The second annual What The Fest!? is over, and Zack Lipovsky & Adam B. Stein’s FREAKS, which made its New York Premiere at the festival was voted winner of the Audience Award. FREAKS tells the warped tale of Chloe (Lexy Kolker), a young girl sheltered by her father (Emile Hirsch) from the world outside their door… until an ice cream man (Bruce Dern) tries to lure her out of her safe haven.
IFC Center announced the full slate of the 2019 What The Fest!? film festival, a five-day showcase of outrageous content — horror, sci-fi, documentary, thrillers, and beyond — from March 20th through March 24th.
Boiled Angels: The Trial of Mike Diana[/caption]
BOILED ANGELS: THE TRIAL OF MIKE DIANA by Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE, BRAIN DAMAGE), won the Audience Award at the first-ever What the Fest!? billed as a new showcase for outrageous content, at New York’s IFC Center. The latest documentary directed by Henenlotter, which made its World Premiere at the festival, BOILED ANGELS is the true story of underground comic artist Mike Diana, the only American artist ever convicted of obscenity. The film also featured appearances from Neil Gaiman and George A. Romero, among others. Henenlotter and Diana were both present for a Q&A following the World Premiere screening, along with producers Anthony Sneed and Mike Hunchback.
“The first edition of What The Fest!? had something organic that’s impossible to buy or manufacture: an incredible atmosphere,” says Creative Director Maria Reinup. “Audiences and filmmakers welcomed our new festival with open arms, and we were thrilled to launch a new home for great genre films in New York — and we’re especially proud that our audiences honored a legendary New York genre filmmaker like Frank Henenlotter.”
BOILED ANGEL’s Audience Award win was the cherry on top of a successful launch for What the Fest!?. The eleven-program lineup featured an international selection of new films from the US, France, Norway, Switzerland, the UK, and Indonesia, along with a sneak preview of AMC’s new series “The Terror,” with star Jared Harris in attendance, and the world premiere of a restoration of the 1988 Polish-Estonian CURSE OF SNAKES VALLEY, a Soviet-era action spectacular never released stateside. Festival selections included upcoming releases THE ENDLESS and LOWLIFE (both opening April 6th), GHOST STORIES (April 20th) and REVENGE (May 11th), as well as titles not yet acquired for the US. Filmmakers were present for most screenings, among them Jenn Wexler, Larry Fessenden, and Heather Buckley, in attendance for the Closing Night selection, THE RANGER.
In addition to traditional filmmaker Q&As, the festival also partnered with Forbidden Planet, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, The Swarm Lab, The Association for Psychoanalytic Medicine, and punk band Rotten UK to provide audiences with unforgettable screening events — from a talk on female adolescence and body horror, to a post-film taco truck, a surprise hardcore concert and more.
REVENGE[/caption]
What the Fest!?, a four-day showcase of outrageous content — horror, sci-fi, documentary, thrillers, and beyond — will run from March 29th through April 1st, 2018, at the IFC Center in NYC. What the Fest!? will feature under the radar cinematic finds, film festival hits from Sundance, TIFF, and Rotterdam, and the world premiere of a new digital restoration of a film never before released in the U.S.
Opening night of What the Fest!? will feature the New York Premiere of Coralie Fargeat’s REVENGE, a thriller about a mistress who exacts “revenge” on her married lover and his friends, turning their annual hunting trip into a decidedly deadlier adventure. The closing night film will be Jenn Wexler’s THE RANGER, about a group of teen punks on the lam, who hide out from the cops in a remote cabin… only to run into bigger troubles.
Highlights include the World Premiere of BOILED ANGELS: THE TRIAL OF MIKE DIANA, a documentary chronicling the obscenity trail of the eponymous comic book artist Mike Diana, directed by cult favorite Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE); Henenlotter and Diana will appear in person. There will also be a sneak peek of an unseen episode from the new AMC series “The Terror,” with star Jared Harris of “Mad Men” in person for a Q&A, the critically lauded horror film GHOST STORIES starring Martin Freeman, and the World Premiere restoration of the never-before-seen-in-the-U.S., CURSE OF SNAKES VALLEY, a.k.a “The Soviet Indiana Jones.”
REVENGE (NY Premiere)
Synopsis: Three wealthy, married men learn the hard way that you should never bring your mistress along on a guys’ getaway, especially when there’s hunting involved. A Neon release.
Written & Directed by: Coralie Fargeat
Starring: Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz, Kevin Janssens, Vincent Colombe, & Guillaume Bouchède
TRT: 108 min.
