SWIFF AIMS FOR THE STARS: SCIFI AT SCREENWAVE 2022
In establishing its status as Australia’s premiere regional screening event, the Screenwave International Film Festival (SWIFF) has embraced the cinema of the fantastic as a key component of its growth and acceptance. In 2022, SWIFF promises a line-up of speculative stories that are among the bracing and imaginative film visions of the year; works that are both at the forefront of a new style of science fiction movies and classic movies that have become iconic, timeless works.
Clockwise, from top left: AFTER YANG; EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE; LOVELAND; AFTER BLUE (DIRTY PARADISE)
AFTER BLUE (DIRTY PARADISE) (France, 127 mins; Director - Bertrand Mandico. Stars - Elina Löwensohn, Paula Luna and Vimala Pons.)
Plot: In a far-flung future, humanity has left Earth for After Blue, a strange planet whose peculiar effects on hair make the realm solely hospitable to women. When Roxy, the lonely daughter of the colony’s hairdresser unearths a notorious criminal called "Kate Bush" the ensuing violence exiles mother and kin from the settlement, forcing them to track down and bring the legendary killer to justice. With its fantastical set design and candy-coloured cinematography, After Blue offers a playfully perverse universe that exists completely in its own space-time, blurring boundaries and creating a tantalising trip unlike any other.
SWIFF Screening: Wednesday May 4 at 8:30pm at Jetty Memorial Theatre
AFTER YANG (U.S.A., 96 mins; Director - Kogonada; Stars - Stars Colin Farrell, Jodie Turner-Smith and Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja)
When his young daughter’s beloved companion (an android named Yang) malfunctions, Jake (Colin Farrell) searches for a way to repair him. In the process, Jake discovers that life that has been passing by in front of him, reconnecting with his wife and daughter across a distance, he didn’t know was there. Warm in its aesthetics and a tender inversion of sci-fi tropes, After Yang flips the trusted theme of an android dreaming of a human life – instead imagining a future where humans seek to understand meaning, loss and family through the eyes of AI.
SWIFF Screening: Sunday April 24 at 4:30pm at Jetty Memorial Theatre
EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE (U.S.A., 139 mins; Director - Daniels; Stars - Michelle Yeoh, Stephanie Hsu and Ke Huy Quan)
Which would you choose, doing your taxes year-on-year with no end in sight, or…saving the world from an insidious evil that’s spreading across parallel universes? Evelyn Wan (Michelle Yeoh) has her reality literally fractured into pieces while being investigated by a tax auditor (a hilarious Jamie Lee Curtis). Finding herself swept up in an epic, multiverse adventure, Evelyn discovers that only she alone can save the world from ruin.
SWIFF Screening: Friday May 6 at 6:00pm at CHEC Theatre
LOVELAND (Australia, 102 mins; Director - Ivan Sen; Stars - Ryan Kwanten, Hugo Weaving and Jillian Nguyen)
In a futuristic Hong Kong, assassin Jack (Ryan Kwanten) crosses paths with a nightclub singer, April (Jillian Nguyen). As the net that connects them tightens, Jack finds his body mysteriously deteriorating. Tracking down reclusive life extension scientist Doctor Bergman (Hugo Weaving) in a search for answers, secrets become unburied, and the past must be confronted.In the tradition of the great neon-soaked romances of Wong Kar Wai, Ivan Sen cements his personal touch in this moving science fiction, with rich big screen imagery inviting us to dive into a loveless world on the cusp on immortality and extinction.
SWIFF Screening: Thursday April 28 at 6:00pm at Jetty Memorial Theatre
Clockwise, from top left: WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE; ROBOCOP; SPACEBALLS; STARSHIP TROOPERS
FROM PAUL VERHOEVEN: ROBOCOP (U.S.A., 102 mins; Stars - Peter Weller and Nancy Allen) and STARSHIP TROOPERS (U.S.A., 129 mins; Stars - Casper van Dien and Denise Roberts)
A double-dose of future world building, screening as part of SWIFF’s five-film retrospective of the great Dutch filmmaker’s wildest works. His iconic satires, one a fierce skewering of 1980s Reaganite capitalism, the other a spectacularly groundbreaking takedown of authoritarian militarism, established Verhoeven as one of the most dynamic, fearless and intelligent genre filmmakers ever to work within the American studio system.
SWIFF Screenings: ROBOCOP - Sunday April 24 at 8:45pm at Jetty Memorial Theatre; STARSHIP TROOPERS - Thursday May 5 at 8:30pm at CHEC Theatre
SPACEBALLS 35th Anniversary (U.S.A., 96 mins; Director - Mel Brooks; Stars - Bill Pullman, Rick Moranis, Daphne Zuniga and John Candy)
In a galaxy that’s like, SUPER far away there lived a ruthless race of beings known as Spaceballs. Having squandered their precious air supply, the evil Dark Helmet (Rick Moranis) turns his attention to peaceful planet Druidia, kidnapping Princess Vespa (Daphne Zuniga) on her wedding day - a ransom ploy for Druidia’s sweet, sweet Perri-Air. Enter Lonestar, (Bill Pullman) and his half-man-half-dog-all-sidekick, Barf (John Candy). Are they really the heroes to take on the mission to return the Druish Princess Vespa to safety (for a pretty fee, of course).
SWIFF Screening: Wednesday May 4 at 7:00pm at CHEC Theatre
WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE (Australia, 86 mins; Director - Kiah Roache-Turner; Stars - Luke McKenzie, Shantae Barnes-Cowan and Jake Ryan)
Special forces soldier Rhys has settled into life amongst the apocalypse. Creating a safe zone to live, complete with zombie-powered BBQ, Rhys secures and delivers bodies- dead or alive- to an underground research bunker in exchange for supplies. The rotten applecart is upset when Rhys comes across Barry and his eerie sister Brooke, and new alliances must be forged – or bashed-in and bullet-riddled.
SWIFF Screening: Wednesday April 27 8:45pm at CHEC Theatre
SWIFF is currently happening at key sites in Coffs Harbour on New South Wales’ far north coast. The Sydney Science Fiction Film Festival is an industry partner and will present The SWIFF Science Fiction Team Trivia Spectacular on the evening of May 4th at the CHEC Campus.