Guests

 
Stephen Amis
Filmmaker: Australia
Stephen is a graduate of the  Swinburne Film and Television School in Melbourne.After graduating he established, Revolution Pictures, and wrote, produced and directed his first micro-budget feature, the social-realist drama, See Jack Run. Stephen's concern for the environment saw him write, produce and direct a second micro-budget feature, the enviro-comedy, The Alive Tribe. He co-wrote, produced and directed the romantic comedy, The Real Thing and Virus. In 2009, Stephen was selected as one of three producers from Australia to attend Cinemart, the Rotterdam film festival co-production market. He has acted as a cinematographer on more than forty short films, high-end television commercials, network documentaries and several innovative TV series. 

Stephen will introduce The 25th Reich and will be centre stage for the Special Effects on a Shoestring workshop on Sun July 8th and introducing The 25th Reich

Scott Barnes
Composer: Australia
Scott Barnes is a sound designer and composer. He has developed sound design and music through experimentation and live performance, this involves creating self patterning computational environments, the use of indeterminant sources as modulation and techniques of aggregate composition.

Alongside Noko, he has scored Sophie Boord's BFI award nominated short film Fur (which screened at Revelation in 2010).

Scott will be performing as part of Noko on Sun July 15th

Kath Berger
Filmmaker/Festival Director: Australia
Katherine Berger has co-directed the Sydney Underground Film Festival and shared curator responsibilities since the festival’s inception in 2007. For the festival, Katherine has also co-curated a festival compilation DVD, programmed films from SUFF for other institutes and film festival events and also for a half hour television show on TVS called ‘XFilm’. Katherine has also produced three feature films (Rosebery 7470, Nude Study and Zombie Massacre III).

Kath will be introducing the Sydney Underground Film Festival shorts program on Wed July 11th

 
Benj Binks
Filmmaker: Australia
Having travelled the world for the last 10 years, Benj has expanded on his passion for relating stories - through photography, writing, and more recently film.  Since 2006, Benj has worked on various film assignments as cameraman, director, and editor whilst pursuing his own projects. He conceived Mongolian Bling in 2007 and is the main creative force in bringing it to life. Benj’s passion and energy are infectious, his communication skills have ensured that the team remained on track, and his culinary prowess meant that no one was hungry on those cold Mongolian nights.

Benj will be introducing the screenings of Mongolian Bling

Tom Conyers
Filmmaker: Australia
Tom has made many short films, including Shining the Ball and Window Shopper, and is the author of the novel ‘Morse Code for Cats’.

The Caretaker is his first feature.  He obtained a Bachelor of Arts at Melbourne University, Australia (majors: English Literature and Philosophy) and a Graduate Diploma in Film and Television at the Victorian College of the Arts, 2000.

Tom will introduce the screening of The Caretaker on Sat July 14th

Denessa Chan
Filmmaker: USA
Denesa Chan (actress-producer) started conservatory-level acting training at the LA County High School for the Arts at age 13. By 15 she was the youngest person invited to study at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. She joined her first regional touring company when she was 17 and has toured worldwide receiving critical acclaim. Chan has been on networks such as ABC Family, CBS and MTV as well as national and worldwide commercials. She just completed production on Virgin Forest. She is also slated to star in and co-produce Deadlines, a psychological horror feature based on the novel by best-selling author Craig Spector. Chan recently created Fierce Pixie Films, whose first picture, Hail Satan! premiered at the Mann's Chinese Theater and went on to win the Independent Spirit Award at A Night of Horror/Fantastic Planet Int'l Film Festival.

Denessa will be introducing her short film Hail Satan!

Davy Chou
Filmmaker: Cambodia
Davy Chou is a French-Cambodian filmmaker, born in 1983. His grandfather Van Chann was one of the major film producers in Cambodia during the 1960s and 1970s. In 2009, Davy Chou founded the French film production company Vycky Films, with Jacky Goldberg and Sylvain Decouvelaere. In October 2009, Davy Chou curated Golden Reawakening,
an exhibition about the golden age of Cambodian cinema in the 1960s and the 1970s, and founded Kon Khmer Koun Khmer, a collective of young Cambodian students and artists. His first feature length documentary film, Golden Slumbers, was shown at Busan International Film Festival 2011 and at the Berlinale Forum 2012.

