Beniamino Cantena’s debut feature VERA DE VERDAD and hometown favourite Jonathan Adam’s charming short DAILY DRIVER have taken Best Film honours in their respective categories in The 2021 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival, held Sunday at the Actors Centre Australia.
The films led an eclectic roster of winners selected from the 21 features and 78 short films made eligible as part of the festival's first ever foray into ‘hybrid programming’. The 4-day live event wrapped Sunday 14th, while the online program will run via the Xerb streaming platform until Thursday 25th.
An Italian/Chilean co-production that comes to Sydney via festival placements in Torino, Trieste, Brussels and Chuncheon, Vera De Verdad tells a deeply moving story of soul transference and shared destiny and stars Marcelo Alonso and Maria Gastini, both nominated in their respective lead acting categories. (Pictured, right: Vera de Verdad director, Beniamino Cantena)
The Best Film category is named in honour of the late production designer Ron Cobb, whose conceptual artistry is central to the iconic status of such works as Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, Alien, Aliens, The Abyss, Total Recall and the TV series Firefly. Cobb married an Australian woman and lived in Sydney from the 1970s until his passing in September, 2020.
Other feature film winners included Ben Tedesco, crowned Best Actor for his self-directed performance in the lockdown time-loop drama NO TOMORROW; Peruvian actress Haydeé Cáceres for her wordless but wondrous lead turn in Aldo Salvini’s MOON HEART; and, exciting multi-hyphenate Carlson Young for her unique vision as director of the festival’s Opening Night film, THE BLAZING WORLD (pictured, left).
Also in contention for Director and Actor trophies, Daily Driver took top short film honours but ceded other categories to U.K. filmmaker Ryan Andrews (Best Director for HIRAETH) and French leading man Denis Hubleur (Best Actor for CAUSA SUI). Melbourne-based Jessica Tanner earned Best Actress for her blistering turn as the shell-shocked victim of cyclical domestic abuse in Andrew Jaksch’s controversy-courting drama TODAY.
The Audience Award winners were Eddie Arya’s RISEN, an ambitious alien invasion epic that filmed in Sydney and Canada over a four year period, and Spanish effects master Jorge Corpi’s CGI short-film thrill-ride, ELLIPSIS.
There is something darkly ironic surrounding the resurrection of Sydney’s iconic A Night of Horror International Film Festival (ANOH). After a dormant two years, the brand re-emerges zombie-like into a barren festival landscape, amidst a global pandemic; when it’s 12th iteration launches on September 24, it will be one of the first physical film festivals in a post-COVID Australia. Taking charge in 2020 is longtime festival associate Bryn Tilly, who brings to the Festival Director’s role, in his words, “a taste for the dark stuff, films undeniably nightmarish, yet thrilling.” SCREEN-SPACE spoke with our longtime friend about what it takes to scare au-diences in 2020…
SCREEN-SPACE: The once-strong brand has been stagnant for a couple of years. What were your objectives in relaunching A Night of Horror?
TILLY: The festival’s co-founder Dr. Dean Bertram has been living in the U.S. guiding his festival, Midwest Weird Fest from strength to strength. If A Night of Horror [was] to be resurrected, who better to helm the reboot than a clutch of the festival’s long-standing champions, which included myself and Enzo Tedeschi from Deadhouse Films? We brainstormed a plan of attack during spring of last year. It took awhile to build momentum, and we lost a couple of team members along the way, which prompted us to solidify a new vision for the festival. I feel confident we have shaped the best version we could, all things considered.
SCREEN-SPACE: ANOH, like every other major Sydney event, was beaten down by COVID-19. Recall for us the emotions and the practicalities you faced as pandemic conditions took hold...
TILLY: I began viewing the festival’s cold submissions back in October [while] keeping an eye on the international festival circuit. By January, I had a roster of short films and features from Australia and around the world sufficient for a four-day festival. But the event’s traditional home, Dendy Newtown, was no longer available, and subsequent venue options fell through. Then, that pesky pandemic reared its ugly head. We postponed, went into a limbo period, but never [considered] cancellation. Then, Anthony Kierann at Actors Centre Australia reached out to us, a beacon in the darkness. The reality was, due to COVID-19 restrictions, it simply wasn’t viable to hold the festival in the way we had originally intended. It killed me to have to re-structure the program [and] reduce the number of screenings, but we are nightmare warriors, determined to showcase in a festival environment works that capture the atmospheric essence of horror. (Pictured, above; The Other Lambs)
SCREEN-SPACE: What are we learning about 'Bryn Tilly, Program Director' from this collection of films?
