Concrete Playground

All the best things in the world are associated with the underground: Velvet, Dostoyevsky's Notes, truffles, London commuters and David Bowie's man fanny (as glorified in Labyrinth).

Sadly, Sydney seemed without its own troglodyte cultural scene, what with our pretty harbour and Opera House sucking all the attention to the World Above the Dirt, and it's a safe assumption that a steady flow of metaphoric moles never came to our shores for fear of scorching their subterranean vision.

Well, fear us no longer Underlings, because the Sydney Underground Film Festival returns for its third year, with reel upon reel of gnome-made shorts and features representing all the great genres of international film festivals: political thriller, odorama, animal porn, foreign language drama and retrospective documentary.

For those unable to find accommodation during the festival, grab a cheap 4-day festival pass, and live in the Factory Theatre*, or make do with affordable day passes and session tickets. Whatever your budget, any festival that has had its official site removed by The Man is worthy of support!

* You will probably be thrown out and left to die if you actually attempt this.


Thanks to the Sydney Underground Film Festival we have 10 double passes to give away for WHITE LIGHTNIN’ (a “white-trash hillybilly nightmare”) on Sunday 13 September at 8:30pm. Just email your name, address and phone number to kath@suff.com.au with the word “WHITE” in the subject line.