This year’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival will present more than 30 features films and documentaries, and more than 80 short films.
The 2024 event promises a captivating programme delivering unforgettable moments and thought-provoking narratives, sure to resonate with audiences long after the credits roll.
“We’re so pleased with the calibre of this year’s programme,” Revelation Director Richard Sowada says. “It’s a bumper year for local films of all shapes and sizes and we’re backing the creatives behind them with our biggest professional development programme to date. There’s an undeniable momentum driving this year’s programme and we can’t wait to experience it with audiences.”
Coming in from overseas are a bunch of films spanning genres from absurdism and avant-garde cinema, to dark humour, including highlights like Yorgos Lanthimos’ ‘Kinds Of Kindness’ starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe; ‘Hundreds Of Beavers’, a Looney-Tunes-esque slapstick crowd-pleaser; ‘Life’s A Bitch’ telling three seemingly disparate stories involving dogs; ‘Sasquatch Sunset’ documenting the lives of a family of Sasquatch living in Northern California; and ‘The Visitor’, from legendary director Bruce La Bruce.
‘Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound’
Closer to home, Revelation’s Australian features offer fresh perspectives on human relationships and societal norms, including the absurdly stylish, chaotic psychological drama ‘Birdeater’; ‘Stubbornly Here’, an exploration of becoming an adult shot in black and white; and ‘The Lies We Tell Ourselves’ – part mockumentary, part experimental film, part comedy.
Stand-outs from the indie realm include ‘Lousy Carter’, a wonderfully downbeat, sharply dry-witted, deadpan tale of a man-child teaching a graduate class about ‘The Great Gatsby’; ‘Power Alley’, a coming-of-age drama about queer sisterhood, friendship, family, community and women’s experiences; ‘Hesitation Wound’ an unforgettable journey through time and emotion in which a criminal lawyer must make a moral choice; and ‘Kid Snow’ – Paul Goldman’s feature drama which is set to open the festival officially.
Those into fantasy and horror don’t need to look far – ‘Primevals’ is a combinations of ‘50s creature features and ‘70s Saturday matinee TV that was shot in 1994, by renowned stop-motion animator David Allen. ‘Tenement’ is an unexpected horror movie, telling the story of Japanese-Cambodian manga artist Soriya, returning to her childhood home after her mother’s death searching for inspiration and finding something much darker.
'Tenement'
There’ll be a curated selection of retrospective screenings including cult classics like ‘Kids’, ‘Lake Mungo’, ‘Your Sister’s Sister’, and a special 50th anniversary screening of ‘The Parallax View’. Plus, local creatives will be celebrated through ‘Pencilheads – Safari So Good’ and ‘The Epic Of Gilgamesh’. Music lovers will revel in documentary offerings like ‘Born Innocent: The Red Kross Story’, ‘I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago’, ‘Mogwai: If The Stars Had A Sound’, and ‘Green: The Fight For Rock And Roll’.
Art enthusiasts won’t want to miss ‘The Man I Left Behind’ – offering a glimpse into the works of Canadian photojournalist Larry Towell; ‘Blak Douglas Vs The Commonwealth’ about creativity, family, culture and identity; and ‘You Should Have Been Here Yesterday’, an homage to Australia’s early surf culture.
Rev will also welcome the return of the International Family Animation Explosion, a curated collection of family-friendly international short animations; and the closing of the festival with Get Your Shorts On! with the City Of Vincent Film Project, and Life In Pictures.
Check out the full programme.
The 2024 Revelation Perth International Film Festival is on from 3-14 July.
