AFF Adelaide Fringe picks

AFF Adelaide Fringe Picks

It's official: 2022 Adelaide Fringe has landed. The second-largest annual arts festival in the world (outstripped only by the iconic Edinburgh), each year the glitter-clad heels of Fringe exuberantly kick off the autumn festival season in Adelaide.

What does that mean in cold hard numbers? Over 6000 artists. Over 300 venues. And over 1200 shows. Yep, that's a lot of numbers.

Fringe is best known for comedy, cabaret and live shows, but they always sneak in a few cheeky screen events. If you're feeling overwhelmed by choice, we've done the thumb work for you and found the best screen-related Fringe shows around the city this month.

The Staging Post - Q&A Screening

Filmed over six years, this feature documentary follows two Afghan Hazara refugees, Muzafar and Khadim, who remained trapped in Indonesia after Australia's controversial 'Stop the Boats' policy. In the years they remained in limbo they built a community and started a refugee school which inspired an education revolution. The screening will be accompanied by a Q&A with Director Jolyon Hoff and Muzafar Ali.

Following the screening an exhibition of Muzafar's photography, An Afghanistan Lost, will open at Worth Gallery at the Coffee Pot, tickets to the opening also available through Fringe.

UNDEREXPOSED Film Festival

UNDEREXPOSED Film Festival is a free-to-attend showcase of short films, celebrating the very best new talents in the Australian screen landscape. The films play on continuous rotation, encouraging audiences to stay as long as they like before voting for their favourites. This festival within a festival culminates with a glamorous Award Night Screening at the Mercury Cinema on 27 February to see the finalist films and the announcement of the Jury Prize winner.

Volo: Dreams of Flight

Designed and produced by Studio Go Go, Volo is a da Vinci-inspired virtual reality swing experience. Wearing a VR headset as they swing, riders are transported into exhilarating dream experiences, with four iconic flying machines to choose from, each offering a different sensation of flight. Volo celebrates the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's creations, and is inspired by his fabulous flying contraptions, his studies of flight and his pioneering work on perspective. Originally commissioned by City of London Corporation and supported by Culture Mile and Arts Council England.

The Eye of Wilkins

Polar explorer, aviator, world-class photographer. In this documentary, the photos and films of South Australian Sir George Hubert Wilkins are brought together for the first time. From under the North Pole ice and deep among the front lines of the Western Front in the Great War, from sailing high above the earth in the Graf Zeppelin to riding the roiling seas on Shackleton's Quest, Wilkins kept his cameras going. His photographic record of the 30 years from 1910 to the Second World War is like no other.

Extra Ordinary

You'll know her as 'Lucy' from AFFIF-backed web series Lucy and DiC, but Lucy Gransbury is also a consummate stage storyteller.

"Are you special? Fabulous? One-in-a-million? Then go away, you're not invited. After 263 days in lockdown, Lucy Gransbury is back in her hometown of Adelaide, mastering her mediocrity. Raise a glass and celebrate underachieving, oversharing, and Julie Andrews parodies."

That said, Lucy has had rave reviews from Broadway World, The Advertiser, Fringe Review UK, Theatre People – so she must be doing something right.

The Adelaide Fringe runs from 18 February to 20 March 2022. View the full program.