Hear My Eyes: Wake in Fright

Hear My Eyes brings its sonic reinterpretation services to MIFF24, presenting the classic Australian film Wake In Fright.

Local soul seekers Surprise Chef will take the stage, writing and performing an all new live score for the 4K restoration world premiere.

Occupying a dark cupboard of the white Australian psyche, the 1971 film Wake In Fright hardly needs introduction. Canadian director Ted Kotcheff captured an uneasy version of the interior of this country that is as hard to look away from as it is to watch. The claustrophobia of endless open space and small town minds serves as backdrop for a film coated in a slick of sweat and stink of stale beer. It tracks an outsider’s tightrope walk on razor-thin divides: between urban/rural, hypermasculinity/homosexuality, larrikin/brute, human/animal.
The descent into chaos is paved with green and gold.

Surprise Chef’s music is based on evoking mood; their vivid arrangements utilize time and space to build soundscapes that invite the listener into their world.