The 2021 Fantastic Film Festival Australia (FFFA) promises a second round of extraordinary real-life horror stories, paradigm-shifting film realities and surrealistic studies of society’s fringe-dwellers inhabiting the 21-film strong roster. The new line-up of the world’s most daring works from filmmakers with innovative and unique perspectives will screen from April 16 to May 1, exclusively to the Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn, Victoria and the Ritz Cinema, Randwick in New South Wales.
“Genre cinema has an unmatched ability to conjure up a truth that is raw and gets under our skin,” said Fantastic Film Festival Artistic Director Hudson Sowada, via press release. “Having leaped into 2021 with a sense of hope, we should look to those on the fringes to take risks and help us question reality.”
Hot off a Sundance premiere is the Opening Night film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, the some-would-say inevitable pairing of two cinematic renegades - Japanese auteur Sion Sono, cult-thespian Nicolas Cage (pictured, right), with enigmatic starlet Sofia Boutella (The Mummy; Climax) also in the mix. This giddy ‘acid-Western’, set in a fantastical fictional city that is half Westworld/half Tokyo Disney, follows Cage’s shotgun-toting outlaw on a rescue mission through a post-apocalyptic world.
Sono is one of several Asian genre filmmakers being celebrated with a program placement in the FFFA 2021 line-up. Korean writer-director Kim Yon-hoon’s neo-noir Beasts Clawing at Straws follows a group of cash-strapped people and a bag full of money, and Get the Hell Out (pictured, top) is a manic zombie movie about braindead politics from Taiwanese auteur I-Fan Wang.
Closing the Festival is the shocking and boundary-pushing Mother Schmuckers, from directors Lenny and Harpo Guit. Set on the lawless streets of late-night Brussels, this odyssey of the absurd conveys the existential angst of two dim-witted brothers whose quest to find their mother’s beloved dog leads them into a reality like no other.
Matters of the heart are explored in three deeply unconventional love stories. In Ben Hozie’s PVT Chat, a gambler becomes obsessed with his favourite cam girl (Uncut Gems’ Julia Fox; pictured, right), blurring the line between customer and client; a reclusive and deeply repressed man hatches the perfect plan to win the heart of his new tenant in Parish Malfitano’s Aussie-noir indie, Bloodshot Heart; and, the very real condition objectophilia is explored in Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo, the fable-like story of an amusement park worker (Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Noémie Merlant) entering an erotic relationship with a merry-go-round.
Non-fiction films exploring the more fantastic elements of our world are also premiering at FFFA. The latest from the complex creativity of director Rodney Ascher (Room 237; The Nightmare) is A Glitch in the Matrix, a dissection of the 21st century’s greatest existential fear - are we living in a simulation?. And Miles Hargrove’s Miracle Fishing: Kidnapped Abroad chronicles the gruelling process of rescuing his father from a Colombian drug cartel holding him ransom for six million dollars.
A highlight of the festival will be a rare screening of Elem Klimov’s gruelling 1985 Russian war epic Come and See, presented as a 2K digital restoration. A crushing, ruthless depiction of the potential of human evil, Come and See (pictured, right) is an anti-war film reimagining the events of 1943, when the Nazis entered Belarus, as experienced through the eyes of a naïve boy.
Special festival events including a carefully curated program of 16mm films from the 60s, 70s, and 80s in titled Analogue Orgy (Lido Cinemas only) and a staging of Dungeons & Dragons, in which fans can craft their own fantastic adventure with the help of Sydney and Melbourne’s most experienced Dungeon Masters.
FANTASTIC FILM FESTIVAL AUSTRALIA will run Friday, 16 April – Saturday, 1 May at the Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn and Friday, 16 April – Friday, 30 April at the Ritz Cinema, Randwick. Ticket and session details can be found at the event’s Official Website.
There is nothing that Hollywood loves more than Hollywood. Mank, the story of the alcoholic screenwriter Herman J Mankiewicz and his near-fatal struggle to get his script for Citizen Kane finished, leads the 2021 Academy Award nominations with 10 mentions (although, with a cruel irony probably not lost on the global writing community, not for its script).
Hollywood golden couple Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Nick Jonas announced the nominations in a two-part presentation via global live stream. The ceremony will take place in-person at Los Angeles’ Union Station and the Dolby Theatre on April 25.
Following Mank with six nominations apiece are The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Minari, Nomadland, Sound of Metal and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman received five nods.
