By Tim Byrnes

American independent cinema is filled with fresh and exciting films. It’s a shame independent films don’t get the recognition they deserve, but American Essentials Film Festival artistic director Richard Sowada hopes to give the best releases the chance to be seen. “What I hope people do is look at each other and go, ‘Where are these movies? Why aren’t we seeing these kinds of films? What’s happened?’”

Sowada’s experience with film goes back 20 years, having founded Perth’s Revelation Film Festival. As artistic director for American Essentials, Sowada wants to bring the latest and best releases from the American independent film industry to Australia to give them their chance to be seen.

“It was only 10 years ago those kinds of very individual voices were the staple film programming at arthouse screens, whether they be American or elsewhere. Now they’re not on the screens. It’s not that they’re not being made, because they are – this festival is full of them. But the air and the time that you’re meant to give these films and filmmakers to breathe is not there like it used to be. If they don’t smash it in the first weekend, they’re off the screen by the second weekend. It’s not to say they’re not good films; they’re just being released in the type of environment that doesn’t give films of a very personal nature the time that they need to breathe to gain audiences and to gain a reputation. That’s the purpose of a program like this – to give these films a platform.”

For the festival’s debut season, Sowada approached the festival by exploring the boundaries audiences were willing to cross. “Last year was a very experimental year in both the expectation of what the program could do and what was in the program. We did that to try and really push the audience to a limit and see how far they would go in accepting certain kinds of work.”

After the success of the festival’s debut season, Sowada and the team took stock of the lessons learned in order to create a stronger festival the following year. One lesson was making a less complicated program for audiences to navigate and discover more of its selections. “This year there’s just two programs: retrospectives, and new documentaries and feature films. I think it’s more cohesive in the pathway through the program. I think the films link together in a much better way to create a program that has a kind of relief and contrast to it, and let the films sing the same kind of tune.”

Ultimately, Sowada hopes American Essentials will help introduce these fresh new filmmakers to new audiences and give them the recognition they deserve. “With a program like American Essentials, I see a lot of movies. Some stay with me for a little while and then go, and some just stay. Those kinds of films deserve to live, and I’m going to help it live.”

This year’s edition of American Essentials features over 30 titles in its program. Sowada talked about some of his favourites, from the beautiful to the bizarre.

20th Century Women

“The opening night film of a festival is absolutely the hardest film to choose. We opted for 20th Century Women because it’s got everything you’d want for something like this festival where you want to make a statement about the program. For me, it’s got everything: a great cast, a simple story, and a really great director. It’s got a really good kind of magic between all those components and saying to each other, ‘Let’s make a really good fucking movie!’”

Becoming Bond

“This was kind of a magical one to come to us. George Lazenby is so funny in the documentary. The story is just so interesting! I would be afraid that if it weren’t for a program like this that film wouldn’t see the light of day in Australia, which would be an absolute crime.”

Are We Not Cats?

Are We Not Cats?

“It’s so fresh in every single way. It’s very unusual, but holds together really well. This is the director’s first feature film, and it’s really something different without being alienating in any way. It doesn’t push you away; it welcomes you in.”

Sylvio

Sylvio

“It’s about a gorilla who works for a debt collecting agency. He goes to collect a debt from this house, and in the basement are these people recording a community TV talk show. He gets mistaken for a guest, and accidentally becomes a TV star. It’s one of those films that are so strangely innocent and lives in a complete world of its own. It made me wonder what part of the human brain does an idea like that come from.”

Andy Warhol’s Bad

Andy Warhol’s Bad

“This took a fair amount of work to get. It’s one of the lost films of the ‘70s. It was a staple of the true independent movement back in the day, and it’s just been kind of lost. It took a lot of hunting to get this one through the Warhol Foundation, the Museum Of Modern Art in New York, and other collectors to find the actual person who has the rights. It was on, then off, then on, then off, then suddenly it was back on again. It was a long process, but it was quite good fun.”

Columbus

Columbus

“Perhaps one of the quieter films in the program, and one of my favourites. It’s a very beautiful love story set against the architecture in this small town. Basically, there’s a 30-something couple who are trapped in this town for one reason or another, and they fall in love by talking about the architecture in this place. And the love scenes are in front of some really great architecture, and there’s really great conversations about them. It’s a weird documentary/romance hybrid which is very beautiful.”

 American Essentials Film Festival runs from May 9-28. For full programme information, dates, tickets, venues, and sessions, head to https://www.americanessentials.com.au/

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