Revelation - Perth International Film Festival
Encyclopedia
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
and is regarded by few as one of the best independent film festival
Film festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
s in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
History
Revelation's roots are as an underground film festival starting in the basement of the Greenwich Club, but the festival has now evolved into a large cultural event, screening films at cinemas and nightclubs across the city. Revelation specialises in independent filmIndependent film
An independent film, or indie film, is a professional film production resulting in a feature film that is produced mostly or completely outside of the major film studio system. In addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies, independent films are also produced...
and documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
. Since its inception the festival has grown in size and scope. Alongside film screenings the festival also features special events which have included collaborations with musicians providing live soundtrack scores, academic conferences on cinema and culture, and associated visual art exhibitions.
It is a tightly curated event that also includes international animations, short films, experimental works and hybrid styles. It annually receives around 400 entries from the international community and is programmed from a mix of these submitted and invited works.
From 2001 - 2008 the festival collaborated with SPLIF - Screening Perth's Local Independent Films - showcasing local independent films and short films as part of the festival.
In 2006 founder and festival director Richard Sowada began working at the Australian Centre for the Moving Image
Australian Centre for the Moving Image
The Australian Centre for the Moving Image, or ACMI, is dedicated to the moving image in all its forms. It is located in Federation Square, in Melbourne, Australia, across four levels of the Alfred Deakin Building...
, and filmmaker, broadcaster and journalist Megan Spencer
Megan Spencer
Megan Spencer is an Australian documentary film maker who specializes in the 'guerrilla video' style of documentary portraiture. Based in Bendigo, she is also a prominent film critic, journalist and radio presenter.-Biography:...
became program director for the 2007 festival.
Since 2008 film theorist, author and curator Jack Sargeant
Jack Sargeant
Jack Sargeant is a writer specialising in cult film, underground film, and independent film, as well as subcultures, true crime, and other aspects of the unusual. In addition he is a film programmer and an academic...
has programmed the event, maintaining its unique status amongst Australian film festivals, even as the festival has grown year-upon-year, attracting wider acclaim and an increased international profile.
Since its inception Revelation has featured numerous films, including Australian premieres, of films such as Sonic Outlaws directed by Craig Baldwin
Craig Baldwin
Craig Baldwin is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses “found” footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the energy of high-speed montage and a provocative commentary that...
, Sick: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Heavy Metal Parking Lot by Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik
Jeff Krulik is a director of independent films and a former Discovery Channel producer.Krulik's work frequently explores the fringes of popular culture from an enthusiastic and appreciative point of view....
,WADD: The Life & Times of John C Holms, Divine Trash, Spellbound, One Hundred Mornings
One Hundred Mornings
One Hundred Mornings is a 2009 post-apocalyptic Irish drama film written and directed by Conor Horgan. It was one of three films funded by the Irish Film Board’s Catalyst Project, designed to give up-and-coming filmmakers the opportunity to produce a low-budget feature film.Filmed over twenty days...
, Wheedle's Groove, Nude Study and cult movies such as Beat Girl, Pull My Daisy
Pull My Daisy
Pull My Daisy is a short film that typifies the Beat Generation. Directed by Robert Frank and Alfred Leslie, Daisy was adapted by Jack Kerouac from the third act of his play, Beat Generation; Kerouac also provided improvised narration...
, Gimme Shelter
Gimme Shelter
"Gimme Shelter" is a song by English rock band The Rolling Stones. It first appeared as the opening track on the band's 1969 album Let It Bleed. Although the first word was spelled "Gimmie" on that album, subsequent recordings by the band and other musicians have made "Gimme" the customary spelling...
, and Cigarette Girl
Cigarette Girl
Cigarette Girl is a 2009 film written and directed by Mike McCarthy, and starring Cori Dials, Ivy McLemore, Helen Bowman, and Danny Vinson...
.
The event has actively participated as a platform for a range of feature and documentary works that have gone on to attain theatrical, DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
or other on-going release and sales in Australia. It also works actively with a range of major Australian screen culture events, organisations and festivals with guests, curated programs and individual titles.
