Bursting out of the beer-fuelled confines of Marrickville — the greatest country in the world — our favourite underground film festival returns for its 15th edition. No single weekend can contain it this year either, with the festival running from 9 – 26 September.
Going completely online to accommodate the ongoing restrictions in Sydney, the SUFF virtual program includes 30 features and documentaries available across Australia plus 9 short film programs. They’ll also be hosting a number of special virtual events including the Inhuman Screens Conference, Q&As, bonus content plus screening the Take48 challenge films that can be viewed globally! That means the whole world can enjoy parts of Sydney’s Inner West as much as we do.
“At a time when there is so much uncertainty, we couldn’t just bear to postpone or cancel SUFF in 2021,” said Festival Director Katherine Berger via a statement. “Since we had already decided to run some events online for our more regional, isolated, and further afield friends,” said festival reps in an earlier press release, “rather than cancelling or postponing the 15th edition of the festival in its entirety, we have decided to move ahead with a virtual event and make the most of it.”
Leading the pack is the world premiere of THE LAND from Sydney producer Greg Hunt and directed by Ingvar Kenne. A microbudget improvised drama filmed over the course of three years, it’s described as “a cinematic experiment” between academic and filmmaker Gregory Ferris, photographer Keene, and the award-winning actor/writers Steve Rodgers and Cameron Stewart.
Other highlights include some amazingly weird and wonderful selections fresh from international festivals like SXSW and Fantasia. The Opening night film, Kazakstahn’s SWEETIE, YOU WON’T BELIEVE IT, starts off with a peaceful day of fishing – and takes a turn. It’s getting some massive praise out of Fantasia and the New York Asian Film Festival, so be sure to tune into this one.
ALIEN ON STAGE chronicles an attempt to — you guessed it — bring Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi classic to a live arena. WONDERFUL PARADISE is a Japanese film about a house party (of sorts) that just keeps growing out of control — much like the mutant coffee bean in the local shop. (You really have to see this one to believe it). If you’re a devotee of RuPaul’s Drag Race, you won’t want to pass up SHIT & CHAMPAGNE, a drag comedy starring D’Arcy Drollinger and Alaska Thunderfuck.
In addition to the features, there will be a special 40th anniversary presentation of THE STRANGE CASE OF DR JEKYLL AND MISS OSBOURNE, Walerian Borowczyk’s 1981 cult hit starring Udo Kier. It was originally released as Docteur Jekyll et les femmes — for one week.
For lovers of music documentaries, get ready for a deep dive into the life and legacy of X-Ray Spex lead in POLY STYRENE: I AM A CLICHÉ as her daughter examines her troubled but influential life. LYDIA LUNCH: THE WAR IS NEVER OVER zones in on the American singer, poet, writer, actress who is best known as the Teenage Jesus and the Jerks bassist. Then for something completely different, FANNY: THE RIGHT TO ROCK reveals the untold story of a Filipina American garage band that morphed into the ferocious rock group Fanny.
It also wouldn’t be a SUFF without the regular round of short film sessions: LOVE/SICK, OZPLOIT!, EXPLODING EYEBALLS (including short animation), the sci-fi/dystopian themed OTHER WORLDS, LSD FACTORY, WTF!, the short documentary program REALITY BITES and, of course, SHIT SCARED. The incomparable Jay Katz and Miss Death will do a live commentary over vintage educational films in a program called SHAKE HANDS WITH DEATH.
You can buy individual sessions from the official SUFF website at $12 a pop or grab a pass for the entire season for $195. (Trust us: it’s totally worth it).
The complete program includes:
Alien on Stage
An Ideal Host
Bad Girls
Bone Cage*
Brain Freeze*
Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest*
DANNY. LEGEND. GOD.*
Externo*
Fall Back Down*
Fanny: The Right To Rock*
First Date*
Hotel Poseidon*
KRATT*
Lorelei*
Lydia Lunch: The War is Never Over
Moments Like These Never Last
Ninja Badass*
Origin of the Species*
Poly Styrene “I Am A Cliche”
Routines*
Shit & Champagne*
Sleeze Lake
Stranger*
Sweethurt
Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It*
The Land – WORLD PREMIERE
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Miss Osbourne – 40 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
The World’s Best Film
Wonderful Paradise*
ZERO FUCKS*
MU MESON “Shake Hands with Danger”
*Denotes Australian premiere