Davy will engage in a Q&A following both screenings of Golden Slumbers

Brendan Clarke
Musician: Australia
2001 winner of the national jazz award for bass, Brendan is one of the most in-demand bass players in Australia. He has performed with Kirk Lightsey, Jim McNeely, Wycliffe Gorden, Barbara Morrison, Don Rader, Dale Barlow, Vince Jones, James Morrison, Roger Manins, Bobby Gebert, John Harkins and Bernie McGann.

Brendan will assist in playing the score for the George Melies Project.

Anthony Grundy
Screen Australia: Australia
Anthony joined the Screen Australia marketing team in August 2010. In a newly created Marketing Distribution role, he draws upon his extensive experience in film distribution, public relations, strategy development and domestic marketing to support local distributors and filmmakers. Previously, he served as Communications Manager for Animal Logic, working with their studio partners Warner Bros., Village Roadshow Pictures and Roadshow Films. Prior to this, Anthony was National Publicity and Promotions Executive at Universal Pictures and United International Pictures where he managed relationships with media, exhibitors, government agencies, filmmakers and talent across a number of high profile Australian and international titles.

Anthony will participate in the Vectors in Film Distribution and Exhibition panel

 
Kelcey Edwards
Producer: USA
Kelcey Edwards is an award-winning filmmaker whose work has screened at numerous top-ranking film festivals. In 2008 she teamed up with director Kristy Guevara-Flanagan to produce Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines which recently had its world premiere at SxSW.

Kelcey is also the co-producer of Words of Witness, a documentary feature by director Mai Iskander and an official selection of Berlinale 2012. Kelcey holds an MFA in Documentary Film & Video from Stanford University and lives in New York City where she works as a filmmaker, producer and arts educator.

Kelcey will be engaging in Q&As following the screenings of Wonder Women: The Untold Story of American Superheroines.

Stuart Menzies
Controller - ABC2
Stuart’s background in film and television spans close to 30 years. Starting in 10BA days he worked in an array of positions from production management to art direction on feature films to his one tilt at directing on a live action video game. In the 90s, Stuart joined the leading Melbourne independent production company December Films as a partner and producer with a focus on documentary production and children’s television drama. In 2004 Stuart joined ABC TV as Head of Documentaries where he was responsible for the commissioning of over 250 hours of prime time television, highlights include: Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler – the highest ever rating Australian documentary on ABC TV and 2007 Logie award-winner; The Bridge – a 2008 Logie winner;  AFI Award-winning documentaries Hunt Angels (2006), Oasis (2008) and Solo (2009). In August 2010 Stuart was appointed the first Controller of ABC2 where he is responsible for the channel’s vision, for all its commissioning, programming, and branding.

Stuart will be facilitating the Vectors in Film Distribution and Exhibition panel. on Sat July 7th

 
Barry Hale
Performance Artist/composer
Barry William Hale is a Sydney based painter, author and performance artist whose work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. His work was a feature of the 17th Sydney Biennale, and the Adelaide Fringe Festival. He will be performing with the artistic collaboration Noko with Scott Barnes and Michael Strum an audio-visual live performance for the Revelation Perth International Film Festival. He is also  be a major contributor to the ‘Windows to the Sacred’ exhibition which will open on July 13th at Buratti Fine Arts Gallery in Fremantle.

Barry will be performing as part of Noko on Sunday July 15th

Michael Helms
Writer/critic: Australia
Michael Helms is a long-term film-head. He’s been dedicated to documenting horror cinema for the best part of the last 30 years. He’s appeared in places like Fatal Visions, Fangoria, Crimson Celluloid, and Sci-Fi Teen. His favourite designation is ‘Weird Film Expert’ from a short stint in People Magazine. He’s written about more Australian horror films than you’ve heard of and seen too many more. The collected edition of the legendary Fatal Visions will be celebrating its publication and available at Rev. He lives in Melbourne with a family & two cats.