TILLY: I was very keen on pushing the boundaries with the content, spreading the nightmare tendrils a little further afield. The festival has always championed new talent; our awards herald short film and feature screenplays from emerging writers. This is my first year as Head of Programming and it’s been a huge challenge, one that allowed me to fully indulge my nightmare movie palette, while thoughtfully compiling a program that will appeal to both horrorphiles and those that aren’t necessarily horror buffs. I love monsters, the supernatural, and I love special effects; I’ve been a fan of gore gags and creature features since I was a young teen, but I’m also a huge fan of the creeping unknown, and reality-based terror.
SCREEN-SPACE: The Devil will be in the detail. Get us excited about the 2020 line-up…
TILLY: There’s the supernatural indigenous mystery Diablo Rojo (pictured, above), from Panamanian filmmaker Sol Moreno; shocks and twists in Jeremy Karsten’s American high school hell, The Dead Ones; a disturbing portrait of a serial killer and his young son in Tom Botchii’s Artik; and, the disquieting turmoil, violation, and vengeance of The Other Lamb from Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska. We are opening the festival with Dean Yurke’s nail-biting subterranean thriller Stay Out Stay Alive, and debuting two World Premieres, both proudly Aussie - festival alumni Sam Curtain’s The Slaughterhouse Killer (pictured, below), detailing the dastardly deeds of an obese psychopath and hapless young parolee, and the confronting, heightened reality of Josh Reed’s suburban Sydney snake pit, We’re Not Here To Fuck Spiders. And the local and international shorts, once segregated into their own mini-programs, have been combined this year, showcasing a universally high caliber of horror short-form storytelling.
SCREEN-SPACE: How do you think horror filmmakers will react to the year that has been 2020? Pandemic panic, democracy in tatters, western society divided - do we need horror films anymore?
TILLY: We will never not need horror movies. Humans have an innate need to confront their fears, and the horror movie is the perfect platform to do that. In many respects, the more heightened the insanity in the outside world, the more hungry the audience becomes for escape. Audiences will seek out horror movies as a way of processing the nightmare scenario that exists outside their door, or within their home. Horror movies are often oneiric, dreamlike, surreal, even the ones that look and feel ultra-realistic. This is the most expressionistic of all film genres, allowing the viewer to absorb many elements, using them as psychological tools to better deal with the real world. Next year’s cold submissions will be riddled with themes of isolation, insanity, desolation, and disease. The apocalypse will be nigh.
SCREEN-SPACE: It's the Closing Night party and you say to yourself, "Well, I think that was a success." What will have happened that readies you to do it again in 2021?
TILLY: I hope people hang around after the Awards Ceremony for a drink or three, to chat and rave about the films; the parallels, the contrasts, the shocks, the connections. Actors Centre is laid out in such a way that festival goers will be able to socialize and still be COVID-safe. We need to push through that pandemic psychological barrier, to come out and watch a movie with a bunch of other people. Trust in your nightmare warriors! I feel confident that this year’s A Night of Horror will bring back that community vibe. As for the future, Enzo and I share a vision of what we want the festival to evolve into; post-September, we will debrief and make new, devious, diabolical plans. Keep your eyes peeled!
A NIGHT OF HORROR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL will run September 24-26 at the Actors Centre Australia, Leichhardt. Full session and ticketing details can be found at the event’s official website.
The organising body of the 8th SciFi Film Festival has held firm to the event dates announced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, despite moments of introspection and careful consideration as to the fate of the 2020 festival. Currently set to roll out August 28-31 at the Event Cinemas George Street complex in Sydney, the festival has announced a program of films culled from a record number of submissions and representing science-fiction visionaries from 21 countries.