Diversity was acknowledged across several of the categories, notably in the Best Director line-up. Two women directors — Chloe Zhao, for Nomadland (pictured, right; with star and Best Actress nominee Frances McDormand), and Emerald Fennell, for Promising Young Woman — were nominated together in the category for the first time ever. Elsewhere, Viola Davis’ Best Actress nomination ensured her place in AMPAS history as the Black woman with the most acting nominations (with four) and the first Black woman to be nominated for best actress twice.
Steven Yeun, from Minari, became the first Asian American nominated for best actor in Oscars history, while Riz Ahmed, from Sound of Metal, joined Ben Kingsley, who is half Indian, as the only men of South Asian descent who have been recognized in the category. The filmmaking communities of Romania and Tunisia are celebrating first-ever International Feature nominations for, respectively, Alexander Nanau’s Collective and Kaouther Ben Hania's The Man Who Sold His Skin.
Almost as soon as the categories were announced, grumblings about the high-profile talent that missed out began. Highly touted performances that were shut-out included Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit); Elizabeth Moss (The Invisible Man; Shirley); Julia Garner (The Assistant); Delroy Lindo (Da 5 Bloods); Colin Firth and Stanley Tucci (Supernova); Sophia Loren (The Life Ahead); Golden Globe winner Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian); Ben Affleck (The Way Back) Tom Hanks and co-star Helena Zengel (News of the World); and, Mads Mikkelsen (Another Round).
Completely bumped from Oscar parties will be reps from Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Dick Johnson is Dead, Malcolm & Marie, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Palm Springs, On the Rocks, The Nest, and First Cow.
The full list of 2021 nominations are:
Best Picture “The Father” (David Parfitt, Jean-Louis Livi and Philippe Carcassonne, producers) “Judas and the Black Messiah” (Shaka King, Charles D. King and Ryan Coogler, producers) “Mank” (Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth and Douglas Urbanski, producers) “Minari” (Christina Oh, producer) “Nomadland” (Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, producers) “Promising Young Woman” (Ben Browning, Ashley Fox, Emerald Fennell and Josey McNamara, producers) “Sound of Metal” (Bert Hamelinck and Sacha Ben Harroche, producers) “The Trial of the Chicago 7” (Marc Platt and Stuart Besser, producers)
Best Director Thomas Vinterberg (“Another Round”) David Fincher (“Mank”) Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”)
Best Actor in a Leading Role Riz Ahmed (“Sound of Metal”) Chadwick Boseman (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) Gary Oldman (“Mank”) Steven Yeun (“Minari”)
Best Actress in a Leading Role Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) Andra Day (“The United States v. Billie Holiday”) Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”) Frances McDormand (“Nomadland”) Carey Mulligan (“Promising Young Woman”)
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Sacha Baron Cohen (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”) Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”) Leslie Odom Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) Paul Raci (“Sound of Metal”) Lakeith Stanfield (“Judas and the Black Messiah”)
Best Actress in a Supporting Role Maria Bakalova (‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) Glenn Close (“Hillbilly Elegy”) Olivia Colman (“The Father”) Amanda Seyfried (“Mank”) Yuh-jung Youn (“Minari”)
Best Animated Feature Film “Onward” (Pixar) “Over the Moon” (Netflix) “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon” (Netflix) “Soul” (Pixar) “Wolfwalkers” (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)
Best Adapted Screenplay “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Peter Baynham, Erica Rivinoja, Dan Mazer, Jena Friedman, Lee Kern; Story by Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Dan Swimer, Nina Pedrad “The Father,” Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao “One Night in Miami,” Kemp Powers “The White Tiger,” Ramin Bahrani
Best Original Screenplay “Judas and the Black Messiah.” Screenplay by Will Berson, Shaka King; Story by Will Berson, Shaka King, Kenny Lucas, Keith Lucas “Minari,” Lee Isaac Chung “Promising Young Woman,” Emerald Fennell “Sound of Metal.” Screenplay by Darius Marder, Abraham Marder; Story by Darius Marder, Derek Cianfrance “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin
