Revelation 16 Perth International Film Festival: 4 - 14 July 2013

The 16th Revelation Perth International Film Festival is fast approaching and I'm quite excited indeed as I just got home from the program launch of what looks to be an incredible fortnight of cinema and cinema related events.

To quote directly from the website this years festival offers:

• A once in a lifetime live experience featuring Goblin playing their live score to Dario Argento's 1977 horror classic Suspiria
• 50+ Australian premieres
• 4 world premieres
• 30+ guests from Australia and around the globe
• Workshops and masterclasses
• A return to our micro-cinema roots with the Dome Pop-Up
• 4 venues across Perth
• Over 100 sessions 
• 120+ individual films from China, Australia, India, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Switzerland, Denmark, Russian Federation, Iceland, Norway, South Korea, Israel, Belgium, France and Iran.
• Films from direct from film festivals the caliber of Toronto, Berlin, Rotterdam, Sundance, Cannes, SxSW, Telluride and many of our favourites.
• A host of true discoveries that makes Rev a real independent showcase and breaker to titles in Australia and elsewhere.

This is THE Western Australian film festival, everything else pales in comparison and this year it has expanded to four venues to accommodate the growing stature and vision of the event, with a lineup of films to match! There might not be any Romanian New Wave but it's still worth booking your holidays for next month and flying to Perth for Revfest. Gold Passes which give access to every single screening are a ridiculously cheap $190 and if I wasn't getting one for free I'd probably pawn my jet-ski to pay for it.

Being from Perth I seem to always find something to complain about and usually it's that nothing really happens here, especially in terms of interesting cinema but RevFest stands out from the crowd as something exceptional and unique to my city and I'm proud of volunteering my services to help with the smooth running of events as well as spreading the word about some exceptional programming this year.

Two things instantly stood out for me, the Australian premieres of Ben Wheatleys A Field In England

and White Reindeer with a Q&A session with perhaps my favourite American indie director Zach Clark afterwards. What the hell do people ask in Q&A's? My mind always goes blank. Which might actually be preferable to what happened when I bumped in to my favourite singer in a bar that time.

Ordinarily that would be enough for me but wait there's more, here's a few that really tickle my fancy:

Upstream Colour

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

The new film from the director of Primer has been receiving rave reviews worldwide. I don't care what it's about, after so many years waiting to see what he'd do next this was always going to be a must watch movie.

The Fifth Season

A time of climatic derailing, never-ending winter, spring that never arrives, disappearing bees, cows that no longer produce milk, and impending famine. Instead of blaming the heavens, the village’s inhabitants find themselves some other people to blame: a man who was just passing by with his disabled son.

It looks quite beautiful and Ronan at Next Projection has a perfect poster quote: "A bit like what would have happened if Béla Tarr and Roy Andersson co-directed The Wicker Man."

Gimme The Loot

Malcolm and Sofia, two determined teens from the Bronx, are the ultimate graffiti-writers hatch a plan to tag an iconic NYC landmark, but they need to raise $500 to pull off their spectacular scheme. What follows is an adventure over two summer days to raise the cash any way they can.

I've had the pleasure of seeing this one already and it is a fully enjoyable light comedy directed by a director with an eye for interesting composition. This is a low budget indie flick filled with promise.

The Act of Killing

In a place where killers are celebrated as heroes, these filmmakers challenge unrepentant death-squad leaders to dramatize their role in genocide. The result is a surreal, cinematic journey, not only into the memories and imaginations of mass murderers, but also into a frighteningly banal regime of corruption and impunity.

At nearly three hours it might take a lot out of you but The Act of Killing has widely been hailed as a must see film about humanity and human nature and if you can stomach the content you should join me for what promises to be an experience you won't forget in a hurry.

Pictures of Superheroes

Marie is hired as a maid by businessman Eric who also asks her to pretend to be his wife to seduce his clients. While cleaning Eric’s home, Marie becomes close to Joe, an aspiring superhero artist who also lives in Eric’s house, although unbeknownst to Eric.

A film said to be a quirky deadpan comedy, with a premise that intrigues me to the point of having to watch it. Beyond that I know nothing about this film, the stuff that film festival memories are made of.

Pieta

A loan shark is forced to reconsider his violent lifestyle after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be his long-lost mother.

Ordinarily a new Kim Ki-Duk film coming to Perth would be pretty big news for me but such is the quality of this years lineup it has become just another great film to look forward to.

Harry Dean Stanton: Partly Fiction

Documentary looking back at the career of the popular character actor Harry Dean Stanton, featuring songs performed by Stanton.

Watching Harry Dean Stanton be the centre of attention for 77 minutes? Who wouldn't want to watch that?

London - The Modern Babylon

Julien Temple directs a documentary looking at the past century of London's history.

The premise is enough. Of all the cities of the world London fascinates me the most, despite having lived there for a large portion of my life I still feel like I hardly know the place. Two hours surely isn't enough?

Whose coming? What are you most looking forward to? Comment and tweet and stuff.