DOWNSIZING[/caption]
The 2017 Fantastic Fest announced its final wave of films, along with Alexander Payne’s miniature masterpiece DOWNSIZING as the closing night film. Rounding out a trio of Fantastic-Fest first-timers making their way to Austin is Cory Finley and his jaw dropping debut THOROUGHBRED, and fan-favorite tough guy extraordinaire Frank Grillo for the World Premiere of his nail-biting getaway drama, WHEELMAN.
In keeping with world premieres, Fantastic Fest announced a fistful of titles that will receive their big screen bows. Screen great Barbara Crampton will be in attendance with director Bradford Baruh for a ride in his chilling APPLECART, featuring over forty minutes of zero gravity footage; Russia’s SALYUT-7 is guaranteed to pop 3D eyes; HAUNTERS: THE ART OF THE SCARE walks us through the world’s most terrifying haunted houses; and TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID delivers a contemporary fairytale from within the world of the mexican cartels.
“I’m incredibly proud of the vast array of filmmaking on display in this year’s program,” said Fantastic Fest Creative Director Evrim Ersoy. “From the most highly acclaimed studio titles to the smallest independent debuts, it’s exhilarating to embrace unique creativity from the four corners of the world. Bringing filmmakers together in a program that highlights the increasing diversity of cinema is truly an honor that we can’t wait to share with our audience.”
Female filmmakers once again deliver powerful voices with three of the most dynamic films of the festival. Angel Robinson will be in attendance to share the controversially kinky true story behind the year’s biggest superhero with PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN; Lisa Bruhlmann makes a stunning entrance with her fantastical coming-of-age debut BLUE MY MIND; and not to be outdone, first time feature-maker Coralie Fargeat turns the revenge genre upside down with her outrageous femme fatale fiesta, REVENGE.
A mainstay of Fantastic Fest has been showcasing world cinema’s finest exports and this year is no exception. Asia basks in the glory of master Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s return to the apocalyptic fold with BEFORE WE VANISH (Japan), while his countryman Sôichi Umezawa delivers the outlandish midnight spectacle of VAMPIRE CLAY (Japan). South Korea represents with the year’s toughest crime caper, THE MERCILESS, and serial killer shocker V.I.P., while NYAFF award-winner BAD GENIUS represents Thailand. And Taiwan shows school students no mercy with the hyper-violent MON MON MON MONSTERS. Not to be outdone, Europe comes out swinging with Hungarian auteur Kornél Mundruczó’s follow up to WHITE GOD, the stunning JUPITER’S MOON, French filmmakers Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani splash their hyper-stylized western LET THE CORPSES TAN across the screen and Norway’s Joachim Trier delivers one of the most quietly impressive films of the year, the assured THELMA.
The world premiere of Don Hertzfeldt’s WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE 2: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS highlights an animated sidebar that pushes the medium into brave new spaces. Rounding out the fantastical trio is the debut feature from Studio Ponoc, MARY AND THE WITCHES FLOWER, from ex Studio Ghibli key animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and JUNK HEAD, Takahide Hori’s claymation feature that took him over seven years to complete, entirely by himself.
American Genre Film Archive makes its triumphant return to Fantastic Fest with two movies that will rot your libido in the best way. BAT PUSSY, the world’s first X-rated parody, shares the spotlight the world premiere of a brand new 2K transfer of one of the most sought-after lost films in the history of exploitation cinema in a very special secret screening. Additional rep titles include the world premiere of the Takashi Miike-approved 4K restoration of ICHI THE KILLER, the digital remaster of the seminal Indian cult movie BAASHA, and Jean Rollin’s THE NUDE VAMPIRE, presented by Kier-la Janisse in celebration of her new book Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin.
True to form, Fantastic Fest will be re-writing reality once more with a crowded cornucopia of events that invade all corners of the fest. Gross-out grub-gorging spectacle Puke and Explode rumbles once more, notorious VHS archival warriors Everything is Terrible return with an all-new show to both delight and horrify. Comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried will be performing and screening the incredible biographical doc GILBERT, and the seminal Fantastic Debates marks its 10-year anniversary of polemic pugilism in spectacular fashion.
Fantastic Fest
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Alexander Payne’s DOWNSIZING to Close + Final Wave of Films Announced for 2017 Fantastic Fest
[caption id="attachment_24425" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] DOWNSIZING[/caption]
The 2017 Fantastic Fest announced its final wave of films, along with Alexander Payne’s miniature masterpiece DOWNSIZING as the closing night film. Rounding out a trio of Fantastic-Fest first-timers making their way to Austin is Cory Finley and his jaw dropping debut THOROUGHBRED, and fan-favorite tough guy extraordinaire Frank Grillo for the World Premiere of his nail-biting getaway drama, WHEELMAN.
In keeping with world premieres, Fantastic Fest announced a fistful of titles that will receive their big screen bows. Screen great Barbara Crampton will be in attendance with director Bradford Baruh for a ride in his chilling APPLECART, featuring over forty minutes of zero gravity footage; Russia’s SALYUT-7 is guaranteed to pop 3D eyes; HAUNTERS: THE ART OF THE SCARE walks us through the world’s most terrifying haunted houses; and TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID delivers a contemporary fairytale from within the world of the mexican cartels.
“I’m incredibly proud of the vast array of filmmaking on display in this year’s program,” said Fantastic Fest Creative Director Evrim Ersoy. “From the most highly acclaimed studio titles to the smallest independent debuts, it’s exhilarating to embrace unique creativity from the four corners of the world. Bringing filmmakers together in a program that highlights the increasing diversity of cinema is truly an honor that we can’t wait to share with our audience.”
Female filmmakers once again deliver powerful voices with three of the most dynamic films of the festival. Angel Robinson will be in attendance to share the controversially kinky true story behind the year’s biggest superhero with PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN; Lisa Bruhlmann makes a stunning entrance with her fantastical coming-of-age debut BLUE MY MIND; and not to be outdone, first time feature-maker Coralie Fargeat turns the revenge genre upside down with her outrageous femme fatale fiesta, REVENGE.
A mainstay of Fantastic Fest has been showcasing world cinema’s finest exports and this year is no exception. Asia basks in the glory of master Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s return to the apocalyptic fold with BEFORE WE VANISH (Japan), while his countryman Sôichi Umezawa delivers the outlandish midnight spectacle of VAMPIRE CLAY (Japan). South Korea represents with the year’s toughest crime caper, THE MERCILESS, and serial killer shocker V.I.P., while NYAFF award-winner BAD GENIUS represents Thailand. And Taiwan shows school students no mercy with the hyper-violent MON MON MON MONSTERS. Not to be outdone, Europe comes out swinging with Hungarian auteur Kornél Mundruczó’s follow up to WHITE GOD, the stunning JUPITER’S MOON, French filmmakers Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani splash their hyper-stylized western LET THE CORPSES TAN across the screen and Norway’s Joachim Trier delivers one of the most quietly impressive films of the year, the assured THELMA.
The world premiere of Don Hertzfeldt’s WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE 2: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS highlights an animated sidebar that pushes the medium into brave new spaces. Rounding out the fantastical trio is the debut feature from Studio Ponoc, MARY AND THE WITCHES FLOWER, from ex Studio Ghibli key animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and JUNK HEAD, Takahide Hori’s claymation feature that took him over seven years to complete, entirely by himself.
American Genre Film Archive makes its triumphant return to Fantastic Fest with two movies that will rot your libido in the best way. BAT PUSSY, the world’s first X-rated parody, shares the spotlight the world premiere of a brand new 2K transfer of one of the most sought-after lost films in the history of exploitation cinema in a very special secret screening. Additional rep titles include the world premiere of the Takashi Miike-approved 4K restoration of ICHI THE KILLER, the digital remaster of the seminal Indian cult movie BAASHA, and Jean Rollin’s THE NUDE VAMPIRE, presented by Kier-la Janisse in celebration of her new book Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin.
True to form, Fantastic Fest will be re-writing reality once more with a crowded cornucopia of events that invade all corners of the fest. Gross-out grub-gorging spectacle Puke and Explode rumbles once more, notorious VHS archival warriors Everything is Terrible return with an all-new show to both delight and horrify. Comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried will be performing and screening the incredible biographical doc GILBERT, and the seminal Fantastic Debates marks its 10-year anniversary of polemic pugilism in spectacular fashion.
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2017 Fantastic Fest Announces Short Film Lineup, CERULIA, THE BURDEN, and More
[caption id="attachment_24409" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
CERULIA by Sofia Carrillo[/caption]
The 2017 Fantastic Fest announced the short film line up for the 13th edition of the festival, which runs September 21 to September 28, 2017 at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX.
This year, to celebrate the festival’s Arabic theme, veteran festival programmer Peter Kuplowsky and Fantastic Fest creative director Evrim Ersoy have added a unique sidebar to the festival’s regular short-subject programming. YALLA! ARAB GENRE SHORTS assembles four remarkable genre productions from Arab countries, each with a distinct sensibility and style that further expands the breadth of genres traditionally showcased at the festival.
The 48 film lineup, culled from a record submission pool of nearly 1200 entries, spans 23 countries and features a trio of stop-motion mini-masterpieces including the North American premiere of the chilling CERULIA by Sofia Carrillo (who genre fans will be familiar with from her contributions to the anthology feature XX) and the US premiere of THE BURDEN, Niki Lindroth von Bahr’s award-winning musical. Other highlights include an acclaimed and mind-melting short about escaping a Red Lobster commercial (GREAT CHOICE), and a potent sci-fi skewering of government bureaucracy so incendiary it was banned in Turkey (THE LAST SCHNITZEL)!
Speaking on the program, curator Kuplowsky commented: “With the proliferation of digital distribution channels, the audience for short films is growing exponentially and the mode of filmmaking is becoming more relevant than ever before. I’m thrilled that Fantastic Fest can be the first stop for so many of these fantastic films on their road to people’s eyeballs.”