The 2020 Opening Night honours have been bestowed upon Jeremy LaLonde’s time-travel comedy James vs His Future Self, featuring Jonas Chernick as a young man facing off against a cynical, hard-bitten future version of himself, in the form of a terrific Daniel Stern (Home Alone, 1990; City Slickers, 1991; pictured, top). The darkly funny romp, co-starring Australian actress Cleopatra Coleman, scored the Best SciFi Film at Toronto’s After Dark Film Festival. It will be paired with the World Premiere of the Australian short A Blaster in the Right Hands, a Star Wars fan-fiction film helmed by Richard de Carvallho.
Seven other features will fill out the program, each one an Australian Premiere. In addition to the previously announced Cargo, the moving, funny Hindi-language Indian production from director Arati Kadav, the SciFi Film Festival has scored three titles from the vibrant Canadian film sector - Guarav Seth’s Entangled (pictured, right), a twisted psychological drama in which a Flatliners-like quantum physics experiment turns friends against each other; Eric Schultz’s Minor Premise, starring Sathya Sridharan as the neuroscientist facing off against his own split consciousness; and, in the Closing Night slot, Erin Berry’s M.A.J.I.C., a post-X-Files conspiracy theory deep-dive involving alien abduction and men in black mythology that snared Best Film kudos at this years’ Berlin SciFi Film Festival.
Also slated are the U.S. features To Your Last Death, an ultra-violent animated pic from director Jason Axinn featuring the voices of William Shatner, Morena Baccarin and Ray Wise, and the lo-fi, hi-energy American SciFi, an 80s-inspired teen adventure from director Chris McElroy. The lone Australian feature to have made the cut is Colm O’Murchu’s Tabernacle 101, an afterlife thriller starring David Hov and Mikaela Franco.
The short-film roster boasts a mammoth 36 entrants, spanning 20 countries. Highlights include Japan’s Ryoko’s Qubit Summer, an A.I./LGBTIQ-themed romance from director Yuichi Kondo, a Best Film award winner from the Berlin SciFi Film Festival; from Yemen, Hashim Hashim’s spiritual journey story, A Homeland Bird (pictured, right); Gábor Osváth’s Best Game Ever, a crowdpleaser from Hungary; and, from Bahrain, Eva Daoud’s ‘battle of the genders’ horror pic, The Light Thief.
The shorts will screen both ahead of the feature sessions and under their own strands. On Saturday 27th at 10.30am, eight short films will be presented under ‘Students of SciFi’, including the Australian production Alyssa from teenage filmmaker, Shania Anderson; at 3.30pm, the slightly risque strand ‘Love, Sex and Science Fiction’ will screen MA-rated shorts from nations including The Netherlands (Tommie Geraedts’ Zwart; Gideon van Eeden’s God Glitch), Poland (Pawel Son Ngo’s The Host) and China (Linq Kim’s A.N.N.I.); and, on Sunday 30th at 1.00pm, the ‘Women in SciFi’ strand, supported by Women in Film & Television (WIFT) NSW, will highlight genre works by women filmmakers.
The SCIFI FILM FESTIVAL will be held August 28-30 at Event Cinema George Street. For full program information, visit the festival’s official website or Facebook page.
FANGORIA x MONSTER FEST 2019: As Chairperson of the New South Wales chapter of Women in Film & Television (WIFT), Megan Riakos is one of the most determined advocates for gender equality in Australian cinema. She has fought that fight in the male-dominated ivory towers of the government, corporate and film sector for some time now, but she knows the most effective way to counter long-held prejudice is to get the work of women filmmakers to the fore. To that end, with producing partner Leonie Marsh, she has curated the anthology work Dark Whispers Vol. 1, a collection of vivid and complex horror shorts directed by women from the last decade of Australian film.
Ahead of the film's NSW premiere at Fangoria x Monster Fest 2019, Riakos very kindly compiled the thoughts of her team of extraordinarily talented filmmakers for SCREEN-SPACE, posing to them (and herself) the question, "What inspired your contribution to the Dark Whispers project..."
(Pictured above, from left to right; top - Megan Riakos, Briony Kidd, Jub Clerc, Lucy Gouldthorpe; middle - Leonie Marsh, Isabel Peppard, Kaitlin Tinker, Madeleine Purdy; bottom - Angie Black, Janine Hewitt, Katrina Irawati Graham, Marion Pilowsky.)
