Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2024 full program revealed

The full program for Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2024 has been revealed.

Taking place from Wednesday, July 3, to Sunday, July 14, this year’s festival presents over 30 feature films and documentaries, as well as over 80 short films.

With special events at the WA Museum Boola Bardip, Scitech, the State Library of WA, and the Perth Library, as well as the annual Industrial Revelations program designed for both emerging and established practitioners, the festival will showcase innovative storytelling while nurturing Perth's vibrant local film community.

“We’re so pleased with the calibre of this year’s program,” said Revelation Director Richard Sowada. “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 program to date. There’s an undeniable momentum driving this year’s program and we can’t wait to experience it with audiences.”

International Feature Films span genres from absurdism and avant-garde cinema to dark humour, including highlights such as Yorgos Lanthimos' Kinds of Darkness (US), from the offbeat and strange world of writer Efthimis Fillippou (Dogtooth, The Lobster, The Killing of a Sacred Deer), a triptych fable starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons and Willem Dafoe; and Hundreds of Beavers (US)—a Looney-Tunes-esque, genre-defying, slapstick crowd-pleaser about a 19^th century drunken applejack salesman who must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

Life's a Bitch (BELG) is a dark comedy that tells three seemingly disparate stories involving dogs; Sasquatch Sunset (US) is an utterly unique film documenting the lives of a family of Sasquatch living in Northern California and finding themselves facing the changing world around them; and The Visitor (UK) from legendary director Bruce La Bruce follows a mysterious figure as he appears in London, emerging from a suitcase and soon finding himself at the mansion of a wealthy British family as he proceeds to lead a social, sexual and political revolution.

In a similar vein, Australian Features offering fresh perspectives on human relationships and societal norms include Birdeater, an absurdly stylish and chaotic psychological drama where a bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. Stubbornly Here—a fascinating exploration of becoming an adult, shot entirely in black and white—sits somewhere between everyday surrealism and deadpan observations of human relationships; and The Lies We Tell Ourselves, which is part mockumentary, part experimental film, and part comedy, follows a director as they try and complete a new art house film.

Indie comedies, poignant dramas, and coming-of-age narratives further enrich the program with standouts like Lousy Cartrer (US)—a wonderfully downbeat, sharply dry-witted, deadpan tale of a man-child teaching a graduate class about The Great Gatsby—and Power Alley (BRAZ/FR/URU)—a powerful coming-of-age drama about queer sisterhood, friendship, family, community and women’s experiences.

Set in 1979 in Christchurch, Head South (NZ) is a semi-autobiographical ode to a post-punk subculture that follows a boy who, alone for a fortnight with his world-weary father, is drawn into the underground post-punk music scene. Also from New Zealand, but set in 1954, We Were Dangerous (NZ) follows a so-called “delinquent” group of girls who find themselves condemned to a remote institution on an isolated island.

Hesitation Wound (TR) is a journey through time and emotion in which a criminal lawyer must make a moral choice, and Kid Snow (AU)—Paul Goldman’s feature drama, which was shot in Perth and Kalgoorlie and stars Billy Howle as a washed-up Irish boxer in the sweat-drenched world of 1970s tent boxing—officially opens the Festival on Wednesday, July 3.

Fantasy and horror aficionados are in for a treat with Primevals (USA) and Tenement (CBDA). Primevals (USA) is a combination of ‘50s creature features and ‘70s Saturday matinee TV that was shot in 1994 by renowned stop-motion animator David Allen and remained unfinished until only recently, while Tenement (CBDA) is an unexpected horror movie telling the story of Japanese-Cambodian manga artist Soriya who returns to her childhood home after her mother’s death searching for inspiration for her new book but finds something far darker.

Rev also presents a curated selection of Retrospective Screenings, including cult classics like Kids (US, 1995), Lake Mungo (AU, 2008), Your Sister's Sister (US, 2011), and a special 50^th anniversary screening of The Parallax View (US), featuring Rev’s Book-to-Film team unpacking how Loren Singer’s 1970 novel became the inspiration for a film that, despite the lukewarm response at the time of its initial release, has since been hailed as an important and hugely influential film of its era.

