Feature - Séance International Film Festival/A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Images courtesy of Séance International Film Festival.
It's a séance in the city. The opening night screening of A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night marks the first-ever screening hosted by SIFF (Séance International Film Festival). SIFF’s home for the next three days is The Capitol Theatre, an RMIT-owned landmark, where they have a dedicated merchandise booth selling goods such as Séance tote bags, Séance t-shirts, and Séance soy candles. The atmosphere gleams with energy as the doors open and festival goers pour in. The Capitol Theatre has a warm and welcoming atmosphere and the red and black theme of SIFF's graphics contrast in the room creating a welcoming but eerie atmosphere.
SIFF is a three-day event run by students, for everyone. During the experience, festival-goers have the option to see films such as The Babadook (2014), Suspiria (1977), House (1977), and a large selection of shorts on their own dedicated screening day. Although on the day the students were humble as they spoke about organising the event, without knowing that this wasn't a professionally curated film festival, you would never guess that they were all still in university.
As we entered the cinema ceiling and walls were decorated with triangular shapes illuminated by the colours of the rainbow in unison. The options for seats were ample and we sat down eagerly anticipating the beginning of the show. After a few words from Simmy Zeimer, the director and programming coordinator, and Damien Galbraith, the production and programming coordinator, they gave their teacher flowers, and then the show was on its way.
The opening short film, Memories in The Night Wind began promptly. It was a chaotic short that presented itself in the vein of expressionism with a time-bending story and disconnected visuals. Although there were one or two technical errors with the equipment the rest of the night ran smoothly and without hitches.
When it comes to horror, the films often speak for themselves and A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night set the stage for the weekend extremely well with its emphasis on multicultural stories. The story was slow and reserved, attempting to imitate Spaghetti Westerns, Neorealism, and also tackling horror tropes. Interestingly, SIFF chose to open on a slow burn film, only to lead with faster-paced classics like Suspiria and House, almost as if they are imperceptibly asserting that they too are a slow burn and are here to stay.
The Séance International Film Festival is a warm and welcoming event where everyone can feel comfortable sitting down and enjoying horror films as a community. The coming festival dates are the third and fourth of June so hurry to grab your tickets now before you miss all the other cool experiences!
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Séance International Film Festival runs Thursday June 2nd to Saturday June 4th. For tickets and more info, click here.