Baskin (2015)

  • Louisiana International Film Festival Announces Official 2016 Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_9382" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Born to be Blue. Robert Budreau BORN TO BE BLUE[/caption] The 2016 Louisiana International Film Festival (LIFF) announce its lineup of feature films, including Ethan Hawke as troubled jazz legend Chet Baker in BORN TO BE BLUE. The 2016 Louisiana International Film Festival slate of international and USA-made films includes the world premiere of earthquake relief documentary SEVEN DAYS IN NEPAL from executive producer D.A. Pennebaker (the legendary filmmaker of Don’t Look Back, Monterrey Pop and The War Room fame), Ethan Hawke as troubled jazz legend Chet Baker in BORN TO BE BLUE, and THE WRONG LIGHT about a filmmakers’ journey to document a non-profit in Thailand dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking among others. In addition, this year’s festival boasts a brand new category: Southern Perspectives. Southern Perspectives is a regionally-focused slate that will include nearly a dozen movies telling a wide range a narratives from the American South—from the erosion of small town culture with BOGALUSA CHARM, to AFTER THE SPILL, a documentary exposing the details of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. LIFF 2016 also is proud to showcase an impressive Women and Film category that includes 17 titles about women or directed by women, including Anne Fonteyne’s post-war Warsaw doctor drama THE INNOCENTS and Barbara Kopple’s MISS SHARON JONES!—the rousing music documentary following soul singer Sharon Jones’ battle with cancer and preparations for a world tour. A complete schedule of screenings will be released soon. Confirmed feature titles are listed in alphabetical order as follows.

    FEATURE FILMS – LIFF 2016

    The Adderall Diaries (USA) 105 min. James Franco heads a cast that includes Ed Harris, Christian Slater and Amber Heard in this heady thriller based on the bestselling memoir by Stephen Elliott. Burdened with writer’s block and an escalating drug problem, Elliott becomes obsessed with a high-profile murder case that unleashes childhood memories of his cruel and distant father. When Daddy suddenly appears with his own story to tell, fact and fiction merge in an amphetamine-induced haze. After The Spill (USA) 62 min. Five years after Katrina devastated the coast of Louisiana, the BP operated Deepwater Horizon exploded and spilling 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Melissa Leo narrates this in-depth look at the worst ecological disaster in North American history, the effect of the spill and Big Oil’s production operations on the Louisiana coast. L’Attesa (Italy|France) 100 min. Juliette Binoche is simply magnificent as a Sicilian woman so grief-stricken by the sudden death of her son that she tells his new girlfriend (Lou de Laâge) – who has travelled from Paris to meet him – that he is delayed on business. And so ‘the wait’ (l’attesa) begins, and the lie becomes a ticking bomb. Marked by striking images and painterly lighting, L’Attesa is an intense psychological drama. Baskin (Turkey) 97 min. A backup squad of Turkish police called to a desolate mansion stumble upon a squalid and blood-soaked den of satanic ritual. Winner of the ‘Best Director’ award at Fantastic Fest, Baskin was hailed as “a meticulously crafted baroque puzzle box… a film to dread, a film that slips deep into the psyche and uncovers the topography of hidden nightmares.” Bogalusa Charm (USA) 83 min. WORLD PREMIERE. ‘Charming’ is not a word easily applied to Bogalusa, Louisiana with its smelly paper mill, closed up shops and aging population. However, one business is still going strong: a charm school that transforms local girls into ladies. Native son Steve Richardson portrays this dot on the map with affection, insight, and sadness while addressing a bigger American malaise: the erosion of small town life. Born to Be Blue (USA|Canada|UK) 97 min. Ethan Hawke turns in a soulful, sexy, and often funny performance – for which he learned to play the trumpet – as Jazz legend Chet Baker whose battle with addiction was as famous as his music. Set in 60s California with flashbacks to 50s New York, the film focuses on Baker’s search for redemption while juggling a new girlfriend, a movie offer and plans for a comeback at jazz mecca Birdland. Boy and the World (Brazil) 80 min. No dialogue is required to tell the beguiling story of a small boy who follows his father from their idyllic farm to an overpopulated city where he discovers an alien industrial and automated world. A soundscape of pan-flute, samba, and Brazilian hip-hop mixes with whirling carnival colors and exploding fireworks in this dazzling and completely original Oscar-nominated animated feature. Chevalier (Greece) 99 min. A female director casts a witty, sardonic eye on men and their competitive drive in this highly original film. Six men on a luxury yacht invent a series of surreal games complete with oblique rules and a point system. As the stakes heighten, comparisons are made, measurements taken, songs butchered, blood tested. Friends will become rivals and rivals will do anything to win. Community (UK) 78 min. Do packs of feral working class teenagers, high on super addictive weed, really roam the Drayman Housing Estate in Essex? The cops stay clear, but when 2 filmmakers arrive to debunk the myth, they soon find themselves on the menu! Bloody and brutal, Jason Ford’s shocker is a bold example of the new wave of hoodie-horror films to come out of the UK. [caption id="attachment_9801" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Dheepan Dheepan[/caption] Dheepan (France) 115 min. Winner of the 2015 Cannes Palme d’Or, this gritty film tells the story of Dheepan, a refugee from Sri Lanka and a former Tamil Tiger, who concocts a fake family to gain passage to France. But his violent past still haunts him. Slow-burning tension punctuated by explosions of violence mark Jacques Audiard’s timely, passionate film about a driven man caught in a unique moral dilemma. El Clan (Argentina) 110 min. Alejandro, a teen rugby star manipulated into helping his family profit from a series of meticulously planned abductions, discovers that the father he reveres is a cold-blooded killer. Produced by Pedro Amoldovar and based on the real-life exploits of the notorious Puccios, El Clan uses upbeat 80s pop as an ironic comment on the cynicism and immorality of the waning Argentinian dictatorship. Embrace of the Serpent (Columbia) 125 min. This Oscar nominee from Columbia, set in the Amazon jungle and inspired by the journals of two German explorers, follows a shaman and his unlikely travel companions in search of a rare psychedelic, medicinal herb. First-time director Ciro Guerra employs stunning black and white widescreen cinematography to take us deep into the heart of darkness… merging two parallel stories, 40 years apart, into a hallucinatory finale. The Fits (USA) 72 min. Director Anna Rose Holmer celebrates the physicality and fluidity of adolescence in her infectious character study of Toni, an African American tomboy who boxes at the same gym where a dance drill team practices. Toni yearns to join the tight-knit tribe of older girls but when mysterious fits of shaking and fainting strike the troupe, her desire for acceptance becomes complicated. Giving Birth in America (US) 46 min. Maternal health nonprofit Every Mother Counts presents a new three-part, short documentary series, “Giving Birth in America,” to examine some of the key reasons that the U.S. is falling so far behind in maternal healthcare. Each short film follows pregnant women and their healthcare providers in Florida, Montana and New York in the days leading up to delivery. Together, they navigate challenges of race, poverty, chronic illness, overuse of medical interventions and other inequalities that impact maternal health outcomes in America. Special Guest Christy Turlington Burns in attendance for Q&A. Ingrid Bergman in Her Own Words (Sweden) 114 min. Three-time Oscar-winner Ingrid Bergman was a creative woman and loving mother who forged a career that few actresses do: from Swedish ingénue to Hollywood star, from exile in Italy with director Roberto Rossellini to cherished international stage and screen legend. Bergman’s own home movies, newsreels, and recollections by daughters Isabella and Pia combine to paint a nuanced portrait of a gifted, intelligent and sometimes conflicted individual. The Innocents (France|Poland) 115 min. In this dramatic, nuanced film set in post-war Warsaw, a Red Cross doctor who is summoned to a convent to deliver a baby in the middle of the night, discovers a pious, cloistered community brutalized by Soviet soldiers. Rising star Lou de Laâge (L’Attesa) gives a great performance as an idealistic young woman who puts herself in danger to guard a shameful secret. Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? (USA) 97 min. Small town Texas is rocked by an epic battle of the sexes when the local women band together to withhold sex until their men rid the town of guns. With a cast that includes Andrea Anders, Cloris Leachman and John Heard, this raunchy comedy/satire that won the audience award at the recent Sedona Film Festival tackles one of the hot-button issues of modern society. Ixcanul (Guatemala) 93 min. Eking out an existence on the remote slopes of a volcano (Ixcanul), a teenager admits to her loving mother that she is pregnant by the local dreamboat who has departed for America. Impoverished and unable to speak Spanish, the family embarks on a perilous journey to the big city