Overview
There might be a film festival on somewhere in Sydney almost every weekend, but only one promises a four-day explosion of the dark, the deviant, the wild and the wacky. That mantle falls to the Sydney Underground Film Festival, aka the mischievous movie bonanza cinephiles should know, love and treasure. They're back for their ninth outing from September 17 to 20, and as usual, their program is both devilish and delicious.
Unearthing treasures the mainstream cinema scene might like to see buried is SUFF's foray, and in 2015 they're starting that task with a bang. We mean that literally and graphically, given that Gaspar Noe's explicit Love is the festival's opening night film. With many an unsimulated sex scene, and more than a few up-close-and-personal shots, the controversial writer/director attempts to demonstrate sentimental sexuality in all its thrusting, grinding, 3D glory.
The vibe remains thrilling at the other end of the event, though this time gleeful sexploitation is on offer. Supporting the Keanussance that we had to have, SUFF comes to a close with the man otherwise known as Neo and Johnny Utah fending off some unwanted female attention — and ending up in a raunchy game of cat and mouse — in Eli Roth's Knock Knock. This is the festival that screened Roth's blood-soaked, limbs-a-flailing cannibal nasty The Green Inferno in 2014, after all.
That's not the only Keanu goodness on offer either, courtesy of the Alex Winter-directed documentary Deep Web. The Bill S. Preston to Reeves' Ted 'Theodore' Logan delves into the darker side of our online activities, calling in his most excellent pal for narrating duties.
In between the big-name movie bookends and all-round Keanu love, SUFF directors Katherine Berger and Stefan Popescu serve up everything from an undead Henry Rollins in He Never Died to Australian on-the-run romance What Lola Wants, plus darkly comic love story Nina Forever as well. On the factual side of things, expect explorations of the funniest comedian you've never heard of and the remake-heavy Turkish film industry you weren't aware of, among others, because this is a festival fond of variety.
Elsewhere, fans of seminal underground fare can celebrate the 50th anniversary of Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! and the 20th anniversary of Kids, or indulge in their Back to the Future and Raiders of the Lost Ark love through affectionate docos Back in Time and Raiders. The big film names don't stop there, with the latest efforts from notable directors Takashi Miike, Kim Ki-Duk and Quentin Dupieux also on the bill in a frenzy of yakuza vampires, blood-soaked revenge and brain-meltingly surreal multiple realities.
The end result is a program that boasts something for everyone, as long as your tastes are adventurous, eclectic and way, way outside the norm. And if they are, prepare for a weekend of weird and wonderful cinema truly like no other.
The Sydney Underground Film Festival runs from September 17 to 20. To view the full SUFF 2015 program, or to buy tickets, visit the festival website.