REMEMBERING WILLIAM HURT

One of the great leading men of Hollywood’s recent history and an actor gifted with a unique and prodigious talent, Oscar-winner William Hurt has passed away from natural causes. Considered one of the defining stars of his generation, he earned a Best Actor trophy for Kiss of The Spider Woman in 1986, the first of three consecutive nominations in the category. He was 71.

A strapping 6’2” and exuding a WASP-ish everyman appeal that had many comparing his on-screen charisma to Robert Redford in his prime, Hurt was targeted straight out of college as a potential big-screen star. He delivered on that, but did so by starring in roles that often subverted movie-star conventions, channelling nuance and dark emotion that made him a compelling film presence.    

A graduate of Juiliiard, he was a naturally commanding stage actor, appearing in more than fifty productions including Henry V, Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, Richard II, Hurlyburly (earning a Tony Award nomination), My Life (winning an Obie Award for Best Actor) and A Midsummer's Night's Dream. 

Hurt made his on-screen debut in the lead role of Dr Jessup in Ken Russel’s trippy Altered States (1980; pictured, right), kick-starting a run of major studio films that saw him work with some of international cinema’s finest directors and A-list co-stars - Peter Yates’ Eyewitness (1981), opposite Sigourney Weaver; Lawrence Kasdan’s Body Heat (1981) with Kathleen Turner; Michael Apted’s Gorky Park (1983), with Lee Marvin; Kasdan again, in The Big Chill (1983); Hector Babenco, for …Spider Woman; Randa Haines’ Children of a Lesser God (1986), opposite Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin; James L. Brooks’ Broadcast News (1987), with Holly Hunter; and, opposite Oscar-winner Geena Davis in 1988’s The Accidental Tourist (again, for Lawrence Kasdan). It was a period that established him as one of the defining movie stars of ‘80s cinema.

His choices became more idiosyncratic, and occasionally less successful at the box office, but each exemplified the fearless and adventurous spirit with which he viewed his craft. He would often shine in support parts or lend stature to the cool indies of the period. Through the ‘90s, his significant works included Kasdan’s ensemble black comedy I Love You to Death (1990); Woody Allen’s Alice (1990); The Doctor (1991), reteaming with his …Lesser God director, Randa Haines; Wim Wenders’ Until the End of The World (1991; pictured below); Anthony Minghella’s Mr. Wonderful (1993); Wayne Wang’s Smoke (1995); and, Alex Proyas’ Dark City (1998).

In 1998, he gave more than the role of Captain John Robinson deserved in Australian director Stephen Hopkins’ Lost in Space, opposite Gary Oldman and Mimi Rogers, a box-office underperformer that has nevertheless found some cult love in recent years. 

The ‘elder statesman’ phase of his career, in which he added gravitas to key roles that demanded maximum impact with limited screen time, proved richly rewarding for the actor and his audience alike. Highlights from his post-2000 career include Steven Spielberg’s A.I. (2001); Tonie Marshall’s Au plus près du paradis (2002), with Catherine Deneuve; M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village (2004); and, Stephen Gaghan’s Syriana (2005), with George Clooney. David Cronenberg directed him to his fourth Oscar nomination in 2005, for his supporting turn in 2005’s A History of Violence.

In recent years, he has found favour with a younger audience as an integral part of the MCU; he first appeared as G-man Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross opposite Edward Norton in Louis Letterier’s The Incredible Hulk in 2008 and reprised the role in subsequent Marvel adventures Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avenger: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and Black Widow (2021). His final film in general release was Sean McNamara’s The King’s Daughter with Kaya Scodelario and Pierce Brosnan, a troubled production shot in Australia in 2014 that debuted on US VOD services in January 2022. 