to save the life of the child. A debut feature and winner of 13 international festival prizes, Ixcanul is a universal human tale. Lit Lo And Behold, Reveries of the Connected World (USA) 98 min. The droll, tech-phobic Werner Herzog – who has travelled to Antarctica and up the Amazon to document mankind’s dreams and fears – now explores the Internet’s unknown impact on human interaction, pro and con. Tracking its origins from a classroom at UCLA, thru its present day ‘dark side’, into a future world of robot cars and intergalactic tourism, the film is both scary and thrilling in its implications. Lost & Found (USA) 90 min. Two brothers forced to spend the summer on an island in Canada embark on a treasure hunt when they discover a map left behind by their eccentric wealthy grandfather who has mysteriously vanished. Pitting their wits against a ruthless land developer and two thugs, the boys uncover more than treasure and learn that the bonds of family are the most valuable riches of all. Marguerite (France) 127 min. Catherine Frot, Best Actress winner at this year’s Césars, is divine as a woman who dreams the impossible dream and possesses the innocence, madness and wealth to pursue it. Marguerite’s passion is opera and her delusion – fueled by the sycophants who swill champagne in her castle outside Paris – is that she sings beautifully. Ironically, this delightful comedy about sour notes is awash in gorgeous music, and features sumptuous 1920s clothes and décor. The Mayor: Life of Riley (USA) 66 min. The massacre of nine African Americans by a white supremacist on June 17, 2015 in Charleston, S. C. was a “worst nightmare” for Joseph P. Riley Jr, an Irish Catholic Democrat and the city’s mayor for an incredible 40 years. From the Civil Rights era forward, Riley was a visionary, fighting for inclusion in the face of divisiveness and for the restoration of once shabby Charleston to its former architectural glory. [caption id="attachment_9499" align="aligncenter" width="1500"]Sharon Jones MISS SHARON JONES![/caption] Miss Sharon Jones! (USA) 93 min. A cinema verité portrait of soul singer Sharon Jones as she battles cancer, develops a new album, and readies for a world tour. The film, bursting with funk and soul music, features toe-tapping excerpts of Jones’s performances with the Dap-Kings. Whether she is breaking barriers in the music business or beating disease, Jones is a fighter and a survivor, and Kopple’s rousing tribute celebrates the singer as an effusive life force 5 Missing People (USA) 76 min. Missing People is a nonfiction mystery about Martina Batan, a prominent New York art dealer, who investigates her brother’s long unsolved murder while obsessively collecting and researching the violent work and life of an outsider artist from New Orleans. As Martina struggles to process her discoveries, the inevitable collision of these parallel narratives leads to a chain of dramatic events. My Father, Die (USA) 102 min. Deaf and mute since having his hearing knocked out at the age of 12, Asher – played by action star Joe Anderson (Hercules, The Grey) – has been training to avenge himself on Ivan, the man that killed his older brother 21 years earlier. And now that his nemesis is out of prison, he gets his chance. But Asher’s target also happens to be his father. No Greater Love (USA) 92 min. The place is mountainous Kunar Province, Afghanistan, infamous for jihad, guerrilla warfare, and suicide bombers; and the soldier armed with the camera, not a gun, is Chaplain Justin Roberts. In this heartstopping and heart-wrenching documentary, distinguished by extraordinary combat footage, Roberts follows his comrades in the legendary ‘No Slack’ battalion from battlefield to home front where many veterans face other enemies: PTSD, depression and loneliness. Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You (USA) 91 min. A warm portrait of the father of hit shows like All in the Family, Maud and The Jeffersons. Now a spry 92, Lear reflects on his role as the first television producer to use the genre of American sitcom to address serious subjects – racism, feminism, and homosexuality. In the words of Robert Redford he “brought humanity, edge, humor and vulnerability into the mainstream.” The Ones Below (UK) 87 min. Affluent professionals Kate and Justin are expecting their first baby, as are sexy Teresa and domineering Jon, the mysterious new couple in the downstairs flat. Suppressing her fears about motherhood, Kate bonds with her extroverted neighbor until an awkward dinner party turns tragic and a burgeoning friendship implodes. A dash of Polanski and Haneke season this eerie, stylish debut feature by acclaimed UK theater director David Farr. Presenting Princess Shaw (Israel) 80 min. Samantha Montgomery, 38, lives alone in one of New Orleans’ toughest neighborhoods working as a