ADELAIDE PREMIERE – 25th Anniversary screening

Join director Richard Lowenstein (via zoom) for a Q&A following the screening.

Based on John Birmingham’s cult autobiographical novel, He Died with a Felafel in his Hand is a gloriously chaotic journey into the darker, stranger and often hilarious realities of Australian share house life.

Drawing on Birmingham’s own experiences living with more than 80 housemates across 13 share houses, the story captures a generation navigating the messy intersections of youth, sex, drugs, money and the search for somewhere to call home. Adapted from the novel into a 2001 film directed by Richard Lowenstein, this is a distinctly Australian portrait of life lived on the edge of domestic disaster.

The film follows Danny (Noah Taylor) as he drifts between share houses and cities, only to find himself caught in an endless cycle of eccentric housemates, destructive habits and increasingly deplorable living conditions. Each new address promises a fresh start, but the chaos inevitably follows.

‘…a beer-splattered kaleidoscope of outrageous sharehouse situations…The exaggerated truth in the tales connected with readers living through it or remembering their experiences’ – The Guardian