Hurt moved effortlessly between big- and small-screen work. Notable television projects over his 50-year career include All the Way Home (1981), with Sally Field; the 2000 mini-series adaptation of Dune, in which he played ‘Duke Leto Atreides’ (pictured, right); Varian’s War (2001), opposite Julia Ormond; a multi-episode arc in the series Damages (2009), reuniting him with his The Big Chill co-star Glenn Close; the iconic role of ‘Captain Ahab’ in the 2011 mini-series Moby Dick; and, his Emmy-nominated performance as ‘Hank Paulson’ in Curtis Hanson’s acclaimed account of the 2008 financial crisis, Too Big to Fail (2011; featured, above).

William Hurt was married twice, first to actress Mary Beth Hurt then Heidi Henderson, with both marriages ending in divorce. He is survived by his children Jeanne Bonnaire-Hurt, Alexander Hurt, Samuel Hurt and William Hurt Jr.

BIGFOOT THRILLER DEVOLUTION IN CAPABLE HANDS OF KIWI DIRECTOR

Based upon the slick visuals and chillingly deft touch in building the suspense in his Sundance 2021 hit Coming Home in the Dark, it was announced in June that director James Ashcroft would helm Legendary Pictures’ prestige horror property, Devolution. An adatation of the blockbuster bestseller Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by World War Z author Max Brooks, it represents a high-profile Hollywood debut for the New Zealand-born filmmaker and his writing partner, Eli Kent.

While on the promotional circuit for Coming Home in the Dark in late 2021, Ashcroft offered up some insight into how the project was developing. Full disclosure - your correspondent is a Sasquatch obsessive and Brooks' book, which chronicles a Bigfoot pack attack deep in America’s forested heartland, was the literary highpoint of 2020.    

“Unlike you, I never had a lot of interest in anything Sasquatch, certainly wasn’t expecting to fall in love with Sasquatch lore” Ashcroft laughs, speaking via Zoom from his Wellington home, “but now I am utterly obsessed and fascinated by all things Sasquatch! I am only just getting into this magnificent world of Bigfoot and his cousins across the world.” (Pictured, right: Ashcroft, on the set of Coming Home in the Dark)

He quickly points out that, like most great horror tales, there is meaning in the monster’s presence. “Max has written a story that the Sasquatch are only a part of, a mirror to what the story is really about,” he explains. Brooks’ narrative focuses on the small, isolated community of Greenloop, an eco-centric commune who suddenly are cut off from the rest of the world after a volcanic eruption. In addition to lacking outdoor survival skills and resources, they soon find themselves the focus of a group of hungry, desperate, highly intelligent Sasquatch. 

“This is a story of human arrogance and hubris, that assumption that we can go into someone else’s house and do as we wish,” says Ashcroft. “When that tenuous link to civilization is cut, what happens to us then? Then there’s the human drama of watching this eco-community implode, a group of people that then has to deal with the environment’s apex predator, the Sasquatch.”

Brooks’ novel was critically acclaimed upon release and spent several weeks on US bestseller lists. While acknowledging its B-monster movie premise was part of the fun, literary critic for The Gaurdian U.K., Neil McRobert, also pointed out that Brooks’ novel made for a challenging read in the time of COVID. “The true terror for a post-pandemic reader,” he said in his June 2020 review, “is in the grounded reality of how victims of disaster can be overlooked and how thin the veneer of civility and technology is revealed to be in the face of grand social disruption.”

The big-screen adaptation means the project is coming full-circle from its origins. Brooks had first planned to write a screenplay and successfully pitched to Legendary. But soon the project cooled and slipped out of development until Brooks re-approached Legendary founder Thomas Tull for the novel rights. (Pictured, above: Max Brooks)   

No casting or production start date has been announced yet, but Ashcroft and Kent are moving quickly through the screenplay drafts. “I’m really loving it! It’s a really wild ride,” says Ashcroft. “We are thinking of it as sort of The Poseidon Adventure, meets a more adult Jurassic Park, meets Straw Dogs.”

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE CELEBRATED IN WINNER’S ROSTER AT SYDNEY SCIENCE FICTION FILM FESTIVAL AWARDS NIGHT

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.

