We’re All Going to Die Festival @ Commune

We’re All Going to Die Festival

Commune

Sydney, Australia

November 17, 2017

The We're All Going To Die festival was born out of Founder, Artist and Filmmaker and Director Stefan Hunt's experience.You see, he had anxiety, and it sucked.Two years ago it was really bad and he was so afraid of the unknown that he couldn’t make a simple decision.Life spiralled.

One day Stefan penned a poem titled 'We’re All Going To Die' and everything changed.Suddenly his fears seemed small.

He realised that if life’s only guarantee is death then why not take a few risks. The premise is based on the idea that the moment you realise that you’re not the only one living with fears is the moment it all changes and this festival was meant to create a platform to get people talking.

We’re All Going To Die is a festival and multimedia art project that uses death to shift our perspective on fear, and the role it plays in our lives. The first incarnation in Sydney saw a team of international artists coming together to create an interactive and immersive experience to get you thinking about life.

Set in COMMUNE’S large labyrinth of warehouse spaces, panel discussions on fear and death, judgment baths, interactive installations, secret dance experiences, death meditation and a mini film-festival were lined up.Despite being a big memento mori, the event was a joyful and inspiring occasion more than a somber, morbid exercise in melancholy.

The organisors describe the exhibited installation as follows:

The Hearse: Shying away from the ‘life’s short’ clichés, attendants were asked to stand in the presence of the rainbow hearse and listen to what your own soul is telling you.For “What would your tombstone say?” 20 international and local artists were asked to reflect upon what it means to leave a legacy on your own terms.Artists included: Ozzie Wright, Mia Taninaka, Land Boys, Otis Carey, Nadia Hernandez, Ben Brown, Georgia Hill, Nathanial Russell, Rad Dan, Simon Perini, Jake Donlen, Jim Mitchell, Chris Hope, Shaun Gonzalez, Matt Waters, Vinnie Valdez, Ornamental Confider, Hugo Mecke, Holly Greenwood, Jody Barton Bedroom Groves served as a forum to show the world your bedroom moves. Groove Therapy, in partnership with Retrosweat, explored the fear of judgment and the solace we seek within the privacy of our bedrooms.

This series of short five-minute performance works invited the audience to connect with childhood nostalgia in a bedroom installation whilst performers rotate through the space.

The 20-minute mini-film festival screened the world-premiers of nine short films by an award-winning list of international directors. Each director was assigned a word around which their story, in no longer than two minutes, unfolded. The final shortis Stefan Hunt’s film We’re All Going To Die the adaptation from the illustrated book of the same name in which a man has a conversation with death, pondering the what ifs and oh wells of life.

Directors included:

• Failure Directed by Smirit Keshari, New York
• Judgment Directed by Lincoln Caplice, Sydney
• Fear Directed by Genevieve Bailey 
• Unknown Directed by Meredith, Los Angeles
• Doubt Directed by Cate Stewart, Sydney
• Embarrassment Directed by Samuel Kristofski, New Zealand
• Rejection Directed by Claire Littler, London
• Life Directed by Russell Brownley, San Diego
• We’re all Going To Die Directed by Stefan Hunt, Byron Bay

A great first installment of an entirely crowd-funded festival that has with Commune found an ideal location.

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Photos by KAVV