DUSTWALKER: THE SANDRA SCIBERRAS INTERVIEW

Writer/director Sandra Sciberras’ fourth feature The Dustwalker, in which an insidious alien parasite invades an Australian outback township, is her first genre effort. Re-energising some popular sci-fi tropes with a distinctive local flavour, fierce female leads and strong directorial vision, Sciberras recalls, “long hours in the heat of the day and freezing conditions in the night” over the course of the production, which shot on location in the remote West Australian interior.

After the films Australian Premiere at Monster Fest 2019 and global rollout via SC Films, Sandra Sciberras (pictured, above) talks to SCREEN-SPACE as The Dustwalker makes its way to DVD through Umbrella Entertainment... 

SCREEN-SPACE: Were you as surprised as many of us that Sandra Sciberras decided to tackle an alien invasion pic? What piqued your interest in this genre concept?

SCIBERRAS: Oh, I think there would be a lot of directors tackling all sorts of genres in Australia if we had the opportunity to do it. I’ve wanted to make this film and others like it from the moment I left film school 20 years ago. Aliens, monsters, virus, invasion films, with great characters, [are] just good drama. It goes back to the early days of cinema, films like Frankenstein and King Kong, to the genre’s golden era in the 1950s with War of the Worlds, The Blob, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Godzilla. Then we get to the best of the best with Alien, The Thing and more recently with The Host. My interest never left, it was more that the opportunity became available. (Pictured, above; Jolene Anderson, as Joanne, in The Dustwalker) 

SCREEN-SPACE: Are there themes and character traits that tie your work to date with The Dustwalker?

SCIBERRAS: Characters living [in] or trying to get out of small towns are the main things. I blame all the small town movies I grew up watching with my dad for that one, all those westerns. In three of my films, themes centre around the relationships between sisters or mothers and daughters in The Caterpillar Wish, to sisters in both Surviving Georgia and now The Dustwalker. I have a fab sister and we never had conflict growing up with each other but certainly did around us, so the bonding of siblings is at the heart of those three screenplays. 

SCREEN-SPACE: The dynamic that you forge by having three strong female leads is not often seen in this all-too-often male-centric genre. What strengths did Jolene Anderson, Cassandra McGrath and Stef Dawson bring to the narrative, and the shoot?

SCIBERRAS: For starters, they are just incredible actors, human beings and creators. I love working with actors who understand character and story in the same way the writer does.  These women are all writers who had a great understanding of their characters the moment we discussed the roles and the overall story. They impacted the narrative during the shoot because they made sure I didn’t miss an important beat on screen. Sometimes as a director I can work very fast. I come from low budget filmmaking so I can move on very quickly once I know I have the bulk of a scene and I have to get to the next set up. The Dustwalker is a $10million film made [for] under $2million, so there are many shots in this film that each actress made sure I got at different times in order to get the detail that the film would eventually need on screen. I love a collaborative set with actors above all else. And this was a hard shoot. Their constant, insanely happy faces, when the conditions really didn’t deserve it, was amazing! (Pictured, above: John Morris, as Frank, in The Dustwalker) 

SCREEN-SPACE: Creature design is crucial to these films. How much input and backstory did you provide your team with regard to the alien’s physiology?

SCIBERRAS: The creature was definitely a process. I had strong descriptions and design elements in the script, [which] had more of a The Day the Earth Stood Still-kind of alien; a metallic humanoid with huge swords, glistening in the heat of the red desert, but in the end that didn’t work. It just wasn’t expressive enough. I wanted what was in the script to be something more creature-like, with strong physical movements that enabled it to threaten and, most importantly, communicate with the characters. That was the physiology underpinning the whole story - the creature will do anything to clean up its mess of bringing a dangerous virus to earth no matter what gets in its way. The humans have no idea of this until the final scenes when there is a confrontation between them all. The post production company worked with a couple of different designers until we found the right designer who took the creature on and was instrumental in getting it to the screen. (Pictured, above; Stef Dawson, as Samantha, in The Dustwalker)  

SCREEN-SPACE: Have you purged your creative impulses of all things sci-fi/horror for now, or is the genre film something you'd like to explore further?