The complete lineup, divided by program, is as follows:
FANTASTIC SHORTS
ANIMAL Iran, 2017 US Premiere, 15 min Directors: Bahram & Bahman Ark A desperate man adopts the guise of a ram in a plot to penetrate a heavily guarded border crossing. THE BURDEN Sweden, 2017 US Premiere, 14 min Director: Niki Lindroth von Bahr Lonely fish, tap-dancing mice and telemarketing monkeys harmonize in their collective angst towards the apocalyptic banality of the modern age in this epic stop-motion reverie. DEAD HORSES Spain, 2016 Texas Premiere, 6 min Directors: Marc Riba & Anna Solanas A child caught in a war zone innocently grapples to understand his horrifying surroundings in this grim stop-motion parable. FUCKING BUNNIES Finland, 2017 Texas Premiere, 17 min Director: Teemu Niukkanen The comfortable routine of Raimo’s middle-class life is interrupted when a Satan-worshipping sex cult moves next door. A wickedly funny comedy of manners. JUST GO! Latvia, 2017 Texas Premiere, 11 min Director: Pavels Gumennikovs Young Just may not have legs, but that doesn’t prevent him from proverbially kicking ass in this remarkable slice of action inspired by the star’s extraordinary life story. KAIJU BUNRAKU USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 13 min Directors: Lucas Leyva & Jillian Mayer The Japanese art of bunraku puppetry dramatizes the existential crisis of a despondent denizen of a Kaiju-infested region of Japan; a rigorous theatrical tradition soaked in profound absurdism. THE LAST SCHNITZEL Denmark, 2016 US Premiere, 22 min Directors: Ismet Kurtulus & Kaan Arici The world is ending, but the president of Turkey won’t let it until he has a chicken schnitzel. Gleefully silly science-fiction satire with political bite. LET THEM DIE LIKE LOVERS USA, 2017 World Premiere, 16 min Director: Jesse Atlas Fantastic Shorts Award Winner Jesse Atlas (RECORD/PLAY) returns to the section with an arresting sci-fi character study about a body-hopping assassin. THE NIGHT I DANCE WITH DEATH France, 2017 Regional Premiere, 6 min Director: Vincent Gibaud The consequences of saying “hell yeah, I’ll try that” at a party. A marvelously animated kaleidoscope that collides liberating euphoria with crippling anxiety.SHORT FUSE Presented by Stage 13
CERULIA Mexico, 2017 North American Premiere, 13 min Director: Sofia Carrillo The brilliant animator behind the stop-motion segments of XX spins an eerie fable about a young woman’s repressed memories luring her back to her childhood home. CRESWICK Australia, 2016 Regional Premiere, 10 min Director: Natalie Erika James Creeping dread meticulously escalates to an understated but deeply unsettling coda as a father and daughter pack away the contents of their family home. EARWORM USA, 2016 Texas Premiere, 5 min Director: Tara Price When a few measures of music get stuck in a man’s head, the consequences are almost as disturbing as the source of the tune. GREAT CHOICE USA, 2017 Austin Premiere, 7 min Director: Robin Comisar A woman is trapped in a Red Lobster commercial. Sublime absurdity that crescendos to nightmarish heights and remarkable emotional resonance. HIGHWAY Australia, 2016 Texas Premiere, 10 min Director: Vanessa Gazy A teenage hitchhiker traverses a lonely mountain highway and begins to pick a mysterious radio broadcast rife with ominous reports of the near future. LATCHED Canada, 2017 International Premiere, 17 min Directors: Justin Harding & Rob Brunner Spilt milk is nothing to cry over but when it inadvertently awakens a voracious woodland creature, this funny and freaky short makes the case that it might be something to scream over. SETACEOUS Australia, 2017 World Premiere, 11 min Director: Tel Benjamin An incessant car alarm attracts the curiosity of a cul-de-sac’s residents with chilling consequences. A measured slice of suburban horror that implies and terrifies. STAY USA, 2017 World Premiere, 9 min Director: David Mikalson Satan sucks, but this pitch-black comedy about catching the eye of the prince of darkness is the best. THURSDAY NIGHT Portugal, 2017 US Premiere, 8 min Director: Gonçalo Almeida Hypnotic cinematography buoyed by a ghostly soundscape envelopes remarkable canine performances in this moody, experimental nightmare. TOOTH FAIRY Uruguay, 2017 World Premiere, 6 min Directors: Jeremias Segovia & Gonzalo Torrens A greedy young boy discovers that the Tooth Fairy is a stickler for the rules in this frightening permutation of the folk figure. VOYEUR Canada, 2017 US Premiere, 4 min Directors: Claire Stradwick & Charlotte Lam The private spaces of women are unnervingly encroached upon by a masculine other in this confrontational work that shifts cinema’s scopophilic gaze back on the audience.SHORTS WITH LEGS
THE ALIENS USA, 2017 World Premiere, 4 min Director: Alex Lee A punk ruminates on the consequences of an alien invasion during some katana practice in the park. beans. USA, 2017 World Premiere, 7 min Director: Maxwell Nalevansky An acerbic narrator reflects nostalgically on the profound pleasure that was afforded to him upon once being offered a free bowl of beans. CALL OF CUTENESS Germany, 2017 Austin Premiere, 4 min Director: Brenda Lien A parade of cat meme tributes mutate into a disturbing animated critique of how these sublime objects of cuteness belie a more sinister cycle of exploitation and control. THE CURE USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 20 min Director: Mike Olenick A surreal sci-fi soap opera that collides the idiosyncratic private lives of both humans and aliens in a parade of hypnotic slow-zooms and kitschy feline totems. HOMER_A Canada, 2017 World Premiere, 10 min Directors: Milos Mitrovic & Conor Sweeney Conor Sweeney of ASTRON-6 and FF alumni Milos Mitrovic smash the characters of THE SIMPSONS with the aesthetics of TRASH HUMPERS, and the results both haunt and disturb. Ay caramba. LA TRISTESSE DURERA TOUJOURS USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 12 min Director: Vinny De Giulio Vinny De Ghoulie returns to SHORTS WITH LEGS with what may very well be his 8 ½. This is a maddening deconstruction of his own process culled from the remnants of a feature film he mounted, but failed to to realize. As amusingly bemusing as it is devastating. MÖBIUS USA, Canada, 2017 Regional Premiere, 15 min Director: Sam Kuhn A hallucinogenic dive into the consciousness of a teenage poet in the wake of her lover’s mysterious death. Exquisitely photographed and seemingly assembled in a Lynchian dreamstate. THE TESLA WORLD LIGHT Canada, 2017 Texas Premiere, 8 min Director: Matthew Rankin Visionary inventor Nikola Tesla makes one last appeal to his benefactor in Matthew Rankin’s mesmerizing live-action/animated hybrid that paints with light itself to conjure its indelible abstract visuals. THE VETTING USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 19 min Director: Matthew Dunehoo A twitchy and hysterically garish political satire in which a US senator is vetted for a Presidential nomination by a 6,000-year-old telepath that secretly rules the Earth. THE VIEW FROM HERE Canada, 2017 US Premiere, 9 min Director: Sofia Bohdanowicz A delirious puppet-theatre libretto that depicts two lovers nostalgically yearning for the good-old-primordial-soup days of yore.YALLA! ARAB GENRE SHORTS:
DUNIA Qatar, 2017 North American Premiere, 15 min Director: Amer Jamhour Little Dunia is asked to wait in the car in an effort to shield her from her mother’s desperate decision, but when a curious cop comes a-knocking, Dunia’s innocence is suspensefully put to the test. FEAR: AUDIBLY Saudi Arabia, 2017 International Premiere, 22 min Director: Maha Al-Saati Anxious that Judgment Day is on the horizon, Amal keenly awaits to hear the Trumpet of Doom; could the incessant mewing of cats in her office be the first harbinger? An eccentric and experimental rumination on the end of days. KINDIL Algeria, Kuwait, USA, 2016 Regional Premiere, 40 min Director: Damien Ounouri The spectre of a murdered woman returns to the site of her death, claiming the lives of those responsible, as well as those who turned a blind eye. An arresting social critique in the guise of a vengeful ghost story. LAST DAYS OF THE MAN OF TOMORROW Germany, Lebanon, 2017 World Premiere, 29 min Director: Fadi Baki A remarkable mock-doc that profoundly explores Lebanon’s turbulent history through the life and times of a reclusive metal automaton that once was emblematic of the country’s hopes and dreams.PAIRED WITH FEATURES:
THE ACCOMPLICE USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 7 min Directors: Jon Hoeg & John F. Beach A man discovers his unwitting participation in a bank robbery across a series of increasingly incriminating (and hilarious) answering machine messages. CATHERINE Belgium, 2016 Special Presentation, 11 min Director: Britt Raes Delightful animation depicts the origins of a crazy cat lady, while disturbingly proving the axiom: “You always hurt the ones you love.” THE DROP-IN Canada, 2017 US Premiere, 13 min Director: Naledi Jackson A hairstylist confronted with her past fights to protect her future in this stylish, genre-hopping metaphor for the immigrant experience. THE DUNDEE PROJECT USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 19 min Director: Mark Borchardt Cult filmmaker Mark Borchardt (as seen in AMERICAN MOVIE) takes a trip to the UFO Days festival in Dundee, Wisconsin. Eccentric personalities abound as Mark poetically ruminates on why the compulsion to seek out little green men seems to converge in his home state. THE END OF DECAY USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 12 min Director: Chris Todd A paraplegic scientist attempts a dangerous experiment to reclaim his mobility in this visceral bit of gruesome, wince-inducing body-horror. GIRL AT THE DOOR South Korea, 2017 Texas Premiere, 11 min Director: Song Joo-sung A young girl gleans a few choice maneuvers from gym class that enable her to turn the tables on her abusive father. MANILA DEATH SQUAD Philippines, USA, 2017 World Premiere, 13 min Director: Dean Colin Marcial An ambitious journalist challenges the leader of a violent vigilante group to a high-stakes drinking game that may score her a scoop or a bullet to the head. NEONATAL USA, 2017 Austin Premiere, 15 min Director: Andrew McDonald In this tense Austin-bound thriller, an expectant mother is lured into a sinister plot by a disturbed and desperate woman. NOTHING A LITTLE SOAP AND WATER CAN’T FIX USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 9 min Director: Jennifer Proctor An exhaustive and illuminating deconstruction of how horror films frequently feature the bathtub as both a private sanctuary for women and, damningly, as an impromptu sarcophagus. THE PASSENGER Russia, 2017 International Premiere, 11 min Director: Egor Abramenko A Russian cosmonaut grapples with post-traumatic stress following his return from orbit. But that’s not all he’s brought back. UFO DAYS USA, 2017 Austin Premiere, 9 min Director: Quinn Else A fascinating fusion of documentary and fiction against the backdrop of UFO Days that juxtaposes a Ufology lecture with the rural wanderings of an enigmatic “visitor.” VIULU Finland, 2017 Texas Premiere, 12 min Director: Ramin Sohrab When a precious violin is snatched by gangsters, an ex-hitman wreaks some serious martial-vengeance in an effort to reclaim it. YOUR DATE IS HERE USA, 2017 Austin Premiere, 6 min Directors: Todd Spence & Zak White An old Mystery Date-style board game holds more evil than amusement in this expertly wound fright flick. ZARR-DOS Switzerland, 2017 North American Premiere, 7 min Director: Bart Wasem Two grotesque floating heads engage in an aerial waltz of wanton destruction in this spectacularly animated epic. You won’t have a clue, but you’ll appreciate the cosmic justice.
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First Wave of Films Announced for 2017 Fantastic Fest , Opens with THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
[caption id="attachment_23572" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI[/caption]
Fantastic Fest returns for its thirteenth year, kicking off with this year’s opening night film, the US premiere of Martin McDonagh’s THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI, a beautifully comic and delightfully dark tale of loss and redemption.
S. Craig Zahler makes his triumphant return with the US premiere of 2018’s most hyper-violent slice of brute force, BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99. Not to be outmuscled, Zahler’s bringing backup in the form of the thunderous trifecta of Vince Vaughn, Don Johnson and Udo Kier. And Barry Keoghan marks his first Fantastic Fest, sharing Yorgos Lanthimos’ savage horror epic THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER for the first time in the US.
