By Travis Johnson
Jean Marc-Vallee’s Demolition will open this year’s Revelation Film Festival, it was announced on Saturday. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in the dramedy as a recent widower who proceeds to unpick and examine his relationship with his deceased wife in order to figure out how their marriage went wrong.
That’s just one of the impressive array of films on offer at the 19th Revelation Perth International Film Festival, which runs from July 7 – 17 at various locations throughout Perth and Fremantle, primarily Luna Leederville and Luna on SX. This is the largest program the festival has ever mounted, encompassing 143 films, including 14 world premieres and 42 Australian premieres.
Running parallel to the film stream is RevCon, which sees screen practitioners and festival guests offering master classes and lectures on various aspects of the filmmaking craft, and Revelation Academic, which brings together noted film scholars to deliver papers on film culture. Add to that the Iranian Film Festival, Cine Vivo Latina Film Festival, and the Revel-8 Super-8 Short Film Festival, and the 10 day event is packed to the gills with cinematic treats.
Feature highlights include High-Rise, Ben Wheatley’s adaptation of JG Ballard’s controversial allegorical novel; Swiss Army Man – yes, the Daniel Radcliffe farting corpse movie; Zach Clarke’s Little Sister; and Patrick’s Day by Terry McMahon, whose debut film, Charlie Casanova, played Rev a few years back.
The documentary program includes such works as Wacken 3D, a spectacular look at Germany’s massive heavy metal music festival; All Things Ablaze, which delves into the heart of civil unrest in the Ukraine; The Art of the Prank, a look at the life and work of serial prankster and conceptual artist, Joey Skags; and Eat That Question: Frank Zappa in his Own Words.
One particularly impressive element of this year’s festival is Muppets, Music & Magic: The Jim Henson Legacy, a special section presented in partnership with the Jim Henson Foundation. Not only are we getting screenings of both Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, but also many deep cuts and rarities from Henson’s long career, as well as special free screenings at for kids at the State Library of Western Australia.
And that’s really just scratching the surface. For the full program, shoot over to the Revelation official site.