caregiver for the elderly. But at night she transforms into Princess Shaw, belting out original songs at local clubs and posting homemade a cappella clips on YouTube. Completely unaware that a secret admirer – an Israeli musician living on a kibbutz outside Tel Aviv – will change her life forever. Raiders! (USA) 106 min. The 35th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark would not be complete without this true story of two 11- year-old Mississippi kids who in 1982 remade the Hollywood blockbuster scene by scene with a Super 8mm camera. After 7 turbulent years that tested their resolve and strained their friendship, there was one scene left un-filmed. Thirty-three years later, the ‘boys’ reunite to realize their childhood dream. Rams (Iceland) 93 min. Brothers Gummi and Kiddi have been estranged for years, living separate lives on neighboring sheep farms in rural Iceland. When a fatal disease suddenly infects Kiddi’s herd, he schemes to save the breed while this isolated community comes to grips with its own economic extinction. A wry, charmingly deadpan and poignant comedy, Rams is the recipient of 17 international festival awards. Search Engines (USA) 98 min. This imaginative satire focuses on man’s relationship to his cell phone and suggests that technology can lead us astray from meaning, purpose and love. It’s Thanksgiving, and family and friends have just gathered to celebrate togetherness. But when cell phone reception mysteriously goes dead throughout the house, 6 each character is thrown into crisis: marriages are tested, values questioned, and futures hang in the balance. Seven Days in Nepal (USA) 62 min. WORLD PREMIERE. On April 2015, just before noon in Nepal, an earthquake took everything the Bajagain family possessed: house, farm, cattle, happiness. This cinema verité documentary takes us into the devastation with New Orleans contractor Michael Fanasci, a Katrina survivor, and Minoj Ghimire, a Nepali student from Missouri, who bring much-needed building materials – and hope – to a devastated family. Sidemen: Long Road to Glory (USA) 78 min. An intimate look at the lives and legacies of piano player Pinetop Perkins, drummer Willie Smith, and guitarist Hubert Sumlin, all of whom were Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf sidemen. This rousing film depicts these artists’ thru their last interviews and their final live performances together and features additional music and personal insights from blues and rock stars inspired by these legendary sidemen. Songs My Brothers Taught Me (USA) 98 min. Two siblings coping with the loss of their father forms the heart of Chloé Zhao’s stunning directorial debut set among the Lakota people of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. In her directorial debut, Zhao sketches a complex, sensitive portrait of a community connected not only thru a rich cultural heritage but also by deep inner conflicts that manifest themselves in destructive ways. [caption id="attachment_11673" align="aligncenter" width="900"]Sunset Song Terence Davies Sunset Song[/caption] Sunset Song (UK) 135 min. Master director Terence Davies brings an epic sweep and grandeur to this saga of a young woman who comes of age in rugged north Scotland and sees her family beset by tragedy and the ravages of WWI.Though burdened with a stern father and an alcoholic husband, Chris endures. A woman with a passion for life, she draws strength from the ancient land and looks to the future. Tickled (New Zealand) 92 min. After stumbling upon a bizarre “competitive endurance tickling” video online, wherein young men are paid to be tied up and tickled, reporter David Farrier reaches out to Jane O’Brien Media… only to be threatened with extreme legal action. Not one to be bullied, he digs deeper, uncovering a vast empire of secret identities and criminal activity. “Tense and increasingly weird… painful and funny and deeply sad.” – Screen Daily Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt (Israel) 125 min. This no-holds documentary provides a rare insight into the philosopher, author and outspoken intellectual Hannah Arendt who incited anger, praise, devotion, and scorn up to and beyond her death in 1975. A German Jew who fled Europe for New York in 1941, Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” to describe how someone as seemingly insignificant as Eichmann could be responsible for the Holocaust. The Wrong Light (USA) 77 min. Setting out to document a non-profit in Thailand dedicated to helping victims of sex trafficking, two idealistic filmmakers uncover a shocking truth: none of the ‘saved’ girls were victims of the sex trade; and Mickey, its charismatic leader, is perpetrating a scam to extort money from wealthy Westerners. This just completed film is an illuminating expose of an insidious industry dubbed ‘poverty porn.’