Embracing cinema spanning from Egypt to Lebanon to Iraq to Afghanistan, the festival turns an eye to celebrate the best of the region. Highlights include Egypt’s rarely seen Rocky Horror Picture Show adaptation ANYAB and the International Premiere of the box office smash AL ASLEYEEN (aka THE ORIGINALS) directed by Marwan Hamed. “It’s truly a joy to be able to showcase a variety of Arabic genre films never before seen in the US to shatter preconceptions.” said Fantastic Fest Creative Director Evrim Ersoy. “Cinema from this region is as exciting, inventive and as wild as anything we’ve ever seen and we’re here to prove it. It’s going to be a wild ride! Yalla, Habibi!”
Fantastic Fest’s global reach isn’t relegated exclusively to Arabic nations, as it has once again scoured the corners of the globe to bring the best cinema to Austin, TX. Sweden is well represented with Ruben Ostlund’s brilliantly sardonic THE SQUARE; Japan’s master of malevolence, Takashi Miike, hits a bloody century with his 100th feature, BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL; Scotland flies its flesh-eating flag with John McPhail’s zombie musical, ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE; and Austrian Oscar winner Stefan Ruzowitsky delivers a brutal and relentless ride with COLD HELL.
Maine’s finest son, Stephen King, is gorgeously represented with two standouts from Netflix’s burgeoning genre slate. GERALD’S GAME receives its US premiere along with the welcome return of Fantastic Fest alumni Mike Flanagan, who delivers a chilling adaptation of one of King’s most beloved bedside tales starring Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood. And Fantastic Fest first-timer Zak Hilditch will be in attendance to share his perfectly precise vision of King’s uber-creepy novella, 1922, for its world premiere.
Sticking with the theme of world premieres, this year’s program features a selective set of titles from first-time feature filmmakers whose wildly impressive debuts belie the depth of their filmographies. Spanish short master Yayo Herrero excels with his fantasy horror, MAUS; Bradley Buecker explores wasted youth and packs a visceral punch from the wrong side of the tracks with JUVENILE; and Lukas Feigelfeld shocks with his atmospheric exploration of a medieval hell in HAGAZUSSA – A HEATHEN’S CURSE.
Fantastic Fest alumni are well represented this year as DAN DREAM reunites KLOWN’s dynamic duo of Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam for an electric road trip back to the ‘80s; GENERATION B sees WASTE LAND director Pieter Van Hees return with a mad comedy; and RON GOOSSENS: LOW-BUDGET STUNTMAN delivers the warm embrace of directors Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil, whose previous NEW KIDS features and BROs BEFORE HOs crushed at previous editions of Fantastic Fest.
2017Fantastic Fest FIRST WAVE FILM
1922 USA, 2017 World Premiere, 101 mins Director – Zak Hilditch 1922 is based on Stephen King’s 131-page story telling of a man’s confession of his wife’s murder. The tale is told from from the perspective of Wilfred James, the story’s unreliable narrator who admits to killing his wife, Arlette, in Nebraska. But after he buries her body, he finds himself terrorized by rats and, as his life begins to unravel, he becomes convinced his wife is haunting him. 78/52 USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 91 min Director – Alexandre O. Philippe This masterful documentary focuses on a single aspect of Hitchcock’s PSYCHO to demonstrate the master’s technical ability in storytelling. With expert interviews and rollicking analysis, 78/52 sets a new bar in how to examine film overall. ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE Scotland, 2017 World Premiere, 107 min Director – John McPhail Anna’s life is dominated by the typical concerns of her youthful peers until the Christmas season in her small town brings not Santa, but an outbreak of the undead in this genre-mashing holiday horror musical. Yep. Musical. ANYAB Egypt, 1981 Repertory, 100 min Director – Mohammed Shebl ANYAB (FANGS) is an oddity worth rediscovering! An Egyptian take on THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, this eye-popping musical of madness manages to cram horror, science fiction and even social commentary together while charming with its outrageous costumes and action. BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL Japan, 2017 US Premiere, 141 min Director – Takashi Miike Takashi Miike’s 100th journey is an adaptation of the BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL manga. Manji, a samurai who cannot die, crosses paths with Rin Asano, a young girl whose parents were killed. Manji swears to help Rin Asano avenge her parents’ deaths. BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99 USA, 2017 US Premiere, 132 min Director – S. Craig Zahler S. Craig Zahler (BONE TOMAHAWK) returns with his sophomore feature, BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99. An exhilarating exercise in analog violence, CELL BLOCK follows the brutal exploits of a former boxer who finds himself incarcerated after a drug deal goes wrong. Trapped in a maximum security facility, he must fight to stay alive and to protect those he loves. COLD HELL Germany, 2017 US Premiere, 91 min Director – Stefan Ruzowitzsky A young Turkish woman living in Vienna feels increasingly lonely after she witnesses a murder and finds herself next on the killer’s agenda in this smart and gritty thriller from the director of ANATOMY and the Oscar-winning THE COUNTERFEITERS. DAN DREAM Denmark, 2017 US Premiere, 97 min Director – Jesper Rofelt KLOWN duo Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam reunite for a true-life tale of epic failure. Witness the non-arrival of the Danish electric car! THE ENDLESS USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 111 min Directors – Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead When brothers Justin and Aaron return to the cult that they escaped from ten years ago, they encounter a web of secrets and mysteries that threatens to tear them apart. GENERATION B (GENERATIE B) Belgium, 2017 ep. 1-4 = North American Premiere; ep. 5-6 = World Premiere, 210 min Director – Pieter Van Hees The generation gap has never been wider than it is in Pieter Van Hees’ deliriously absurd satire, pitting old generation money against Millennial apathy — and the occasional naked anarchist — following Belgium’s economic collapse. GERALD’S GAME USA, 2017 US Premiere, 103 mins Director – Mike Flanagan Flanagan unites with master of the macabre Stephen King for his cinematic interpretation of King’s beloved GERALD’S GAME. Starring Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood, GERALD’S GAME delivers pitch-perfect performances in a faithful adaptation where the horrors of the mind are much worse than what’s in front of you. HAGAZUSSA – A HEATHEN’S CURSE Germany, 2017 World Premiere, 102 min Director – Lukas Feigelfeld Set in the 15th Century in the Austrian Alps, Lukas Feigelfeld’s HAGAZUSSA takes us back to a dark period in which even the remotest parts of Europe suffered from the paranoia and superstition of the time. JAILBREAK Cambodia, 2017 US Premiere, 92 min Director – Jimmy Henderson Cambodia’s traditional martial art of bokator is unleashed in all its bone crunching fury in this action-packed tale of police trapped in the midst of a raging prison riot. JUVENILE USA, 2017 World Premiere, 87 min Director – Bradley Buecker The emotionally powerful story of Billy, an angry youth who spends his evenings stealing cars with best friend Mikey while attempting to cultivate a stable relationship with his girlfriend Jules. THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER Ireland / United Kingdom, 2017 US Premiere, 120 min Director – Yorgos Lanthimos The life of a brilliant surgeon is thrown into disarray when his friendship with a bizarre teenager threatens the lives of his entire family. Faced with a frightening choice, the man will be forced to assess all that he’s ever done. KING COHEN USA, 2017 US Premiere, 104 min Director – Steve Mitchell Featuring interviews from some of the biggest names in genre cinema including Joe Dante, Robert Forster and Fred Williamson, this documentary tells the story of one of the best and hardest working exploitation filmmakers. MAUS Spain, 2017 World Premiere, 90 min Director – Yayo Herrero Yayo Herrero’s directorial debut is a couple’s nightmare journey into the heart of darkness. A superlative horror parable, this shocking film is an indictment of modern history, war and the difficulties of reconciliation. It is a story for our times. MY FRIEND DAHMER USA, 2017 Texas Premiere, 107 min Director – Marc Meyers This is the story of Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school loner whose life would shape up to be something far more frightening than anyone could have imagined. THE ORIGINALS Egypt, 2017 International Premiere, 125 mins Director – Marwan Hamed Samir works for a bank, provides for his ever-demanding family and dreams of being in an Egyptian talent show. When he’s unexpectedly fired, Samir finds himself recruited to be part of a secret society and finds a darker side to life in Egypt. RON GOOSSENS: LOW-BUDGET STUNTMAN The Netherlands, 2017 US Premiere, 78 min Directors – Steffen Haars & Flip van der Kuil The latest from the comedic team behind the NEW KIDS films and BROs BEFORE HOs. Ron Goossens is totally shitfaced. Only by working as a movie stuntman and bedding the hottest actress in the Netherlands can Ron save his marriage. THE SQUARE Sweden, 2017 US Premiere, 150 min Director – Ruben Östlund An art museum director’s life becomes a comedy of errors when trying to put together his latest exhibit in FORCE MAJEURE director Ruben Ostlund’s latest, which won the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes. SUPER DARK TIMES USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 102 min Director – Kevin Phillips A split-second act of violence forever changes the lives of two ‘90s kids. Now they must cope with both the fallout of that moment and the pressures of high school in this clever and bloody coming-of-age thriller. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI USA, 2017 US PREMIERE, 110 min Director – Martin McDonagh A grieving mother takes drastic measures in an attempt to catch her daughter’s killer. Challenging the police to solve the case, she posts a series of billboards that threaten the fabric of rural, Missouri. TIGER GIRL Germany, 2017 US Premiere, 90 min Director – Jakob Lass Failing to crack the ranks as a would-be cop, Maggie begrudgingly settles for a security guard job until she encounters Tiger, a fierce young woman whose rebellious antics leave Maggie questioning which side of the law she truly belongs on. TOP KNOT DETECTIVE Australia, 2016 North American Premiere, 87 min Directors – Aaron McCann & Dominic Pearce Aliens! Ninjas! Robots! Enormous egos! Get ready to enter the world of TOP KNOT DETECTIVE! Possibly the greatest cult TV series you’ve never heard of, TOP KNOT DETECTIVE and its creator Takashi Tawagoto come to life in this gonzo documentary.
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2016 Fantastic Arcade Titles Lineup on 2nd Wave of Programming for Fantastic Fest
The 2016 Fantastic Arcade announced the complete list of titles for its annual free showcase of independent games, now in its seventh year, and held in conjunction with Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the world’s largest genre film festival. Confirmed guest speakers in attendance include artist/animator, Downwell creator Ojiro Fumoto, and Proteus and Forest of Sleep co-creator Ed Key.
The 2016 Fantastic Arcade Showcase selection:
Armagad (Nathalie Lawhead)
Get to know 2016 Spotlight Developer Nathalie Lawhead through Armagad, her ever-mutating suite of minigames. “It’s what the Internet does to people.”
Burrito Galaxy 65 (SwackSoft softWorks workShop)
The “Cool-talking, Neat Moving, Slap Everything” main-event that was only hinted at with 2014’s Burrito Galaxy 64. This is a fully-polished, playful first-person explorer filled with delicious *swack*.
