Press release from Brisbane Underground Film Festival
A brand new film festival arrives in Brisbane this month for three nights of diverse screenings, from 29 September to 1 October at the Brisbane Powerhouse.
The first Brisbane Underground Film Festival (BUFF) will screen the kind of films that usually play at midnight, go straight to DVD or never make it to Brisbane at all.
BUFF will release a barrage of arthouse, horror, unusual, controversial, funny and really weird films on Brisbane.
The opening night film, Strange Powers, is a documentary on little-known but much-loved indie band The Magnetic Fields, ten years in the making.
Strange Powers is an intimate documentary portrait of songwriter Stephin Merritt. A prolific recording artist, his 1999 three-disc opus 69 Love Songs is widely considered a masterpiece. Featuring interviews with Sarah Silverman, Neil Gaiman, Peter Gabriel and Daniel Handler (Lemony Snicket), Strange Powers focuses on Merritt’s relationship with long-time manager Claudia Gonson.
Other films include a musical documentary on North Korea’s concentration camps (Yodok Stories), a dark Greek drama (Dogtooth) and an Aussie horror film (Primal).
In Dogtooth, the parents of three young adults keep them completely isolated from the outside world on their rural property. They bring in a prostitute for their son and home-school their children a curriculum of misinformation. But boredom, games and sexual experimentation are bubbling just under the surface.
Six friends journey into the wilderness for a camping trip to visit an ancient rock painting in gory, homegrown Primal. When one takes a dip in a nearby waterhole, she becomes feverish and regresses to a predatory state where her companions become the hunted. Terror descends on the remainder as they realise it's kill or be killed.
A true horror movie, Yodok Stories focuses on the hundreds of thousands of people locked in North Korea's concentration camps, most of whom will never make it out alive. The film documents a small number of survivors in South Korea, making an extraordinary musical about their experiences in the Yodok camp. Horrific stories are told using lush visuals from the performances, inspired by North Korea's lavish political celebrations.
Festival director Nina Riddel said Brisbane needs an underground film festival.
“There are too many films bypassing Brisbane cinemas and only screening in Sydney or Melbourne” she said.
Watching films with audience, particularly if they’re shocking or funny, is a rich experience that we’re missing out on.”
BUFF is supported by
Pro-Cam Hire and Brisbane Powerhouse
(Films correct at time of release – subject to change without notice)
Date: Wednesday 29 September to Friday 1 October
Time: 7pm Wed to Fri, 9pm Fri
Venue: Visy Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse, Lamington Street, New Farm
Bookings: www.brisbanepowerhouse.org or 07 3358 8600
For more information, click here.