     

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  • Watch TRAILER for “Creepy, Weird” Turkish Horror Film BASKINO

    Baskin, Can Evrenol IFC Midnight has released the trailer for the “creepy, weird” Turkish horror film BASKINO, directed by Can Evrenol. BASKIN opens on VOD and in NY at The IFC Center on March 25th, and in LA at Arena Cinema on April 1st. A five-man unit of cops on night patrol get more than they bargain for when they arrive at a creepy backwater town in the middle of nowhere after a call comes over the radio for backup. Entering a derelict building, the seasoned tough guys and their rookie junior, who’s still haunted by a traumatic childhood dream, do the one thing you should never do in this kind of movie: they split up. They soon realize they’ve stumbled into a monstrous charnel house and descend into an ever-more nightmarish netherworld where grotesque, mind-wrenching horrors await them at every turn. This is one Baskin (that’s “police raid” to you non-Turkish speakers) that isn’t going to end well. But wait! Things aren’t what they seem in this truly disturbing, outrageously gory, and increasingly surreal film whose unpredictable narrative pulls the carpet from under your feet and keeps you guessing right up to the final moment. A wildly original whatsit that reconfirms Turkey as the breakout national cinema of the moment. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9SfWmXQY3o

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  • AFI FEST 2015 Reveals the Last Batch of Films – Films in World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight, Shorts and Cinema’s Legacy programs

    A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS AFI FEST 2015 announced the films that will screen in the World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight, Shorts and Cinema’s Legacy programs. AFI FEST will take place November 5–12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood. World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award® consideration. WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS (29 Titles) The World Cinema section showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year. Radu Jude, AFERIM! AFERIM! – This Romanian Western is an odyssey through the landscape of feudal Eastern Europe, following a father and son on a mission to find a gypsy. DIR Radu Jude. SCR Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu. CAST Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Cuzin Toma, Alexandru Dabija, Alexandru Bindea, Luminița Gheorghiu, Victor Rebengiuc, Alberto Dinache, Mihaela Sîrbu. Romania/Bulgaria/Czech Republic BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE) – In this dual narrative, lust plays out in a 17th-century convent and a modern-day count lives a bizarre life within those same walls. DIR Marco Bellocchio. SCR Marco Bellocchio. CAST Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Lidiya Liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi, Alba Rohrwacher, Federica Fracassi, Alberto Cracco, Bruno Cariello, Toni Bertorelli, Filippo Timi, Elena Bellocchio, Ivan Franek, Patrizia Bettini, Sebastiano Filocamo, Alberto Bellocchio. Italy/France/Switzerland. U.S. Premiere Chevalier Athina Rachel Tsangari CHEVALIER – In this wonderfully absurdist farce, six men at sea play a strange game that measures every aspect of who they are. DIR Athina Rachel Tsangari. SCR Athina Rachel Tsangari, Efthimis Filippou. CAST Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Sakis Rouvas, Yiannis Drakopoulos, Nikos Orfanos, Kostas Philippoglou. Greece CHRONIC – Tim Roth stars as an end-of-life caregiver who struggles with the intense relationships he develops with his patients. DIR Michel Franco. SCR Michel Franco. CAST Tim Roth, Robin Bartlett, Michael Cristofer, Sarah Sutherland, Nailea Norvind, Rachel Pickup, David Dastmalchian, Bitsie Tulloch. Mexico/France THE CLAN (EL CLAN) – Argentina’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® follows the vicious crime saga of the notorious Puccio family. DIR Pablo Trapero. SCR Pablo Trapero. CAST Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani, Lili Popovich, Gastón Cocchiarale, Giselle Motta, Franco Masini, Antonia Bengoechea, Stefania Koessl. Argentina/Spain THE CLUB (EL CLUB) – At a bucolic seaside home for aging priests, the arrival of a new member unearths long-buried secrets about the Catholic Church. DIR Pablo Larraín. SCR Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos, Pablo Larraín. CAST Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farías, Antonia Zegers, Jaime