of enormous authenticity and a feeling of being in the moment. I think the ideas are also much more compact, so being able to platform those ideas in the way we do is a great pleasure and honour. I’m liking it and these wholesale industry changes suit us.
As to the exemplars of this in this year’s festival from my perspective, I’d have to say my five favourite children are:
'Jumbo' – beautiful magical realism about a young woman who falls in love with a fairground ride. It’s as simple as that. It’s really very lovely.
'We’re Not Here To F... Spiders' – if you like your films hard and fast, this tasty new Australian thriller is as tight as an alligator’s proverbial and goes where most films fear to tread.
'The Monopoly Of Violence' – about one of the most intelligent documentaries I’ve seen for years and which examines the relationship between authority, violence and the public.
'Freshman Year' – a sensational US indie love story of sorts. This baby ambles along as the characters stumble their way through college life with the sparkiest dialogue and spunkiest performances you’ll see all year.
Get Your Shorts On and City Of Vincent Film Project films – this showcase of WA-produced work includes four films executive produced by the film festival and is as good as it gets. Each and every one is a labour of love and international standard. We’re very proud to be associated with all these films.
Jack Sargeant
It’s almost impossible to find five films that can be said to define the Revelation Perth International Film Festival, but here is at least a rough guide to some of what is in store this year.'Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break' – it was probably the name that attracted me at first, but this movie about the quest for fame, stardom and revenge is rich in the kind of absurdity that always makes me laugh. Plus, it has a cast that includes the likes of Tom Meeten, Johnny Vegas, Steve Oram, and Mandeep Dhillon.
'Bad Girls' – this low-budget thrill ride was a real joy to watch: a heist, gun fights, car chases, kidnapping, and so on. There’s more mayhem, excitement, and insanity in the first few minutes than most films can cram into 90 minutes. The kind of thing you need to see in a cinema with an audience. It really took me back to watching late night screenings of films like 'Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!' I love that energy, that sense of velocity, that those classic b-movies / drive-in movies / grindhouse features have. I think 'Bad Girls' has that same feel.
'Kenny Scharf: When Worlds Collide' – a documentary about visual artist Kenny Scharf, which weaves his biography from childhood, through the art world of '80s New York to the present. Scharf’s art is fascinating and beautiful, brightly coloured, and endlessly imaginative, to me it dances through pop culture, surrealism, street art, and much more. He was close friends with Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat, and there’s a sense of this moment of creativity in NYC that just reimagined the possibilities of art. This is a powerful and often poignant documentary.
'The Night Of The Beast' – there are a handful of coming-of-age films at Revelation this year, including 'A Brixton Tale' and Dennis Hopper’s cult classic 'Out Of The Blue', which is rightly seen as one of the best films of the '80s. But, let’s talk about 'The Night Of The Beast'. A movie about two teenagers planning a trip to see Iron Maiden when they play in Bogota, Columbia. Of course, things so often go wrong when you’re a teenager. This is a film that has a real warmth to it and captures that sense of youth and excitement when you really anticipate something special.
'Delia Derbyshire: The Myths And Legendary Tapes' – I grew up watching 'Doctor Who', and that theme tune was such a part of my childhood. The sense of Delia Derbyshire being a genuine pioneer, exploring the possibilities of sound and music, is really caught in this film, which dramatises her life alongside interviews, archive footage, and Cosey Fanni Tutti exploring Derbyshire’s recordings. I hope people get that sense of possibility from this film. On a side note, Cosey also appears in 'Other, Like Me', the Throbbing Gristle and COUM Transmissions documentary we’re screening.
When I look at the list of titles, and when I think about people like Kenny Scharf and Delia Derbyshire, as well as the filmmakers themselves, I think that sense of the true potentials of creativity runs through the programme at Revelation. Not just this year, but every year. I think there’s something inspiring about all of the films we screen, works that are made by, or about, people who want to tell stories, explore possibilities, and create something important.
When people read the listings, book tickets, and come and watch a movie I hope they get that sense from the programme, the same feeling I get when watching films and pulling it together, which is a feeling that there’s so much to see and do. A sense that – whether it’s when somebody first picks up that camera or tape recorder or paintbrush or when the lights go out in the cinema and you sit back to see someone’s world – you understand everything and anything is possible.
Revelation Perth International Film Festival runs 3-11 July.