Cryptark (Alientrap)
Cryptark is a 2D sci-fi roguelike shooter where you take on the role of a heavily-armed privateer seeking to earn government contracts by boarding deadly alien space-hulks.
Daily Motions (Jenny Jiao Hsia)
Daily Motions is a collection of lightning-fast games about morning mundanities-turned-slapstick. From Jenny Jiao Hsia, the artist behind last year’s Fantastic Arcade selection Beglitched.
DUSKERS (Misfit’s Attic)
Pilot drones into derelict spaceships to find the means to survive and piece together how the universe became a giant graveyard.
Emerald (Denis Novojilov)
Somewhere between a game world and a music-creation tool, Emerald stands on the vanguard of a new wave of interactive art.
Far from Noise (George Bachelor)
From the creator of Hot Date, Far from Noise is a conversation… on the edge of a cliff.
Into (Animal Phase)
From the creator of Alone in the Woods, Into is a short surreal journey through yourself.
Islands (Carl Burton)
A surreal trip through the mundane by artist and animator Carl Burton. Reveal the hidden ecosystems of ten unusual islands. Unlock an atmospheric experience while exploring strange yet familiar scenes.
Little Bug (Bela Messex)
Little Bug is a story about a little girl lost in a surreal world between life and death. Play as both the girl and her powerful firefly at the same time, harnessing their telekinetic connection to fly and break through obstacles.
Mu Cartographer (Titouan Millet)
A contemplative game experience that combines colorful sandbox toy and experimental treasure hunt. Manipulate abstract tools to modify the topography and colors of an alien landscape.
The Norwood Suite (Greg Heffernan)
You arrive at the old Norwood Hotel, hoping to drop off a demo to the DJ playing in the hotel basement. Soon you find yourself thrust in the middle of a curious, memorable night of adventure, intrigue, and the surreal.
OASES (Armel Gibson, Dziff, Calum Bowen)
A final, psychedelic prop-plane ride for a long-lost hero.
Oik OS Book I (David Kanaga, E.Wolff)
From cult-hit Proteus co-creator David Kanaga, Oik OS Book I is the very first (we’re fairly certain) interactive dog-opera.
PIKUNIKU (Arnaud DE BOCK/REMIE FORCADELL)
Rebuild a community by helping the Worry People confront their fears in this absurd puzzle-exploration game that takes place in a strange, playful environment.
Sacramento (Delphine Fourneau)
Sacramento is a game about capturing fleeting memories before they fade. Drift aimlessly across time and space, and enjoy the quiet while it lasts, as life will soon resume its course.
Soft Body (Zeke Virant)
Soft Body is a meditative action game where you control two beautiful, gooey snakes at the same time, painting the world with their bodies.
Star Surveyor (Slimefriend)
Star Surveyor is a charming platforming exploration game about discovering a foreign planet and quietly observing its alien flora and fauna.
Thoth (Jeppe Carlsen)
Thoth is a challenging twin-stick shooter with minimalistic, colorful graphics combined with intense, paranoia-inducing audio that makes for an exciting mix of art and arcade.
West of Loathing (Asymmetric)
From the creators of classic net sensation Kingdom of Loathing, West of Loathing is a single-player adventure RPG set in the Wild West.
As in previous years, Fantastic Arcade will be home to some of the most exciting and unconventional live tournaments of any games festival. This year, the festival will be bringing the following tournament games to you, simultaneously broadcast on the Venus Patrol Twitch channel:
Downwell, with creator Ojiro “Moppin” Fumoto in attendance,
ARENA GODS, returning by popular demand,
NESpectre, head-to-head glitch wars on NES hardware with full audience participation via mobile phone,
Multibowl, Bennett Foddy and Alec Thomson’s new classic-game multi-mixer, with its featured tournament culminating in a final showdown at this year’s Starcade closing event, and
A secret premiere tournament that may very well go down in Fantastic Arcade history.
Every day of Fantastic Arcade will be filled with panels led by the creators of this year’s selected games as well as special guests, with confirmed appearances by Everything’s David OReilly, Forest of Sleep and Proteus’s Ed Key, Downwell’s Ojiro Fumoto, Hollow Ponds- featuring members of the team behind Fantastic Arcade 2013 favorite Hohokum and many more.
Fantastic Arcade will also be presenting some of the most exciting VR experiences in development.
Come celebrate the opening day of Fantastic Arcade with live DJ sets and games, including an exclusive peek into Kokoromi’s PlayStation VR game Superhypercube at Empire Control Room, September 26th, 9pm-1am.
On September 29th in the Highball, check out PlayStation VR titles set to premiere in October as well as a selection of cutting-edge titles for multple VR Platforms curated by Juegos Rancheros and the Austin VR Meetup group.
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Fantastic Fest to Close with COLOSSAL Starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis
[caption id="attachment_16738" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis[/caption]
Closing out Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest festival is the triumphant return of Fantastic Fest’s Karaoke King Nacho Vigalondo with his kaiju monster mash-up COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis.
In more final wave of film programming announcements, Fantastic Fest welcomes fellow festival alumni and Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA for his first ever live re-score. Eighteen months in the making, RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN is a mammoth live re-scoring of the Shaw Brothers classic. Featuring over 40+ tracks culled from RZA’s monumental catalog, instrumentals, beats, samples and vocals amplify Lau Kar-leung’s narrative and Gordon Liu’s iconic performance.
“I am thrilled to be welcoming so many first-time directors to our weird festival family this year,” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “But as counterpoint, I am equally excited to be closing it down with veterans Nacho and RZA. In 2016, we’re going out with an epic bang.”
Fantastic Fest embraces its more physical side with a series of violent smashers that are guaranteed to leave heads spinning and jaws rattled. All 6’ 5” of our favorite chemical engineer will be in attendance as Dolph Lundgren promises to pummel Austin and demons alike with DON’T KILL IT. Paul Schrader will be making a very special appearance in the second half of the festival to share and discuss his wild exploration of the criminal underground, DOG EAT DOG. Indonesia is gloriously represented with HEADSHOT, the latest from the Mo Brothers and THE RAID / THE RAID 2’s Iko Uwais in what is guaranteed to be the most violent film of the year, and Hong Kong comes correct with the legendary Sammo Hung choreographing the action in Benny Chan’s wuxia western, CALL OF HEROES.
“There was so much that we loved this year, it’s wonderful to finally be able to share the full slate. We watched over 800 films and getting it down to 80 proved nearly impossible,” said Fantastic Fest Head of Programming, Evrim Ersoy, “But we’re here and we can’t wait to see people watch these brilliant delights with shock and awe in equal measure.”
TV takes center stage with two of the season’s most hotly anticipated shows gracing the big screen. The man, the myth, The Bruce Campbell will be in attendance battling the Necronomicon once more and bringing new episodes of ASH VS EVIL DEAD with him. Campbell will also be sitting with critic/film historian Leonard Maltin for an exclusive dialog spanning his entire career. HBO joins the Fantastic Fest fray with an exclusive screening of the first episode of its highly anticipated new drama series, WESTWORLD. Inspired by Michael Crichton’s ‘73 sci fi classic, this supremely contemporary rendering is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. WESTWORLD will be accompanied by a complimentary, classic western meal for all guests courtesy of HBO. Artfully prepared by the Alamo Drafthouse culinary team, the meal will draw its influence and ingredients from the frontier era and its expansive environment.
Western meals aren’t the only munchies inspiring programming as three of the festival’s most high profile gross-outs are first timers. Morgan Spurlock marks his Fantastic Fest debut with his uber-disgusting dissection of the most loathsome rodent in his doc RATS. Spurlock will be in attendance to talk about the vicious vermin and their endless conquest to take over the world. Another stomach-churning debut is Puke and Explode, a gala event of competitive eating dedicated to both gastro excess and grotesque edibles as contestants devour the most mortifying morsels imaginable. And in the grand tradition of festival favorite 100 BEST KILLS, Fantastic Fest vets Zack Carlson and Laird Jimenez deliver 100 BEST KILLS: 100 WORST BIRTHS, a dazzling array of the most nauseating, disturbing, inhuman and downright vomitous births in cinematic history. From sci-fi cesareans to martial arts miscarriages to horror hysterectomies, they will permanently sterilize viewers with 80 minutes of no-holes-barred babyrage.
Mondo will be driving movie fans crazy with a creative cornucopia of limited-edition collectibles at Fantastic Fest for the first time. The roll call of film tie-ins include super-exclusives for RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, and product signing sessions with Don Coscarelli and the cast of PHANTASM: REMASTERED and André Øvredal with THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE.
During Fantastic Fest, Mondo is also hosting Italian composer extraordinaire Fabio Frizzi as he performs THE BEYOND: COMPOSER’S CUT, his all-new live re-score of Lucio Fulci’s shocker in a supremely gothic church with jaw-dropping acoustics.
The full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2016.
A MONSTER CALLS
United States, 2016
Texas Premiere, 108 min
Director – J. A. Bayona
Twelve year old Conor, dealing with his mother’s illness, unexpectedly summons a most unlikely ally – a 40-foot-high Monster.
AGE OF SHADOWS
South Korea, 2016
US Premiere, 140 min
Director – KIM Jee-woon
Korea, during the Japanese occupation. Police Chief Lee Jung-Chool is hunting members of the resistance under strict orders from the Japanese overlords. However, a chance encounter with Jung Chae-San will have him questioning his loyalties…
ANOTHER WOLFCOP
Canada, 2016
World Premiere, 82 min
Director – Lowell Dean
Alcoholic werewolf cop Lou Garou springs into action when an eccentric businessman with evil intentions seduces Woodhaven’s residents with a new brewery and hockey team in this outrageous horror-comedy sequel.
ASH VS EVIL DEAD
United States, 2016
Special Screening, 60 min
Director – Rick Jacobson, episode 1
Director – Tony Tilse, episode 2
“Ash vs Evil Dead,” a 10-episode half-hour series, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film The Evil Dead.
ASURA
US Premiere, 136 min
South Korea, 2016
Director – Sung-soo KIM
Corrupt police detective Han protects Mayor Park’s interests while he saves up to pay for his wife’s terminal cancer treatment. When intimidation of a witness goes wrong, they’re all thrown into a violent storm.
[caption id="attachment_16127" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE[/caption]
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE
United Kingdom, 2016
U.S. Premiere, 99 min
Director – André Øvredal
When a mysterious body turns up at a crime scene, the local sheriff turns to the coroner and his son to find the cause of death.
BAD BLACK
Uganda, 2016
World Premiere, 65 min
Director – Nabwana IGG
A mild-mannered doctor is trained in the art of ass-kicking commando vengeance by a no-nonsense ghetto kid named Wesley Snipes (!). This is only one of the many delirious action-packed stories that converge in this exuberant DIY extravaganza from the home of “da best of da best movies”: WAKALIWOOD, UGANDA!!!
BOYKA:UNDISPUTED
United States, 2016
World Premiere, 90 min
Director – Todor Chapkanov
Escaped from prison and longing for a legitimate life, Yuri Boyka must choose between a shot at the glory he has trained for and the demands of his conscience after tragedy strikes in the ring.
