Starting a film festival is one thing. Overseeing it 28 years later, thriving in an industry still feeling the fallout from COVID, is remarkable. Enter Richard Sowada, the cinephile eternally passionate about taking chances and platforming artists willing to take risks.
Revelation Perth International Film Festival began its life in a basement room of a jazz club, showcasing ideas straight from the artistic front, on analogue 16mm film. Today, the event presents more than 200 films. Sowada reflects on those early days.
“I loved cinema. I had worked with the Melbourne Film Festival and built a network with underground filmmakers. And I was wondering, ‘how can I see these movies?’ And I thought, if I'm looking for that, there's gotta be at least one other person looking for that. The screen industry is really conservative in Australia. I would put programming ideas to cinemas, and they would say, ‘that doesn't work’. So I said, I don't need your structure or your cinema. I'm gonna do it myself.”
“I found a space in the Greenwich Club, His Majesty's Theatre, and installed a little cinema there. I drove around in my old car with the screen hanging out and a PA on the back seat. An audience slowly started to develop and I started to get offered films on 75mm, which meant I needed a cinema. So it moved toward a hardtop cinema festival and it's grown ever since. We try to be champions for Australian and international filmmakers prepared to work in a high-risk, tough way. We’re attracted to high risk,” Sowada exclaims.
'Carnival'
Revelation does not attempt to attain a singular theme, but as submissions are received, Sowada and Program Director Jack Sargeant tirelessly watch every entry, responding to conglomerations as they form.
“We get quite a few entries, about five to six hundred a year, and we hunt films as well. Jack and myself look at all the films that are submitted. We're not looking for a theme, the feeling dictates itself. It's interesting, filmmakers can be making films with a political viewpoint or an economic or social viewpoint that mirror each other. A filmmaker in Australia could be making a similar film to somebody in Finland or New Zealand or Peru.”
“Things emerge and you can see there's a conversation happening that we need to be aware of, a little island of ideas. For instance, genre films, or mental health and domestic violence. It's up to us curatorially to build bridges between them to create an entire conversation so the films speak to each other.”
“There are things, like a queer programme, that are important to us, but you really do have to let the works dictate. It gives the festival its character, we’re not locked into a style. We've always trusted the films to guide us through.”
'Exorcismo'
This year’s programme boasts an appetising array of films. From 'Spermageddon', a Norwegian animated musical comedy about two sperm, to 'Eno', a documentary about the famous producer thats scene order is changed every time it's viewed, the programme has a multitude of engaging and interesting topics.
“There are a lot of genre films this year, sci-fi and horror coming through,” Sowada confirms. “And a lot of music documentaries. Jack [Sargeant] and I argue a lot about movies. We're quite rigorous and vigorous in our discussions, that's part of the fun. We hope the audience has the same amount of energy in their discussions about the films.”
While Revelation is passionate about presenting the freshest, cutting-edge artistic material, there are some things about the festival that remain the same year after year. Sowada shares the foundational principles of the festival.
“One of the things that I love about the festival is that we’re not afraid to have an opinion. We don't have any restrictions, and we make it known what it is that we stand for. We stand for marginalised groups having a voice, we stand for the environment, we stand for freedom and open and honest politics, and collaboration and communication. We're committed to platforming new voices and new ways of thinking about art and culture. That’s reflected in the films that we programme. It's always been like that, right from the very beginning.”
'Pater Noster And The Mission Of Light'
Ukrainian filmmaker Pavlo Ostrikov’s ‘U Are The Universe’ will open the festival, proving that even in the darkest places and times, art prevails.
“When you put the word Ukraine on the table, you're picturing the film in terms of what’s going on in that country right now,” Sowada surmises. “Whereas that film is very unexpected given the intensity of what's happening. It’s in space and it’s got a lot of air in it. It takes its time. And as the time in the film develops, so too does this great emotional relationship between two people on separate sides of the Galaxy. It’s about loneliness and helplessness in many ways. It has such a beautiful quality to it, which is why we chose it for the opening night.”
Sowada reflects on his career taking chances with art and pushing his own envelope, and leaves some final advice on taking creative leaps of faith.
“During COVID, we were running a VR conference called XR:WA and a government department said, ‘one of the hardest-hit communities in the arts is the dance community. Could you produce some VR works that involve dancers to provide employment?’ I knew very little, but I said, yes we can do that. And we did, and it was great. We employed over 40 musicians and dancers and directors and producers at the height of COVID. You gotta say yes. You just gotta.”
Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2025 is on from 2-13 July.