Local creatives are further celebrated via Pencilheads – Safari So Good (19 min) and The Epic of Giglamesh (58 min). Aimed at children aged 3-5 years, Pencilheads – Safari So Good offers something for younger audiences and is based on the educational online series and colour books. The Pencilhead gang is a special group of friends featuring the voices of Peter Rowsthorn and Gina Williams and is co-produced by Greg Page, the original Yellow Wiggle, while The Epic of Giglamesh follows the concert of cult band Injured Ninja’s take of the Epic of Gilgamesh: Live in the Goldfields—as the beloved Perth band took their avant-garde doom rave energy to the outback.

Music afficionados will revel in this year’s Documentary offerings, specifically: Born Innocent: The Red Kross Story (US) which uncovers the story of brothers Jeff and Steve Macdonald; I Should Have Been Dead Years Ago (US) which explores the life, music and artistic output of Stuart Gray (AKA Stu Spasm), the notorious underground rocker who created the most psychotronic group ever to emerge from Australia—the legendary Lubricated Goat; Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound (SCO); that follows the cult post-rock Scottish band as they create their 10^th studio album at the height of COVID; and Green: The Fight For Rock and Roll (AU); a feature documentary about Wayne Green, a rock singer who teetered on the brink of fame not once, but three times throughout his career, as he attempts a new project that represents his life’s work as a septuagenarian.

Art enthusiasts won’t want to miss The Man I Left Behind (CAN), which offers a glimpse into the works of Canadian photojournalist Larry Towell; Blak Douglas vs. the Commonwealth (AU), which was shot before Blak Douglas won the Archibald Prize in 2022 and is a doco about creativity, family, culture and identity; and You Should Have Been Here Yesterday (AU), a poetic homage to Australia’s early surf culture featuring Tim Winton, Wayne Lynch, Bob McTavish, Alby Falzon, Evelyn Rich, Maurice Cole and many more.

Cinephiles will enjoy Kim's Video (US), a documentary following the trail of a beloved NYC video store and how its entire catalogue ended up in Sicily, Memory Film: A Filmmaker's Diary (AU), which has been constructed from decades’ worth of Jeni Thornley’s home movies and is a moving celebration of a life lived; In the Trenches (AU), which takes you behind the scenes of Jordan Prince Wright’s WWI feature Before Dawn, following the filmmakers as they re-create the trenches of WWI France and life in early twentieth century Australia on an epic scale and a small budget; and So Unreal (US), which features Debbie Harry as narrator and is a fascinating exploration of the ways in which our concerns with digital technology, online media, cyberspace, and the rise of artificial intelligence play through cinema.

Additional documentaries include King Coal (US)—a haunting portrait of the Appalachian communities founded on mining that takes the viewer deep into an unfamiliar world that is rarely seen on the screen; and The Herricanes (US)—the unknown story of the Houston Herricanes, who were part of the first women’s full tackle football league in the 1970s.

Rev also welcomes the return of the International Family Animation Explosion, a specially curated collection of family-friendly international short animations from all corners of the globe that are perfect for all ages—including those who have never been to the movies before—running on Sunday, July 7 and Sunday, July 14, at the State Library of Western Australia. Tickets are free for kids up to 16 and $10 for adults.

In partnership with the WA Museum Boola Bardip, Rev presents screenings of timeless classics like First Men in the Moon (1964) and 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), tickets to which include entry into the To the Moon exhibition.

As always, the Festival closes with the annual celebration of WA’s talented emerging filmmakers at the popular Get Your Shorts On! with the City of Vincent Film Project and the Life in Pictures special event on Sunday, July 14.

Revelation Perth International Film Festival runs from Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 14, 2024. Tickets are on sale now via www.lunapalace.com.au