Micahel will be hosting the Big Budget Special Effects on a Shoestring discussion on Sunday July 8th

Phillip Johnson
Composer: Australia
A saxophonist, composer and arranger of jazz and new music, Phillip has been a significant figure in the underground music scene of New York’s downtown since the 1980s. He has composed extensively for film, most recently Stolen Life by Peter Rasmussen & Jackie Turnure (which won a New York Machinima Award for Best Music Score) & Noise by Henry Bean.

He has also written for silent film, including Tod Browning’s The Unknown, The George Méliès Project, Teinosuke Kinugasa’s Page Of Madness and F.W. Murnau’s Faust which premiered at the New York Film Festival.

Phillip will be performing with the George Melies Project.

Stella Keen (aka Stella Starr)
Burlesque Star: UK
Daughter of artist and underground filmmaker Jeff Keen, Stella Starr had a bohemian ‘beatnik’ upbringing, for which she is eternally grateful. A former ‘child star’ of her father’s films, as well as camera person on quite a few of them, she found her love of dressing up and showing off through the magic of cinema – from the Golden Heights of Hollywood to the Glorious Depths of B-Movies! She’s also an animator, designer and comic book artist + enjoyed infamy as a drummer with lo-fi punk popsters SEXLOVEBUSTERBABY! A pioneer of Burlesque in the UK since the early 1990’s, Stella set up the first UK Burlesque show/club night called “Vavavavoom!” in 1997. She manages her father’s art archive, curates his international exhibitions and directs her new Surrealist inspired Cinematic Dance Theatre company called “Theatre of Fur”.

Stella will engage in a Q&A following the Jeff Keen Retrospective on Sat July 14th

Nate Wollman
Producer: USA
Nathan Wollman is an emerging producer hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. He has worked on numerous creative projects from narrative film shorts to documentary film projects. Nathan has worked as a production assistant on set for Comedy Central’s Battle Bots series, production coordinator for Italian television with FIAT motor company, and collaborated on various fictional shorts with director and long time colleague Max Good. Nathan has most recently produced his first feature length documentary film, Vigilante Vigilante (2011-2012) which has enjoyed a successful run from film festivals in major cities across the world.

Nate will introduce and join in a Q&A with Vigilante Vigilante

Richard Kuipers
Critic/Director: Australia
Richard Kuipers is a film critic for the international trade paper Variety and a curator and historian for the National Film and Sound Archive website Australian Screen Online. He produced The Movie Show on national broadcaster SBS TV between 1992 and 2000 and has produced and directed documentaries including Stone Forever (1999). Specialising in weird cinema, Richard programmed and presented Future Shocks (1999), Immortal Seduction: The Vampire Movie (2010) and Freak Me Out (2011, 2012) for the Sydney Film Festival and Grindhouse Horrors for Revelation 2011.

Richard will be hosting the Golden Slumbers Q&A

 
Judith Lucy
Rev Patron: Australia
Judith Lucy is one of Australia's most popular comedians. A best-selling author, her work in radio, television and film and her sell-out national live tours have made her a household name. A standup comedian for over 20 years, she sprang to national prominence in 1993 when she joined the cast of ABC TV's The Late Show. Her television appearances since then have been many and varied, but amazingly, ABC TV’s 2011 season of Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey represents her first solo TV project. In feature films, she has appeared alongside Mick Molloy and Bill Hunter in both Crackerjack, and in Bad Eggs, written and directed by her old Late Show buddy Tony Martin and also featuring Bob Franklin, Shaun Micallef, Robyn Nevin and Alan Brough.

Judith will host the Wonder Women Q&As

 
Thomas Mai
Sales Agent: Netherlands
Thomas has been a sales agent for 15 years (Trust Film Sales, Katapult Film Sales and TrustNordisk) and has sold films for Lars von Trier, Susanne Bier, Lone Scherfig, Thomas Vinterberg, Lukas Moodysson and many many others. Thomas has also produced feature films, (two Danish and two American). On arriving in Australia, together with Josh Pomeranz of
Spectrum films, Thomas won the Screen Australia grant for Innovative Distribution to help 10 Australian filmmakers use new tools of financing, marketing & distribution over the next two years.

