Whether you're a full-blown cinephile or more of a Netflix and chill kind of dude, the Sydney Underground Film Festival is well worth checking out. The event runs from September 17 - 20, and is dedicated to challenging conventional notions of cinema. That mean you can forget your standard butter-soaked popcorn blockbuster and expect some flicks that probably didn't get a screening at your local Hoyts. In order to get a feel for what's good before you dive into experimental cinema, we created this handy guide to some films that you should definitely have on your 'must see' list.
Tickets to the Sydney Underground Film Festival are available at their official website.
KIDS (1995)
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It's hard to believe that Larry Clark's Kids is 20 years old this year. It still hits hard and fast with its depiction of New York teenagers adrift in the city, running free without parental or legal interference. This the film that depicted the cultural milieu of a hedonistic subculture, and captured the imaginations of audiences the world over. Written by a 19-year-old Harmony Korine, the film still feels as vivid and fresh now as it did two decades ago.
SALAD DAYS:A DECADE OF PUNK IN WASHINGTON, D.C. (1980-1990) (2014)
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In the 1980s hardcore punk found a home in Washington DC. The style was an evolution of earlier punk, centred around an extreme rhthmyic form of the genre. Salad Days profiles the emergence and evolution of this scene in the American capital — focussing on bands like Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Fugazi. Featuring appearances from Dave Growl and Thurston Moore among others, the film contextualises the DIY scene by juxtaposing it with the political conservatism of the Reagan '80s.
FASTER, PUSSYCAT! KILL! KILL! (1965)
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"The sweetest kittens have the sharpest claws" intones the voiceover during the intro of Russ Meyer's cult exploitation flick Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!. It's a cheesy line, sure, but it's definitely befitting the b-grade carnage that plays out on screen. The film tells the tale of three go-go dancers who set out on a no holds barred crime spree, leaving a trail of destruction and chaos in their wake as they traverse the Californian desert. The film was initially a commercial and critical failure, but has come to be regarded warmly in retrospect. Consider this an archetypal film in the bad-girl exploitation canon.
YAKUZA APOCALYPSE: THE GREAT WAR OF THE UNDERWORLD (2015)
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Categorising Yakuza Apocalypse is an almost impossible task. Part crime flick, part fantasy, part horror, all insanity. The plot focusses on the central conflict between a Yakuza boss who happens to be a vampire and a rival boss who happens to be witch-hunter, not that conventional cinematic elements are much of a concern for this film. Seriously — watch it, enjoy it, and don't try too hard to understand it.
BACK IN TIME (2015)
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If the date October 21, 2015 seems significant, it's probably because you're a cinema tragic. The rapidly approaching date marks the day that Marty McFly, Doc, and Jennifer travel to in Back To The Future II. Back In Time is a documentary that explores the enduring legacy of the Back To The Future films. From the DeLorean, to hoverboards, to Nike's Air Mags — the series has left an indelible mark on global culture. This documentary features interviews with Stephen Spielberg, Michael J. Fox, Dan Harmon (Community), and Huey Lewis.
ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (2015)
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Ever feel like you're a slave to your digital devices? Do you check your timeline first thing in the morning and last thing at night? Ever felt the pressure to pop a fresh 'gram to let the world know that you exist? Maybe you should take a page out of Suzanne Crocker's book. The director decided the pressures of the modern world were too much, and decided to relocate her family to the remote Yukon for nine months to reclaim their individual lives. This documentary follows Crocker, her husband, and their three children as they adapt to their new life without running water, electricity, or urban comforts.
RAIDERS! THE STORY OF THE GREATEST FAN FILM EVER MADE (2015)
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Raiders! tells the amazing tale of two childhood friends who set out to make a shot-by-shot remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1982, when they were just 11 years old. The project took seven years and was all but complete except for the seminal scene, the airplane sequence which proved to be too challenging financially and logistically to record. Now, 30 years after they embarked on this cinematic journey the pair have united once again to finish their project. Raiders! tells the story behind the story of one of the most ambitious fan projects ever undertaken.
