Let the Film Freak Flag Fly High with the 2023 Sydney Underground Film Festival

PRESS RELEASE

Leading festival for cult and underground film, the Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF) returns next month to let Sydney’s film freak flag fly! The festival’s 17^th year will deliver a jam-packed program from Thursday 7^th to Sunday 10^th September. 

In 2024, SUFF has joined forces with Dendy Newtown to deliver an epic program full of filmic oddities, hidden gems and of course, a collection of the unforgettably zany and mind-melting moments that have become the hallmark of entering the cinema at SUFF.

Featuring a full-scale cinematic smorgasbord of must-see feature and documentary films from around the globe, exciting Australian premieres and unforgettable shorts and live events, this not-for-profit annual film festival is an integral part of Sydney’s film industry and screen culture.

Katherine Berger, Festival Director, said: “We are really excited by this year’s program, with such a diverse mix of films that really celebrate the independent spirit of filmmaking. There are so many filmic outlaws who buck the system here! We can’t wait for audiences to come along on this cinematic adventure.”

2023 Festival highlights include:

• Opening night film, Ukraine Guernica – Art Not War is the latest from daring filmmaker George Gittoes. This anti-war film follows the frontline artists daring to stand up to Russian invasions of Ukraine and Afghanistan.

• Closing night film, Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls will star the Writer/Director Andrew Bowser aka The Weird Satanist Guy (look it up!). A wild ride full of enchantment, friendship, laughter and the right dose of black magic and satanic worship thrown in for good measure.

• Transgressive black comedies, in wildly individualistic comedy drama Hippo directed by Mark H. Rapaport and featuring Berlinale Silver Beat winner Lilla Kizlinger (I See You Everywhere); Lousy Carter, the witty dramedy by Bob Byington (Frances Ferguson, Infinity Baby), hot off its premiere at the Locarno Film Festival with an exceptional cast; and Poundcake, a hilarious horror satire directed by Onur Tukel (Summer of Blood).

• Laura Moss debuts an incredible psychological horror film Birth/Rebirth, a modern reimagining of Frankenstein starring Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete, The Umbrella Academy) and Judy Reyes (Scrubs, Smile).

• The Japanese, neon-drenched gore extravaganza Holy Mother directed by one of the most active and exciting indie filmmakers working today, Yoshhiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police).

• The gutsy Australian filmmaker Stuart Simpson is back at SUFF with his latest, a haunting horror Sleeping Beauties. With Stuart and lead actress Intan Kieflie in attendance for a Q&A after the film – perfect for up-and-coming filmmakers to clean guerrilla indie tips & tricks!

• Kick Me, the first feature by prize-winning Kansas filmmaker Gary Huggins and Sour Party directed by husband-and-wife duo Amanda and Michael Drexton (We Can’t Go On) are films where everything goes wildly, insanely wrong.

• Eye-opening documentaries, in Citizen Sleuth directed by Chris Kasick; Enter the Clones of Bruce, a Brucesploitation doc (plus watch the ultimate Brucesploitation film The Clones of Bruce Lee after the doc!); Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes featuring candid interviews from likes of Quincy Jones, Abbey Lincoln, Sonny Rollins and many more.

• A special pre-festival screening on Wednesday 23^rd August of The Wild Boys, directed by notoriously provocative French experimental artist, Bertrand Mandico (After Blue) at Pink Flamingo Cinema. SUFF is also screening the latest experimental film Conann by Mandico, a wildly phantasmagorical feminine take on heroic myths.

• A tonne of incredible short films; a selection of the best bite-sized documentary shorts that traverse the personal to the global in REALITY BITES; a collection of genre-crossing shorts from the vanguard renegades of independent cinema in HOMEBAKED SHORTS; a package of discombobulating madcap shorts not for the faint-of-heart in WTF!; and expressions of sexuality in all its forms in LOVE/SICK.

• The return of much-loved filmmaking competition TAKE48Film Challenge for its fifth year, putting filmmaker’s abilities to the test. TAKE48 takes place for 48 hours from 18^th to 20^th August, with over $11,000 in prizes up for grabs.

Tickets to all films and events are available at: www.suff.com.au

17^th Annual Sydney Underground Film Festival

Dates: Thursday 7^th September – Sunday 10^th September, 2023

Venue: Dendy Newtown, King St, Newtown NSW 2042

Available to watch: www.suff.com.au

Tickets: Starting from $10