SUFF is celebrating its 5th birthday this year and to mark the occasion they have programmed 34 films (double last year’s line up). Running from the 8-11th September the festival promotes the cinematically provocative, selecting films that court controversy and champion the subversive. Making their home at the Factory Theatre in Marrickville, SUFF’s programme includes features, docos and shorts, with films covering the filmic kaleidoscope from the hilarious to the profane (and I’m sure occasionally the hilariously profane), with both Australian and international offerings for Sydney audiences. Embracing the unusual, the bizarre and the deviant, SUFF is the film festival for people who like their films to be a little bit different.
Here are a selection of some festival highlights;
WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A MAN WITHIN (Dir. Yony Leyser)
2011 / USA / 87 mins
Burroughs was one of the first writers to break the boundaries of queer and drug culture in the 1950’s. His novel Naked Lunch is one of the most recognized and respected literary works of the 20th century and has influenced generations of artists. The intimate documentary breaks the surface of the troubled and brilliant world of one of the greatest authors of all time.
Featuring never-before-seen archival footage of Burroughs, as well as exclusive interviews with colleagues and confidants including John Waters, Patti Smith, Iggy Pop, Gus Van Sant, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Sonic Youth, Laurie Anderson, Amiri Baraka, Jello Biafra, and David Cronenberg, WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS: A MAN WITHIN is a probing, yet loving look at the man whose works at once savaged conservative ideals, spawned countercultural movements, and reconfigured 20th century culture. The film is narrated by Peter Weller, with a soundtrack by Patti Smith and Sonic Youth.
THE BALLAD OF GENESIS AND LADY JAYE (Dir. Marie Losier)
2011 / USA / 75 mins
An intimate, affecting portrait of the life and work of ground-breaking cult performance artist and key figure in the underground music scene for over 30 years, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV), and his other half and collaborator, Lady Jaye. The film is centered around the daring sexual transformations the pair underwent for their “Pandrogyne” project, so he could become a she and resemble his beloved Lady Jaye. With peroxide hair, full lips and gold teeth, Genesis does not go unnoticed. Living life as the ultimate experiment, they transform their bodies through cosmetic surgery to become a work of art. Director Marie Losier gained unprecedented access to the couple’s public and private lives, plus interviews (Orlan, Peaches, Peter Christopherson), which results is must-see, deeply moving, multi-faceted profile, of two of the twentieth-first century’s most radical avant-garde artists.
FREE RADICALS (Dir. Pip Chodorov )
2011 / France / 80 mins
It’s high time to speak more of the artists, some of them now dead, who fought an uphill battle to get a film made, to express a vision different from the cinema ‘industry’, and who radically changed the way in which we see images. A fascinating and delightful voyage through a history of experimental cinema, accompanied by Jonas Mekas and Peter Kubelka, two great and celebrated artists, who will bring to this odyssey: humour (tales of dumpster diving for food and watching a Hollywood film with Brakhage while lying on their backs at the base of the screen), gravity and above all, memory. Featuring old and new footage of notorious experimental filmmakers such as Hans Richter, Robert Breer, Michael Snow, Andy Warhol, MM Serra, and Maya Deren among others – this film is a must see for both the film fan and filmmaker.
PIXEL PIRATE 2: THE DIRECTOR’S CUT (Dir. Soda_Jerk)
2011 / Australia / 55 mins
A thoroughly entertaining critique of intellectual property law and a speculative history of sample-based culture that takes the form of a sci-fi / biblical epic / action movie (starring Moses, Elvis, The Hulk and more)! Entirely constructed from over 300 different pirated sources. With artist Soda Jerk in attendance, this session is guaranteed to make you laugh and smile nonstop!
TRILOGY (Dir. Kostas Seremetis)
2009 / 126 mins / /USA
A moving visual and aural collage consisting of the Star Wars Trilogy, artist Kostas Seremetis edited this 126 minute film, taking the left third of Star Wars, the middle third of Empire Strikes Back and the right third of Return of the Jedi, synchronizing them to dissonant effect. Every frame is a study in Abstract Expressionist Pop art as this moving collage of the most iconic films of our time moves to the sounds of the three films playing simultaneously. Characters move in and out of portions of the screen, ships and battles appear and disappear melding into one part of the screen from another part while the third portion of the screen portrays a crucial moment of discovery in a character’s development.
DAD MADE DIRTY MOVIES (Dir. Jordan Todorov)
2011 / Bulgaria & Germany / 57min
+ SCREENS with a selection of exploitation and grind-house trailers
Fans of cult exploitation cinema of the late 1960s and early ‘70s will relish this engaging tribute to the greatest erotic filmmaker in the US: Stephen C. Apostolof (aka A.C. Stephen). After escaping a Communist dictatorship in Eastern Europe to make his American dream come true, together with his close friend Ed Wood, Stephen became the father of sexploitation cinema – before the liberalization of pornography. Chronicling his life and work including a hilarious look at his directorial debut / breakthrough, “Orgy of the Dead, which was adapted by Wood from his own novel, had about 20 pages of script, a cemetery set they could use and “no ideas,” this documentary proves Stephen is deserved of the title – worst director of all time!”
DATES: 8th – 11th September 2011
LOCATION: Factory Theatre, Marrickville
