The Bizarre World of the Sydney Underground Film Festival
Sydney Underground Film Festival is back in 2012 at Marrickville Factory Theatre, bringing with it a cracking lineup of 100 local and international films screened over four days in September. Running alongside the Sydney Fringe Festival, SUFF introduces a series of features, documentaries and short films to the masses, each amongst the best independent, experimental, arthouse and daring flicks out there. But let’s cut to the chase with a run down of the underground, cult and just plain bizarro movies we’ve got in store.
What do you get when you take two totally off-the-wall comedians, give them a billion dollars and tell me them to make a movie? We’re not quite sure but the trailer tells us we can expect an epic ‘shocking film’ with romance, sex, horror, special effects, a man-eating wolf and Jeff Goldblum. Presented by VICE,
Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie will welcome fans of the surreal sketch comedians (and build excitement for their live tour later in the month) on opening night. Featuring cameos from Zach Galifianakis, Will Ferrell and SNL alumni Bob Odenkirk.
Love him or hate him, James Franco has a knack for taking the piss out of himself (or of his audience? We can never tell…). The latest of his wacky cinematic hijinks is
Francophrenia (AKA Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is), a mini-thriller made of TV footage in which Franco (as himself) guest stars as a nutty serial killer in an episode of cult soap
General Hospital. The experimental narrative turns into a meta-documentary when Franco appears to find it difficult to separate himself from his nefarious character.
Before YouTube immortalised the sneezing panda and countless celebrity faceplants, there were hilariously inappropriate or just plain crazy vintage ads, educational videos, film trailers and music videos, all of which now make up the Mu-Meson archives. In
Freaks, Geeks and Almost X-Rated Peaks (no relation to James Franco), Jay Katz and Miss Death of Mu-Meson fame will present a 1.5 hour feast of deliciously hilarious videos made in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when some of the best so-bad-it’s-good films were made.
Ditch that dinner with mum and meet
Mr Doodleburger instead in his first ever public appearance. Meet the man behind the growl who’s gotten Tracy Grimshaw’s panties in a twist and scored heavily censored segments on Today Tonight and ACA. Doodleburger’s YouTube classics including The Dungeon, Alf Stewart at the Logies and more will be screened at the live event, as well as a special Q&A with the man himself.
Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies will reveal the ins and outs of the continuing Wikileaks saga, as told by the people caught in its windfall including journalists, politicians and the elusive Julian Assange himself. Shaking up SXSW when it premiered in March, the 75-minute doco follows Wikileaks as it evolved from an underground website into a political force to be reckoned with.
And what is an underground film festival without some skin coupled with horror? Settle into a
Grindhouse Movie Marathon and
watch as bodacious bombshells fight to the death, demurely wipe blood and guts off their pretty faces and generally show a lot of flesh in hours of hilarious and horrifying cinema. The film listings are yet to be announced, but keep posted to the SUFF website.
SUFF runs from September 6-9 at the Marrickville Factory Theatre. For the full details check out
suff.com.au.
WORDS: Delima Shanti