My Film Pass Picks - Giordan Pakes
Hi! I’m Giordan and I’ve had the pleasure of working with Kate, Dave and the SWIFF team on the Film Outreach side of things, I also helped write the program and what a doozy of a program it is! I’m beyond excited to be a part of this amazing festival for 2020.
Monos
What sold me on Monos was the trailer. There is no dialogue at all, just breathtaking mountaintop vistas juxtaposed by a lot of kids with guns. Monos looks beautifully distressing, and terrifyingly mesmerising. I appreciate a film that pushes actors- and by proxy the audience- out of their comfort zones and Monos did just that. It’s most definitely a big screen event and the film I’m most excited to see this SWIIFF.
Dogs Don't Wear Pants
Who doesn’t love a dark comedy? I know I do. And that’s what you’ll get with Dogs Don’t Wear Pants. A film about a heart broken surgeon who really puts the ‘sad’ in sadism becomes tied up (get it?) in an enthralling yet demanding dominatrix is as dark as the shiniest latex gimp suit. This film is about the humanity in depravity and the heart in BDSM.
Irreversible: Inversion Integrale
When I heard we were getting the chronological order version of Irreversible, one of the most controversial films of the last two decades, recut by Gaspar Noe himself, I was intrigued to see how this would change the film. I love films that push the envelope in some way, and Irreversible certainly pushed a lot of envelopes very far. I’m excited to be among the first to see this Australian premiere.
Deerskin
Georges has a cool jacket, so cool in fact that he decides no one else should ever own a jacket. If that’s not enough to convince you, then frankly I don’t know what is. How about Oscar winner Jean Dujardin? Deerskin is going to be one of those odd films that becomes an instant cult classic. Why not consider popping by a little earlier to catch In Fabric as well? These two films are certainly à la mode.
Color Out Of Space
Where Monos is the film I’m most excited to see, Color out of Space is a close second. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I’m a huge horror buff, and so the literature of H.P Lovecraft is especially close to my heart. Nicholas Cage is also quite close to my heart and so the combination of Cage-Craft on the big screen for 111 exhilarating minutes will be nothing short of a religious experience for me.
Hail Satan?
Contrary to the rest of my picks, I don’t just watch doom and gloom films. Sometimes I like me some learning too. Especially about theology of any kind. Hail Satan? brings up some important issues that I’m very keen to see explored further, like the separation of church and state, especially in ultra-right-wing parts of America. After this doco, you might just start calling yourself a Satanist.
