The Gold Coast Film Festival has kicked-off with aliens, superheroes, cosplayers and celebrities as the 2013 program is unleashed upon movie-goers and pop-culture fans alike. The opening night film ‘The History of Future Folk” saw the cinema greeted in song by an alien race who mysteriously look like Americans but are nonetheless imposing.
TOM Magazine’s had the opportunity to catch some of the opening films and also chat to its stars – for more information visit the Gold Coast Film Festival website to check out the upcoming schedule, Q & A’s and workshops.
My Other Me
Cosplaying is an easily misunderstood practice by those who write-it off as ‘geeky’ or ‘nerdy’. Not only does it take great skill to be a cosplayer (with most teaching themselves how to mould and piece together incredible outfits), but it also offers an escape for many whom find themselves struggling in their everyday lives. My Other Me offers a peek inside not only the cosplaying world, but a glimpse into issues such as gender identity disorder, sexual experimentation at the confusing cusp of adulthood and the awkward practice of making friends in your teens. Following cosplayers Lucas, Lilly and Danae throughout the year as they frequent different conventions, we see how cosplaying has tangibly changed their lives.
Even if you’re not familiar with cosplaying I would implore you to see this film so you can gain a realistic perception of some extremely prevalent issues. The fact that Lucas (aka Twinfools) is transgender is explored with delicacy – rather than making a fuss, the filmmakers simply place the camera and records the struggle through the surgeries, body issues and his articulate explanations of how it felt to first be recognised as a male. Danae (aka Rifa) copes with falling in love with her best friend Mana (whose gender issues are also explored), and illustrates the nomad lifestyle of the cosplayer – moving conventions and towns numerous times. Finally there’s 14 year old Lily (aka SecretAttire), who navigates the tumultuous waters of friendship and family issues whilst becoming one of the most accomplished and passionate up-and-coming cosplayers.
As I said this film is an eye-opener not only for people unknown to cosplay, but to some extremely sensitive issues that aren’t often tackled with such candour and honesty, especially when they’re in their developing stages. The most heart-warming thing is that everybody leaves their baggage at the door to the conventions – and it appears if you’re passionate enough to cosplay then that is enough to have you fully accepted for who you strive to be by their communities. A sentiment the rest of the population could adopt.
Interview
I was lucky enough to have the chance to have a quick chat with Lucas and his fiancé Jenna (who also features) on the films premiere night. Absolutely loving the hot weather “because we’re from Vancouver where it rains all the time”, Lucas took me through what I was about to expect – “a year in the life of three cosplayers”. It turns out Jenna found cosplay through chance – “I wanted to go to an anime convention and I thought you had to dress up to go” which snowballed into a yearly hobby. Lucas “was into anime but didn’t tell anyone about it to preserve my own social status – in my last year of high school I was old enough to stop pretending to be interested in the stuff I was interested in.” After watching a “video on youtube of a bunch of cosplayers at a convention”, he was hooked for life. There tonight as characters from ‘The Legend of Zelda’ (the newest game I’m told), their costumes were wonderfully manicured, and through discussing the pitfalls of learning to sew, my belief was re-affirmed by them and the documentary that this is just an incredibly warm and accepting group of individuals.
The History of Future Folk
If your familiar with Flight of the Conchords then you’ll love the Future Folk – apparently even aliens can share our deadpan personalities and speak English with American accents. Who knew! Hailing from the planet Hondo, the film is as charming as the one liner would have you expect – “An alien decides to form a bluegrass band instead of destroying earth.” Wonderful.
Bill, (formerly General Trius) descended upon earth to release a flesh-eating virus. About to do the deed, instead he discovers the wonder of music (with a very amusing dance in a hardware store). Performing in underground clubs using his real identity – of course to ridiculous to believe – he’s happily leading life as a family man until Kevin crash-lands with the intent to finish the job. Soon Kevin is won over by the ways of the sounds and the two form the musical duo ‘The Future Folk’, but the dangers not over.
Everything about The History of Future Folk is wonderfully charming – from their bucket laden ‘helmets’, Bill’s adorable daughter, their discussions on how to tackle ‘human women’ and the insinuations that deadpan Bill was in fact one of the universes most vicious warriors. Naitz and d’Aulaire play off each other well, and the side love story involving Ken and the Latino policewoman who arrests them at one point is very amusing. The songs are catchy and illustrates not only elements of ‘Hondo’ but the fact that these guys have some serious musical talent. The best part? It’s not offensive or crude at all – it’s refreshingly a movie for all ages.
Interview
Jay Naitz (aka Kevin) summed up the tone of The History of Future Folk perfectly with his description – “Ultimately this is a film about the love of music and friendship, it’s about that via two aliens from the planet Hondo with one motive, but they change that motive because they fall in love with music.” Clad in his Hondo attire, we discussed how he arrived at that particular choice of costume and also the origin of the band – “the band’s existed for around 7 years, and the producer and writer [of this movie] are old friends of mine. I was doing this one act musical and afterwards I was listening to too much David Bowie so I got this space-themed album in my head and it evolved from there. The buckets came from our friend who was a kindergarten teacher and this was a project for the kids. In the movie we had lovely costumes designed by pros but in the early days we were in sweatpants and a red turtleneck (laughs).” The transition from stage to screen was perfectly adaptable, relishing the “fact that we can do more than one take, it’s kind of low pressure in comparison.” Writer/director John Mitchell had no issues in creating the script as “The seed of what the Future Folk is still exists, he just kind of took it and ran with it. Of course he asked us for input and showed us drafts but he really just ran with it.” Premiering in America at the LA Film Festival, I’m sure it won’t be the last time we see the people of Hondo on the big screen.
My Other Me and The History of Future Folk screened at the 2013 Gold Coast Film Festival, running April 18-28th. To check out this year’s program and purchase tickets for future films, please visit www.gcfilmfestival.com.au
– Danielle Muir
