ONE of the most grassroots film festivals in Perth is celebrating a big birthday this year—Over the Fence is turning 30.
Since 1996 they’ve been screening a wacky range of comedy shorts that highlight the absurdity and dark ironies of life.
The film festival was the brainchild of Perth’s Greg Coffey, who brought his trademark zany energy to the party.
Initially, Over the Fence was limited to WA films, but in 2000 they marked the new millennium by opening the competition to filmmakers across Australia.
• (top to bottom) Choice and The Wrong of Miss Wright are some of the great films showing at Over the Fence film festival.
“We were bombarded by entries from all over the country,” Coffey says.
“The crazy thing back then was; there was nowhere else for filmmakers to share their comedy films apart from uni and private screenings.”
In 2007, the festival went one better and started screening films from all over the world.
“Weirdly, we haven’t yet anything from outa-space… yet…” says Coffey.
A lot has changed socially and politically since 1996, with edgy shows cancelled and comedians reprimanded for taking things “too far”.
So in 2026 has comedy lost its bite or is it still irreverent and caustic?
Coffey says they launched a sister festival A World of Dark Comedy in 2017 “after getting so many awesome films that really pushed the boundaries with an 18+ rating”.
“It has to challenge the level of ’smarts’ in the most intelligent and cheeky ways”, he says.
“There is no watered down in our fest.”
This year’s Over the Fence features 15 comedy shorts that capture the chaos of modern life.
Films include a party gone wrong in Surprise!, a search for a coffee gets absurd in Choice, a young woman battles for body image demons in The Witches of Pool Bottom and Too Good offers an unconventional interview with God – starring Hacks Jean Smart and Get Out‘s Lil Rey Howery.
“They capture the spirit of films being one of the most powerful tools for change,” Coffey says.
“Because in challenging times, we must laugh, laugh, laugh.”
For the first two years, Over the Fence was at Lumiere Cinema.
After it closed down, the team behind the Lumiere opened Luna, where the festival has been held ever since.
“Luna has been a stalwart for alternative cinema in Perth,” Coffey says.
In typical Coffey fashion, plans for growing the festival were vague and somewhat enigmatic.
“We are looking to expand our reach across the alternative areas, and we’ll let you know when we are there.”
Over the Fence film festival is at Luna Leederville on May 8 and Luna SX in Fremantle on May 29. Tix at www.lunapalace.com.au.
by STEPHEN POLLOCK