Thomas will be participating in the Vectors in Film Distribution panel on Sat July 7th and Film Distribution Strategies 2.0 masterclass on Sunday July 8th

Leon Marvell
Academic: Australia
Leon is Associate Professor of Film at Deakin University, Melbourne. He has been involved in most aspects of film production since the late 1970s, concentrating on new media works for the past fifteen years. He is also a writer who regularly contributes theoretical pieces and reviews to Australian arts journals.

Leon will be participating in RevCon Academic

Alex Munt
Director/Academic: Australia
Alex is a writer/director with a background in design. He has credits in: shorts, music video, film titles and feature film. His debut feature ‘LBF’ which he wrote, directed and produced had its world premiere at SxSW in 2011.

Alex is a Senior Lecturer in the Creative Practices academic group at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). His research interests include: screenwriting, adaptation, creative film practice, low-budget and ‘indie’ cinema.

Alex will be participating in Recon Academic 

Stefan Popescu
Festival Director/Director
Stefan Popescu is one of the founders/directors of the Sydney Underground Film Festival and has also written and directed three feature films to date. Stefan’s first feature film, Rosebery 7470, was filmed in a small Tasmanian mining town in 2006 utilising local cast and crew. The film went on be released through Accent Entertainment in 2008. Popescu filmed his second feature film Nude Study in 2008, as an Australian-Canadian co-production. Nude Study has screened at over 20 international festivals and due to be released in late 2012. Popescu’s third feature film is the comical, Zombie Massacre III, which wrapped in early 2010 in Canada and is currently in post-production and due for release in 2013.

Stefan will be introducing the Sydney Underground Film Festival program on Wed July 11th.

Daryl Pratt
Composer: Australia
Daryl co-leads MATCH Percussion with his wife Allison Pratt as well as the Daryl Pratt Sextet. He is known as a composer and performer in both jazz and contemporary classical music, and he has made numerous solo, chamber and orchestral recordings on labels such as ABC, Lovely, Naxos, CRI, Rufus Records, EFA, VoxAustralis, Fleur de Son Classics, and Tall Poppies. His compositions for percussion are featured on the Tall Poppies CD Pratt’s Alchemy.  He has performed with Synergy, The Australia Ensemble and The Australia Chamber Orchestra, the San Diego Symphony, Sydney Symphony and Australia Opera and Ballet orchestras, as well as with Chad Wackerman, Paul Graboski and David Jones. He is head of the percussion department at Sydney Conservatorium.

Daryl will be presenting the George Melies Project on Sun July 8th.

Alister Spence
Composer: Australia
Alister Spence (piano) is one of Australia's foremost pianist/composers. As leader of the Alister Spence Trio he has released 4 CDs including the ARIA award-winning Mercury. Alister has toured Europe, Asia and Canada, and recorded live broadcasts for the ABC, as well as the BBC and WDR (Germany). As a collaborator he has worked with Clarion Fracture Zone, Wanderlust, the Australian Art Orchestra, Paul Capsis, Phil Slater, Ruby Hunter and Archie Roach, Sandy Evans, and many others. He is also well known as a composer of music for film and theatre.

Michael Strum
Performance Artist: Australia
Michael Strum is a multimedia artist, a graduate of the National Art School in painting, and Sydney College of the Arts. He has exhibited internationally and has been included in the Blake Prize for Religious Art. Alongside computer, digital and video work Strum has worked in painting, ceramics and printmakings.

Michael will be performing as part of Noko on Sunday July 15th

Mark White
Actor: Australia
After graduating from the Royal New Zealand School of Dance, Mark toured the world with ‘Limbs Dance Company’ and then with his own outfit, ‘Full of Piranhas’, even giving a number of Command Performances for various members of the British royal family. While touring Australia in the theatrical role of Wes in 'Ladies Night', he decided to stay to perform/produce shows for the commercial/club scenes. He is best known as choreographer of the film Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The Caretaker is his first role as producer on a film.

Mark will be introducing The Caretaker on Sat July 4th.