Sydney Underground Film Festival 2012

Movies break the mould at Sydney's strangest annual film fest

First published on 20 Aug 2012. Updated on 10 Sep 2012.

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When every mainstream movie is about either a rogue CIA agent or a clumsy girl looking for love, events like the Sydney Underground Film Festival are as essential as they've ever been.

This year, 19 features will screen at the Factory Theatre over the weekend of September 6 to 9. Time Out's had a look at the line-up and offers the top ten screenings we're most looking forward to being freaked out by...

1 Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie

The stars of Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Good Job!, Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, shows the boys being given a billion dollars to make a movie and squandering every cent.

2 Francophrenia (or Don’t Kill Me, I Know Where the Baby Is)

James Franco’s bizarre appearances on General Hospital have been edited into this pseudo thriller that’s an avant-garde exploration into the nature of identity. Franco and co-director Ian Olds want to screw with your brain, big time.

3 Mr Doodleburger Presents New Summer Bay Slaughter

You Tube sensation Mr Doodleburger will present his no-holds-barred piss-take of Summer Bay’s Alf Stewart. The film is guaranteed to ruffle more than a few feathers and will be accompanied by an exclusive live Q&A session with Mr Doodleburger himself.

4 The Fourth Dimension

This three-part film explores higher planes of existence. Harmony Korine’s chapter stars Vil Kilmer as a motivational speaker who speaks the truth. Alexsei Fedorchenko gives us a time machine tale set in Russia. And Jan Kwiecinksi depicts a village threatened by flood in Poland.

5 Keyhole

Canada’s oddball auteur Guy Maddin returns with the fantasia of a gangster (Jason Patric) who travels through his own house, haunted by memories, with a corpse and a captive in tow. Isabella Rossellini co-stars.

6 Donkey Love

Taboos? Meet Daryl Stoneage, he’ll be breaking you today. His funny, shocking documentary about a tradition in Colombia of men having sex with donkeys is the subject of what’s bound to be a controversial SUFF screening.

7 Zero Killed

On the subject of taboos, here’s an exploration of everyday homicidal fantasies. Filmmaker Michal Kosakowski asks a range of people about their murder fantasies and gives them the chance to act them out in short films.

8 President Wolfman

The President of the United States has been bitten by a werewolf and is terrorising the streets of Washington DC. The satirical comedy-horror piece has been made entirely from recycled stock and public domain footage.

9 God Bless America

Bobcat Goldthwait’s pitch-black high school comedy World’s Greatest Dad is one of Robin Williams’s best ever movies. His new film has a terminally ill man (Joel Murray) on a killing spree of America’s dumbest celebrities.

10 Wikileaks: Secrets and Lies

Patrick Forbes’ documentary covers the Wikileaks affair as told by the people involved. Julian Assange is interviewed in a film that portrays history in the making. It’s essential viewing for anyone with an opinion about Assange.