RPIFF began in 1997 to showcase independent films, documentaries, short films and experimental works. Due to its success, it has expanded over the years to being a major event that includes an academic conference. This year’s festival runs from 5-15 July at the Astor Cinema, Mt Lawley. The program will be available on revelationfilmfest.org after 7 June.

Wonder Women directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan is a documentary that looks at the female superheroes from the earliest days of Cat Woman to heroines such as Terminator 2’s Sarah Conner. Interestingly, the spell check on my computer has just suggested that I substitute ‘heroines’ for heroes’ and this documentary looks at the consequences that popular media dealt out for strong women who blazed the way to sexual equality by having control over their lives. Who can forget what fate awaited Thelma and Louise? Comic writers, artists and fans, as well as academics, remind us how much heroines have progressed since the end of the Second World War and ordinary people tell how their lives have been enriched by the possibilities offered by legendary fictional females.