Over the years, Tom Waits and Nick Cave have been involved in many film projects in one way or another, perhaps most iconic as actors, the main protagonists of documentaries, or film score authors. Less well known is the fact that there are also a number of contemporary short films that the two cult musicians left a significant mark on thanks to their image or work.
Just as the program of international short films of various genres is inspired by the pair, a band consisting of Niko Novak, Jan Kmet, Kristian Majcen and Aleš Mačkovšek (members of the bands Incurabili, Balans, Čao Portorož, Etno Trip, Edna, Auto, and others) will draw their inspiration from the same source and round off the event.
The film programme is curated by Jukka-Pekka Laakso (Tampere Film Festival).
Film programme:
GRINDERMAN – HEATHEN CHILD
John Hillcoat, Australia, 2010, 6’
Grinderman’s music video for “Heathen Child” is NSFW, because it contains female nudity, male nudity, blood, and Nick Cave, among other questionable things. Directed by John Hillcoat, the director of The Proposition (2005), The Road (2009), Lawless (2012) and Triple 9 (2016).
FUSE
Malaeke Farhangadib, Germany, 2018, 7’
A mousetrap snaps shut. A dusty town square awakens. A group of men debate how to kill the animal in the little box – each trying to outdo the others’ increasingly sadistic fantasies. Until a stranger suggests letting the creature loose. A voice of reason? Or the sickest manipulator of them all?
MOONSHINE
Michal Poniedzielski, Poand, 2013, 10’
Szczepan is in love with Helena, who rejects him. Desperate, he decides to give Helena the shiniest thing there is – the moon. He embarks on a journey into the world on the edge of dreams and reality, set to the melody of Tom Waits’s “Way Down in the Hole”.
THE OUTING
Helene Magnhild Kjeldsen, Norway, 2014, 11’
In the short film The Outing, Norwegian artist Helene Kjeldsen interprets Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ song “Hallelujah,” recorded in 2001. Real footage is mixed with puppet animation. Lights, sound and scenography inspired by early 20th century German Expressionism are combined to tell a powerful story of a man fighting the dark forces of his nature.
THE CAT PIANO
Ari Gibson, Eddie White, Australia, 2009, 9’
In a city of singing cats, a lonely beat poet falls for a beautiful siren. When a mysterious dark figure emerges, kidnapping the town’s singers for his twisted musical plans, the poet must save his muse and put an end to the nefarious tune that threatens to destroy the city.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOHN BALDESSARI
Ariel Shulman, Henry Joost, USA, 2011, 6’
The epic life of a world-class artist, jammed into six minutes – narrated by Tom Waits.
MILLHAVEN
Bartek Kulas, Poljska, 2010, 7’
Teenager Loretta is aware of the fact that everything leads to death. Will she be able to do a dance of life? For the first time ever, the untold story of the heroine of a dark ballad written by Nick Cave and boldly interpreted by Katarzyna Groniec.
Tickets on sale online and at Eventim outlets.
Organisation: FeKK – Ljubljana Short Film Festival and Kino Šiška.
