The London Australian Film Society is pleased to present the UK premiere screenings – 16 February at The Garden Cinema, and 17 February at Finsbury Park Picturehouse – of Australian independent film, THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR, with an in-person Q&A with director/co-writer Platon Theodoris after both screenings.
Welcome to the Lonely Spirits Variety Hour. A radio show (and film) like no other.
Hot on the heels of the indie hit, SLANT at last year’s London Australian Film Festival comes THE LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR. An absurdist take on life and love through an Edward Lear / Spike Milligan / Jaques Tati lens – but with a distinctly Australian flavour.
Moving from stage to screen with dreamlike ease, this film has been a hit at Melbourne International Film Festival, won Best Film at Sydney Underground Film Festival and picked up a Best Actor gong at Festival des Antipodes in Saint Tropez.
With sumptuous cinematography and special guest appearances from some of Australia’s biggest attractions – the Big Merino, the Big Lobster, the Big Murray Cod and the Big Koala – this is a feast for the eyes as well as the mind. Perfect for fans of the British indie hit, BRIAN AND CHARLES (2022).
It’s weird, wonderful and with bags of pathos, this gem of a film will stay with you for a long time.
Each screening will be followed by an in-person Q&A with director and co-writer Platon Theodoris, hosted by Peter Salmon, author of An Event, Perhaps: A Biography of Jacques Derrida (Verso, 2020).
Australian snacks and sweets will be on sale, and a raffle will be held before each screening.
SCREENING 1:
8pm, Friday 16 February 2024
The Garden Cinema (39-41 Parker Street, London WC2B 5PQ)
Bookings:
https://www.thegardencinema.co.uk/film/lafs-presents-lonely-spirits-variety-hour-qa/
SCREENING 2:
4pm, Saturday 17 February 2024
Finsbury Park Picturehouse (Unit 1 Cinema LS, 17 City North Place, London, N4 3FU)
LONELY SPIRITS VARIETY HOUR – SYNOPSIS
Neville Umbrellaman (co-writer Nitin Vengurlekar) is the honey-voiced, endearingly nervy host of a late-night radio show, the Lonely Spirits Variety Hour (FFFFFM on the AM dial), where he introduces listeners to a variety of talent and gives his acutely different take on life’s absurdities, all from a tiny studio in his parent’s suburban garage.
When one of his guests professes undying love, Neville’s life is thrown into blissful chaos.
But what is really going on here?
ABOUT THE TALENT
PLATON THEODORIS is an Australian film director, producer & screenwriter. Platon’s second feature film, existential comedy The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour, premiered at the 25th Perth International Film Festival – Revelation. The film then screened at the 70th Melbourne International Film Festival in August 2022 where it was nominated for the MIFF Innovation Award. It then won Best Film at the 16th Sydney Underground Film Festival.
Alvin’s Harmonious World of Opposites, Platon’s debut feature film premiered at the 2015 Perth International Film Festival – Revelation and then won Best Film at the 9th Sydney Underground Film Festival the same year. The film’s North American premiere at the 2016 Slamdance Film Festival was a sellout. In 2017 this magical-realist drama won the Special Jury Prize for Best First Feature at the 50th WorldFest Houston International Film Festival.
PETER SALMON is an Australian writer living in the UK. His biography of Jacques Derrida, An Event, Perhaps was described by John Gray in the New Statesman as “Rigorous and revelatory … indispensable to anyone who wants to understand Derrida’s key ideas … a triumph” and by Julian Baggini in Prospect as “Brilliant … one of the clearest introductions to 20th-century continental philosophy available … [a] scintillating account of [Derrida’s] life and thought.”
Speaking about the film, LAFS Director Laila Dickson says “We are always looking for exciting new Australian talent to bring to London’s screens and even before we knew Platon was coming over we were set on screening The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour at least twice we loved it so much. It’s going to be a bit Marmite, but isn’t that what pushing the boundaries does? I want people to be grabbing a drink afterwards and pulling the film apart. Can’t wait!”
Co-Programmer, Stephen Morgan, added: “The indie scene in Australia continues to go from strength to strength, and like Slant – which we screened last year – The Lonely Spirits Variety Hour once again proves that some of the most interesting, fun and downright odd films are bypassing the usual avenues of Australian production and blazing their own, unique trails!”
ABOUT THE LONDON AUSTRALIAN FILM SOCIETY
The London Australian Film Society (LAFS) is curated by a group of passionate and driven Australian and British citizens, based in London, working in various fields including Film and Television, Education, Finance, and Publishing.
The society screened its first film on 20 July 1973 in the Cinema Hall of Australia House, the home of the Australian High Commission on London’s Strand, where it held regular screenings and hosted visiting filmmakers for over three decades.
Today, the society is entirely self-funded and volunteer-run, with the current team organising events at venues across central London since 2009. In 2017, the society established the London Australian Film Festival (formerly OZ Film Festival), with an inaugural event staged in June 2017 at Regent Street Cinema. In 2022, the festival paid special tribute to the late Yolŋu actor David Gulpilil, and was co-hosted by Regent Street Cinema and the society’s newest partner venue, The Garden Cinema, a shiny new, art deco jewel in the heart of Covent Garden. The 2023 festival opened with the UK premiere of Ivan Sen’s outback noir, LIMBO.
Dedicated to promoting Australian cinema in London and across the UK, the London Australian Film Society screen a broad range of new and cult/classic features, documentaries and short films, many of which don’t otherwise gain UK theatrical exhibition or distribution.
Taking great pride in helping to put a wide variety of Australian stories up on the big screen, where they belong, the society is particularly dedicated to supporting rising Australian talent. At each festival, the society hosts a Q&A with a debut feature film director as part of the closing night gala, in honour of the late British-Australian filmmaker Cris Jones, whose debut feature The Death and Life of Otto Bloom (2016) closed the first festival. Subsequent honourees have included Priscilla Cameron (The Butterfly Tree, LAFF 2018), Imogen McCluskey (Suburban Wildlife, LAFF 2019), Renèe Webster (How To Please A Woman, LAFF 2022), and Jub Clerc (Sweet As, LAFF 2023).
The society is also the London host partner for the annual, curated short film programme Australian Short Film Today, and frequently selects student films to screen alongside its feature presentations. Australian film schools that have had short films screened at previous festivals and events include the Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Swinburne University, Sydney Film School & the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA).
Guests of the society and festival since 2009 have included: Terence Stamp, Sally Phillips, Adam Hills, David Wenham, Eddie Izzard, Stephan Elliott, Brendan Cowell, Sue Milliken, and many others.
The London Australian Film Society is self-funded. Any offers of financial and in-kind assistance to support the future of the society and festival are graciously received. For more information please contact info@londonaustfilm.com.