SCIBERRAS: Absolutely I’ll explore further! I’m in the process of writing a science-fiction project now, and also a straight drama that I’ve been dying to write. I think a director like me who started their career in drama finds the cross over to sci-fi natural. I love strong horror but can’t write it as well as others. As a director I'm interested in attaching myself to good scripts no matter what genre, but as a writer I'm going to be much more specific about what I write.

THE DUSTWALKER is available in Australia on physical media through Umbrella Entertainment. 

COASTAL CRITICS SWOON OVER ‘FIRST COW’, ‘NOMADLAND’, ‘SMALL AXE’

The Oscar race came into sharper focus over the last 48 hours with key critics groups on both U.S. coasts handing out their 2020 gongs.

Critics on the Eastern seaboard named Kelly Reichardt’s First Cow their Best Film at the New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) Awards. Already a Jury Prize winner at Deauville and in the mix with Berlin, Boston and Ghent award bodies, the understated period drama has been a festival darling since it debuted at Telluride in 2019. 

The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) instead favoured Steve McQueen’s Small Axe (pictured, right) for their best pic honour, while also awarding the director a runner-up Best Director notice. The Amazon Original production earned the Best Cinematography trophy for Shabier Kirchner, who also took home the NYFCC award in this category. An anthology work tracking the lives of young black men in the U.K. over three decades, producers have not made the film eligible for Oscar contention, instead favouring an Emmy ballot slot in 2021. 

Critics on both coasts shared a lot of love for Searchlight Pictures’, Nomadland. Director Chloé Zhao earned the Best Director nod from both organisations, to add to her wins to date from the Boston Critics, Indiewire Critics, TIFF and San Francisco Film Festival. The film also earned runner-up ribbons from LAFCA for Best Film and Best Cinematography.

There is a very real chance that this year’s Best Director Oscar race will be rich with women directors. In addition to Zhao and Reichardt, actress/filmmaker Regina King is heavily favoured to earn a nod for One Night in Miami while writer/director Emerald Fennell is likely to factor in AMPAS member’s thinking with Promising Young Woman (a NYFCC favourite; see below).  

Other bi-coastal honorees included Best Animated Film winner Wolfwalkers (pictured, right), a Euro co-productionfrom directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart that looks set to topple the one-two 2020 Pixar punch of Onwards and Soul; Best Documentary pic Time, Garrett Bradley’s account of one woman’s fight for the release of her husband from prison; and, Radha Blanks’ debut The Forty-Year-Old Version, which earned Best First Film in New York and the New Generation award in Los Angeles.

However, the great divide between the critics became apparent in their awards for Best Supporting Actress (Youn Yuh-jung for Minari in LA; Maria Bakalova for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm in NYC) and Best Foreign Film (Kantemir Balagov’s Russian drama in LA; Brazilian thriller Bacurau, directed by Juliano Dornelles and Kleber Mendonça Filho, in NYC).

Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always played better in the East, where it won Best Screenplay for Hittman and Best Actress for Sidney Flannigan. Cali-crix instead favoured the incendiary drama Promising Young Woman, awarding Fennell and Carey Mulligan in those slots respectively. Similar circumstances prevailed in the male acting categories, with Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom scoring Actor (the late Chadwick Boseman) and Supporting Actor (Glynn Turman) from LA voters, while NYFCC decision-makers gave Actor to Delroy Lindo and Supporting Actor to Boseman for director Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods.

