SUFF Opening Night To Show John Waters’ Cult Classic ‘Female Trouble’

The ever-provocative Sydney Underground Film Festival (SUFF) returns for its 18th year with 13 Australian premieres this week from Thursday September 12 to Sunday September 15.

Having screened over 1800 films since the festival’s establishment in 2007, SUFF is Sydney’s most prominent film festival for showcasing cult and underground film.

“At SUFF, we’re all about celebrating the wild, the weird, and the wonderfully unexpected. This year’s festival will take you on a journey through cinema’s most daring corners— here anything can happen and usually does,” said Festival Director Nathan Senn.

“Our lineup of films is a testament to the fearless creativity of filmmakers who dare to challenge, provoke, and entertain, and we can’t wait for our audience to join us for the ride,” Nathan added.

John Waters’ beloved cult queer film Female Trouble

Opening Night kicks off with a 50th anniversary screening of Female Trouble (1974), John Waters’ anarchic twist on Hollywood melodrama. This outrageously audacious classic depicts a teenage tantrum (played by queer icon Divine) that becomes a depraved journey of crime and chaos. With a sense of humour for the anti-social and underground culture, you will love this film.

To enhance the experience, scratch-and-sniff cards will be handed out which release corresponding scent at key moments in the film.

Australian premiere of Daaaaaali! 

On Saturday, Venice Film Festival 2023 selection Daaaaaali! will be presented in its Australian premiere.

This comedy from French director Quentin Dupieux explores the flamboyant life and elusive persona of the iconic Salvador Dalí. The film’s narrative unfolds in a series of dreamlike sequences, featuring five different actors portraying Dalí at various stages of his life.

With Dupieux’s signature absurdity and clever practical effects, Daaaaaali! blurs the lines between reality and illusion, much like Dalí’s own art.

SUFF will show 50 short films throughout festival

Throughout the festival, nearly 50 short films will be screened.

This will include a collection of outrageous shorts in WTF! (not for the faint-hearted), explorations of sexuality in all its forms in LOVE/SICK, boundary-pushing genre shorts from Australian independent cinema’s renegades in HOMEBAKED SHORTS,  and the much-loved TAKE48 Film Challenge will be back too, which reveals filmmakers’ abilities to create a short film in only 48 hours.

SUFF Closing night: Scala!!! documentary premiere

The festival’s closing night will end with the NSW Premiere of Scala!!! (2023), a wildly-entertaining documentary written and directed by Ali Catterall and Jane Giles that tells the  scandalous inside story of the Scala, a repertory movie theatre in England full of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

All tickets start at $20 or are $15 for Club Dendy members, and passes for 3, 5 or 10 films are also available.

Tickets for all films and events are now available at www.suff.com.au.

Sydney Underground Film Festival
September 12-15, Dendy Newtown
www.suff.com.au