beDevil

beDevil

Visual artist, photographer, multimedia artist, and director Tracey Moffatt, is perhaps the most influential and nuanced voice in the artistic world of the Aborigines of Australia, while her work has been exhibited in institutions like Tate and the MoMA in Los Angeles. In beDevil, what unfolds is three stories dominated by the metaphysical element and by references to the Australian tradition. Rick, an Aborigine boy living by the marsh, is haunted by the image of an American soldier drowning in quicksand. Ruby and her family live in a house on the side of some abandoned railway lines, a site where anyone could see ghosts wandering around. A landlord is struggling to evict the tenants of an old warehouse, a couple that has been dead for years. Modern reality, the colonial past, historic traumas, legends, and doctrines intertwine in an immersive, delusional film.

Screening Schedule

No physical screenings scheduled.


Direction: Tracey Moffatt
Script: Tracey Moffatt
Cinematography: Geoff Burton
Editing: Wayne Le Clos
Sound: Frank Lipson
Music: Carl Vine
Actors: Diana Davidson, Jack Charles, Tracey Moffatt, Banula (David) Marika, Mawuyul Yanthalawuy, Lex Marinos, Debai Baira, Luke Roberts, Pinau Ghee, Patricia Handy
Production: Australian Film Finance Corporation, Anthony Buckley Productions
Producers: Anthony Buckley, Carol Hughes
Costumes: Rosalea Hood
Production Design: Stephen Curtis
Sets: Glen W. Johnson
Make Up: Lesley Rouvray
Format: Digital file
Color: Color
Production Country: Australia
Production Year: 1993
Duration: 87΄
Contact: Ronin Films
Awards/Distinctions: Best OST – Sitges Catalonian IFF 1993

Tracey Moffatt

Tracey Moffatt is one of Australia’s most renowned contemporary artists. Working predominantly in photography, film, and video, Moffatt is known as a powerful visual storyteller. The narrative is often implied and self-referential, exploring her own childhood memories and fantasies, and the broader issues of race, gender, sexuality, and identity. Tracey Moffatt represented Australia at the 57th International Art Exhibition, Venice Biennale 2017 with her solo exhibition My Horizon in the Australian Pavilion, curated by Natalie King. In 2012, a retrospective program of her films was held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Moffatt first gained significant critical acclaim when her short film Night Cries was selected for official competition at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Her first feature film beDevil was also selected for Cannes in 1993.

Filmography

1987 Nice Coloured Girls (short)
1990 Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy (short)
1993 beDevil
1997 Heaven (short)