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2012 Sydney Underground Film Festival: Official Lineup

By Mike Everleth ⋅ August 30, 2012

Painting of eyeballs in popcorn tub for Sydney Underground Film Festival poster

The 6th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival is taking over all three screens of the Factory Theatre for a blow-out four-day event on Sept. 6-9.

Making it’s World Premiere at the fest on the 8th is the highly anticipated President Wolfman, the latest “green movie” by director Mike Davis that he’s cobbled together from public domain footage and feature films and set to an outrageous new soundtrack. The film looks like it promises to be a rollicking good time.

Other highlights of the fest include Guy Maddin‘s latest trippy film noir, Keyhole, about a mobster revisiting his homestead’s old memories; Bob Ray‘s documentary about Austin, Texas’ homegrown Total Badass; Bobcat Goldthwait’s media takedown God Bless America; Michal Kosakowski’s underground murder fantasy documentary hit Zero Killed; Richard Griffin’s funky The Disco Exorcist; and more.

Some of the extra special events of the fest include Tobe Hooper’s long-lost and almost forgotten first film Eggshells; and a retrospective of the mind-blowing avant-garde short films by late British filmmaking icon Jeff Keen.

There’s also tons of short film programs including gross-out flicks like Greg Hanson‘s Sink Hole; experimental animation by Leslie Supnet (Gains + Losses) and Don Hertzfeldt (It’s Such a Beautiful Day); and I for NDN by Canadian filmmaking super-team Clint Enns and Darryl Nepinak.

SUFF is also featuring lots of local talent with a special block of Sydney-produced short films on the 9th as well as feature films like Nick Danger’s Sick. Plus, there will be a special screening of short films by the notorious Australian Internet sensation MrDoodleburger, who will be making his first ever live appearance.

And all that is just scratching the surface of all the gems laid out in the SUFF lineup, which you can view in full below. For more info, please visit the official Sydney Underground Film Festival website.

September 6

6:00 p.m.: “Opening Night Party”
Screening with:
Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, dir. Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim. Based on the TV show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, the titular duo totally squander the billion dollars a shady corporation gave them to make a feature film and thus are forced concoct a crazy scheme to get the money back that might just work.

September 7

6:30 p.m.: Berberian Sound Studio, dir. Peter Strickland. A mild-manner audio engineer has his life upended when he moves to Italy to work on a sleazy horror movie. Starring Toby Jones.

6:30 p.m.: Unmade in China, dir. Tanner Barklow & Gil Kofman. This documentary follows the real-life attempt of American filmmaker Gil Koffman to direct a thriller in China despite not being able to speak a lick of Mandarin.

6:30 p.m.: “Love/Sick Short Film Program”
A Tale of Obsession, dir. Dave Wade
Chilly, dir. Dylan Kohler
Down Bob, dir. Adam Schafer
Familiar, dir. Zach Green
Hail Satan!, dir. John Michael Elfers
Instructions, dir. Cesar Espada
Porn Masala, dir. Ken Kwek
Sink Hole, dir. Greg Hanson
Special Delivery, dir. Timothy Quill
The Things My Father Never Taught Me, dir. Burleigh Smith

8:30 p.m.: Keyhole, dir. Guy Maddin. A gangster returns home and must deal with the house’s stored up memories as he works his way through each room in order to be reunited with his wife. Starring Jason Patric and Isabella Rossellini.

8:30 p.m.: Total Badass, dir. Bob Ray. Dive deep into the lunatic world of Austin, TX’s seedy underground music and arts scene with your tour guide Chad Holt, a local deviant, sex fiend, Guinea pig enthusiast and hip-hop impressario.

8:30 p.m.: Sexually Frank, dir. Frankie Frain. A group of sexually compromised friends try to cope with life, including a nurse who is being pressured to have children and a twentysomething man who still hasn’t lost his virginity.

10:30 p.m.: Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death of Patty Schemel, dir. P. David Ebersole. This documentary tells the story of the former drummer of the grunge band Hole who has struggled with a nearly all-consuming drug addiction.