MEGAN RIAKOS (Co-producer; Dir: THE BOOK OF DARK WHISPERS, the wrap-around narrative that binds the anthology; stars Andrea Demetriades) “Dark Whispers was curated from a callout for completed films and we received impressive submissions from almost every state and territory in a myriad of sub-genres. There are great hidden depths of talent out there and I feel very privileged to be the caretaker of these films and to have the opportunity to work with these amazing filmmakers for the project.”
BRIONY KIDD (Dir: WATCH ME; stars Tosh Greenslade, Astrid Wells Cooper, Jazz Yap) “Watch Me was written by Claire d'Este, from a concept she says was inspired by ‘The Nothing’ in The Neverending Story. Claire and I are friends and I think she knew it was an idea that would appeal to me. I love how it's quite simple but there's a lot to think about. The protagonist is quite unlikeable on the surface, and yet she is somewhat sympathetic because of what we see her going through. I enjoy characters who are not easy to pigeonhole.” (Pictured, right; Astrid Wells Cooper in Watch Me)
JUB CLERC (Dir: STORYTIME; stars Jhi Clarke, Sylvia Clarke, Jimmy Edgar) “I was inspired to tell the story of a mythological being from my cultural heritage to pay homage to all the campfire stories my family would share on hunting trips. I shot Storytime in 2005, so to have life breathed back into it in this format with all these wonderful female directors is such a treat. Having the opportunity to terrify a whole new audience is so rewarding.”
LUCY GOULDTHORPE (Dir: GRILLZ; stars Tosh Greenslade, Melanie Irons) "Grillz was partly inspired by a raft of dreadful online dating experiences. I felt so vulnerable going on dates with people who weren't what they seemed from their online personas. So we flipped that and our main character Milla preys on the vulnerability of her online hook ups. I also wanted to make something short, sweet and black and white in my hometown of Hobart. Something fun and cheeky with a strong woman vampire who was dealing with stuff that ordinary women have to deal with - weeding through online matches and making a trip to the dentist." (Pictured, right; Melanie Irons in Grillz)
LEONIE MARSH (Prod: DARK WHISPERS VOL. 1) “Being a part of the producing team of Dark Whispers has been a great joy; to work with so many wonderful women; to create new opportunity for these stories and these filmmakers' careers, and to highlight the wealth of talent we have here in Australia to the rest of the world.”
ISABEL PEPPARD (Dir: GLOOMY VALENTINE) "My film was inspired by the song ‘Gloomy Sunday’, also known as the Suicide Song. It was written by a Hungarian composer in the 1930s and interpreted by Billy Holiday who's version was banned by the BBC till 2002 after a spate of deaths were associated with it. I went through a period of infatuation with this song and the combination of music and lyrics inspired a series of poetic visuals. These ended up being the inspiration for Gloomy Valentine."
KAITLIN TINKER (Dir: THE MAN WHO CAUGHT A MERMAID; stars Roy Barker, Bilby Conway, Verity Higgins) "[I wanted to examine] the male gaze, the projection of anima and the hidden, darker side of Australian suburbia. What lies beyond those garage doors? What secret, inner worlds are we operating in? I lost the opportunity to make a feature film because a male executive decided he could re-write my feminist, prize-winning horror pitch better than I. It was crushing. I'd relish the opportunity to develop a feature with a supportive production house, and to write/direct for live theatre.” (Pictured, right; Bilby Conway in The Man Who Caught a Mermaid)
MADELEINE PURDY (Dir: LITTLE SHAREHOUSE OF HORRORS; stars Georgia Wilde, Colan Leach, Travis Jeffery) “Fear is always relevant, but the things we fear in horror films, not so much. I wanted to speak the same language as this genre I love so much, but using the (often banal) fears that spike my adrenalin on any given day as the subject. I freak out about the natural world quite a lot. The main character in Little Sharehouse of Horrors, Maeve, is similar to myself. We exist in a little world where people talk agricultural conspiracies, and freak ourselves out about the consequences of putting in our body what we do. In short, my own anxieties inspired the short.”