The 2021 Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival ‘Virtual Festival Experience’ will continue until November 25 here: https://xerb.tv/channel/sydneysciencefictionfilmfestival/virtual-events

The full list of award nominees and winners are:              

BEST ACTOR in a SHORT FILM

• Ryan Shrime, ORBITAL CHRISTMAS
• (WINNER) Denis Hubleur, CAUSA SUI
• Eric Whitten, PRISONER #1616
• David Lee Huynh, SOLITARY
• Andrew Scott, COGNITION
• Callum McManis, DAILY DRIVER

BEST ACTRESS SHORT FILM

• Akiva Pacey, GIRL ON THE MOON
• Liz Cha, MARY’S ROOM
• (WINNER) Jessica Tanner, TODAY
• Olivia Ross, HIRAETH
• Irene Fernández, FAITH
• Lauren Grimson, MAYA

BEST ACTOR FEATURE FILM

• Marcelo Alonso, VERA DE VERDAD
• Tony Brockman, A GUIDE TO DATING AT THE END OF THE WORLD
• (WINNER) Ben Tedesco, NO TOMORROW
• Richard Rennie, CLAW
• Tom England, REPEAT
• Wang Ziyi, ANNULAR ECLIPSE

BEST ACTRESS FEATURE FILM

• Kerith Atkinson,  A GUIDE TO DATING AT THE END OF THE WORLD
• Chynna Walker, CLAW
• Carlson Young, THE BLAZING WORLD
• Lois Temel, LIGHTSHIPS
• (WINNER) Haydeé Cáceres, MOON HEART
• Marta Gastini, VERA DE VERDAD

BEST DIRECTOR SHORT FILM

• Camille Hollet-French, FREYA
• Jonathan Adams, DAILY DRIVER
• Carol Butrón, FAITH
• (WINNER) Ryan Andrews, HIRAETH
• Andrew Jaksch, TODAY
• Oliver Crawford, EVOLUTIONARY 

BEST DIRECTOR FEATURE FILM

• Kelsey Egan, GLASSHOUSE
• Aldo Salvini, MOON HEART
• Eddie Arya, RISEN
• Zhang Chi, ANNULAR ECLIPSE
• (WINNER) Carlson Young, THE BLAZING WORLD
• Beniamino Catena, VERA DE VERDAD 

BEST SHORT FILM

• MAYA
• (WINNER) DAILY DRIVER (Producers: Jonathan Adams, Andrew Boland)
• HIRAETH
• FREYA
• REMOTE VIEWING
• EINSTEIN TELESCOPE 

THE RON COBB AWARD - BEST FEATURE FILM

• (WINNER) VERA DE VERDAD
• MOON HEART
• RISEN
• ANNULAR ECLIPSE
• GLASSHOUSE
• THE BLAZING WORLD  

AUDIENCE AWARD

• Feature Film - RISEN (Producer: Eddie Arya)
• Short Film - ELLIPSIS (Producer: Jorge Corpi)

PREVIEW: 2021 SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL

Sydney’s leading festival for cult and underground cinematic misadventures, the Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF), returns with a packed virtual program in 2021, celebrating its milestone 15th year.

With lockdown restrictions in Sydney affecting in-the-flesh desires for SUFF 2021, festival organisers made the call to stream its full program on-demand to fans of alternative culture across Australia and the world from Thursday 9th September to Sunday 26th September.

The 2021 line-up features 30 feature films and documentaries, 20 Australian premieres, a special 40-year anniversary film, and over 100 shorts representing filmmakers from Australia, the USA, the UK, France, Norway, Canada, Finland, Denmark, India, Japan, and the Russian Federation.

Katherine Berger, Festival Director said, “At a time when there is so much uncertainty, we couldn’t bear to postpone or cancel SUFF in 2021. We owe it to so many people that support SUFF and that includes all the filmmakers that have been submitting films to us all throughout the pandemic. It’s been a tough time to host an event and a tough time to be making films, but creative outlets are so important, especially in a time like this.”