Vadell, Alejandro Goic. Chile Dheepan DHEEPAN – In this 2015 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, a refugee concocts a fake family to gain passage to France — but his violent past still haunts him. DIR Jacques Audiard. SCR Noé Debré, Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard. CAST Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby, Vincent Rottiers, Marc Zinga. France EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE) – This hypnotic epic follows the journey of a shaman and a German explorer in the Colombian Amazon. DIR Ciro Guerra. SCR Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal. CAST Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolívar, Yauenkü Miguee. Colombia/Venezuela/Argentina FREE IN DEED – When a young mother brings her special-needs son to a local storefront church for healing, a Pentecostal minister is forced to confront his own demons. DIR Jake Mahaffy. SCR Jake Mahaffy. CAST David Harewood, Edwina Findley, RaJay Chandler, Preston Shannon, Prophetess Libra, Helen Bowman, Zoe Lewis, Kathy Smith. USA/New Zealand. North American Premiere IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN (L’OMBRE DES FEMMES) – Master French filmmaker Philippe Garrel returns with this gentle, profound tale of a Parisian couple dealing with mutual infidelity. DIR Philippe Garrel. SCR Jean-Claude Carrière, Caroline Deruas, Arlette Langmann, Philippe Garrel. CAST Clotilde Courau, Stanislas Merhar, Lena Paugam, Vimala Pons, Antoinette Moya, Jean Pommier, Thérèse Quentin, Mounir Margoum, Louis Garrel. France/Switzerland Nicholas Hytner’s THE LADY IN THE VAN THE LADY IN THE VAN – Maggie Smith stars as a cantankerous yet eloquent homeless woman who sets up residence on the curb outside the home of a single writer. DIR Nicholas Hytner. SCR Alan Bennett. CAST Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam. UK LANDFILL HARMONIC – In a landfill community in Paraguay, inhabitants turn trash into unique instruments for a world-touring orchestra of young musicians. DIR Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley. USA A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS – (pictured in main image above)A Mexican woman with a cancer-stricken husband embarks on a series of increasingly violent confrontations with uncaring insurance stakeholders and bureaucrats. DIR Rodrigo Plá. SCR Laura Santullo. CAST Jana Raluy, Sebastián Aguirre Boëda, Hugo Albores, Nora Huerta, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Emilio Echeverria, Ilya Cazés, Noé Hernández, Verónica Falcón. Mexico. North American Premiere MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART – Jia Zhang-ke’s tender, melancholic epic follows a capitalist Chinese family over a quarter-century of intense change. DIR Jia Zhang-ke. SCR Jia Zhang-ke. CAST Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Liang Jin Dong, Dong Zijian, Sylvia Chang, Han Sanming. China/France/Japan EL MOVIMIENTO – In this stark black-and-white vision of anarchy, groups of armed men belonging to “The Movement” cause havoc on a war-scarred landscape. DIR Benjamín Naishtat. SCR Benjamin Naishtat. CAST Pablo Cedrón, Marcelo Pompei, Francisco Lumerman, Céline Latil, Alberto Suarez, Agustin Rittano. Argentina. U.S. Premiere MY GOLDEN DAYS – Upon a man’s arrival home after years away abroad, he reflects on his youth, spent with little parental guidance, and ultimately a turbulent love affair. DIR Arnaud Desplechin. SCR Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr. CAST Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Mathieu Amalric, Dinara Drukarova. France NAHID – A poor Iranian mother enters a “temporary marriage” with a well-off hotelier — with devastating results. DIR Ida Panahandeh. SCR Ida Panahandeh, Arsalan Amiri. CAST Sareh Bayat, Pejman Bazeghi, Navid Mohammad Zadeh, Milad Hossein Pour, Pouria Rahimi, Nasrin Babaei. Iran NEON BULL (BOI NEON) – A young cowboy working the Brazilian rodeo circuit dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer. DIR Gabriel Mascaro. SCR Gabriel Mascaro. CAST Juliano Cazarré, Aline Santana, Carlos Pessoa, Maeve Jinkings. Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands NO HOME MOVIE – The late Chantal Akerman’s sweet, melancholic ode to her mother, an Auschwitz survivor, is about home and the wild places beyond it. DIR Chantal Akerman. SCR Chantal Akerman. Belgium OUR LITTLE SISTER (UMIMACHI DIARY) – At a family patriarch’s funeral, three sisters make the impulsive decision to invite their much younger half-sister to live with them in the city. DIR Hirokazu Kore-eda. SCR Hirokazu Kore-eda. CAST Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose. Japan PARADISE – In this powerful film, shot guerrilla-style on the streets of Tehran, a violent act throws the life of a 25-year-old woman into turmoil. DIR Sina Ataeian Dena. SCR Sina Ataeian Dena. CAST Dorna Dibaj, Fateme Naghavi, Fariba Kamran, Nahid Moslemi, Roya Afshar. Iran/Germany RAMS, Director: Grímur Hákonarson RAMS (HRUTAR) – Two estranged brothers in rural Iceland must come together when a fatal outbreak strikes their sheep herds. DIR Grímur Hákonarson. SCR Grímur Hákonarson. CAST Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving. Iceland RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN (JIGEUMEUN MATGO GEUTTAENEUN TEULLIDA)– In Hong Sang-soo’s latest, a director spends 24 hours with an attractive artist. This story then repeats itself midway through the film, but with important variations. DIR Hong Sang-soo. SCR Hong Sang-soo. CAST Jung Jae-young, Kim Min-hee. South Korea SON OF SAUL (SAUL FIA) – This sparse yet resonant film, set in Auschwitz near the end of World War II, follows an internee on a mission to give a young boy a proper burial. DIR László Nemes. SCR László Nemes, Clara Royer. CAST Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn, Todd Charmont, Sándor Zsotér, Marcin Czarnik, Jerzy Walczak, Uwe Lauer, Christian Harting, Kamil Dobrowlski, Amitai Kedar, István Pion, Juli Jakab, Levente Orbán. Hungary SWEET BEAN (AN) – In this heartwarming yet subtle tale, an aging Japanese woman brings surprise success to a small bakery with her special homemade recipe. DIR Naomi Kawase. SCR Naomi Kawase. CAST Nagase Masatoshi, Kiki Kirin, Uchida Kyara. Japan TALE OF TALES (IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI) – From the director of GOMORRAH, this collection of three ancient fairy tales features a star-studded cast set against the backdrop of Italy’s greatest wonders. DIR Matteo Garrone. SCR Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso. CAST Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, Shirley Henderson, Hayley Carmichael, Bebe Cave, Stacy Martin, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Guillaume Delaunay, Alba Rohrwacher, Massimo Ceccherini, John C. Reilly. Italy THE TREASURE (COMOARA) – A financially struggling family man enters into a crackpot plan to find buried treasure in this masterfully deadpan comedy. DIR Corneliu Porumboiu. SCR Corneliu Porumboiu. CAST Cuzin Toma, Adrian Purcarescu, Corneliu Cozmei, Cristina Toma, Nicodim Toma. France/Romania A WAR – When a routine mission in Afghanistan turns ugly, a company commander must make an impossible decision to save his men. DIR Tobias Lindholm. SCR Tobias Lindholm. CAST Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Dar Salim, Søren Malling, Charlotte Munck, Dulfi Al-Jabouri. Denmark. U.S. Premiere THE WHITE KNIGHTS (LES CHEVALIERS BLANCS) – This drama from Joachim Lafosse centers on the 2007 Zoé’s Ark scandal, when a French NGO illegally trafficked orphans out of war-torn Africa. DIR Joachim Lafosse. SCR Joachim Lafosse, Bulle Decarpentries, Thomas Van Zuylen. CAST Vincent Lindon, Valérie Donzelli, Reda Kateb, Louise Bourgoin, Rougalta Bintou Saleh. France/Belgium MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS (3 Titles) These dark and macabre films from around the world will grip audiences with terror. Baskin, Can Evrenol BASKIN – A squad of Turkish policemen become entrapped in the basement of a cult of Devil-worshipping amputees. DIR Can Evrenol. SCR Can Evrenol, Cem Ozuduru, Ogulcan Eren Akay, Ercin Sadikoglu. CAST Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak, Mehmet Fatih Dokgoz, Sabahattin Yakut, Mehmet Cerrahoglu. Turkey DER NACHTMAHR – A teenage girl who experiences severe nightmares makes a meaningful connection with a strange creature that has been haunting her. DIR AKIZ. SCR AKIZ. CAST Carolyn Genzkow, Kim Gordon, Julika Jenkins, Arnd Klawitter, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, Alexander Scheer, Sina Tkotsch. Germany SOUTHBOUND – In this refreshing take on the horror anthology, a series of characters encounter sinister forces on an isolated desert road. DIR Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Radio Silence. SCR Roxanne Benjamin, Susan Burke, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Dallas Hallam, Patrick Horvath. CAST Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Kristina Pesic, Fabianne Therese, Nathalie Love, Hannah Marks, Dana Gould, Susan Burke, Davey Johnson, Anessa Ramsey, Mather Zickel, Fabianne Therese Karla Droege, Zoe Cooper, Roxanne