BUGS
Denmark, 2016
Regional Premiere, 74 min
Director – Andreas Johnsen
Two researchers search the globe for the best flavors the insect world has to offer in an attempt to make this inevitable future food source more palatable to wimpy Westerners.
CALL OF HEROES
Hong Kong, 2016
North American Premiere, 120 min
Director – Benny Chan
During China’s Warlord era, in the village of Pucheng, a sheriff and his ragtag band of men must make sure the cruel general Cal’s son Shaolin faces justice in this brilliant blend of wuxia and westerns!
CHINYUKI
Japan, 2016
North American Premiere, 100 min
Director – Yudai Yamaguchi
Yudai Yamaguchi’s Chinyuki is one of those rare films where its own subtitle tells you everything you need to know about the movie: A journey to the West with farts.
COLOSSAL
Canada, 2016
US Premiere, 110 min
Director – Nacho Vigalondo
Fantastic Fest favorite Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES) wrings an extraordinarily potent allegory for personal responsibility and emotional toxicity in this witty and absorbing drama about an alcoholic (Anne Hathaway) who discovers an improbable connection between herself and a giant monster ravaging South Korea.
DON’T KILL IT
United States, 2016
North American Premiere , 93 min
Director – Mike Mendez
An ancient demon is unleashed in a Mississippi town and the only people who can stop it are FBI agent Evelyn Pierce and grizzled, cynical demon hunter Jebediah Woodley.
FASHIONISTA
United States, 2016
World Premiere, 108 min
Director – Simon Rumley
April and Eric own a clothing store together and are happily in love. April will have to rely on her fashion obsession for survival when everything unexpectedly crumbles after Eric makes a single destructive mistake.
HEADSHOT
Indonesia, 2016
US Premiere, 117 min
Director – Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto
The bone-crunching, soul-crushing, face-breaking story of an amnesiac young man named Ishmael, the doctor named Rika who cares for him and the bad men who all need to die in a maelstrom of sweet violence.
HENTAI KAMEN 2: The Abnormal Crisis
Japan, 2016
Texas Premiere, 118 min
Director – Yuichi Fukuda
At the request of his girlfriend Aiko, Kyosuke Shikijo agrees to retire Hentai Kamen. But when a new threat starts stealing panties, who will the people of Tokyo call on?
THE INVISIBLE GUEST
Spain, 2017
US Premiere, 106 min
Director – Oriol Paulo
A wealthy businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room with the body of his dead lover next to him in Orio Paulo’ latest.
THE LURE
Poland, 2015
Texas Premiere, 93 min
Director – Agnieszka Smocynska
Two young mermaids get caught up in the world of a Warsaw nightclub as they navigate human life and love in this Polish musical.
[caption id="attachment_16739" align="alignnone" width="1000"]
MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA[/caption]
MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA
United States, 2016
U.S. Premiere, 74 min
Director – Dash Shaw
Jason Schwartzman voices a young, hopeful writer who jumps into action during a disaster in this dazzling and hilarious animated adventure from famed graphic novelist Dash Shaw.
RATS
United States, 2016
Austin Premiere, 84 min
Director – Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary shows us the world of the rat, from the garbage of NYC to the dining plates of Vietnam to a Karni Mata Temple of worship in India.
RE: BORN
Japan, 2016
North American Premiere, 115 min
Director – Yûji Shimomura
Tak Sakaguchi is a seemingly untouchable super soldier who must return to the life he left behind when a former colleague threatens his fragile world.
RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN
Hong Kong, 1978
Special Screening, 115 min
Director – Chia-Liang Liu
What happens when one of the most influential hip hop artists descends on one of the most influential martial arts movies? There’s only one way to find out.
SCIENCE FICTION VOLUME ONE : THE OSIRIS CHILD
Australia, 2017
World Premiere, 95 min
Director – Shane Abbess
A far-future military contractor – and moderately shitty father – must race to save his daughter when his employer’s negligence puts her in the path of a rampaging alien race.
THE TRUTH BENEATH
South Korea, 2016
International Premiere, 108 min
Director – LEE Kyoung-mi
When a politician’s teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate mother takes it upon herself to uncover the truth in this startling Korean thriller.
WESTWORLD
United States, 2016
Special Screening, 60 min
Director – Jonathan Nolan
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
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Swedish Horror Film SENSORIA World Premiere at Fantastic Fest |TRAILER
SENSORIA, a “stylish” new psychological thriller/horror film directed by Christian Hallman, World Premiere at Fantastic Fest on Sunday, and will screen again this coming Wednesday.
SENSORIA follows Caroline, a woman in her late thirties, who has lost everything she cares for in the world. In the search for a new beginning, she moves into an old apartment and quickly begins to realize that she is not as alone as she thought she was.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieszRmpc-hM
SENSORIA
Sweden, 2015
World Premiere, 82 min
Director – Christian Hallman
Caroline Menard is a woman in her thirties who has lost everything. As she moves into a new apartment searching for a new start, she’s unaware that something ancient is waiting for her.
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2015 Fantastic Fest Announces Final Wave of Films and Events
The 2015 Fantastic Fest running September 24 to October 1st in Austin, Texas, announced its final wave of features and events. Joining Fantastic Fest for the first time, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson will be in attendance to share their wildly inventive world of stop motion animation ANOMALISA, Cannes Grand Prix winner SON OF SAUL is screening in glorious 35mm, the stunning adult fairytale from GOMORRAH director Matteo Garrone TALE OF TALES will unfurl, Jerusalem Film Festival’s top prize winner TIKKUN, and the World Premiere of the action-thriller CAMINO with Zoe Bell and Fantastic Fest veteran / mayor Nacho Vigalondo as a religious psychopath.
Asia is well represented with a diverse array of titles including Hou Hsiao-hsien’s breathtaking Taiwanese martial arts ballet THE ASSASSIN, Japanese wonder-animator Mamoru Hosoda’s THE BOY AND THE BEAST, and two seminal repertory titles from Hong Kong’s legendary Shaw Brothers Studio. Getting the royal treatment are two wuxia masterpieces, Cheng Pei Pei’s COME DRINK WITH ME and Gordon Liu’s EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER. The Shaw Brothers Studio screenings are being screened in 35mm with COME DRINK WITH ME coming directly from the Shaw Brothers’ archive in China.
Fantastic Fest welcomes back celebrated genre writer Kier-La Janisse to close out the festival’s rep slate with a rare 35mm screening of satanic shocker EVILSPEAK.
Presented by Starz’s ASH VS EVIL DEAD, the FF tradition FANTASTIC DEBATES returns, featuring four rock-’em-sock-’em matches between visiting filmmakers, actors, and journalists. Each debate begins with two rounds of verbal conflict before the stage is transformed into a battleground for full-tilt boxing! Past debaters have included Keanu Reeves, Elijah Wood, Michelle Rodriguez, Uwe Boll, Ti West, and dozens of others ferocious fighters from across the globe!
Other events see Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani make their triumphant return to Fantastic Fest for another night of stand up as they host a live version of Comedy Central’s The Meltdown With Jonah And Kumail. A double helping of Doug Benson serves up a very special Movie Interruption featuring the animal apocalypse extravaganza ROAR and a live recording of his Doug Loves Movies podcast while legendary turntablist, artist and music producer Kid Koala finally joins the Fantastic fray. After nearly two decades of crafting some of the most singularly eclectic turntable creations of all time, Kid Koala will perform live at the Fantastic Fest party as the composer of this year’s genre-bending official selection ZOOM.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2015.
ANOMALISA
United States, 2015
Regional Premiere, 90 min
Directors – Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
Charlie Kaufman’s newest story, a revolutionary and emotional stop-motion animation, follows an unhappy customer service guru looking for an escape from the monotony of his life.
THE ASSASSIN (pictured above)
Taiwan, 2015
US Premiere, 104 min
Director – Hou Hsiao-hsien
After failing to dispatch a corrupt government official, an assassin is disciplined by her master with a mission to murder her cousin (and former betrothed) in order to steal her heart against sentimentality. An immaculate and arresting romantic wu-xia from Taiwan’s chief art-house auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
THE BOY AND THE BEAST
Japan, 2015
US Premiere, 119 min
Director – Mamoru Hosoda
In the latest breathtaking animation by Fantastic Fest veteran Mamoru Hosoda (SUMMER WARS, THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME), nine-year-old Ren becomes the apprentice to beast warrior Kumatetsu and finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime in the beast world Jutengal.
CAMINO
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 104 min
Director – Josh C. Waller
A photojournalist gets more than she bargained for when she snaps a photo of a shadowy religious figure in the jungles of Colombia, triggering a flight – and fight – for her life.
COME DRINK WITH ME
Hong Kong, 1966
Repertory Screening, 95 min
Director – King Hu
One of the foundational classics on which all martial arts cinema is built, COME DRINK WITH ME stars the incomparably talented Chang Pei-Pei as an avenging warrior, Golden Swallow, on a mission to save the local governor’s son from the Jade-Faced Tiger’s gang.
DAG
Norway, 2015
World Premiere, 92 min
Director – Oystein Karlsen
A misanthropic relationship counselor, his (mostly) reformed hippy girlfriend, and his sex addict best friend drive this hugely popular Norwegian TV comedy from the creators of previous fest hit FUCK UP.
DANIEL’S WORLD
Czech Republic, 2015
North American Premiere, 75 min
Director – Veronika Lišková
Veronika’s Lisková’s brave documentary from the Czech Republic takes a very open, unflinching and non-emotional view of the most despised, misunderstood and taboo trait: pedophilia.
THE DEVIL’S CANDY
United States, 2015
U.S. Premiere, 90 min
Director – Sean Byrne
A struggling painter, his wife and his young daughter move into their dream house in rural Austin, Texas, but soon find themselves targeted by both satanic forces and the house’s previous occupants.
DOGLEGS
Japan/ USA, 2015
US Premiere, 89 min
Director – Heath Cozens
A look inside one of the world’s oddest wrestling leagues, where disabled fighters take on able-bodied opponents in brutal and bloody fights for their own dignity and self-respect. From where else but Japan?
THE EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER
Hong Kong, 1984
Repertory Screening, 98 min
Director – Chia-Liang Liu
The great martial arts choreographer Lau Kar-Leung directs this dark tale of betrayal, vengeance and honor, starring Gordon Liu and Alexander Fu Sheng (in his final screen role) as the sole surviving sons of a powerful family massacred in an act of brutal treachery.
FOLLOW
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 74 min
Director – Owen Egerton
When he blacks out after receiving a strange Christmas gift from his girlfriend, Quinn (Noah Segan) wakes the next morning to find his whole world crumbling around him.
THE GLORIOUS WORKS OF G.F. ZWAEN
The Netherlands, 2015
World Premiere, 110 min
Director – Max Porcelijn
A struggling writer turns to his accountant for help and instead discovers a trio of corpses and a bag of money. Could this be help of a different sort, or just a whole new world of trouble?