The full list of winners are:        

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION (LAFC)
BEST PICTURE: Small Axe (Runner-Up: Nomadland)
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:: Beanpole (Runner up: Martin Eden)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Shabier Kirchner, Small Axe (Runner-Up: Joshua James Richards, Nomadland)
BEST SCORE/MUSIC: “Soul,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Runner-Up: “Lovers Rock,” Mica Levi)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Glynn Turman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Runner-Up: Paul Raci, Sound of Metal)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN: Donald Graham Burt, Mank (Runner-Up: Sergey Ivanov, Beanpole)
BEST EDITING: Yorgos Lamprinos, The Father (Runner-Up: Gabriel Rhodes, Time)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Youn Yuh-jung, Minari (Runner-Up: Amanda Seyfried, Mank)
BEST ANIMATION: Wolfwalkers (Runner-Up: Soul)
DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL FILM PRIZE: Her Socialist Smile (Dir: John Gianvito)
BEST SCREENPLAY: Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman (Runner-Up: Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: Time (Runner-Up: Collective)
BEST ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Runner-Up: Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal)
BEST ACTRESS: Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman (Runner-Up: Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)
BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland (Runner-Up: Steve McQueen, Small Axe)
NEW GENERATION: Radha Blank, The 40-Year-Old Version
DOUGLAS EDWARDS EXPERIMENTAL FILM AWARD: John Gianvito’s Her Socialist Smile
CAREER ACHIEVEMENT: Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Harry Belafonte
LEGACY AWARD: Norman Lloyd

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE (NYFCC)
BEST FILM: First Cow
BEST DIRECTOR: Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
BEST SCREENPLAY: Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
BEST ACTRESS: Sidney Flanigan, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
BEST ACTOR: Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY: Small Axe
BEST NON-FICTION FILM: Time
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Bacurau
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE: Wolfwalkers
BEST FIRST FILM: The 40-Year-Old Version
SPECIAL AWARD: Kino Lorber, “for their creation of Kino Marquee, a virtual cinema distribution service that was designed to help support movie theaters, not destroy them.”
SPECIAL AWARD: Spike Lee, “for inspiring the New York community with his short film ‘New York New York’ and for advocating for a better society through cinema.”

THE FLOOD: THE VICTORIA WHARFE MCINTYRE INTERVIEW

Victoria Wharfe McIntyre has crafted a truly unique Australian film with her debut feature, THE FLOOD. Pulsating with the energetic genre beats, it is also a muscular pushback to how First Nation People have too often been portrayed in contemporary cinema. Set during the years of WWII, The Flood is the story of Jarah (Alexis Lane, in a star-making debut), an Indigenous woman who unleashes fury when colonial Australian society inflicts upon her and her people one injustice too many. Which sounds like a template for a ‘vengeance western’, and it’s certainly a fine one of those, but The Flood also explores themes of redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness.

Having shot her film in the magnificent Kangaroo Valley hinterland in southern New South Wales, Victoria Wharfe McIntyre is now on the promotional trail, supporting her work’s  theatrical season ahead of the January 6 digital release via Madman Films. She spoke to SCREEN-SPACE about the passion she has for meaningful storytelling and how it brought her first film to life...    

SCREEN-SPACE: What aspect of Australia's relatively young history - the treatment of our Indigenous culture; colonisation and integration; patriarchal dominance - most inspired the narrative of The Flood?

VICTORIA: The very first moment of inspiration was a desire to see Australia’s First Nation People represented as powerful, wise, culturally profound spiritual warriors who kick arse on screen. I wasn’t seeing films with Indigenous heroes who come out on top; those characters often seem to reside in the position of victim or without real agency, so I wanted to make something in partnership with as many First Nation People as possible that captures country, tenacity, majesty and power. (Pictured, right; Alexis Lane as Jarah)

I’m also fascinated by life at home during the world wars. War films generally depict the battlefield on foreign soil, [while] the home front rarely gets a look in. Those years are such potent times socially and culturally. My short film Miro, about a returning Indigenous soldier and his journey to right the wrongs done to him and his family, was very well received. That made me wonder about the experience of a woman of colour in that era, a time long before women thought of chaining themselves to the bar or burning their bras. Putting those inspirations together and a fire in the belly [to address] social, political, cultural, economic and environmental injustice forged our narrative.