Opening Night honours fall to SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT (pictured, above), from Kazakhstan-based director Yernar Nurgaliyev, a no-holds-barred road trip film about a man who decides to get away from his nagging wife with his friends, befallen by a series of highly entertaining and incomprehensible events.

One of the most anticipated films will be the Australian premiere of THE LAND, a cinematic experiment between photographer Ingvar Kenne, academic Gregory Ferris, and award-winning actors Steve Rodgers and Cameron Stewart. A microbudget, improvised drama, The Land is a bold and confronting story of friendship tested by a very dark secret, filmed over the course of three years.

Sessions reminding us of the importance of community include ALIEN ON STAGE, where an amateur dramatics group create a serious stage adaptation of the sci-fi horror classic and the philosophical documentary CANNON ARM AND THE ARCADE QUEST (pictured, right), in which ‘Cannon Arm’ Kim attempt to be the first in the world to play an arcade machine from the early ‘80s for 100 consecutive hours. 

Documentaries with women at the forefront include FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK, revealing the untold story of a Filipina American garage band that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny; POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ, in which the death of X-Ray Spex front-woman Poly Styrene (pictured, top) sends her daughter on an intimate journey through her mother's archives; and, indie director Beth B’s LYDIA LUNCH: THE WAR IS NEVER OVER, the first career-spanning retrospective of New York City’s preeminent No Wave icon of the late 70s.

Australia’s underground sector is repped by Robert Wood’s bloody black-comedy AN IDEAL HOST, where the apocalypse comes to dinner and SWEETHURT, Sydney filmmaker Tom Danger’s intertwining stories of love, friendship, and paralysing regret.

One of the most challenging SUFF titles will undoubtedly be HOTEL POSEIDON, a film reminiscent of Delicatessen, that follows reluctant hotel owner Dave, a man troubled by nightmares, his neighbour and love. And a special 40th anniversary presentation of Polish director Walerian Borowczyk’s THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE, a visually stunning, perverse adaptation of the classic story, starring Udo Kier (pictured, below), is a major coup for the festival.

This year, SUFF introduces three new shorts selections: a special slate of science fiction shorts in OTHER WORLDS, presented in conjunction with The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival; a quartet of films about friendship, duty and revenge in LOVABLE IDIOTS; and EXPLODING EYEBALLS, exploring all forms of animation from the experimental to the traditional. A special sidebar is called SHAKE HANDS WITH DANGER, a slate of hilarious vintage educational films with live commentary by beloved underground identities, Jay Katz and Miss Death.

This year’s smorgasbord of shorts includes our usual favourite sessions - non-fiction shorts in REALITY BITES; the most disturbing and beautiful love stories in LOVE/SICK; SHIT SCARED, the best cinematic darkness; mind-expanding narratives of LSD FACTORY; the best emergent Australian talent in OZPLOIT!; and WTF!, the films too strange and excessive to go anywhere else in the program.

15th ANNUAL SYDNEY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL will launch online Thursday 9th September and run Sunday 26th September at www.suff.com.au

HORROR HONOURED AMONGST CANNES 2021 WINNERS LIST

The twisted psychology and skewed world view of the serial killer is central to two of the top award winners at the 2021 Festival de Cannes. Julia Ducornau’s Titane, a nightmarish study of a killer impregnated by a car, won the coveted Palme d’Or, with Caleb Landry’s portrayal of Australia’s worst mass murderer in Justin Kurzel’s Nitram earning the Best Actor trophy.

Photo credit: Valerie Hache / AFP

"There is so much beauty and emotion to be found in what cannot be pigeonholed,” said Ducornau, who exploded onto the horror scene in 2016 with her cannibal thriller, Raw. Her latest exploration of body-horror themes and aesthetics has stunned critics on the Croisette. “Thank you to the Jury for calling for more diversity in our film experiences and in our lives,” the French director said, upon receiving her award from actress Sharon Stone, “And thank you to the Jury for letting the monsters in.”

