After Blue (Dirty Paradise)

A singular hairy arm, dazzling with black nails, giggly fantasies, and a bleached mullet, planet earth becomes a precursor for After Blue, a grotesque fantasy world of bizarre wonder aptly subtitled: Dirty Paradise.

After the earth is left sick and rotten, a fresh era begins with new rules, rulers and effortless flair. Roxy, a salacious teenage loner, discovers a mysterious woman buried in the sand who promises to grant Roxy three wishes if she disinters her. Unbeknownst to Roxy, this woman is a notorious killer and in saving her she unleashes a torrent of violence on her community. Roxy and her mother - the colony's hairdresser - now exiled, may only return once they bring this notorious criminal to justice. Armed with their Gucci rifles, the pair journey through toxic forests and oozing caverns, soon realising that if they are to succeed, they must recruit the help of this weird world's lusty inhabitants.

Its flamboyant sonic manipulation and immaculate recycled design won After Blue the Special Jury Prize at Sitges Film Festival and Best Film at the 2021 US Fantastic Fest. Bertrand Mandico, whose debut feature The Wild Boys topped the Cahiers du cinéma’s list of 2018 films, has created a delirious high concept, high fashion and queer sci-fi epic that has to be seen to be believed.  

Screens with Which is Witch short.

Watch: director Bertrand Mandico is live in conversation with FFFA artistic director Hudson Sowada. Co-presented by Umbrella Entertainment.