Revelation Film Festival first highlights revealed

Revelation Perth International Film Festival has revealed the first highlights from the 2024 programme, screening from Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 14.

Renowned for its expertly curated selection of films, this year’s programme celebrates independent filmmakers with offerings for audiences of all ages in a line-up that pushes boundaries, challenges the status quo, and, most importantly, entertains.

“All of us who are part of Revelation are so proud of what the event stands for and its place on the Australian screen culture scene,” said Festival Director Richard Sowada.

“For close to three decades, we’ve looked beyond celebrity and into the heart of the independent creative community to commission new works, platform emerging voices, and champion critical perspectives that make a difference to individuals, communities and artforms. This festival is a rare breed, and we can’t wait to bring it to screens across Perth and Fremantle.”

Opening the Festival on Wednesday, July 3, is the West Australian premiere of Kid Snow, which was shot in Perth and Kalgoorlie and is set in the 1970s sweat-drenched world of tent boxing.

The feature drama stars UK actors Billy Howle (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Outlaw King and On Chesil Beach) and Tom Bateman (Behind Her Eyes, Thirteen Lives, Death on the Nile), alongside Australia’s Phoebe Tonkin (Boy Swallows Universe, Westworld, Safe Harbour), and an ensemble cast including Mark Coles Smith, Tasma Walton, Shaka Cook and Hunter Page-Lochard.

Paying tribute to the iconic video store in New York City that inspired a generation of cinephiles before it mysteriously closed its doors and sent its legendary film archive to a small Sicilian village for “safekeeping” is Kim’s Video, a documentary told with gonzo charm that chronicles the rise and fall of a beloved institution.

Additional documentaries include Mogwai: If the Stars Had a Sound, which follows the cult post-rock Scottish band as they create their 10^th studio album at the height of COVID, and You Should Have Been Here Yesterday, 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 that combines hundreds of hours of lovingly restored 16mm footage with a salt-infused soundscape of Headland to form a cinematic poem telling the story of a wild community who took up the coast and discovered a whole new way to live.

A slapstick absurdist American comedy 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, the silent black-and-white feature Hundreds of Beavers is completely bonkers and brilliant at the same time, masterfully mixing modern, fast-paced comedic sensibilities with old-fashioned physical humour.

Sticking true to Rev’s reputation for boundary-pushing cinema is Bruce La Bruce’s low-budget romp The Visitor. Set in contemporary London against the backdrop of racist politics, the film pays homage to Pier Polo Pasolini’s sexually provocative last feature, Teorema. The cheeky Canadian writer/director is renowned for employing conventional storytelling narratives in his sexually explicit, avant-garde films, and this one is no exception.

The locally made animation Pencilhead’s Kids Club: 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 co-written by Greg Page, the original Yellow Wiggle.

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.

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 Life in Pictures Special Event on Sunday, July 14.

Revelation Perth International Film Festival runs from Wednesday, July 3 to Sunday, July 14, 2024. More programme details will be revealed later in May. Tickets for Opening Night and Get Your Shorts On! are on sale now via the Luna Palace website.