SATANIC PANIC Book Launch + Screening of EVILSPEAK (in 35mm!)
United States, 1981
Special Screening, 97 min
Director – Eric Weston
The hysteria known as the “Satanic Panic” made its way through every pop-culture pathway in the ‘80s. Relive the era with the launch of SATANIC PANIC: POP CULTURAL PARANOIA IN THE 1980s and a rare 35mm screening of occult fave EVILSPEAK.
SCHNEIDER VS BAX
The Netherlands/Belgium, 2015
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Alex van Warmerdam
A contract killer’s birthday plans are disrupted when he’s sent to dispatch a drunken writer in this delightfully dark comedy from Dutch auteur Alex van Warmerdam (BORGMAN).
SON OF SAUL
Hungary, 2015
Texas Premiere, 107 min
Director – László Nemes
Saul Ausländer is a Hungarian member of the Sonderkommando, the group of Jewish prisoners isolated from the camp and forced to assist the Nazis in the machinery of large-scale extermination. While working in one of the crematoriums, Saul discovers the dead body of a boy he takes for his son. As the Sonderkommando plans a rebellion, Saul decides to carry out an impossible task: save the child’s body from the flames, find a rabbi to recite the mourner’s Kaddish and offer the boy a proper burial.
SOUTHBOUND
United States, 2015
U.S. Premiere, 87 min
Directors – Radio Silence, Roxanne Benjamin, Patrick Horvath and David Bruckner
Somewhere on a stretch of desert highway, five groups of travelers will find themselves confronting an ever-changing feeling of dread through five interlocking, horrific stories.
TALE OF TALES
France, 2015
U.S. Premiere, 125 min
Director – Matteo Garrone
Monsters, magic and mayhem abound in the incredible stories of three royal families from nearby kingdoms in this ambitious fairy tale epic from acclaimed Italian auteur Matteo Garrone (GOMORRAH, REALITY).
TIKKUN
Israel, 2015
Texas Premiere, 120 min
Director – Avishai Sivan
God’s plan for a Yeshiva student is disrupted when CPR saves his life. He is reborn into a surreal, sexual and disturbing new existence that tests his faith and his father’s mercy.
THE TREACHEROUS
South Korea, 2015
North American Premiere, 131 min
Director – Kyu-dong MIN
Considered the worst tyrant in the long and rather oppressive history of Korea, King Yeonsan enslaved a thousand women to serve his carnal desires. This bawdy, unexpurgated and almost surely exaggerated tale of his sexual exploits is the heir apparent to the notorious 1980s era Hong Kong CAT III classics.
THE WAVE
Norway, 2015
U.S. Premiere, 105 min
Director – Roar Uthaug
A Norwegian geologist and his family fight for their lives after the Akneset mountain pass crumbles into the fjord below, creating a huge tsunami that threatens to wipe out their town.
ZOOM
Canada/ Brazil, 2015
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Pedro Morelli
Three very different people — an aspiring comic book artist with body image issues, an action director trying to make a more meaningful film, and a model struggling with her first novel — find their stories intersect in earth-shaking ways.
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Fantastic Fest 2015 Reveals 2nd Wave of Films + Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER to Open
Fantastic Fest announced the second wave of films, including the US Premiere of Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER as the opening night film. Joining THE LOBSTER is a “dazzling” array of the year’s most anticipated genre films from directors including Ridley Scott’s sci-fi epic THE MARTIAN, Ben Wheatley’s HIGH-RISE and Jeremy Saulnier’s GREEN ROOM.
The lineup also includes World Premieres from South Korea (Lee Sang-woo’s DIRTY ROMANCE), Denmark (Bo Mikklesen’s WHAT WE BECOME), United Kingdom (Gareth Bryn’s THE PASSING) and Puerto Rico (Angel Manuel Soto’s LA GRANJA). And for the first time in Fantastic Fest history, the festival is world premiering a film out of the United Arab Emirates, Majid Al Ansari’s electrifying cat-and-mouse thriller, ZINZANA.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2015.
APRIL AND THE EXTRAORDINARY WORLD
France, Belgium, Canada, 2015
US Premiere, 90 min
Director – Christian Desmares and Franck Ekinci
In an alternate history where Napoleon’s heirs rule France, scientists and scholars have gone missing for years, leaving behind a world deprived of their technological innovations. In this land powered by coal and steam, young April searches for her missing scientist parents.
ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM
Japan, 2015
US Premiere, 110 min
Director – Eiichiro Hasumi
The most heart-warming, touching coming-of-age tale of 2015 just also happens to be the story of how one classroom of kids gets trained as assassins so they can kill their teacher before he destroys Earth.
BASKIN
Turkey, 2015
US Premiere, 97 min
Director – Can Evrenol
It’s a quiet night on the beat for a mobile unit of Turkish police until they’re called out to support a squad encountering trouble in a remote building.
BELLADONNA OF SADNESS
Japan, 1973
Regional Premiere, 86 min
Director – Eiichi Yamamoto
A young and in love Jeanne is attacked by the local lord and makes a pact with the Devil himself in one of the most important rediscoveries of this year. Never before released in the US, this seminal psychedelic masterpiece has been painstakingly restored in 4k digital.
THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT
France/Belgium/Luxembourg, 2015
North American Premiere, 110 min
Director – Jaco Van Dormael
When Ea gets fed up with her overbearing father (who happens to be God), she decides to follow in her older brother’s footsteps by leaving the house, gathering her own apostles, and writing her own testament.
THE CLUB
Chile, 2015
US Premiere, 98 min
Director – Pablo Larraín
In a secluded Chilean village, four men lead a quiet life, trying to redeem themselves of their past sins. Their existence is threatened by the arrival of a man whose own secret may reveal all which the four have worked to forget.
COZ OV MONI 2
Ghana/Romania, 2014
North American Premiere, 63 min
Directors – King Henry Blackson & FOKN Bois
Beaten, robbed and left for dead, Wanlov and M3NSA are back and looking for revenge. But first, singing. And lunch. Prepare yourself for “the world’s second first pidgin musical”!
DEMON
Poland/Israel, 2015
US Premiere, 94 min
Director – Marcin Wrona
A day after discovering human remains in the backyard of their new home, a man begins experiencing strange things which come to a head on his wedding night.
DIRTY ROMANCE
South Korea, 2015
World Premiere, 94 min
Director – Lee Sang-woo
In Lee Sang-woo’s follow up to last year’s I AM TRASH, Chul-joong is too busy forcing his friend to sexually please his developmentally disabled sister to notice someone may want to actually love her for who she is.
EVOLUTION
France, 2015
US Premiere, 81 min
Director – Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Lucile Hadzihalilovic returns to directing with a surreal tale of a young boy on a remote island who develops a mysterious illness and is subjected to sinister medical treatments.
FEBRUARY
United States/Canada, 2015
US Premiere, 93 min
Director – Osgood Perkins
The lives of two high school students will be linked together when they’re forced to stay at their boarding school over the winter break and an evil presence starts to stalk them.
GREEN ROOM
United States, 2015
US Premiere, 94 min
Director – Jeremy Saulnier
Green Room is a brilliantly crafted and wickedly fun horror-thriller starring Patrick Stewart as a diabolical club owner who squares off against an unsuspecting but resilient young punk band.
GRIDLOCKED
Canada, 2015
World Premiere, 110 min
Director – Allan Ungar
A tactical assault officer is saddled with a hard partying star out to rehabilitate his image – and avoid jail time – in this throwback to the odd couple buddy action flicks of the early ‘90s.
HARD TO GET
South Africa, 2014
Regional Premiere, 94 min
Director – Zee Ntuli
Supremely confident ladies man TK may have bitten off more than he can chew when he sets his sights on Skiets, a township beauty with an edge who sets the pair off on a non-stop rollercoaster ride through the local underworld.
HIGH-RISE
United Kingdom, 2016
US Premiere, 118 min
Director – Ben Wheatley
Laing, a young doctor, joins a community in a luxury building in Thatcher’s England, who exile themselves from society and gradually divide into violent tribes.
THE KEEPING ROOM
United States, 2015
Texas Premiere, 95 min
Director – Daniel Barber
In the waning days of the Civil War, three southern women (Brit Marling, Hailee Steinfeld and newcomer Muna Otaru) defend themselves from two Yankees in Daniel Barber’s second film.
KLOVN FOREVER
Denmark, 2015
International Premiere, 90 min
Director – Mikkel Nørgaard
Five years have passed since the first KLOWN, and with their friendship at risk of fracturing forever, Frank must follow Casper to America… with typically disastrous results.
L’AFFAIRE SK1
France, 2014
Texas Premiere, 120 min
Director – Frédéric Tellier
Frederic Tellier’s tight police procedural recreates the events around the decade-long search and trial of “The Beast of the Bastille,” France’s first serial killer, who was tracked down using DNA evidence.
LA GRANJA
Puerto Rico, 2015
World Premiere, 100 min
Director – Angel Manuel Soto
The lives of a midwife, a young boxer, a mute kid and a young couple collide unexpectedly in a story about the desperate pursuit of happiness on the streets of Puerto Rico.
LAZER TEAM
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 93 min
Director – Matt Hullum
When Earth is threatened by an advanced alien race, our only hope lies in four morons, the self-proclaimed “Lazer Team.”
THE LOBSTER
Ireland, Greece, United Kingdom, France, Netherlands, 2015
US Premiere, 119 min
Director – Yorgos Lanthimos
Somewhere in the near future, single people face a choice: Join a program to find a mate in forty-five days or be transformed into an animal.
LUDO
India, 2015
US Premiere, 92 min
Directors – Q & Nikon
Time and space collide when a possessed game grabs hold of two friends eager for a sinful night of sex and drugs in Indian auteur Q’s first foray into horror.
MAN VS SNAKE
United States/Canada/Italy/Japan, 2015
World Premiere, 93 min
Directors – Andrew Seklir and Tim Kinzy
1984. One shiny quarter. 44.5 hours of continuous play. The race to be the first gamer in history to score one BILLION points. Until recently, Timothy McVey (not the terrorist) thought he had — for all these years — held the world record on Nibbler. Note: a Nibbler cabinet will be available in the lobby for the duration of Fantastic Fest for attendees to attempt to break the current world record.
THE MARTIAN
United States, 2015
Special Screening, 120 min
Director – Ridley Scott
Get ready to be blown away by Fox’s latest action-packed 3D adventure, THE MARTIAN starring Matt Damon, Jessica Chastain, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Kristen Wiig with a special screening of the upcoming film directed by Ridley Scott. THE MARTIAN is the story of what happens during a manned mission to Mars, when Astronaut Mark Watney is presumed dead after a fierce storm and left behind by his crew. But Watney has survived and finds himself stranded and alone on the hostile planet. With only meager supplies, he must draw upon his ingenuity, wit and spirit to subsist and find a way to signal to Earth that he is alive. Millions of miles away, NASA and a team of international scientists work tirelessly to bring “the Martian” home, while his crewmates concurrently plot a daring, if not impossible rescue mission.
