Perth Festival cinema season a summer classic

Some things are synonymous with summer in Perth. Braving the lava-hot sand of Scarborough Beach to make it to the ocean. Cheering on the Scorchers in the BBL. The alternate reality of Adventure World.

For many people, a quintessential summer experience in P-Town involves sinking into a deckchair among the towering pines of UWA’s Somerville Auditorium to watch a carefully curated movie as part of Perth Festival’s Lotterywest Films season.

This beloved outdoor cinema has historically attracted a discerning, older crowd, who flock to see movies fresh from wowing audiences at the biggest international film festivals.

However, in recent years Somerville has become a must-visit destination for younger people looking for great films and a very grammable selfie while bathed in the warm glow of festoon lighting.

This year’s Lotterywest Films season promises all that and more under new curator Madeline Bates, who technically returns to the gig after a decade or so away, tasked with executing the vision of Perth Festival’s new artistic director, Anna Reece.

Bates says the brief from Reece was to find “truth-tellers and mischief-makers”, and this season’s slate of films does just that.

“There are films like No Other Land, which is a collaborative effort between Palestinian activists and an Israeli investigative journalist … about the displacement (and destruction of the occupied West Bank),” Bates says.

The documentary was made before the October 7 Hamas attack, but is nonetheless timely given the current conflict in the Middle East.

“We want to present these films, and we want people to think about them and respond to them,” Bates admits.

While she didn’t go into her construction of the program trying to hit a specific theme, some have emerged organically, such as the value of collaboration.

In addition to No Other Land, the program also features the result of another unlikely collab, that of an Israeli and Iranian director on the adrenaline-pumping drama, Tatami.

As usual, the season has its fair share of films that have received accolades at major festivals, such as Sing Sing, the SXSW Festival Favourite award-winner, starring Oscar nominee Colman Domingo.

Based on a true story, the film is about a wrongfully convicted man who discovers the transformative power of art while incarcerated.

Asked to name her personal highlights, Bates admits it changes on a daily basis.

Right now, her faves include Dying, a three-hour black comedy from Germany that won the Silver Bear at Berlin, and All We Imagine As Light, a stunning Indian film from an all-female team that was favoured to win the Palme d’Or at Cannes (pundits were shocked when it didn’t).

This year’s season also includes for the first time an Australian movie week.

Lotterywest Films runs from November 25 and the full program is available at perthfestival.com.au.