The past few years have seen some pretty awesome music documentaries come out of Australia, including Cosmic Psychos – Blokes You Can Trust, Autoluminescent: Rowland S Howard, Big Name No Blanket, and The Sunnyboy, just to name a few.
While Australia is full of great bands and artists, as well as an equal number of great storytellers and filmmakers, we’ve got a pretty good feeling we know where Australia’s next big music documentary is coming from. Where, you ask? Why, the Melbourne International Film Festival, of course.
In fact, Ecco Homo, a profile of provocateur, artist, and performer Peter Vanessa “Troy” Davies is made by the same folks behind Autoluminescent, the critically acclaimed documentary detailing the life of late Birthday Party guitarist and Australian rock icon Rowland S Howard.
“Using layers of identity at will, Davies charmed his way through a lifetime of secrets and lies, prostitution, art, HIV, abuse, incest, and gender subversion. Leaving a legacy of unanswered questions, influential performances and reams of enigmatic home video,” reads a synopsis of the film.
“In the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported Ecco Homo, filmmakers Lynn-Maree Milburn and Richard Lowenstein… attempt to come to grips with the truth behind this elusive figure. Burrowing deep into his troubled childhood and ascendant art and music career (including collaborations with U2 and INXS).”
“This is an emotive portrait of a man who could never come to peace with himself, but who found in chaos the key to his creative soul.” Ecco Homo is billed as a “psychological detective story and a testament to a social history rarely documented on film”.
The 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival kicks off 30th July and runs till 16th August. General Public tickets are set to hit sale to the on 10th July. MIFF Passes are on sale now and you can take advantage of their exclusive July pre-sale by becoming a member today.