This country [has] the most ancient, powerful, insightful, spiritual culture on the planet with so many exotic, pristine and unique wild places. Our nation has these great gifts, jewels in our crown, and we don’t appreciate how truly blessed we are. Showing the beauty of our country and First Nation People is at the heart of the film.

SCREEN-SPACE: And what about film history, both Australian and internationally? What are the works that have inspired you and might sit alongside The Flood when it is considered in a cultural context? 

VICTORIA: So many films and filmmakers have inspired me and both consciously and unconsciously play out in my creative vision. Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds; Jane Campion’s In The Cut and The Piano; David Lynch’s Blue Velvet; Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon and 2001 A Space Odyssey. Works by Denis, Almódovar, Armstrong, Cameron, Thornton, Weir, Bigelow, all lodge in the psyche. There’s a touch of Mad Max and I Spit On Your Grave, too. But the film that started it all….Star Wars. 

I’m not sure there are particular films that sit alongside The Flood (will leave that to others); rather it dabbles and plays and embraces something from all of the films that have stayed with me. Films reference each other; art works are built on top of our collective canon and we aim to achieve fresh combinations of ideas, themes, forms and ways of seeing. (Pictured, left; l-r, Shaka Cook, Dalara Williams and Alexis Lane) 

SCREEN-SPACE: Some commentary cites a Tarantino-like 'revisionist history' element. Do you agree? Should cinema go down this path, or is that exactly what cinema should do?

VICTORIA: The film is revisionist in the sense that it subverts the dominant paradigm of Anglo Saxon supremacy that litters our nation’s cinematic oeuvre. Justine Brown Mcleod, one of our Yuin Nation creative producers, said the other day that, “it was inevitable that people would come, that we would be invaded, but it is how we survive the invasion that is important”. The Flood is a microcosm of that survival story; yes, First Nations People have lived under an invading regime but their culture, stories, languages, wisdom, lore, spirit remains strong and our heroes live in that world throughout the film.

Cinema should go down any, every and all paths. We need to look at every aspect of human and planetary life from what currently is to what we want or envision it to be. If you see yourself on screen as a hero then, in that moment, you too are heroic and that is something we all have the potential to be in our lives. We need to see different representations of that.

SCREEN-SPACE: There's an element of fearlessness in your directing; the shifts in tone, the location work, the performances you draw, all suggest you were swinging for the fences on your first feature film. What was/is your directing ethos? 

VICTORIA: (Laughs) I actually thought, "this might be my only opportunity to make a feature," so I wanted to give it everything. Go bold, go epic, be brave, always with truth, passion and aliveness being the most important things to capture. My producing partner Armi Marquez-Perez totally trusted [my] vision and had my back through some hairy times. Thanks to him we could make the film that was calling us to meet it. (Pictured, right; Victoria Wharf McIntryre, on-set) 

I have two highly influential long term creative partnerships. Composer Petra Salsjö will often write music off the script and we can then work on set with that music. In this case, she had to write diegetic pieces for the film particularly for the Mackay Gang who have their own version of a theme song. The score is also fearless and the strength and support of our partnership encourages each of us to operate with creative freedom. I love the magic that comes from that. Petra’s score is truly incredible and will be released to coincide with the film’s digital release in January.

And DOP Kevin Scott and I prefer to be dynamic and fluid in the moment. We work with the actors on set, see how they are going to play it and from there, determine how we will shoot the scene in the most creative way possible. We wanted to press on with our extended ‘oner’ style, shooting every scene in one shot wherever possible. We have an absolute ball on set and are extremely honest with each other and that fosters courage and the strength to trust and go for it.

Film is a giant collaborative work with a large collection of highly talented artists. Nothing excites me more than the crucible of the set, running with the energy, creativity, vitality of the moment. I’d forsake a ‘perfect shot’ for some raw passion or truth any day of the week.