Best Original Song “Fight for You,” (“Judas and the Black Messiah”). Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas “Hear My Voice,” (“The Trial of the Chicago 7”). Music by Daniel Pemberton; Lyric by Daniel Pemberton and Celeste Waite “Húsavík,” (“Eurovision Song Contest”). Music and Lyric by Savan Kotecha, Fat Max Gsus and Rickard Göransson “Io Si (Seen),” (“The Life Ahead”). Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Diane Warren and Laura Pausini “Speak Now,” (“One Night in Miami”). Music and Lyric by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth
Best Original Score “Da 5 Bloods,” Terence Blanchard “Mank,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross “Minari,” Emile Mosseri “News of the World,” James Newton Howard “Soul,” Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Jon Batiste
Best Sound “Greyhound,” Warren Shaw, Michael Minkler, Beau Borders and David Wyman “Mank,” Ren Klyce, Jeremy Molod, David Parker, Nathan Nance and Drew Kunin “News of the World,” Oliver Tarney, Mike Prestwood Smith, William Miller and John Pritchett “Soul,” Ren Klyce, Coya Elliott and David Parker “Sound of Metal,” Nicolas Becker, Jaime Baksht, Michelle Couttolenc, Carlos Cortés and Phillip Bladh
Best Costume Design “Emma,” Alexandra Byrne “Mank,” Trish Summerville “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Ann Roth “Mulan,” Bina Daigeler “Pinocchio,” Massimo Cantini Parrini
Best Animated Short Film “Burrow” (Disney Plus/Pixar) “Genius Loci” (Kazak Productions) “If Anything Happens I Love You” (Netflix) “Opera” (Beasts and Natives Alike) “Yes-People” (CAOZ hf. Hólamói)
Best Live-Action Short Film “Feeling Through” “The Letter Room” “The Present” “Two Distant Strangers” “White Eye”
Best Cinematography “Judas and the Black Messiah,” Sean Bobbitt “Mank,” Erik Messerschmidt “News of the World,” Dariusz Wolski “Nomadland,” Joshua James Richards “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Phedon Papamichael
Best Documentary Feature “Collective,” Alexander Nanau and Bianca Oana “Crip Camp,” Nicole Newnham, Jim LeBrecht and Sara Bolder “The Mole Agent,” Maite Alberdi and Marcela Santibáñez “My Octopus Teacher,” Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster “Time,” Garrett Bradley, Lauren Domino and Kellen Quinn
Best Documentary Short Subject “Colette,” Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard “A Concerto Is a Conversation,” Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers “Do Not Split,” Anders Hammer and Charlotte Cook “Hunger Ward,” Skye Fitzgerald and Michael Scheuerman “A Love Song for Latasha,” Sophia Nahli Allison and Janice Duncan
Best Film Editing “The Father,” Yorgos Lamprinos “Nomadland,” Chloé Zhao “Promising Young Woman,” Frédéric Thoraval “Sound of Metal,” Mikkel E.G. Nielsen “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Alan Baumgarten
Best International Feature Film “Another Round” (Denmark) “Better Days” (Hong Kong) “Collective” (Romania) “The Man Who Sold His Skin” (Tunisia) “Quo Vadis, Aida?”(Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling “Emma,” Marese Langan, Laura Allen, Claudia Stolze “Hillbilly Elegy,” Eryn Krueger Mekash, Patricia Dehaney, Matthew Mungle “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” Sergio Lopez-Rivera, Mia Neal, Jamika Wilson “Mank,” Kimberley Spiteri, Gigi Williams, Colleen LaBaff “Pinocchio,” Mark Coulier, Dalia Colli, Francesco Pegoretti
Best Production Design “The Father.” Production Design: Peter Francis; Set Decoration: Cathy Featherstone “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Production Design: Mark Ricker; Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton “Mank.” Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale “News of the World.” Production Design: David Crank; Set Decoration: Elizabeth Keenan “Tenet.” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
Best Visual Effects “Love and Monsters,” Matt Sloan, Genevieve Camilleri, Matt Everitt and Brian Cox “The Midnight Sky,” Matthew Kasmir, Christopher Lawrence, Max Solomon and David Watkins “Mulan,” Sean Faden, Anders Langlands, Seth Maury and Steve Ingram “The One and Only Ivan,” Nick Davis, Greg Fisher, Ben Jones and Santiago Colomo Martinez “Tenet,” Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
When Lisa Charlotte Friedrich began shooting her debut feature, it was speculative fiction. LIVE tells the story of a near-future where society, at the mercy of terrorist attacks, exists in perpetual lockdown; rebels, led by Claire (Karoline Reinke), plan a cultural event that will begin social reunification. Then, 2020 hit, and suddenly LIVE seemed not only the bracing science-fiction drama that Friedrich envisioned but also an alternate reality concept, capturing a longing for interaction that had become commonplace. For a first-time feature director, Friedrich found herself helming a work with relevance and resonance like few ever had.