10:30 p.m.: The Disco Exorcist, dir. Richard Griffin. Who’s the funkiest exorcist on the block?

10:30 p.m.: “Reality Bites Short Film Program”
Aboriginal Embassy, dir. Nick McLaren
Aquadettes, dir. Drea Cooper, Zackary Canepari
Blood, dir. George-Alex Nagle
Closing Bell, dir. John Ambros
Family Nightmare, dir. Dustin Guy Defa
Gashbag, dir. Emma Varker
Grade 5, dir. Michael Strickland
Smokestack, dir. Paul Turano
The Gnome Garden, dir. Elena Hattersley
The Meaning of Robots, dir. Matt Lenski
Tastes Like Chicken?, dir. Quico Meirelles
01.39411.999, dir. Rajee Samarasinghe
Yearning, dir. Waleed Nesyif

September 8

12:00 p.m.: Despite the Gods, dir. Penny Vozniak. This documentary captures filmmaker Jennifer Lynch’s disastrous attempt to direct a Bollywood musical called Hisss about the vengeful snake Goddess Nagin.

12:00 p.m.: Sick, dir. Nick Danger. A teenage boy hosts a party while his parents are out of town mostly so he can try to get busy with the girl he has a crush on, despite being completely unaware that his platonic female best friend has a crush on him.

12:00 p.m.: The Disco Exorcist, dir. Richard Griffin. Who’s the funkiest exorcist on the block?

2:00 p.m.: The Substance: Albert Hofmann’s LSD, dir. Martin Witz. This documentary examines the history of LSD and the impact it has had on modern culture.

2:00 p.m.:Jeff Keen Retrospective”
This retrospective covers the career of the late Jeff Keen, the wildly prolific and influential avant-garde filmmaker from Britain.

2:00 p.m.: “Animation Fornication Short Film Program”
Gains + Losses, dir. Leslie Supnet
Human Meat Factory, dir. Anna Han
It’s Such a Beautiful Day, dir. Don Hertzfeldt
Naked Love, dir. Sara Koppel
Night Hunter, dir. Stacey Steers
Once It Started It Could Not End Otherwise, dir. Kelly Sears
Peach Juice, dir. Callum Paterson, Brian Lye, Nathan Gilliss
Secret Life of Objects: Outhouse, dir. Nathan Jones
The Invasion, dir. Mary Tran
Thumb Snatchers From the Moon Cocoon, dir. Bradley Schaffer
Unhinged, dir. Dan Heyer

4:00 p.m.: Francophrenia, dir. James Franco & Ian Olds. James Franco starts to lose his grip on his sanity when he begins to confuse himself with the serial killer character he plays on the soap opera General Hospital.

4:00 p.m.: “Freaks, Geeks & Almost X-Rated Peeks”
Collectors of media detritus, Jay Katz and Miss Death present the best of the worst from their Mu-Meson Archive, featuring bizarre educational films, bad music videos, trailers for oddball motion pictures and more.

4:00 p.m.: Zero Killed, dir. Michal Kosakowski. This film combines a series of short filmed “murder fantasies” along with a questioning of the people who devised the fantasies on their feelings about killing. (Read the review)

6:00 p.m.: The Fourth Dimension, dir. Alexy Fedorchenko, Harmony Korine and Jan Kwiecinski. Three different directors explore the concept of the “fourth dimension” in a trio of short films.

6:00 p.m.: “LSD Factory Short Film Program”
Blood Film, dir. Lara Salmon and Kevin Walker
Elko, dir. Alexander Yan
Dorothy, dir. Eros Romero
Heads Up, dir. Robert Krakovski
I for NDN, dir. Clint Enns & Darryl Nepinak
Skeletons, dir. Ryan Coonan
So Pomo, dir. Kalil Cohen
The Kook, dir. Nat Livingston Johnson, Gregory Mitnick
Toxic Tropical, dir. Turk Lees
Wingdings Love Letter, dir. Scott Fitzpatrick

6:00 p.m.: Bad Brains: A Band in D.C., dir. Mandy Stein & Ben Logan. This documentary profiles the extremely influential hardcore punk band from Washington, D.C.