ANGIE BLACK (Dir: BIRTHDAY GIRL; stars Sarah Bollenberg, Michaela Teschendorff-Harden) “The writer, Michael Harden and I had been working on a horror feature script that was drawing on aspects of Japanese horror. We wanted to investigate the fragile psychological state after loss and both of us being parents thought that the loss of the child is about as dark as you could go. Birthday Girl is about a mother who isn’t ready to let go and is tormented at the thought of not remembering.”
JANINE HEWITT (Dir: THE INTRUDER; stars Asher Keddie, Bree Desborough) “The idea for The Intruder came from a ghost story that was emailed to me by a colleague. It posed the question - what would you do if your friend turned up wanting to talk to you but you received a phone call during your conversation letting you know that same friend had died? The email gave me goose bumps and I knew it could be developed into a great short horror film.” (Pictured, right; Asher Keddie in The Intruder)
KATRINA IRAWATA GRAHAM (Dir: WHITE SONG; stars Derty Eka Putria, Alana Golingi, Luke Wright) “The Kuntil Anak ghost is Indonesia's most famous ghost. She is the ghost of a woman who has died in childbirth, often from a pregnancy that has resulted from male violence. She haunts pregnant women, children and men. As a child growing up in Jakarta, I was terrified of her! Later, as a young mother and abuse survivor myself, I switched from identifying as the possible victim to identifying with the ghost. I understood her desire for revenge, but also saw that there could still be the redemptive power of love even in the cold heart of a ghost. So I wrote White Song - an Indonesian ghost story told from the ghost's perspective.”
MARION PILOWSKY (Dir: THE RIDE; stars Anthony LaPaglia, Ed Speelers, Emer Kenny) “Unbeknownst to me, my father had written a short story called 'The Lift’ under a pseudonym in 1961. Some 50 years later, he gave it to me to read and I loved it. I felt very connected to the material and I asked him how I could talk to the writer. That’s when all was revealed! I updated the setting, found a fantastic producer and pushed the button, thinking I would be paying for it myself. Then, the BBC came on board three days before we shot, which was amazing. During the pre-production madness, Anthony LaPaglia (who I knew from Adelaide) read the script and said that if I hadn’t cast the role of the 'Driver' he wanted it. The Ride was my first adaptation and first short film as a director so I was very fortunate for such great support.”
DARK WHISPERS VOL 1 will screen on Sunday November 3 at 6.15pm at Event Cinemas George Street, Sydney as part of Fangoria x Monster Fest 2019. Following the screening, the directors will be present for a QA session hosted by SBS Movies Managing Editor, Fiona Williams. Full ticket and session details can be found at the venue's official website.
The free-spirited, soulful essence of the Byron Bay Film Festival (BBFF) is one of the regional event’s key assets. Those elements are there for all to see in the rich 10-day line-up for the 13th celebration of cinema on the far-north coast of New South Wales, which launches October 18. However, that deeply thoughtful approach to festival programming only exists to serve a mission statement as serious and committed as any on the circuit.
One of the Asia Pacific’s most respected film curators, Festival Director J’aimee Skippon-Volke adheres to an ethos that ensures the event, ‘fuses artistry, entertainment and innovation, enhancing our worldview and collective social dialogue through the power and storytelling of film.’ That means a feature film roster in 2019 that includes three World premieres, four International premieres and 11 Australian first-runs, set to screen at nine diverse venues.
“I think with any film festival it comes back to programming. The films selected set the tone and the message of the event,” revealed Skippon-Volke (pictured, right), who forges the festival’s path with partner Osvaldo C. Alfaro. “Being able to support the filmmakers who are changing the world one screen at a time, and sharing stories that need to be seen, is part of what drives our team to put their energy behind BBFF.”
Opening Night will add star wattage to the already celeb-heavy Byron surrounds with the New South Wales Premiere of Paul Ireland’s contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure. Australian acting great Hugo Weaving heads a strong local cast (Daniel Henshall, Christie Whelan, Harrison Gilbertson) in the drama, which transports one of The Bard’s most challenging works to Melbourne’s criminal community. The prolific Weaving is on double-duty at the festival, with Ben Lawrence’s acclaimed drama Hearts and Bones also set to screen.