THE FLOOD is currently in national theatrical release via FanForce and will debut on digital on January 6 via Madman Films. 

OUR FIVE FAVOURITE SHORTS FROM NOHO CINEFEST 2020

Like many of the world’s leading film festivals, the 2020 North Hollywood ‘NoHo’ Cinefest was bumped from its home at the Laemmle NoHo 7 theaters in April when COVID-19 took hold. Determined not to let their cinephile fanbase down, the festival organisers have reworked the event into a virtual edition, offering 14 features and a whopping 102 shorts for holders of an All-Access pass (the festival season's best buy at US$39.00).

With three days left of NoHo CineFest, SCREEN-SPACE are offering a ‘starter plate’ of five superb short films for lovers of seriously fine cinema (and of the features, make time for Jacob Burn’s sci-fi shocker Shifter and Dan Asma’s bighearted doco Cinematographer…)

MALOU (Dir: Adi Wojaczek; Cast - Romina Küper, Veronica Ferres, Charles Rettinghaus, Matilda Herzog; Germany, 15 mins) From the Program: The young dancer Malou is irresistibly fighting for her dream of a career on the big stage. After years of struggle and rejection, she suddenly receives her once-in-a-lifetime chance - leading up to an unexpected reveal.
I’m watching this, why? Frankly, we saw the ending coming, but that in no way lessened the wrenching emotion of Adi Wojaczek’s beautifully rendered dance drama. In 15 short minutes, the wonderful Romina Küper (pictured, right) generates enough investment in the title character’s plight, the end of the film feels very much like the beginning of a wonderful story.

THE MARK OF THE BANSHEE (Dirs: Nicol Eilers; Cast - Chloë Caro, Maddy Rathbun, Pina Sbrocca, Melissa Wiehl; U.S.A., 14 mins ) From the Program: A single mother struggles to defend her pregnant teenage daughter from the ancestral curse of a Banshee who's come back to claim her.
I’m watching this, why? The contemporising of ages-old demonic lore by placing it in the context of a modern ‘teen pregnancy’ narrative (helped immeasurably by lead performers Chloë Caro and Maddy Rathbun). Oh, and it’s bloody scary! There’s a certain Raimi-esque quality to the screeching she-demon that conjures legit chills.  

WOMXN (Dirs: Tara Lynn Rye, Magen Ashley Young; Cast - Tara Lynn Rye, Nzinga Moore, Jenalyn Culhane; U.S.A., 4 mins) From the Program: Womxn is a powerful visual poem about sexual assault. 28 women of all different backgrounds gathered to perform the same text. Not only does this piece bring awareness to the staggering frequency of sexual assault against women, it explores why so many of us remain silent. Womxn illustrates how together we can begin to heal one another with our voices.
I’m watching this, why? It is as potent a declaration of unity and strength as you are likely to see on any 2020 screen, big or small. In stark black-&-white, directly to camera, the participants lay bare the pain and sorrow of sexual violence, but also the defiance and will to recover and fight it has stirred in them. A remarkable statement. 

ANACRONTE (Dirs: Raúl Koler, Emiliano Sette; Argentina | Mexico, 15 mins) From the Program: Anacronte and the Sorcerers of Evil, without any emotion and fulfilling their destiny, put to the test humanity's happiness in a struggle that, in short, has each of us as winners and losers.
I’m watching this, why? The passage of the human soul through a vast netherworld dictated by the random impact of fate is brought to stunning life in this animated masterpiece. Riffing on how our spirit can often overcome real world pain by unshakeable faith in one’s own will to survive, co-directors Raúl Koler and Emiliano Sette have crafted a vision of the afterlife as breathtakingly captivating as Vincent Ward’s similarly-themed 1998 feature, What Dreams May Come.  

