Stay-Put Cinema
Artistic Director Al Cossar recommends seven stories of people stuck in place by choice, or circumstance.
Relaxer
USA (dir. Joel Potrykus) - Featured in MIFF 2018
Relaxer
It is the year 1999, and a man cannot leave his couch until he's completed his brother's ultimate challenge - complete 256 levels of Pacman. Potrykus's freefall, miniature-Herzog-scale odyssey through couch-bound slackerdom channels its period's pre-millennium tension into strange and wonderful and abject places. Enjoy with a glass of milk.
Clash
Germany, Egypt (dir. Mohammed Diab) - Featured in MIFF 2016
Clash
Set and sustained entirely in the back of a police van as American-Egyptian journalists are forced into a microcosm of the country’s confrontation, Diab's Cannes-featured tinderbox of a film casts a confined eye towards the political dynamics of the Egyptian revolution.
The Guilty
Finland (dir. Gustav Moller) - Featured in MIFF 2018
The Guilty
Playing out on one end of the phone in an emergency call centre, an operator's interaction with a kidnapped woman sparks a cleverly claustrophobic ride. It's a thriller full of the knowing possibilities of suggestion and implication, for those looking for an elevated Danish crime experience.
Lebanon
Germany/Israel/France/Lebanon (dir. Samuel Maoz) - Featured in MIFF 2010
Lebanon
From the inside of a tank, the world (in this instance seen through periscopes and viewfinders) can distort – it’s not a subtle message, but delivered with the intensity and ingenuity of Maoz’s Golden Lion winning conflict chamber piece (also inspired by his own experiences), it remains unnerving and potent.
The Invitation
USA (dir. Karyn Kusama) - Feautured in MIFF 2015
The Invitation
Dinner parties don’t get more awkward than this – in Kusama’s excellent, elegant and unnerving thriller, using the full dynamic of John Carroll Lynch’s talents. It’ll make you long for the non-gore laden Tupperware party invites of the mid-80s.
Curve
Australia (dir. Tim Egan) - Featured in MIFF 2016
Curve
A 10 minute anxiety injection, this Australian short won Best Short Film at Fantastic Fest and Sitges Film Festival in its depiction of one girl looking to hold on against the odds.
The Follow Up
USA (dir. Benjamin Berman)
The Follow Up
From the director of The Amazing Johnathan Documentary (MIFF 2019) - in these socially ravaged times, will Cameo and the paid insight of mid-tier celebrities be what saves us all?