MEN AND CHICKEN
Denmark, 2015
US Premiere, 100 min
Director – Anders Thomas Jensen
Mads Mikkelsen as only his longtime absurdist Danish collaborator Anders Thomas Jensen could conceive, a chronic masturbator with a hair-trigger temper, desperately searches for his true identity.
THE MIND’S EYE
United States, 2015
US Premiere, 87 min
Director – Joe Begos
On the heels of his Fantastic Fest debut ALMOST HUMAN, Joe Begos returns with a classic battle of good versus evil. A drifter with suppressed psychic powers must learn to unleash them to save the woman he loves.
THE MISSING GIRL
United States, 2015
US Premiere, 89 min
Director – A.D.Calvo
Mort, a lonely and disillusioned owner of a comic book shop, has fallen for his new employee Ellen, a smart, aspiring graphic novelist. A dark past and a missing girl, however, will complicate their story more than anyone can imagine.
THE PASSING
United Kingdom, 2015
World Premiere, 87 min
Director – Gareth Bryn
After their car is driven off the road and crashed into a river, a young couple on the run is taken in by a simple man living with his secrets in his isolated home.
RABID DOGS
France, 2015
US Premiere, 99 min
Director – Eric Hannezo
Four violent criminals escaping a robbery take a man, an ailing child and a young woman on a nightmarish road trip in this remake of Mario Bava’s near-lost Euro-crime nasty.
RIVER
Canada/Laos, 2015
US Premiere, 88 min
Director – Jamie M. Dagg
In the south of Laos, an American volunteer doctor becomes a fugitive after he intervenes in the sexual assault of a young woman. When the assailant’s body is pulled from the Mekong River, things quickly spiral out of control.
TOO LATE
United States, 2015
Regional Premiere, 107 min
Director – Dennis Hauck
A troubled private eye trawls through the belly of Los Angeles looking for a missing young woman, slowly revealing a careful web of intrigue, lies and connections.
WHAT WE BECOME
Denmark, 2015
World Premiere, 85 min
Director – Bo Mikkelsen
An idyllic suburban summer is shattered with the outbreak of an unexplained disease. With residents forced into quarantine with no explanation, the situation quickly spirals out of control.
THE WITCH
Canada/United States, 2015
Texas Premiere, 90 min
Director – Robert Eggers
Sixty years before the Salem witch trials, a Puritan moves his family away from civilization to a homestead which shares its borders with inescapable evil.
YAKUZA APOCALYPSE
Japan, 2015
Texas Premiere, 115 min
Director – Takashi Miike
After a yakuza vampire boss is struck down, his most loyal disciple takes it upon himself to avenge his mentor’s death and eliminate the assassins and their giant plush frog leader in Miike’s classic yakuza tale turned inside out.
ZINZANA
United Arab Emirates, Jordan, 2015
World Premiere, 91 min
Director – Majid Al Ansari
Talal wakes up in a cell with no memory of the night before with no I.D. and no escape. Nothing can prepare him, however, for the arrival of a brilliant psychopath and the games he wants to play.
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11th Fantastic Fest Reveals First Wave of Programming; Closes with World Premiere of Kurt Russell’s BONE TOMAHAWK
The 11th Fantastic Fest, taking place September 24 – October 1 in Austin, TX at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, revealed the first wave of programming lineup, including the World premiere of BONE TOMAHAWK with Kurt Russell and Matthew Fox as closing night film. Other highlights include a retrospective of Turkish Genre Cinema, and a special Mondo Gallery event and programming series curated by filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn to celebrate the release of his new book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing, which profiles Refn’s collection of vintage exploitation-era American movie posters.
“Bringing Kurt Russell back to the Alamo is something we’ve been trying to do for a long time” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League, “And to do it with BONE TOMAHAWK, a quintessential Fantastic Fest film, means we’re in for one hell of a closer. Huge thanks to Caliber Media for making it all happen.”
Turkish genre cinema is at the heart of this year’s Fantastic Fest, inspiring both feature programming and the festival theme. This relatively unknown school of ‘70s renegade filmmaking is explored in REMIX, REMAKE, RIP-OFF, which will be receiving its U.S. Premiere with director Cem Kaya in attendance.
As part of the Turkish celebration, Fantastic Fest will be screening three seminal films, DÜNYAYI KURTARAN ADAM (aka THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD, aka TURKISH STAR WARS) , YILMAYAN ŞEYTAN (aka THE DEATHLESS DEVIL) and TARKAN VİKİNG KANI (aka TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS).
In keeping with the Turkish spirit, this year’s poster is comprised exclusively of elements from classic Turkish movie art, of which there will be over 60 original movie posters on display at the festival.
Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn shares his unique collection of rare American exploitation movie posters in the lush new hardcover book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing. Three of the films featured in the book – FAREWELL UNCLE TOM, THE X-RATED SUPERMARKET and MY BODY HUNGERS – were selected by Refn to screen during the opening weekend of Fantastic Fest, followed by a Q&A and book signing.
First wave film lineup below:
BONE TOMAHAWK
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 133 min
Director – S. Craig Zahler
Kurt Russell stars in this character driven and at times horrific Western about a group of men (including Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins) who set out to rescue a local woman and a young deputy who’ve been kidnapped by a tribe of cannibalistic troglodytes.
DARLING
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 78 min
Director – Mickey Keating
A young woman slowly goes crazy after taking a job as the caretaker for an ancient New York home in the new film from writer/director Mickey Keating.
THE DEATHLESS DEVIL
Turkey, 1972
Repertory Screening, 84 min
Director – Yilmaz Atadeniz
The mysterious Dr. Satan’s nefarious plans threaten the future of everyone on the planet, and the only men who can stop him are the brilliant Copperhead and his assistant Sherlock Holmes!
DER BUNKER
Germany, 2015
North American Premiere, 85 min
Director – Nikias Chryssos
A student rents a room from a family in their converted army bunker, and ends up the tutor to the child and a virtual slave to the parents.
FAREWELL UNCLE TOM
Italy, 1971
Repertory Screening, 123 min
Directors – Gualtiero Jacopetti, Franco Prosperi
The first movie based on historical facts about the rise and revolt of slavery in America is one of the most brilliant, misunderstood and reviled of all time.
GERMAN ANGST
Germany, 2015
US Premiere, 111 min
Directors – Jörg Buttgereit, Michal Kosakowski & Andreas Marschall
German directors Buttgereit, Kosakowski and Marschall unleash this brutal assault on the senses, a surreal three-part horror anthology touching on love and hate and everything in between.
IN SEARCH OF ULTRA SEX
France, 2015
North American Premiere, 60 min
Directors – Nicolas Charlet and Bruno Lavaine
A pandemic infects people everywhere with infinite lust, and the only ones who can save us are a group of astronauts in space, desperately looking for a solution.
THE INVITATION
United States, 2015
Special Screening, 97 min
Director – Karyn Kusama
A haunted man attends a dinner party at the house he once called home, and becomes gripped with paranoia that his ex-wife and her new husband are harboring an insidious agenda.
LIZA THE FOX FAIRY
Hungary, 2015
Regional Premiere, 98 min
Director – Károly Ujj-Mészáros
Somewhere in 1970s Budapest, nurse Liza dreams of romance. But as all her suitors die in violent and extreme ways, she begins to fear the worst: maybe she is really a fox fairy, doomed to remain alone forever!
LOVE AND PEACE
Japan, 2015
US Premiere, 117 min
Director – Sion Sono
Fantastic Fest staple Shion Sono returns once again with a deeply personal (and expectedly odd) film about a lonely businessman with dreams of punk rock stardom and his best friend, a turtle.
LOVEMILLA
Finland, 2015
North American Premiere, 97 min
Director – Teemu Nikk
LOVEMILLA is a delightful peek at life and love in Finland, filled with all the usual zombies, black holes, giant pandas and superheros you’d expect from the land that gave us Renny Harlin.
THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD
Turkey, 1982
Repertory Screening, 91 min
Director – Çetin İnanç
There has never been and will never be another film like THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD, and your only chance to discover why is at this special Fantastic Fest screening!
MY BODY HUNGERS
United States, 1967
Repertory Screening, 80 min
Director – Joseph W. Sarno
A roadhouse hostess goes undercover to investigate the murder of her sister in a little-seen sexploiter from grindhouse rebel and master of erotica Joe Sarno.
OFFICE
Korea, 2015
US Premiere, 111 min
Director – HONG Won-Chan
OFFICE is the story of Kim, the salaryman who one day brutally murders his entire family with a hammer, and Lee, the put-upon intern at his workplace. It’s dark-as-night corporate satire hiding behind a slasher veneer with scares so well timed, you’ll jump out of your seat non-stop.
REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF
Turkey/Germany, 2014
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Cam Kaya
Welcome to Turkey. It’s home to Yesilcam, the Turkish Hollywood where, in the late ‘70s, dreams were built on nothing more than a dime. Both a loving tribute to the burgeoning cinema of this young country and a trip into history, REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF brings you the most outlandish story you’ve never heard, about filmmaking so dangerous that you need a safety harness just for watching.
RUINED HEART
Phillipines-Germany, 2015
Regional Premiere, 73 min
Director – Khavn de la Cruz
Filipino iconoclast Khavn De La Cruz teams with famed cinematographer Christopher Doyle and Japanese mega star Tadanobu Asano to create a self-described “punk noir opera.”
SENSORIA
Sweden, 2015
World Premiere, 82 min
Director – Christian Hallman
Caroline Menard is a woman in her thirties who has lost everything. As she moves into a new apartment searching for a new start, she’s unaware that something ancient is waiting for her.
THE SIMILARS
Mexico, 2015
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Isaac Ezban
On a dark and stormy night, eight strangers are stuck in a small bus station waiting for a bus to Mexico City. When strange things start happening, they find themselves trapped in a struggle for sanity and survival.
SPEED
South Korea, 2015
North American Premiere, 104 min
Director – Lee Sang-woo
Four friends navigate sex, love and life in a heart-breaking new film from Korean director Lee Sang-woo.
STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP
United Kingdom, 2015
US Premiere, 65 min
Director – Ross Sutherland
Hypnotically scanning the contents of a VHS tape, this experimental essay-film eulogizes the former custodian of the analog artifact, transforming its recordings of GHOSTBUSTERS and FRESH PRINCE (among others) through rap-infused anecdotal narration, and inscribing both profound and hilarious associations to the tracking-lined images. STAND BY FOR TAPE BACK-UP will be presented as both a traditional screening as well as a live performance by creator Ross Sutherland.
TARKAN VS THE VIKINGS
Turkey, 1971
Repertory Screening, 86 min
Director – Mehmet Aslan
Based on one of the most popular comic strips in Turkey. this rip-roaring adventure sees Tarkan and his trusty wolf companion Kurt take on the despicable Viking invaders after they leave him for dead!
VICTORIA
Germany, 2015
Regional Premiere, 138 min
Director – Sebastian Schipper
Sebastian Schipper’s fourth directorial work is a single-shot tour-de-force that follows a Spanish barista through a dance club, the streets of Berlin, a coffee shop, a bank robbery and her destiny.
