Australian horror double bill, The Babadook 2014 and Celia 1989 alongside in conversation with director Ann Turner, art, and experimental shorts. The Dark Domestic exposes the horrors of Australian suburbia and the fear of home invasion.
Isabel Peppard sculptural and photographic art on display in the foyer throughout the night
5:30: Doors open
6:00pm: Experimental Art-Horror Shorts Program
Kyle Edward Ball, Heck 2020
A little kid wakes up in the middle of night to the sound of his mom’s television blaring….
Kyle Edward Ball’s precursor to Skinamarink, the experimental horror film that was 2023’s surprise global critical and box office hit. This sublimely creepy short has never been exhibited on the big screen outside of Canada.
Hayley Millar Baker, The Umbra 2023
Illuminating the darkest and quietest part of the night when the veil to the physical and spiritual realms are at its thinnest, The Umbra unites the living with the ethereal through an occurrence of astral travel between an adolescent woman and a young spirit brought to physicality. The Umbra is a slow-cinema filmic work that centres female power and strength in reference to elements of the horror genre that is often focused on women’s psychosis.
6:30pm: In Conversation with Celia director Ann Turner
Jessica Balanzategui (moderator) is Senior Lecturer in Media and Cinema in RMIT’s School of Media and Communication. She is the Founding Editor of Amsterdam University Press’s book series, Horror and Gothic Media Cultures and Founding Lead of RMIT’s Streaming Industries and Genre Network.
Ann Turner is an Award-winning screenwriter and director, whose films include Celia, 1989, starring Rebecca Smart, which Time Out listed as one of the fifty greatest directorial debuts of all time
7:00pm: Feature I Ann Turner, Celia 1989
9:15pm: From the other side I Artists on horror (panel with Maria Kozic and Julia Robinson)
Jessica Clark (co-moderator): Independent curator, writer and researcher with a background in art history and art education. Clark currently holds the position of Yalingwa Curator at ACCA.
Elyse Goldfinch (co-moderator): Curator, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art. She has curated, co-curated and produced over twenty exhibitions across non-profit and independent gallery spaces, collaborating with living artists to develop projects throughout Australia and the Asia-Pacific.
Maria Kozic works across painting, sculpture, photography and film. Her practice has often drawn on the depictions and tropes of women, monsters and creatures in horror and exploitation films.
Julia Robinson visual artist working in the fields of sculpture and installation. She employs historical costuming and sewing techniques to create artworks that sit at the intersection of folklore, ritual and folk horror.
9:50pm: Feature I The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)
This special screening of The Babadook celebrates the 10th anniversary of one of the most influential and internationally acclaimed Australian horror films of the 21st century. Jennifer Kent’s darkly disturbing feature debut starring Essie Davis set a new template for the haunted house subgenre, while also launching its supernatural bogeyman into the memeosphere: Mr Babadook has become one of the horror genre’s most iconic monstrous beings.
10th anniversary screening to be celebrated with a special surprise from Fun Time Film Club’s Zachary Ruane (Aunty Donna)…..
Language: English | 93mins | AU
Screams on Screen is co-programmed by Jessica Balanzategui (School of Media and Communication, SIGN network lead), Elyse Goldfinch, Jessica Clark (ACCA) and proudly presented by RMIT Culture and SIGN at RMIT in partnership with ACCA and supported by City of Melbourne Annual Arts Grants.
Hayley Millar Baker’s The Umbra was commissioned by RISING for Shadow Spirit, curated by Kimberley Moulton.
Ann Turner’s Celia is courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment.
Screams on Screen ticket special – attend both evenings for $15 at checkout!
