PREVIEW: 2015 PERTH UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

Matthew Darch is well known amongst Perth’s artistic community for his passionate commitment to all things cinema. As founder of the cult classics screening initiative 1UP MicroCinema, he brings old-school film culture to the Western capital. That role bled into shared duties as programming head of the Perth Underground Film Festival, which launches its 2015 edition on February 12 at the popular Rooftop Movies venue with the latest Oz-ploitation epic, Wyrmwood. Darch (pictured, below; at his microcinema venue) spoke to SCREEN-SPACE about overcoming those 'indie festival' hurdles, infusing the schedule with his love of movies and co-programming with the enigmatic industry iconoclast, Jimmy the Exploder…

Is it tough to define the balance between 'underground' and 'mainstream'? Much of what would once be considered subversive and edgy is instantly accessible and embraced.

We identified this very early in our conversations. We examined 'UFF' programs (from) around the world, finding each unique in their own way. We focussed on films that existed outside the Australian distribution channels and which you could not already download, legally or otherwise. Which made it hard, because most films these days are being released on VOD the same day they are released in cinemas in the US. Given the Federal government’s proposed anti- piracy measures, we thought (the approach) was topical. And we managed to stick to these rules with nearly all the films. I began sourcing films around the middle of 2014 and many that I approached early on were keen, but subsequently were picked up by Oz distributors. But that's the programming game.

Paint a picture of the Perth audience for 'underground' cinema. Did you program for both the hardcore anti-establish types and a broader crowd who might occasionally try edgier stuff?

We were very lucky to be accepted into the Fringe World program, a fantastic time when the inner city comes alive with people from all sorts of backgrounds. Having run my own 20 seat ‘micro cinema’ for a few years, I knew what sort of prices film makers expected for screenings and knew that to recoup our costs we would need a 100-seat venue, minimum. So to have this venue, combined with the in-kind promotional deals that Fringe World offered, we were very happy. Rooftop Movies (pictured, right) traditionally play late-release theatrical films and 'cult classics' like Donnie Darko, Napolean Dynamite, Ghostbusters, Kubrick, and so on. So, yes, we did have a broader audience in mind who might appreciate the opportunity to see some edgier stuff. In that regard, we hope PUFF compliments Perth's really only independent film festival, Revelations. Monster Pictures have also done a great job over the last few years bringing a MonsterFest leg to Perth. They snap up a lot of the horror festival favourites, so we might have to let them run point on that genre.

What earned Kiah and Tristan Roache-Turner's Wyrmwood (pictured, left) the Opening Night slot?

We’re very happy to have an Australian film for our opening night, particularly one that has received such rave reviews. I'm sure the screenings they have lined up around Australia will get a great response. Isn't it every filmmaker’s goal to make enough money from a film so they can fund their next one? Can't wait to see what the brothers come up with next.

Tell me about working with the enigmatic Jimmy the Exploder. How much of PUFF is an extension of his profile and personality?

Jimmy is great to work with, as is the third member of the team, Tiff Flynn. Between us we all bring different skills to the table. Our group dynamic has really made this venture smooth sailing. PUFF isn't necessarily an extension of Jimmy's personality; he is happy to keep a low profile and work hard behind the scenes. Our shared goal is to make this festival sustainable for the future. We received no grant funding or monetary sponsorship deals this time around. If we need these in the future, then we might have to talk up both mine and Jimmy's previous track records to seal any deals.

The programme suggests that eccentric, vivid central characters are important to you - Ray in Suburban Gothic; George Romero in Doc of the Dead; the dual leads in Foxy Merkins (pictured, below); Scott in Zero Charisma. How do the films and these characters serve the aims you had for PUFF 2015?

I have never thought about the films in that way. I worry that I miss picking up on things like that. I program based around what additional elements I can add to make it an event. I want to give people value for money, unlike the multiplex experience, where you sit down, watch and then leave. We want the patrons to interact. That's why most of our screenings have additional elements; a game of Film Maker Feud before Zero Charisma plus each audience member will get a Dungeons & Dragons character sheet created by a local Perth artist. We have a Valentine’s Day Perfect Match-Making Service before Suburban Gothic. We have teamed up with Pilerats and DJ Holiday Pete to provide music and atmosphere at our double-bills and we will have character actors at most screenings in the rooftop elevator. I also like to program around different subcultures, who can identify with the films. Each film in this program will appeal to different cohorts, I guess. The trick will be, will they overlap and step out of their comfort zones?