SCREEN-SPACE: What have been the science-fiction works – books, films, art of any kind – that have inspired your work and forged your love for the genre?
FRIEDRICH: I have always devoured masterpieces like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale - both the book and the first season of the series - Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World or Spike Jonze’s Her. I love the infinite aesthetic and narrative freedoms that come for the creator of these sci-fi worlds together with constraints of the inner logic, the restrictions to maintain credibility for the viewer or reader. What I love especially about Atwood’s work is her concept of speculative fiction; the worlds she creates that are just a different version of our present. (Pictured, above; Karoline Reinke, as Claire, in LIVE)
SCREEN-SPACE: How did the original concept for your film take shape? What aspects of your film’s narrative and your protagonist’s journey were most important to you?
FRIEDRICH: At the beginning there was the story of Cain and Abel I wanted to make a film about. While developing my script I found out that I wanted to keep the sibling’s conflict under the blankets as long as possible. I was looking for a translation of the personal conflict into a social setting, a conflict affecting a whole society. This is how I ended up developing a world where terrorism has skyrocketed, so all public live has been shut down. I wanted my protagonist to be vulnerable, strong, flawed and accessible at the same time. She needed to face the conflict as old as mankind no matter what time she lived in.
SCREEN-SPACE: Does the ‘science-fiction’ genre have deep roots in the art and cultural history of your homeland? Were the resources, facilities and talent pool required to bring your film to life easily sourced?
FRIEDRICH: In Germany, science-fiction is more an exception than the common genre. At the festival where LIVE had its premier, the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis is the most important newcomer festival in Germany, we were the only sci-fi film in the competition; quite a few people approached us after the film telling us they liked it, especially for the fact that sci-fi is such a rarity in German films. Still, from time to time there are exceptions like Welt am Draht (World on a Wire, 1973) by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Financing the film, we felt that it was neither a bonus nor a negative aspect that we were doing sci-fi. As to our team, we always had the impression that they liked the fact that we were doing something a bit more unusual, that the aesthetic departments had more freedom, that there were some challenges that needed extra attention but enabled us to create something „out of the box". (Pictured, above; Friedrich on-set, centre, shooting LIVE with Laura Krestan, left, and Ivàn Robles Mendoza)
SCREEN-SPACE: Describe for us the very best day you had in the life cycle of your film…
FRIEDRICH: It’s hard to say what my personal best day was. I had many moments while shooting the film that made me really happy, there were moments in the editing room or the mix when things started to work out that filled me with immense joy. But the very best day was probably our Premier at the Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis in January 2020. We were sold out 3 times, the big cinema was stuffed until the last seat and it was the most amazing feeling to have this live audience in front of us showing them our film that was telling about forbidden live events. The atmosphere was overwhelming and it was such an incredible moment for us and the whole team to come together and celebrate our journey. Little we knew that only 7 weeks later we would in fact face closed theaters, cinemas, schools... (Pictured, above; Anton Spieker as Aurel, in LIVE)
SCREEN-SPACE: Having guided your film from idea to completion, what lessons and advice would you offer a young science-fiction filmmaker about to embark on a similar journey?
FRIEDRICH: A key thing for me to understand in shooting a sci-fi film with nearly no budget was to differentiate between two kinds of conflicts / discussions. When it was worth spending money or investing my team's energy to find a sci-fi-appropriate solution for whatever my problem was, and when, on the other hand, it was necessary to move on, not spend any time or money and let go. We all have heard it a thousand times, but restrictions in fact do help to shape your ideas. So, in my experience, it was very important to embrace the restrictions and at the same time to know what you want to tell. As long as you know this one hundred percent, you will always find a solution, even without money. (Pictured, above; a scene from LIVE)
LIVE will have its Australian Premiere as part of the German Sci-Fi Showcase, Saturday February 27 from 4.00pm at the Actors Centre Australia. Tickets are available via the event's Eventbrite page.
