Revelation Perth International Film Festival

The 25th annual Revelation Perth International Film Festival returns to Luna Cinemas Leederville for a 10-day celebration of the best independent global and local cinema from 7 – 17 July. The silver jubilee edition includes 26 feature films, 16 full length documentaries and over 50 short films and short documentaries from 29 countries, a comprehensive offering that is second to none. With a programme featuring films direct from Rotterdam, Berlin, SXSW, Venice and Locarno Film Festivals, presented at the beautiful art deco home of indie cinema, Luna Leederville, it’s difficult to spotlight them all, but we’ve gone and done our best below!

Let’s start with Peter Strickland who serves up a surreal infused tale of sound, music and food with FLUX GOURMET; a deliciously deadpan comedy from the LaBruce as one of his many influences. LaBruce’s SAINT-NARCISSE is also on offer as part of Rev, the latest film from the Canadian queer-punk pioneer follows a handsome narcissistic young man who discovers the existence of his twin brother. Cinephiles can then feast on FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN; outré cinema master who lists Bruce legendary filmmaker Paul Morrissey’s masterpiece of midnight/cult cinema.

Locally made microbudget West Australian features shine bright with the ambitious debut from nineteen-year-old director Sarah Legg, the surreal and atmospheric drama – CHERUBHEAD; the self- made and self-funded EDWARD & ISABELLA from Albany’s Adam Morris and BASSENDREAM; Tim Barretto’s tale of friendship and family, awash with 90s nostalgia.

Charlotte Gainsbourg shines bright in a warm French family drama set in 1980s Paris THE PASSENGERS OF THE NIGHT; and an animated feature that explores Anne Frank’s life, her diary and her legacy WHERE IS ANNE FRANK are two other must-sees.

And moving right along to the documentaries on offer as part of Revelation 2022: Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Best Director Prize, A HOUSE MADE OF SPLINTERS was filmed in a children’s home in Eastern Ukraine and sits alongside NAVALNY which follows the man who survived an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020.

Art and live performance enthusiasts will love MAKE ME FAMOUS – a madcap romp through the 1980s NYC art scene amid the colourful career of painter, Edward Brezinski, hell-bent on making it; MIKE MIGNOLA: DRAWING MONSTERS – a feature length documentary about Mike Mignola and the creation of his Hellboy comic book universe; NAMARALI – a film two decades (and five Olympics) in the making; which takes a deep dive into the story of the supreme creator spirits revered by the Worrorra, Ngarinyin and Wunumbal people of the Kimberly – the spirit figure that rose up into the stadium in the Sydney Olympic Ceremony; and the observational documentary STAGE CHANGERS which was filmed over eight years that follows the brilliant, young WA theatre company The Last Great Hunt and its team of exceptionally creative artists creating their biggest and most daring project to date.