THE X-RATED SUPERMARKET
United States, 1972
Repertory Screening, 62 min
Director – Paul Roberts
Want to save money on your weekly sex toy budget? Look no further than the supermarket shelves in some salacious tips and reactions from suburban horny housewives.
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Second Wave of Films Announced for 2013 Fantastic Fest
BLUE RUIN Fantastic Fest announced the second wave of programming for the ninth edition of Fantastic Fest, taking place September 19 – 26 at Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline in Austin, Texas. See below for descriptions of nineteen new World, North American & US premiere films at this year’s festival.
FIELD IN ENGLAND, A (England, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Ben Wheatley, 90 mins
During the British Civil War, when magic was science, an alchemist forces a group of deserters to help him locate buried treasure, and sends them all straight into the mouth of madness.AFFLICTED (Canada, 2013)
US Premiere
Directors – Clif Prowse and Derek Lee, 85 mins
Derek and Clif, best friends documenting their journey across the world, are in for an unexpected adventure when one of them comes down with a sinister sickness.ALMOST HUMAN (USA, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Joe Begos, 80 mins
A man who disappeared under mysterious circumstances returns to wreak havoc upon a small town.BLUE RUIN (USA, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Jeremy Sauliner, 90 mins
A classic American revenge story, Blue Ruin follows a mysterious outsider whose quiet life is turned upside down when he returns to his childhood home to carry out an act of vengeance. Proving himself an amateur assassin, he winds up in a brutal fight to protect his estranged family.COHERENCE (USA, 2013)
World Premiere
Director – James Ward Byrkit, 127 mins
On the night a comet is passing near Earth, a dinner party takes an odd turn. When the power goes out, eight friends discover that the only house on the street left with power also holds many secrets.CONGRESS, THE (Israel, Germany, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Ari Folman, 122 mins
Robin Wright (playing herself) receives the last offer she’ll ever get from a Hollywood studio in Ari Folman’s adaptation of Stanislaw Lem’s classic scifi novel, and his follow-up to WALTZ WITH BASHIR.GOLDBERG AND EISENBERG (Israel, 2013)
World Premiere
Director – Oren Carmi, 91 mins
A psychopath develops a dangerous obsession with a schlubby computer programmer.GRAND PIANO (Spain, 2013)
World Premiere
Director – Eugenio Mira, 90 mins
A renowned concert pianist (Elijah Wood) returns to the stage for one final performance, only to become the target of a sadistic cat-and-mouse game with a faceless sniper (John Cusack).HENTAI KAMEN: FORBIDDEN SUPER HERO (Japan, 2013)
Texas Premiere
Director – Yuichi FUKUDA, 105 mins
A new hero has arisen in Japan: One with fishnet stockings, a mankini, and a pair of women’s panties over his face. When conventional justice fails, make way for the Hentai Kamen.MARUYAMA THE MIDDLE SCHOOLER (Japan, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Kankuro Kudo, 119 mins
A middle school student prone to wild daydreams devotes his waking hours to stretching and flexibility exercises with the ultimate goal of one day being able to lick his own penis.MIRAGE MEN (United Kingdom, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – John Lundberg, 85 mins
A mind-scrambling documentary that posits that popular myths about the existence of UFOs originated from a disinformation campaign by the U.S. government.O’APOSTOLO (Spain, 2013)
Texas Premiere
Director – Fernando Cortizo, 87 mins
Gothic legends are brought to life by gorgeous stop-motion animation in this adult fantasy film from Spain.OUR HEROES DIED TONIGHT (France, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – David Perrault, 94 mins
Freshly returned home from a stint in the French Foreign Legion, Victor finds work as a reluctantly villainous masked wrestler in this marvelously crafted ode to film noir from first-time director David Perrault.PATRICK (Australia, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Mark Hartley, 95 mins
Nurse Kathy Jaquard didn’t expect a lot of trouble on the coma ward but she gets more than she can handle when she meets the telekinetic Patrick in Mark Hartley’s remake of the Ozsploitation classic.PROXY (USA, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Zack Parker, 120 mins
American director Zack Parker delivers an unexpected, nasty little thriller about a woman whose life spins out of control following an attack on her unborn child.SEPTIC MAN (Canada, 2013)
World Premiere
Director – Jesse Thomas Cook, 83 mins
An erstwhile plumber undergoes a hideous transformation when trapped inside a septic tank and tormented by the bizarre residents of his town’s sewage treatment plant.TALES FROM THE ORGAN TRADE (Canada, 2013)
Austin Premiere
Director – Ric Bienstock, 82 mins
David Cronenberg narrates this fascinating documentary about the secret world of international organ trafficking.WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL (Japan, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Sion Sono, 126 mins
Things get insanely bloody when an inspiring film troupe known as The Fuck Bombers collide with a yakuza boss who wants to make a movie with his daughter, in Fantastic Fest veteran Sion Sono’s (LOVE EXPOSURE; SUICIDE CLUB) latest.WITCHING & BITCHING (Spain, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Alex de la Iglesia, 120 mins
Hit Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia (THE LAST CIRCUS) returns to Fantastic Fest with a hilarious and gory tale of thieves who find themselves in over their heads when faced with a coven of bloodthirsty witches.
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Keanu Reeves’ Directing Debut “MAN OF TAI CHI” Among First Wave of Films Announced for 2013 Fantastic Fest
Keanu Reeves directs MAN OF TAI CHIKeanu Reeves’ MAN OF TAI CHI is among the initial lineup of films screening at this year’s Fantastic Fest taking place September 19-26 in Austin, Texas at the Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline. Keanu Reeves stars in and makes his directorial debut in the multi-lingual narrative, MAN OF TAI CHI. Partly inspired by the life of Reeves’ friend, stuntman Tiger Chen, MAN OF TAI CHI tells the story of a young martial artist whose unparalleled Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underground fight club. As the fights intensify so does his will to survive and his desire to protect his way of life.
The initial lineup of films at this year’ Fantastic Fest festival inclues:
BIG BAD WOLVES (Israel, 2013)
Texas Premiere
Director- Navot Papushado & Aharon Keshales, 110 mins
The directing team behind the 2010 cult smash RABIES return to Fantastic Fest with one of the best genre films of 2013.BORGMAN (The Netherlands, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Alex van Warmerdam, 113 mins
Something wicked this way comes in the form of the ordinary, the polite and the normal as a drifter and his followers invade the home of a bourgeois family.CHEAP THRILLS (United States, 2013)
Regional Premiere
Director – E.L. Katz, 85 mins
A recently fired father facing eviction is paid to take on an escalating series of insane challenges from a rich couple with a twisted sense of humor.COMMANDO – A ONE MAN ARMY (India, 2013)
US Premiere
Director- Dilip Ghosh, 120min
Singing! Dancing! Extreme violence and goofy one-liners from Bollywood’s answer to Tony Jaa and Marko Zaror! If Cannon Films were to relocate to India, COMMANDO would be the result!EEGA (India, 2012)
Austin Premiere
Director – SriSaila Sri Rajamouli, 107 mins
A murdered man reincarnates as a fly to wreak vengeance on the villain who took his life and his lover. EEGA is an inventive, insane take on a revenge story unlike anything you’ve seen before.HALLEY (Mexico/The Netherlands, 2013)
Texas Premiere
Director – Sebastian Hofmann, 83 mins
Though Beto’s life may technically be over, he allows himself to experience it one last time before his body completely falls apart in this unique and contemplative horror film.KID’S POLICE (Japan, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Yuichi FUKUDA, 100 mins
When evil criminal organization Red Venus strikes, there’s only one team of highly specialized cops who can help. Unfortunately, they’ve been dosed with anti-aging gas that has turned them all into children.LFO (Sweden/Denmark, 2013)
World Premiere
Director – Antonio Tublen, 94 mins
A solitary man discovers audio frequencies that open the human mind wide to hypnotic suggestion and, ultimately, his total control in this slyly deadpan dark comedy from Sweden.MAN OF TAI CHI (United States, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Keanu Reeves, 105 mins
Keanu Reeves stars in and directs this epic tale about a young martial artist who must compete in an underground fight club to protect his way of life. As the fights intensify so does his will to survive.NARCO CULTURA (United States, 2013)
Texas Premiere
Director – Shaul Schwarz, 103 mins
NARCO CULTURA is a graphically disturbing documentary that examines the parallels between the Mexican drug war and the increasingly popular musical style of narcocorridos (drug ballads).NIGHTBREED – THE CABAL CUT (United Kingdom, 2012)
Texas Premiere
Directors – Russell Cherrington, 144 mins
NIGHTBREED: THE CABAL CUT is a new director’s cut of Clive Barker’s horror classic that places the film in an entirely different light.NORTHWEST (Denmark, 2013)
Regional Premiere
Director – Michael Noer, 91 mins
A teen hoodlum in Copenhagen becomes entangled in the criminal underworldNOTHING BAD CAN HAPPEN (Germany, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Katrin Gebbe, 110 mins
Tore, a member of the counter-culture Christian movement Jesus Freaks, is befriended and taken in by a family who play an increasingly cruel, violent game and push his capacity to love to its limits.ON THE JOB (Philippines, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Erik Matti, 200 min
Corruption abounds in this stylish, Cannes-selected, ripped-from-the-headlines story of prisoners released on a day pass to work as killers. The cops must bring them in, never knowing how far the corruption spreads and who they can trust.RESURRECTION OF A BASTARD, THE (The Netherlands, 2013)
Regional Premiere
Director – Guido van Driel, 89 mins
Adapted from his own graphic novel by first time writer-director Guido van Driel, RESURRECTION OF A BASTARD tells the darkly funny, Coen-esque tale of a career thug caught in an existential crisis.SHE WOLF (Argentina, 2013)
North American Premiere
Director – Tamae Garateguy, 92 mins
A sexual predator roams the streets and trains of Buenos Aires, a beautiful woman who uses sex to lure in her victims. A potent, punk rock spin on Euro-sleaze influences in this raw, erotic thriller.VIC + FLO SAW A BEAR (Canada, 2013)
US Premiere
Director – Denis Côté, 95 mins
An ex-con named Vic and her lover Flo retreat to a sugar shack in a small Quebec town to start anew. Their attempt to live a normal life slowly and disastrously unravels.
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The World Premiere of MACHETE KILLS to Open 2013 Fantastic Fest
The 2013 Fantastic Fest will open with the world premiere of Robert Rodriguez’s MACHETE KILLS on September 19, 2013. Robert Rodriguez along with Danny Trejo and Alexa Vega, both featured in the film, are expected to be in attendance at the premiere. The festival will be held in Austin, Texas at the new Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline location from September 19-26, 2013.
In MACHETE KILLS, Danny Trejo returns as ex-Federale agent Machete, who is recruited by the President of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man – he must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet.
Machete Kills is directed by Robert Rodriguez with a cast that includes: Danny Trejo, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Carlos Estevez, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding, Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson.
Machete Kills releases in U.S. theaters on October 4, 2013.