Taking place from 3-14 July 2024, the Revelation Perth International Film Festival will screen over 30 feature films and documentaries, as well as over 80 shorts, in a program that promises to deliver ‘unforgettable moments and thought-provoking narratives’ that will resonate with audiences long after credits roll.
First started in 1997, the WA-based international film festival and conference will this year have special events at the WA Museum Boola Bardip, Scitech, State Library of WA and the Perth Library, as well as the annual Industrial Revelations program designed for both emerging and established practitioners. The festival remains steadfast in its commitment to showcasing innovative storytelling and nurturing a vibrant local film community.
Read: Richard Sowada, Revelation Film Festival, ‘anything can happen’
‘We’re so pleased with the calibre of this year’s program,’ says Revelation Director Richard Sowada. ‘It’s a bumper year for local films of all shapes and sizes and we’re backing the creatives behind them with our biggest professional development program to date. There’s an undeniable momentum driving this year’s program and we can’t wait to experience it with audiences.’
Without further ado, here are our top picks of the Revelation Perth International Film Festival.
What to see at Revelation Perth International Film Festival 2024
Hundreds of Beavers, USA, dir. Mike Cheslik
A drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become North America’s greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.
Kinds of Kindness, Ireland/USA/UK, dir. Yorgos Lanthimos
Fresh from Cannes and a Best Actor win for Jesse Plemons, this film tells three stories that revolve around a man who tries to take control of his own life, a policeman whose wife seems like a different person, and a woman who searches for someone with a special ability.
Read: Cannes Film Festival: all the winners
The Visitor, UK, dir. Bruce LaBruce
A refugee is among multiple identical men appearing around London. Masked as a homeless man, he visits the home of an upper class family and befriended by their maid. He intimately interacts with each catalysing their spiritual awakenings.
Birdeater, AUS, dir. Jack Clark and Jim Weir
A bride-to-be is invited to join her own fiancé’s bachelor party on a remote property in the Australian outback. But as the festivities spiral into beer-soaked chaos, uncomfortable details about their relationship are exposed, and the celebration soon becomes a feral nightmare.
Stubbornly Here, AUS, dir. Taylor Broadley
Three teenagers run away from home when kids start literally vanishing into thin air, but find themselves stuck living in a motel with nowhere else to go.
The Lies We Tell Ourselves, AUS, dir. Saara Lamberg
An eccentric director on the rise travels to Cannes, Berlin, New Caledonia, Australia and England to create her latest arthouse film and jumps many entertaining hurdles before realising her vision.
Power Alley, Brazil/France/Uruguay, dir. Lilla Halla
Sofia, a young athlete, learns that she is pregnant on the eve of a volleyball championship that will be decisive for her sporting career. In the tension of the moment, she has only one certainty: she cannot become a mother.
Tenement, Cambodia. dir. Sokyou Chea and Inrasothythep Neth
Following the death of her mother, a Japanese-Cambodian manga artist decides to travel to Cambodia along with her boyfriend, in a quest to find out more about the country her mother fled. She reunites with lost family and moves into the apartment where her mother used to live.
Blak Douglas vs The Commonwealth, AUS, dir. Cristina Dio
Documentary. Unravels the story of how Archibald winning artist (2022) Adam Hill (Blak Douglas) overcame his own background’s difficulty with confronting racism and eventually paint a triptych of his grandmother that is revealed at the National Gallery of Australia’s Indigenous Art Triennial: Defying Empire.
Kim’s Video, USA/Italy, dir. David Redmon and Ashley Sabin
Documentary. New York City movie-rental emporium Kim’s Video opens in 1987 and expands to five locations. When it closes in 2008, the collection of 55,000 VHS tapes and DVDs are sent to Sicily. Director David Redmon investigates the fate of Kim’s collection.
The Revelation Perth Film Festival takes place from 3-14 July 2024 at various venues. For more information, see the Revelation Film Festival website.