In programming the opener, Skippon-Volke acknowledged the ambitious project ideally suited the festival mindset. “We support Australian filmmakers and Measure for Measure has everything - established stars and new faces on the rise, glossy cinematography, topical interest, and a resolution that is a satisfying balance of joy and pain,” she says, “Shakespeare would recognise the dichotomies and applaud.” Other Australian titles in the line-up include Mirrah Foulkes’ Judy and Punch, Abe Forsyth’s Little Monsters and John Sheedy’s H is For Happiness.
Fifteen narrative features will comprise the main program, including such internationally acclaimed works as Celine Sciamma’s Cannes triumph Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Franco Lolli’s Critic’s Week premiere Litigante and Australian director Josephine Mackerras’ Alice, the SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner.
Making their Australian debuts will be new films from Ecuador (Jamaicanoproblem’s A Son of Man), Ukraine (Roxy Toporowych’s Julia Blue), North America (Josh Melrod’s Major Arcana), and Brazil (Hique Montanari’s Yonlu). Closing out the 2019 festival will be the Australian premiere of Tom Waller’s The Cave, the Thai film industry’s account of the 2018 Tham Luang cave rescue of a trapped junior football team.
Such commitment to global cinema means the Festival Director spends a large part of her year overseas, sourcing content while representing the festival and the region. “From the very beginning we've worked hard too to build our international reputation,” she says, “By having that focus we've been able to accelerate BBFF's ability to shine a spotlight on our region as a creative and innovative hub. We give our filmmaking community, [which] has been home to Australia's largest regional film sector for decades, an opportunity to be part of an international stage and meet their peers from around the world.”
The festival has always been a showcase for both the long- and short-form documentary format. In 2019, an impressive schedule of factual films will include two World Premieres – Louis Josek’s study of teen lives in transition, Out Deh: The Youth of Jamaica; and, Catherine Marciniak’s Planet Fungi, an ode to the magic of mushrooms from North East India. The centerpiece documentary event will undoubtedly be INXS: Live Baby Live, a 4K ultra high-definition re-master of the iconic Australian band’s legendary 1991 concert at Wembley Stadium.
These remarkable works will screen alongside the Australian debuts of Andreas Geipel and Christian Gibson’s coastal odyssey, Pacifico; Tenzin Phuntsog and Joy Dietrich’s study in passive protestation, Rituals of Resistance; David Hambridge’s heartbreaking Kifaru, a profile of the final years of the last male northern white rhino; and, Juan Pablo Miquirray’s An Island in The Continent (pictured, above), a dreamlike love-letter to California’s Baja Peninsula.
No sidebar speaks to the festival’s progressive nature more than the ‘Extended/Cross Realities’, or XR, Program, the Virtual Reality showcase now in its fifth year. Says Skippon-Volke, “Osvaldo and I have had a longstanding interest in Virtual Reality and we've built it into the heart of the festival through activation of content, workshops, conferences and in recent years a diversity focused talent accelerator. I believe strongly that the screen mediums of tomorrow will evolve from immersive media and that modern VR provides an amazing opportunity to play and experiment as visual storytellers.”
In 2019, donning the BBFF XR headset will transport you to The Amazon (Awavena, the latest grand vision from Australian Lynette Wallworth); offer a glimpse inside the creative mind of a children’s book author (Pete Short's Lucid); examine the majesty of religion’s birthplace (The Holy City, co-directed by Timur Musabay and Nimrod Shanit); and, courtesy of Weta Workshop, become a hero in a cool, retro-themed outer-space adventure (Greg Broadmore's Dr. Grordbort’s Invaders; pictured, right). “VR holds a power to literally allow someone to see through new perspectives and take them to new storytelling realms,” says Skippon-Volke. “We'll always be a film festival but this technology really does fuse artistry, entertainment and innovation.”
The 2019 BYRON BAY FILM FESTIVAL will run October 18-27. Full session and venue information is available at the event's official website.
Friday, November 19, 2021 at 6:16AM 
An Italian/Chilean co-production that comes to Sydney via festival placements in Torino, Trieste, Brussels and Chuncheon, Vera De Verdad tells a deeply moving story of soul transference and shared destiny and stars Marcelo Alonso and Maria Gastini, both nominated in their respective lead acting categories. (Pictured, right: Vera de Verdad director, Beniamino Cantena) 
