Stranger With My Face International Film Festival 5th edition begins in Tasmania, Australia this week and includes the return of The Attic Lab.

The Attic Lab is an intensive mentoring program for women genre filmmakers.The lab is run by the festival in collaboration with guest mentors.

Three mentors of the mentor for this year are celebrated New Zealand filmmaker Gaylene Preston (Perfect Strangers, Mr Wrong), producer/director and screenwriter Roxanne Benjamin (XX, V/H/S, The Devil’s Candy), in person; and cinematographer Sandi Sissel ASC (The People Under the Stairs).

The lab will also be featuring eleven filmmakers with a track record and interest in the genre. It is designed for filmmakers developing feature-length projects and takes its name from the archetype of the ‘Madwoman in the Attic’, suggesting a place where violent and disruptive female impulses are hidden away, and yet grow more powerful.

The Attic Lab 2017 projects:

Slammer Savages ~ horror ~ pitched by writer/director Caitlin Koller (Vic)

In pandemic-stricken Australia, an ex-soldier must escape prison or face being eaten by her cannibal cellmates.

 Hidden Valley ~ thriller ~ pitched by writer/director Megan Riakos (NSW)

To celebrate turning 50 Addie plans a hike with her two best friends. But when her abusive ex-husband follows her, threatening her life and that of her friends, Addie must confront her fears.

 Lost Gully Road ~ supernatural thriller ~ pitched by writer/director Donna McRae (Vic)

Lucy travels to a secluded cottage in the forest to wait for her sister, but somebody else may already be there.

 Morgana ~ documentary ~ pitched by co-director/writer Isabel Peppard (Vic)

A lonely housewife’s plan to commit suicide takes an unexpected turn when her last hurrah begins a radical journey of sexual exploration and personal re-invention.

 Siti Rubiyah ~ supernatural horror ~ pitched by writer/director Katrina Irawati Graham (Qld)

To slay the tiger without we must first embrace the tiger within.

 Dark Half ~ supernatural horror ~ pitched by writer/producer Marisa Brown (Vic)

When a troubled young Thai-Australian woman realizes that the haunting visions she’s been experiencing her whole life might be tied to a cursed twin sister she never knew existed, she embarks on a journey to Thailand bent on discovering the truth behind her own dark heritage.

Westermarck Effect ~ dark arthouse drama pitched by writer/director Saara Lamberg (Vic/Finland)

There is nothing like the love between a mother and a son. Sally gave Sam up for adoption 20 years ago. When they meet again, the pair fall in love with devastating consequences.

 Proxy ~ drama/horror pitched by writer/director Kaitlin Tinker (WA)Proxy

Logline: An exotic dancer forces her male driver to physically assume a female identity in the wake of a violent incident.

 Wet Girls ~ supernatural/horror/romance/comedy – pitched by writer Sonja Hammer (Vic/NZ)

The tide is up when Mer Girl meets Yabbie Girl! It’s a fishy tale about a love that is oceans apart.

 Sightlines ~ thriller/black comedy pitched by co-writer/director Elizabeth E. Schuch (UK)

A series of accidents cripple a traveling circus struggling to stay afloat, forcing an overworked wardrobe girl to unravel the web of suspicions to discover the culprit. Expect surreal visuals and ridiculously flexible performers in a behind-the-curtain blur of death and sequins.

 The Motel at the End of the World ~ psycho-biddy thriller ~ pitched by co-writer/producer Catherine Pettman (Tas)

A mother and daughter running a motel in post-apocalyptic suburbia are each other’s fiercest ally, until the arrival of a disturbed solider turns their relationship deadly.

 The Attic Lab filmmakers will work side by side and privately with their mentors, culminating in a public pitch session that’s open to the public and to members of the film industry. The Attic Lab Pitch will take place on Friday 5 May 2017 at 5.00pm in the Founders Room, Salamanca Arts Centre, followed by networking drinks.

For more information on the festival program, including the Mary Shelley Symposium, industry events, festival passes and individual tickets can be located at www.strangerwithmyface.com.