Fueled by the ongoing crusade for environmental respect and a passion for outdoor living, the Ocean Film Festival resurfaces in 2021 with arguably the finest collection of films in its 8 year history. Under Festival Director Jemima Robinson, the driven and focussed festival team annually compile a collection of shorts that capture the magnitude, fragility and spectacle of our planet’s waterways and the co-habitants that share in its life-giving qualities.
The Australian leg of the global film event launches February 24, appropriately on the north-eastern seaside mecca, The Gold Coast, before rolling out across the nation. The enthralling collection of ocean-themed short films will guide its loyal patrons through a free-diving expedition in the Coral Sea, a sailing adventure north to Alaska, exploration of remote Russian Islands and a surfing odyssey in Spain, to name a few of the 2021 highlights.
This year’s program includes:
RACE TO ALASKA: An annual race from Port Townsend, Washington up the Inside Passage to Ketchikan, Alaska, Race to Alaska chronicles the competition over a five year period. Highlights include the camaraderie of the racers, the ingenuity of the vessels and the hardships all must endure if they want to be the one to take home the $10,000 first place prize at the end (pictured, above).
FROM KURILS WITH LOVE: An expedition to the remote Kuril Islands (a volcanic archipelago between Hokkaido, Japan, and Kamchatka, Russia) thrillingly documents the islands’ supreme beauty. Dr. Vladimir Burkanov is the world’s expert on the Kuril Island’s and true warrior for the planet; this film takes you on an intimate journey of visual bliss, sea lion chaos and hope for a greater conservation effort (pictured, above).
CHANGING TIDES: Lucy Graham and Mathilde Gordon had never completed a multi-day kayaking journey before undertaking a 2042km journey down the coast of Alaska and Canada, raising awareness of marine plastic pollution. This film showcases a deep love and respect for adventure, the ocean and their friendship (pictured, above).
REBIRTH: Surfing isn’t just about the barrels and the airs, it’s about the art of riding waves and the foundations of learning, perseverance and struggle to get to where we want to be. Benoit, a surfer from the Basque country, fights for his love of riding waves after losing an arm, determined to adapt both physically and mentally (pictured, above).
MATADOR: When you combine a professional skim-boarder, a bunch of swell-chasers, underwater and aerial shots and a killer soundtrack and you've got the hair-raising, pulse-pounding, "gotta-see-it-to-believe-it" film that is Matador (pictured, above).
ME AND THE SEA: A short study into freediving – the breathwork, the technique, the adventure, the reward. As a novice freediver, Fransizka discovers a freedom deep below sea level she’d never before experienced (pictured, above).
VOICE ABOVE WATER: Wayan Nyo is a 90 year old fisherman whose livelihood is threatened due to the amount of plastic piling up in the ocean. In a change of pace, Wayan decides to use his fishing boat and net to pull rubbish from the water in the hopes of being able to fish again (pictured, above).
For all ticketing and session information regarding the 2021 OCEAN FILM FESTIVAL, visit the event’s Official Website.
Writer/director Sandra Sciberras’ fourth feature The Dustwalker, in which an insidious alien parasite invades an Australian outback township, is her first genre effort. Re-energising some popular sci-fi tropes with a distinctive local flavour, fierce female leads and strong directorial vision, Sciberras recalls, “long hours in the heat of the day and freezing conditions in the night” over the course of the production, which shot on location in the remote West Australian interior.
After the films Australian Premiere at Monster Fest 2019 and global rollout via SC Films, Sandra Sciberras (pictured, above) talks to SCREEN-SPACE as The Dustwalker makes its way to DVD through Umbrella Entertainment...
SCREEN-SPACE: Were you as surprised as many of us that Sandra Sciberras decided to tackle an alien invasion pic? What piqued your interest in this genre concept?
SCIBERRAS: Oh, I think there would be a lot of directors tackling all sorts of genres in Australia if we had the opportunity to do it. I’ve wanted to make this film and others like it from the moment I left film school 20 years ago. Aliens, monsters, virus, invasion films, with great characters, [are] just good drama. It goes back to the early days of cinema, films like Frankenstein and King Kong, to the genre’s golden era in the 1950s with War of the Worlds, The Blob, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Godzilla. Then we get to the best of the best with Alien, The Thing and more recently with The Host. My interest never left, it was more that the opportunity became available. (Pictured, above; Jolene Anderson, as Joanne, in The Dustwalker)
SCREEN-SPACE: Are there themes and character traits that tie your work to date with The Dustwalker?