The Perth Underground Film Festival runs February 12 to 21. Full programme and tickets are available via the official website.

Read SCREEN-SPACE's review of PUFF 2015 Opening Night film, Wyrmwood, here.

Read SCREEN-SPACE's review of PUFF 2015 Closing Night film, Beyond Clueless, here.

Read SCREEN-SPACE's interview with Beyond Clueless director Charlie Lyne here.

WHATEVER...: THE CHARLIE LYNE INTERVIEW

Charlie Lyne, a culture blogger and film critic, has directed the stunning ‘clip-umentary’, Beyond Clueless, which deconstruucts and analyses the 90s/00s teen movie craze with incisive clarity. From 1995, when Amy Heckerling’s Clueless kickstarted a new wave of teen movies that lasted a decade, the genre tackled teenager life at the turn of the modern century, when uncertainty about the future was rife and the outsider angst of those teenage years seemed more universal than ever. From his London base, Lyne (pictured, below) spoke with SCREEN-SPACE about the films that both reflected and guided the teenage experience of the late 1990s and how they would inspire his feature directing debut….

Most great teen films from any period - Rebel Without a Cause, The Graduate, Carrie, The Breakfast Club - take on alienation, rebellion, coming-of-age, blossoming sexuality, etc. What point of difference do the films from the 90's-00s display?

Lyne: I agree with you that the thematic preoccupations of the teen genre have been relatively consistent over the years and decades, but I think the 90s/00s era offered a really diverse range of approaches to tackling those subjects. Whereas before, the teen genre had been defined by a few key players - James Dean, Molly Ringwald, and so on - now it was blown wide open, and those key concerns you mention were being expressed through the mediums of horror, comedy, drama and a thousand other modes of storytelling.

1994-2004 was a period of immense social change and uncertainty. The end of the millennium was nigh; the Net in particular and technolgy in general was expanding exponentially. How were teen films influenced by, and reflect the teenagers place in, this new world?

Lyne: I think one of the greatest assets a teen movie can have is insularity, so that whatever major social, political and technological movements are happening in the background are rendered relatively insignificant compared with the minor emotional problems of our teenage protagonist. So events like Columbine, 9/11 and the rise of the internet certainly left their mark on the genre, but in quite an oblique way — they were refracted through characters, rather than being portrayed directly.

You top-and-tail the film with two big hits - Clueless (pictured, above) and Mean Girls - but many of the films referenced did not register at box office. It could be argued that this was the period when teens, consumed with new personal devices and video game tech, starting turning away from cinema-going. Were these films undervalued by their target audience at the time?

Not at all. There was no major decline in teenage cinema attendance in the 1990s as compared with the 1980s; it's just that teenagers in the '90s had a far wider range of teen films to choose from, with relatively few 'big hitters' to soak up all the box office. So instead of something like The Breakfast Club becoming a behemoth, the same amount of money was spread between Swimfan, Down To You (pictured, left), The Rage: Carrie 2 and a bunch of other movies that made more modest sums at the box office.

The melding of montage and the music of Summer Camp is a highlight of the film. Tell me about that process; did the visuals or the music come first? At what point were the band members involved?

Lyne: We worked in tandem throughout the whole process, so sometimes I would take the lead on a montage, sending them a short reel of footage, and sometimes they would send me a demo and I'd start cutting to that. It created a kind of feedback loop, where we just kept playing off of each other's ideas until we reached something that felt right. And they were involved from the very beginning, so this process went on for nearly a year.

Recall for us securing The Craft's Fairuza Balk as narrator? How was the project pitched to her and what were her reactions?

Lyne: Fairuza (pictured, right) had always been my number one choice for the narrator — she has that perfect blend of 'outsider' and 'insider' encapsulated in her voice — but for various reasons we couldn't bring anyone on board until the film was nearly complete, so there was always a part of me that worried we wouldn't get her. Thank God she said yes once we eventually asked, otherwise I'd have had to reimagine my whole perception of the film.

What did you discover about yourself in revisiting the films that helped form the film lover you are today?

I still love the teen movies of my youth as much as I did ten years ago, only now I recognise all the lessons I unknowingly learned from them — some good, some less so. The whole process taught me just as much about myself as it taught me about the oeuvre of Devon Sawa.

Beyond Clueless will screen as a double feature with Andrew Fleming's The Craft as the Closing Night event at the Perth Underground Film Festival; read the SCREEN-SPACE review of Beyond Clueless here.