Country: France
Language: English; French (with English subtitles)
VALLEY OF SHADOWS (U.S. Premiere) Synopsis: In this mesmerizing Scandinavian Gothic fable shot on 35mm, a small boy sets out into the deep, dark woods in search of a mysterious creature. Directed by: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen Written by: Jonas Matzow Gulbrandsen & Clement Tuffreau Starring: Adam Ekeli, Kathrine Fagerland, Jørgen Langhelle, Jone Hope Larsen, & Lennard Salamon TRT: 91 min. Country: Norway Language: Norwegian (with English subtitles)
THE ENDLESS Synopsis: Two brothers (played by co-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, of SPRING and RESOLUTION) return to the cult they fled years ago, only to discover that the group’s beliefs may make much more sense than they once thought. A Well Go USA release. Directed by: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead Written by: Justin Benson Starring: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead, Tate Ellington, Callie Hernandez, & Lew Temple TRT: 112 min. Country: U.S. Language: EnglishBLUE MY MIND (NY Premiere) Synopsis: As if adapting to a new town and a new life weren’t enough, 15-year-old Mia faces an overwhelming transformation when her body starts to change radically. Written & Directed by: Lisa Brühlmann Starring: Luna Wedler, Zoë Pastelle Holthuizen, & Regula Grauwiller TRT: 97 min. Country: Switzerland Language: Swiss German (with English subtitles)
BOILED ANGELS: THE TRIAL OF MIKE DIANA (World Premiere) Synopsis: Jailed for comics?! The true story of Mike Diana, the only American artist ever convicted of obscenity, directed by cult filmmaker Frank Henenlotter (BASKET CASE, BRAIN DAMAGE, FRANKENHOOKER). Directed by: Frank Henenlotter Featuring: Mike Diana, George A. Romero, Neil Gaiman, Peter Bagge, Jay Lynch, Stephen Bissette, Peter Kuper, & more TRT: 105 min. Country: U.S. Language: English
GHOST STORIES (NY Premiere) Synopsis: Arch-skeptic professor Phillip Goodman embarks upon a terror-filled quest when he stumbles across three long-lost cases of unexplainable “hauntings.” Written & Directed by: Jeremy Dyson & Andy Nyman Starring: Martin Freeman, Andy Nyman, Alex Lawther, & Paul Whitehouse TRT: 98 min. Country: U.K. Language: English
SATAN’S SLAVES (NY Premiere) Synopsis: A hit at Rotterdam, acclaimed director Joko Anwar’s (MODUS ANOMALI, A COPY OF MY MIND) remake of a beloved 1982 Indonesian horror classic (reputedly itself inspired by PHANTASM) is a delightfully terrifying haunted house movie — and the country’s biggest box office smash of 2017. Written & Directed by: Joko Anwar Starring: Bront Palarae, Tara Basro, Endy Arfian, & Dimas Aditya TRT: 106 min. Country: Indonesia Language: Indonesian (with English subtitles)
CURSE OF SNAKES VALLEY, a.k.a. “The Soviet Indiana Jones” (World Premiere Restoration) Synopsis: This unseen 1980s Eastern Bloc-buster presents the Soviet answer to Indiana Jones in a tale that combines snakes and jungle traps and the “classic weirdness” of Polish sci-fi! Directed by: Marek Piestrak Written by: Wojciech Nizynski, Marek Piestrak, & Vladimir Valutskiy Starring: Krzysztof Kolberger, Roman Wilhelmi, & Ewa Salacka TRT: 94 min. Country: Estonia, Poland Language: Russian (with English subtitles)
LOWLIFE (NY Premiere) Synopsis: The sordid lives of an addict, an ex-con, and a luchador collide when an organ harvesting caper goes very, very wrong. An IFC Midnight release. Directed by: Ryan Prows Written by: Tim Cairo, Jake Gibson, Shaye Ogbonna, Ryan Prows, & Maxwell Michael Towson Starring: Jon Oswald, Nicki Micheaux, Mark Burnham, & Ricardo Adam Zarate TRT: 96 min. Country: U.S. Language: English, Spanish (with English subtitles)
“The Terror” (Episode Sneak Preview) Synopsis: Join star Jared Harris for a sneak preview of AMC’s new series based on Dan Simmons’s 2007 bestseller, the true-life tale of a group of sailors confronting certain death at the frozen ends of the earth. Starring: Jared Harris, Ciarán Hinds, & Tobias Menzies TRT: 144 min (Episodes 1-3 of the first season) Country: U.S. Language: English
THE RANGER (NY Premiere) Synopsis: Teen punks on the run from the cops hide out in a remote cabin, only to find out that the forest has its own law. Directed by: Jenn Wexler Written by: Giaco Furino & Jenn Wexler Starring: Chloe Levine, Jeremy Holm, & Larry Fessenden TRT: 80 min. Country: U.S. Language: English