8:00 p.m.: “MrDoodleburger: Live! New Summer Bay Slaughter!”
The notorious Australian Internet sensation will appear live for the first time to show off his hilariously profane short films.

8:00 p.m.: The Sheik and I, dir. Caveh Zahedi. The radical filmmaker nearly sparks an international incident when he creates a scandalous movie for a Middle Eastern Biennial.

8:00 p.m.: Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death of Patty Schemel, dir. P. David Ebersole. This documentary tells the story of the former drummer of the grunge band Hole who has struggled with a nearly all-consuming drug addiction.

10:00 p.m.: Eggshells, dir. Tobe Hooper. Thought to be lost forever, this is the first feature film made by Tobe Hooper a few years before his seminal Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Not a horror film, Eggshells is a trippy exploration of the lives of the residents of a commune house.

10:00 p.m.: President Wolfman, dir. Mike Davis. When the President is bitten by a werewolf, the streets of the nation’s capital run red with blood. This “green movie” is compiled from public domain footage and feature films with an outrageous new soundtrack. (Read the review)
Screening with:
Progressive Evolution, dir. Clare Ferra
Ebbs and Flows, dir. Clint Enns

10:00 p.m.: Donkey Love, dir. Daryl Stoneage. This documentary explores the controversial subject of bestiality in Colombia.

September 9

1:00 p.m.: Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies, dir. Patrick Forbes. This documentary covers the entire controversy of the Wikileaks website.

1:00 p.m.: Francophrenia, dir. James Franco & Ian Olds. James Franco starts to lose his grip on his sanity when he begins to confuse himself with the serial killer character he plays on the soap opera General Hospital.

1:00 p.m.: “MrDoodleburger: Live! New Summer Bay Slaughter!”
The notorious Australian Internet sensation will appear live for the first time to show off his hilariously profane short films.

3:00 p.m.: Total Badass, dir. Bob Ray. dir. Bob Ray. Dive deep into the lunatic world of Austin, TX’s seedy underground music and arts scene with your tour guide Chad Holt, a local deviant, sex fiend, Guinea pig enthusiast and hip-hop impressario.

3:00 p.m.: Keyhole, dir. Guy Maddin. A gangster returns home and must deal with the house’s stored up memories as he works his way through each room in order to be reunited with his wife. Starring Jason Patric and Isabella Rossellini.

3:00 p.m.: “Sin City: Sydney Filmmakers Short Film Program”
A Scarlet Tuesday, dir. Kieran Gilfeather
Excuse the Sin, dir. Livia Rubiolini
False Truthfulness, dir. Jose De Andrade, Merit Rutirakul, Kristoffer Palm, Christopher Emanuel, Jean Tertrain
Fire and Ice, dir. Emma Sanderson
Get Up, dir. Dan Balcaban
Holiday, dir. Tony Lawrence
Love, dir. David Sprüngli
Reflection, dir. Heath Sims
Sleeping in Blood City, dir. Shaun Katz
Spaghetti, dir. Jessica Holburn
Somewhere With Us, Tonight, dir. Geoffrey Weary
Tell Me, dir. Vanessa Dang
The Old Gang, dir. Tom Abood
The Bubble O’Bill Movie, dir. Turk Lees
White Russian, dir. Emma Varker
Zombie Case Study, dir. Sam O’Sullivan

5:00 p.m.: Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, dir. Tim Heidecker & Eric Wareheim. Based on the TV show Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job, the titular duo totally squander the billion dollars a shady corporation gave them to make a feature film and thus are forced concoct a crazy scheme to get the money back that might just work.

5:00 p.m.: “SUFF 2012 Highlights Short Film Program”
Film lineup TBA.

5:00 p.m.: The Fourth Dimension, dir. Alexy Fedorchenko, Harmony Korine and Jan Kwiecinski. Three different directors explore the concept of the “fourth dimension” in a trio of short films.

7:00 p.m.: God Bless America, dir. Bobcat Goldthwait. A divorced, unemployed and terminally ill loser decides to go out with a bang — namely by assassinating as many stupid people as he can first. Starring Joel Murray.