This year the Melbourne Film Festival is set to have a whole range of treats in the form of 370 films from around 69 countries. Happiness, anger, fear, sadness and disgust – no emotions are left unveiled, as the festival touches on every aspect of human emotion. The following is a list of the top five screenings to be on the look out for.
1) Emotion Simulator Chair
Festival organisers have introduced the brand new concept of the Emotion Simulator Chair. Initially participants maybe surprised by its shocking similarity with a machine designed to administer electroshock therapy, but closer inspection suggests otherwise. The chair is meant to “electro-stimulate” the faces of participants to display facial expressions of happiness, sadness, disgust and fear.
2) Head
If you’re looking for a film with the feels of the utterly random and absolutely unforgettable – this is it. Head is director Bob Rafelson’s 1968 work that was apparently written by Jack Nicholson while on a LSD trip. Completely random, this trailer promises to provide audiences with a viewing experience that is supposedly as close as it gets to a hallucinogen trip.
3) Vertical cinema
Yes, you’ve read that right. As simple as it sounds, festival organisers have draped a large vertical screen in Federation Square to project 10, on-rotation 35mm short films made by experimental film-makers.
4) Raiders
Friends Eric Zala, Chris Strompolos and Jayson Lamb made an exact remake of Steven Spielberg’s Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) to pay homage to the American legend. Working a tight shoestring budget, they began shooting at 11 years of age, finishing when they turned 19. Director Jeremy Coon and Tim Skousen captured the three in their final journey, as they finish their movie thanks to the money raised from Kickstarter in 2014.
5) Thank You for Playing
In the past we’ve seen documentaries about video games such as The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters and Indie Game: The Movie. Directors David Osit and Malika Zouhali-Worrall tells the story of a programmer who makes a game about his son’s battle with cancer. This emotional account is sure to be a tearjerker.