Guests have included:
- Mitchell BlockMitchell BlockMitchell Block is an American filmmaker whose 2010 film Poster Girl was nominated for Academy Award for Best Documentary and who Executive Produced the Academy Award winning documentary short film Big Mama for HBO in 2000....
(Producer, USA) - Tait Brady (Feature Film Evaluation Manager, Film Finance Corporation)
- Ashley Luke (Fortissimo Films)
- Sandy Don (Hopscotch Films)
- Paul Wiegard (Madman Entertainment)
- John Hughes (Producer)
- David ElfickDavid ElfickDavid Elfick is a noted Australian film and television writer, director, producer and occasional actor. He is known for his association with writer-director Phillip Noyce with whom he has collaborated on films including Newsfront and Rabbit-Proof Fence .Elfick began his film career as the...
(Producer) - David StrattonDavid StrattonDavid James Stratton is an English- Australian film critic and television personality.-Life and career:Born in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England in 1939, Stratton was sent to Hampshire to see out the war years with his grandmother, an avid filmgoer, where he was taken to the local cinemas regularly...
(Film Critic) - Serge Bozon (Filmmaker, France)
- Avi LewisAvi LewisAvram David "Avi" Lewis is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, host of the Al Jazeera English show , and former host of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current-affairs program On the Map.-Family:...
(Filmmaker, Canada) - Lech KowalskiLech KowalskiLech Kowalski is an American film director of Polish origins. His most notable film is thedocumentary, D.O.A. subtitled "A Rite of Passage", which chronicled the burgeoning UK punk scene at the tail-end of the 70's, and included footage of the Sex Pistols' abortive 1978 American Tour...
(Filmmaker, France) - Amy Hobby (Producer, USA)
- Danny PlotnickDanny PlotnickDanny Plotnick is an American independent film maker. In addition to making 18 films, he has released three videotape compilations and a dvd compilation which have garnered international distribution, embarked on five national film tours, two European film tours and has taught numerous seminars on...
(Filmmaker, USA) - Mike McCarthy (Filmmaker, USA)
- Steven SeverinSteven SeverinSteven Severin , is an English musician, composer, bassist and co-founding member of Siouxsie and the Banshees....
(Composer, UK) - Coner Horgan (Director, Eire)
- Jon ReissJon ReissJon Reiss is an award-winning producer and director, named one of "10 Digital Directors to Watch" by Daily Variety. His work has screened at prestigious film festivals around the world, including Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Tribeca, Los Angeles, Rotterdam, Seattle, New Directors/New Films, and Sao...
(Director, USA) - Jennifer Maas (Director, Producer, USA)
- Megan Simpson-Huberman (Director, Australia)
- Katherine Berger (Producer, Australia)
- Mark LazarusMark LazarusMark Lazarus is a retired English professional footballer. He played as a right winger and made over 400 league appearances, scoring over 100 goals.-Biography:Lazarus was born on 5 December 1938 in Stepney, London, into a Jewish family...
(Producer, Australia) - Jeff StilsonJeff StilsonJeff Stilson is an American stand-up comedian.He has appeared on Late Night with David Letterman, The Tonight Show, Comedy Central, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and is a regular guest on The Panel in Australia. He has also won two Emmy awards and received 14 nominations as a comedy...
(Director, writer, USA) - Cory McAbeeCory McAbeeCory McAbee is an American writer and director, and lead singer of the band Billy Nayer Show.- Director :*Billy Nayer *The Man on the Moon...
(Director, writer, USA) - Jim MortonJim MortonJim Morton is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in the 2009 provincial election. He represents the electoral district of Kings North as a member of the New Democratic Party.-External links:* * *...
(Author, USA) - Stefan Popescu (Director, Australia)
- Everett TrueEverett TrueFor the cartoon character, see The Outbursts of Everett True.Everett True is a British music journalist, who grew up in Chelmsford, Essex...
(Journalist, UK / Australia)
External links
- Photography gallery from the 2006 event
- abc.net.au/atthemovies ABC TV interview with Jack Sargeant
- realtimearts.net Real Time article on 2009 event
- http://www.filmink.com.au/news/on-screen-revelations/ Interview with program director Jack Sargeant in Film Ink
- http://www.realtimearts.net/article/97/9862 Interview with program director Jack Sargeant in Real Time