Terror Nullius

press release: Mills Folly Microcinema will screen Terror Nullius, the latest feature from Australian filmmaking duo Soda_Jerk, on Thursday, September 20 at 7:30 p.m. Admission will be $5, or free for Arts + Literature Laboratory members. Seating is limited, and doors open at 7:15 p.m. Format: Digital Video. Running time: 54 minutes.

Terror Nullius is a political revenge fable which offers an un-writing of Australian national mythology. It works entirely within and against the official archive to achieve a queering and othering of Australian cinema. Part political satire, eco-horror and road movie, Terror Nullius is a world in which minorities and animals conspire, and not-so-nice white guys finish last. Where idyllic beaches host race-riots, governments poll love-rights, and the perils of hypermasculinity are overshadowed only by the enduring horror of Australia’s colonising myth of terra nullius.

Formed in Sydney in 2002, Soda_Jerk is a two-person art collective who work at the intersection of documentary and speculative fiction. They are fundamentally interested in the politics of images: how they circulate, whom they benefit, and how they can be undone. Their sample-based practice takes the form of films, video installations, cut-up texts and lecture performances. Based in New York since 2012, they have exhibited in museums, galleries, cinemas and torrent sites.

Recent and upcoming screenings of Terror Nullius include venues and festivals such as: Austin Film Society, Anthology Film Archives (New York), Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, Ohio), Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), and Antimatter [media art] (Victoria, British Columbia).

Need an introduction or refresher course on Austrailian politics and pop culture? Check out Soda_Jerk's contribution to the Museum of Contemporary Art's blog, "7 Things You Might Like to Know about Australia Before Watching Terror Nullius."