The 23rd annual Revelation Perth International Film Festival returns this December, with another exciting showcase of local and international content.
Rev went digital for the first time this year back in July, debuting the Couched Film Festival for audiences to enjoy from home. Now the team are bringing the physical festival back to Luna Cinemas, Windsor Cinema and The Backlot.
“CV19 has devastated the film fest scene globally, but a microbe isn’t going to stop us presenting some of the most exciting, vital, vibrant and acclaimed new and international short, feature and documentary films to WA audiences,” says Festival Director Richard Sowada.
“It’s a program packed with special events, industry networking opportunities, a sister online component of around 15 additional titles and some of the most acclaimed festival titles you’ll find anywhere. In the most challenging of cultural times, we’re continuing to redefine what a film festival can be – and we can’t wait to see how audiences respond.”
The festival will open on Wednesday 9th December with Firestarter; The Story Of Bangarra, a documentary marking the 30th anniversary of Australia’s most iconic dance company, Bangarra Dance Theatre.
Co-directed by Perth’s Nel Minchin, the film tells the story of three young Aboriginal brothers who turned a fledgling dance group into a First Nations cultural powerhouse.
Other local highlights include murder-mystery The Xrossing; which will premiere at the festival ahead of its theatrical release, Laura’s Choice; which explores the experience of three generations of women coming to terms with a radical approach to death, An Ideal Host; a horror/comedy/sci-fi mashup about the perfect dinner party from director Robert Woods, and The Beloved; a documentary about the mysterious Orange People who emerged in Fremantle in the 1980s.
More local offerings come in smaller/shorter packages with the annual Get Your Shorts On! and City of Vincent Film Project films being showcased on the big screen at Luna Cinemas Leederville on Thursday 10 December.
Indie darlings direct from Sundance include the fun, low budget film Save Yourselves which tells of millennials disconnecting from devices and the coming-of-age comedy Dinner In America which explores two misfits finding each other through music and chaos.
The 90s cult favourite/flop Showgirls features in a double-bill with 2020’s You Don’t Nomi – the masterful documentary (or cine-essay) about the afore mentioned box office disaster – and a fitting pre-film introduction from local drag queen Fanta Sea.
Revelation Film Festival’s virtual reality arm, XR:WA, also returns for its second year running just prior to the official festival from 3 – 6 December – as a major conference and public exhibition showcasing the ideas, works, technology and constantly evolving environment of the VR and digital screen industry.
A highlight of this year’s program is FourByFour; which comprises of four 4-minute short films which will premiere as part of the festival created as a multidisciplinary cross-art-form collaboration with Co3 Dance Australia, Tura New Music and some WA’s best VR film practitioners.
Fitting with Rev’s long-standing commitment to local screen practitioners and industry, the Festival is introducing the WA Screen Culture Awards on Sunday 13 December – marking the first time in five years that the Western Australian screen industry has had an official awards platform.
Geared specifically towards recognising excellence across the WA screen sector in a new media environment, the WA Screen Culture Awards embrace all forms from new, established and emerging screen practices over 16 categories including documentary, feature film, computer game, moving image or installation.
Revelation Film Festival’s full program will be revealed in November ahead of the festival, which runs from December 9 – 20. To check out the first release, head to revelationfilmfest.org
OIP Staff
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