Dive into the world of alternative cinema with Perspectives Film Festival. The student-led event returns with more thought-provoking indie titles and lesser-known gems for its 18th edition from October 24 to 26 at Oldham Theatre.
This year's lineup features seven international films – from France and Japan to the Dominican Republic and Hong Kong – all cohering to the theme of "Tradition and Modernity", providing creative explorations of the tensions between old and new.
Look forward to titles such as The Wiz (1978), Perspectives Film Festival's opening film, a reimagining of the 1974 Tony award-winning musical based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Embark on a musical fantasy adventure with Dorothy Gale, a teacher from Harlem, New York as she finds her way back from the urban, decaying land of Oz.
You can also catch two standouts: 4K restorations of Pulse (2001) and Farewell My Concubine (1993). The former is an iconic Japanese techno-horror film by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, where ghosts invade the living world via the internet in an exploration of depression, loneliness, and the afterlife in the digital age. The latter, also the festival's closing film, will transport you into the colour and grandeur of traditional Chinese opera through the tumultuous lives of two Peking opera performers in 20th-century China.
Tickets are available online at $14 for standard tickets and $12 for concession tickets. You can bundle three films of your choice (excluding opening and closing films) for $33, or watch it all with a Festival Pass at $65. For more information including the full lineup, visit perspectivesfilmfestival.com.