About Us

For Revelation, films are a backdrop to a wider conversation.

Revelation Perth International Film Festival is a home for adventurous cinema, independent voices, and screen culture in all its forms.

At its core, Revelation is driven by a simple idea: cinema is both an artform and a cultural force. It’s a place to discover extraordinary films, but also a space where ideas, practice and community are actively built around screen culture.

The Festival Today

Revelation runs on two connected streams: the films on screen, and the screen culture that grows around them.

First up is a bold, hand-picked program of cinema that doesn’t play it safe - films that push form, spark ideas, and give audiences something they won’t find anywhere else.

The second is about the people making it all happen. Through the WA Screen Culture Awards (WASCA), community film competitions, and industry events, Revelation actively supports the filmmakers, artists and creatives shaping screen culture in Western Australia.

And the two are completely intertwined. The screenings aren’t just the outcome — they’re part of the ecosystem, building audiences, amplifying new voices, and keeping independent screen culture alive, visible and constantly evolving.

Leadership

Revelation is led by a mix of serious screen experience and a genuine love of cinema that pushes boundaries.

Richard Sowada (Festival Director) has worked across film exhibition, cultural programming and screen sector development, including senior roles in major arts and screen organisations. His focus at Revelation is on building real pathways for independent cinema - connecting audiences, artists and industry in ways that stick.

Jack Sargeant (Artistic Director) is an internationally recognised writer, curator and programmer with a deep love of underground, experimental and cult cinema. His programming instincts lean toward the bold, the strange and the formally inventive - films that don’t behave themselves in the best possible way.

Together, they steer Revelation as both a curated discovery machine and a community-driven festival - balancing big ideas, creative risk and a genuine commitment to the culture around independent screen work.

Why We Do It

Revelation is built on a pretty simple idea: keep it independent, keep it inclusive, keep it exciting.

That means backing artistic freedom, diverse voices, social justice, and real access to screen culture — not gatekeeping it. It also means supporting emerging and underrepresented filmmakers, working with integrity, and building partnerships that actually add to the culture, not just sit on top of it.

At its core, it’s about making space for films that take risks, spark conversation, and don’t quite fit anywhere else — and making sure they still get a big screen, a real audience, and the attention they deserve.

And that principle runs through everything, including how Revelation is funded — with a commitment to ethical partnerships and funding sources that align with the festival’s values and the screen culture it exists to support.

Where It All Started

Revelation kicked off in 1997 in the basement of Perth’s legendary Greenwich Club, screening grainy 16mm films to small, loud, curious crowds chasing something off the mainstream radar. What began as a DIY, grassroots cinema space has grown into Western Australia’s major international film festival - and one of the country’s key homes for independent screen culture.

Nearly three decades on, the Revelation spirit hasn’t really changed: discovery, risk, and a love of cinema that refuses to play by the rules.

We also acknowledge our early connection to REVelation Magazine and founder Peter Collins, whose countercultural energy helped shape the festival’s original pulse and sense of edge.

Revelation has always been about more than films — it’s about ideas, politics, personality, history, access, equity and diversity, all meeting in the dark of a cinema.