THE ROAR OF THE UNDERGROUND! (Naked City)
Image: Photo: SUFF, Supplied
Sydney is littered with festivals and cultural events that originally enjoyed widespread success but in a relatively short period succumbed to fickle public tastes, exhausted their funding or simply ran out of steam. Any that have survived more than a couple of decades most be doing something right and that certainly applies to the upcoming Sydney Underground Film Festival.
Lovingly referred to as SUFF, the always eclectic and pull no punches fest will celebrate its 20th edition when it returns to its original venue, the Factory Theatre, between the 10th and 13th of September. I asked festival director and programmer Katherine Berger just why SUFF has enjoyed such success and longevity, as well as the loyal patronage of both punters and filmmakers – she explained.
“I think the biggest thing is that we’ve stayed true to what SUFF is. We’ve never really tried to become something that we’re not. There are plenty of places to see mainstream cinema, but SUFF has always existed to champion filmmakers and films that might otherwise struggle to find a home.”
So how did it all start, apparently from fairly humble beginnings. Katherine remembered that there weren’t many film festivals in Sydney at the time and she had just finished making a super low-budget feature that they had submitted to the established Sydney Film Festival, “knowing it wasn’t their jam”. She added:
“It got us thinking that Sydney needed a more grungy, lo-fi film festival – somewhere that experimental, underground, provocative and low-budget films could feel at home. We were just scrappy film school students with absolutely no idea how to run a film festival, but we thought, how hard could it be?
“We started visiting cinemas all over Sydney, but the hire fees they were asking for, and the fact that we had no track record, made it completely unfeasible. Then we stumbled across the newly opened Factory Theatre in Marrickville. so we went for it. The first festival was held there in September 2007 and ran for four nights, from 7–10 September, with just one cinema – there are now four.”
One of the great things about independent filmmaking these days is what Katherine calls the ‘democratisation’, where you don’t need permission, money or a big production company behind you anymore to shoot your own short of even feature. You can just use an iPhone if you want to. She notes:
“When we started SUFF, shooting digitally was already becoming the norm, but there was still this perception that if you wanted to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, you needed to shoot on expensive, professional equipment. There was a hierarchy around what looked like a ‘real’ film. That’s been completely blown apart.”
Not surprisingly this democratisation has seen a record number of submissions from filmmakers for SUFF#20, as Katherine enthuses:
“We have had our biggest submission pool yet, with more than 780 films coming at us, so there’s a hell of a lot to get through. We’re particularly interested in giving a platform to independent filmmakers and filmmakers with distinctive voices who might otherwise struggle to get their work seen.
“This year we also decided to put together a strange and joyous short film session called WTF SYDNEY! Our aim was to bring together some unique, ballsy and entertaining Sydney filmmakers, especially as SUFF is celebrating 20 years and the community that made us.”
Given such a great response from filmmakers, I was interested to learn how the selection process and criteria worked. Katherine responded:
“We watch a ridiculous amount of stuff. The main thing is that we’re looking for films that grab us by the throat and make us feel something! We want filmmakers who are bold. Something to say. A crazy idea. A strange perspective. A completely bonkers way of looking at the world. It might be outrageous and transgressive, or deeply weird. The common thread is that there’s some kind of creative risk involved – films that don’t fit neatly in a box.
Finally, with so many diverse, offbeat and challenging films in the program, I asked Katherine to nominate just one of the numerous highlights – a difficult choice indeed. It’s a twenty year celebration so not surprisingly she came up with the opening night feature and party.
“Our opening night film, ‘TURA!’, is a great example of the kind of cinema we love. It tells the story of Tura Satana, the legendary cult cinema and burlesque star – best known for ‘Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!’, and looks beyond the icon to the woman herself.
“It’s a really entertaining and at times shocking story, and having that as the starting point for our 20th festival feels very appropriate. Plus there are burlesque performances Tara Moss introducing the film, a DJ set from Miss Death. MC Jay Katz, drinks, and even a birthday cake!”
SUFF #20 is back at The Factory Theatre – Marrickville from Thursday 10th September right through until Sunday 13th. Tickets and passes on sale now! Check out the entire program at https://www.suff.com.au/
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