Caleb Landry was not quite so outspoken in accepting his award, presented to him by French actress Adèle Exarchopoulos. Citing nerves and a genuine fear he would have thrown-up if he had tried to speak, he gave no podium speech. (Pictured, right; credit - Christophe Simon / AFP)

Other major winners were Best Director Leos Carax, for the rock-opera romance Annette; Best Actress Renate Reinsve, for Joachim Trier’s stirring drama The Worst Person in the World; and, Best Screenplay recipient Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, for Drive My Car.  

It would appear that Jury members steadfastly refused to compromise their opinions with two tied awards announced - the Grand Prix was shared between Asghar Farhadi’s A Hero and Juho Kuosmanen’s Compartment No. 6, while Nadav Lapid Ahed’s Knee and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Memoria tag-teamed the Jury Prize. (Pictured, left; Julia Ducorna and Sharon Stone; credit - Andreas Rentz / Getty Images)  

Wrapping up a vibrant 12-day event that succeeded in recapturing the starpower and spontaneity of great festivals of the past, competition jury head Spike Lee fluffed his duties but couldn’t spoil last night’s award ceremony. Lee inadvertently read out the Palme d’Or winner at the start of the evening and not the end, meaning Ducornau sat wriggling with glee in her seat for the duration of the event, waiting to collect her award.

Best Actress winner Renate Reinsvem, with Lee-Byung-Hun (credit - Andreas Rentz / Getty Images) 

The full list of 2021 Festival de Cannes winners:

COMPETITION
Palme d’Or: TITANE
Grand Prix — TIE: Asghar Farhadi, A HERO AND Juho Kuosmanen’s COMPARTMENT No. 6
Director: Leos Carax, ANNETTE
Actor: Caleb Landry Jones, NITRAM
Actress:  Renate Reinsve, THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
Jury Prize — TIE: Nadav Lapid AHED'S KNEE and Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s MEMORIA
Screenplay: Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, DRIVE MY CAR

OTHER PRIZES
Camera d’Or: MURINA, Antoneta Alamat Kusijanović
Short Films Palme d’Or: ALL THE CROWS IN THE WORLD, Tang Yi
Short Films Special Mention: AUGUST SKY, Jasmin Tenucci
Golden Eye Documentary Prize: A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING, Payal Kapadia
Ecumenical Jury Prize: DRIVE MY CAR, Ryusuke Hamaguchi
Queer Palm: THE DIVIDE, Catherine Corsini

UN CERTAIN REGARD
Un Certain Regard Award: UNCLENCHING THE FIST, Kira Kovalenko
Jury Prize: GREAT FREEDOM, Sebastian Meise
Prize for Ensemble Performance: BONNE MERE, Hafsia Herzi
Prize for Courage: LA CIVIL, Teodora Ana Mihai
Prize for Originality: LAMB, Valdimar Johannsson
Special Mention: PRAYERS FOR THE STOLEN, Tatiana Huezo

DIRECTORS’ FORTNIGHT
Europa Cinemas Label: A CHIARA, Jonas Carpignano
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: MAGNETIC BEATS, Vincent Maël Cardona

CRITICS’ WEEK
Nespresso Grand Prize: FEATHERS, Omar El Zohairy
Society of Dramatic Authors and Composers Prize: Elie Grappe and Raphaëlle Desplechin, OLGA
GAN Foundation Award for Distribution: Elie Grappe and Raphaëlle Desplechin, ZERO FUCKS GIVEN
Louis Roederer Foundation Rising Star Award: Sandra Melissa Torres, AMPARO

CINÉFONDATION
First Prize: THE SALAMANDER CHILD, Theo Degen
Second Prize: SALAMANDER, Yoon Daewoon
Third Prize — TIE:LOVE STORIES ON THE MOVE, Carina-Gabriela Dasoveanu and CANTAREIRA, Rodrigo Ribeyro