Horror-comedy Sissy will open this year’s Revelation Perth International Film Festival, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in 2022.
To be held at Luna Cinemas Leederville from July 7-17, the curated program is set to include storytellers from around the globe and around the corner, with films direct from Rotterdam, Berlin, SXSW, Venice, and Locarno Film Festivals.
Leading the early line-up announcement is Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes’ slasher flick, in which an influencer encounters her childhood tormentor on a hen’s weekend and claims “revenge is a dish best shared on Instagram.”
The film, which screened at SXSW earlier this year, stars Aisha Dee, Yerin Ha, Lucy Barret, Barlow, Emily de Margheriti, Perth-born Daniel Monks, and Shaun Martindale.
Also fresh from SXSW is Back to Back Theatre’s Shadow, a film about Artificial Intelligence and disability activism made collaboratively by people with disabilities both in-front as well as behind the camera.
Elsewhere, Neighbours star Georgie Stone’s personal short documentary The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone screens direct from Tribeca as part of the Different Voices section.
One of three documentaries in the special program, the personal story was filmed over 10 years and explores the 21-year-old’s childhood through to adulthood, while advocating the agency of transgender children and adolescents in making their own decisions regarding identity.
Revelation will also celebrate local micro-budget filmmaking with Bassendream, a feature shot on a shoe-string budget entirely on 16mm film that’s awash with 90’s nostalgia. Set in Perth suburbia on the last day of summer school holidays, the film is a meandering and mischievous tale of youth, friendship and family from writer/director Tim Barretto.
Other highlights include Daniel Roher’s Navalny, a documentary that follows Putin’s arch-enemy Alexi Navalny as he survives an assassination attempt by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent in August 2020
The festival will take an experimental turn when world-leading interpreters of graphic notation, Decibel, perform a unique music and film commission featuring 20 x 2-minute compositions originally created for online delivery. Recorded in and out of lockdown between screen artists and musicians split across Perth and Melbourne, the works will be performed live as part of Revelation – presented in collaboration with Tura on Monday, July 11.
The performance will be preceded by Revelation’s Westralia Day on Saturday, July 9 at The Backlot, which will shine a spotlight on locally-produced short films and long form content.
The event will close with a celebration of some of WA’s talented emerging filmmakers with the popular Get Your Shorts On! and the City of Vincent Film Project special event on Sunday, July 17.
The full program for the Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2022 will be announced early June. Find out more information about how to purchase tickets here.