MANHUNT (Dir: Jack Martin; Cast - Casey Lynn, Derek Russo, Stasha Surdyk; U.S.A., 9 mins) From the Program: In the middle of the night, a dangerous fugitive on the run seeks shelter just as an adventurous young girl breaks out of her bedroom. Their two worlds collide.
I’m watching this, why? Superb production values and visual style, the likes of which announce Jack Martin as a young director ready for feature-length genre work. But also a terrific lead performance by Casey Lynn, whose chemistry with tough guy Derek Russo and character arc through such stages as fear, compassion and understanding mark her as an actor to watch.

NOHO CINEFEST 2020 began its current season on December 4 and runs to December 12. To purchase tickets to all online sessions go to the Official Website. 

PREVIEW: 2020 BERLIN SCI-FI FILMFEST

The COVID curse has forced the festival out of theatres and into living rooms, but the quality and quantity of science-fiction films coming out of the 2020 Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest remains unrivalled on the genre film circuit.

A mammoth 110 films from 28 countries will bulk up the 4th edition, held once again under the stewardship of co-directors Alexander Pfander, Isabella Hermann and Anthony Straeger. The festival has had to abandon its long-held alliance with the Babylon Theatre in Mitte, instead screening this year’s films via the XERB Virtual Cinema platform. However, The Babylon Kino is not forgotten; it will be represented in the line-up by Martin Reinhart and Virgil Widrich’s experimental short, tx-reverse 360°, a mesmerising work shot at 10K resolution with an OmniCam-360° rig inside the iconic venue.

Seven features will screen at the Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest, each one exemplifying the vastness of vision the genre offers. Brett Ryan Bonowicz premieres the second part of his Artist Depiction documentary series, with profiles of speculative visualists William K. Hartmann, Pamela Lee and Pat Rawlings; indie sector giggles are assured in Ryan Barton-Grimley’s buddy comedy/horror romp, Hawk and Rev Vampire Slayers and Justin Timpane’s A Christmas Cancellation, a ‘Purple Rose of Cairo’-style TV-world-meets-real-world charmer; the ‘post-apocalyptic dystopia’ slot is filled this year by A Feral World, David Liban’s stunningly-designed mother’s journey drama; and, Neil Rowe’s lo-fi/hi-energy invasion thriller, Alien Outbreak (pictured, above).

For the more adventurous viewer, there is Mark Christensen’s underground experimental 'lost film', Box Head Revolution (pictured, below), a cinematic journey which began two decades ago with early digital-video cameras and no budget and which has been recovered and reinstated to its intended ultra-bizarre status; and, Søren Peter Langkjær Bojsen’s Danish oddity, A Report on the Party and Guests, in which a humanlike creature slowly reveals his mission reporting on the dwindling human activity in an increasingly automated world.

The remainder of the 2020 Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest is the kind of short film showcase for which the event has become famous worldwide. Arguably, the centrepiece will be The Dach Shorts Session, a cross-section of the finest works from Germany, Austria and Switzerland; amongst the roster are Marcus Hanisch’s Q; ghostly remote effect, Franz Ufer’s existential drama, The Ticket; and, the European Premiere of directors Evgeny Kalachikhin and Ruben Dauenhauer’s post-apocalyptic mini-feature, CYCLE 2217.

Symbolising the Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest’s standing internationally is the collaboration they share with China’s Blue Planet Science Fiction Film Festival. This year, seven Chinese short productions will screen to German sci-fi fans ahead of their homeland premieres in Nanjing; they are Cupcake (Dir: Zhang Dawei); Recluse (Dir: Ou Dingding); Basement Millionaire (Dir: Zha Shan); 16 (Dir:Xin Chengjiang); Isabella (Director: Wei Qihong); and, The Chef (Dir: Yuan Gen). A special highlight will be the premiere of Through the Fog, a co-production between the Berlin Sci-Fi Filmfest and the Chinese festival, from directors Peng Xiangjun and Luan Luyang.

The 2020 BERLIN SCI-FI FILMFEST is available to watch via XERB Virtual Cinema from November 27 to December 7. Numbers are limited, so be quick. Session passes and ticket packages can be purchased here.