SCIBERRAS: Characters living [in] or trying to get out of small towns are the main things. I blame all the small town movies I grew up watching with my dad for that one, all those westerns. In three of my films, themes centre around the relationships between sisters or mothers and daughters in The Caterpillar Wish, to sisters in both Surviving Georgia and now The Dustwalker. I have a fab sister and we never had conflict growing up with each other but certainly did around us, so the bonding of siblings is at the heart of those three screenplays.
SCREEN-SPACE: The dynamic that you forge by having three strong female leads is not often seen in this all-too-often male-centric genre. What strengths did Jolene Anderson, Cassandra McGrath and Stef Dawson bring to the narrative, and the shoot?
SCIBERRAS: For starters, they are just incredible actors, human beings and creators. I love working with actors who understand character and story in the same way the writer does. These women are all writers who had a great understanding of their characters the moment we discussed the roles and the overall story. They impacted the narrative during the shoot because they made sure I didn’t miss an important beat on screen. Sometimes as a director I can work very fast. I come from low budget filmmaking so I can move on very quickly once I know I have the bulk of a scene and I have to get to the next set up. The Dustwalker is a $10million film made [for] under $2million, so there are many shots in this film that each actress made sure I got at different times in order to get the detail that the film would eventually need on screen. I love a collaborative set with actors above all else. And this was a hard shoot. Their constant, insanely happy faces, when the conditions really didn’t deserve it, was amazing! (Pictured, above: John Morris, as Frank, in The Dustwalker)
SCREEN-SPACE: Creature design is crucial to these films. How much input and backstory did you provide your team with regard to the alien’s physiology?
SCIBERRAS: The creature was definitely a process. I had strong descriptions and design elements in the script, [which] had more of a The Day the Earth Stood Still-kind of alien; a metallic humanoid with huge swords, glistening in the heat of the red desert, but in the end that didn’t work. It just wasn’t expressive enough. I wanted what was in the script to be something more creature-like, with strong physical movements that enabled it to threaten and, most importantly, communicate with the characters. That was the physiology underpinning the whole story - the creature will do anything to clean up its mess of bringing a dangerous virus to earth no matter what gets in its way. The humans have no idea of this until the final scenes when there is a confrontation between them all. The post production company worked with a couple of different designers until we found the right designer who took the creature on and was instrumental in getting it to the screen. (Pictured, above; Stef Dawson, as Samantha, in The Dustwalker)
SCREEN-SPACE: Have you purged your creative impulses of all things sci-fi/horror for now, or is the genre film something you'd like to explore further?
SCIBERRAS: Absolutely I’ll explore further! I’m in the process of writing a science-fiction project now, and also a straight drama that I’ve been dying to write. I think a director like me who started their career in drama finds the cross over to sci-fi natural. I love strong horror but can’t write it as well as others. As a director I'm interested in attaching myself to good scripts no matter what genre, but as a writer I'm going to be much more specific about what I write.
Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 9:48AM 
Hot off a Sundance premiere is the Opening Night film, Prisoners of the Ghostland, the some-would-say inevitable pairing of two cinematic renegades - Japanese auteur Sion Sono, cult-thespian Nicolas Cage (pictured, right), with enigmatic starlet Sofia Boutella (The Mummy; Climax) also in the mix. This giddy ‘acid-Western’, set in a fantastical fictional city that is half Westworld/half Tokyo Disney, follows Cage’s shotgun-toting outlaw on a rescue mission through a post-apocalyptic world.
Matters of the heart are explored in three deeply unconventional love stories. In Ben Hozie’s PVT Chat, a gambler becomes obsessed with his favourite cam girl (Uncut Gems’ Julia Fox; pictured, right), blurring the line between customer and client; a reclusive and deeply repressed man hatches the perfect plan to win the heart of his new tenant in Parish Malfitano’s Aussie-noir indie, Bloodshot Heart; and, the very real condition objectophilia is explored in Zoé Wittock’s Jumbo, the fable-like story of an amusement park worker (Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Noémie Merlant) entering an erotic relationship with a merry-go-round.
A highlight of the festival will be a rare screening of Elem Klimov’s gruelling 1985 Russian war epic Come and See, presented as a 2K digital restoration. A crushing, ruthless depiction of the potential of human evil, Come and See (pictured, right) is an anti-war film reimagining the events of 1943, when the Nazis entered Belarus, as experienced through the eyes of a naïve boy. 