Benjamin, Justin Welborn, David Yow, Tipper Newton, Matt Peters, Maria Olsen, Tyler Tuione, Kate Beahan, Gerald Downey, Hassie Harrison, Larry Fessenden. USA BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS (5 Titles) The Breakthrough section is dedicated to the true discoveries of the programming process. It exists as a platform for artists at a crucial stage in their career to share their innovative work with enthusiastic audiences. THE LIAR – In this tightly wound thriller, beautiful, immaculately dressed Ah-young attempts to fool everyone into believing that she has it all. She doesn’t. DIR Kim Dong-myung. SCR Kim Dong-myung. CAST Kim Kkobbi, Chun Sin-hwan, Lee Sun-hee, Le Da-hae, Jang Seo-ee, Shin Yeon-suk, Kwon Nam-hee, Han Jin-hee. Korea MA – Director Celia Rowlson-Hall uses her background as a choreographer to create MA, a modern-day retelling of Mother Mary’s pilgrimage. DIR Celia Rowlson-Hall. SCR Celia Rowlson-Hall. CAST Celia Rowlson-Hall, Andrew Pastides, Amy Seimetz, Matt Lauria, Peter Vack. USA. U.S. Premiere THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF PÉROLA (A MISTERIOSA MORTE DE PÉROLA) – A young student, living alone in an old apartment, begins to lose herself in loneliness until reality merges with dreams. DIR Guto Parente. SCR Guto Parente. CAST Ticiana Augusto Lima, Guto Parente. Brazil/France. North American Premiere NECKTIE YOUTH – Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, this bristling debut looks at a group of millennials, all peripherally related to a wealthy white teen who commits suicide. DIR Sibs Shongwe-La Mer. SCR Sibs Shongwe-La Mer. CAST Bonko Khoza, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Colleen Balchin, Kamogelo Moloi, Emma Tollman, Jonathan Young, Kelly Bates, Ricci-Lee Kalish, Giovanna Winetzki. Netherlands/South Africa THOSE WHO FEEL THE FIRE BURNING – This poetic experimental documentary captures with raw force the modern migrant experience in Europe, as seen through the eyes of a deceased shipwreck victim. DIR Morgan Knibbe. SCR Morgan Knibbe. Netherlands CINEMA’S LEGACY SELECTIONS (5 Titles) Now in its third year, Cinema’s Legacy is AFI FEST’s celebration of motion picture history, and a special opportunity to screen both classic films and films about the history of cinema. FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933) – Dolores Del Río, the glamorous face of AFI FEST 2015, stars in this pre-Code musical with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and fabulous song-and-dance routines. DIR Thornton Freeland. SCR Cyril Hume, H.W. Hanemann, Erwin Gelsey. CAST Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Raul Roulien, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Blanche Frederici, Franklin Pangborn, Eric Blore. USA THE FORBIDDEN ROOM – Winnipeg filmmakers Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson search the human subconscious in this cinematic head-trip. DIR Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson. SCR Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk. CAST Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Mathieu Amalric, Geraldine Chaplin, Amira Casar, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse, Jacques Nolot, Udo Kier. Canada Hitchcock/Truffaut Kent Jones HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT – For one week in 1962, French New Wave auteur François Truffaut interviewed the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. DIR Kent Jones. SCR Kent Jones, Serge Toubiana. CAST Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Arnaud Desplechin, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Richard Linklater, Olivier Assayas, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Peter Bogdanovich, Paul Schrader. France/USA SAFETY LAST! (1923) – In Harold Lloyd’s brilliant and most famous film, the great silent comedian plays a small-town bumpkin in the big city who plans a breathless publicity stunt to attract attention for the department store where he works. DIR Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. SCR Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan. CAST Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Wescott Clarke. USA SEMBENE! – In this intimate documentary, the work of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is spotlighted, showing why he came to be known as the Father of African Cinema. DIR Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman. Senegal/USA SHORTS SELECTIONS (53 Titles) BAD AT DANCING – A perpetual third wheel and awkward outsider inserts herself into her roommate’s relationship. DIR Joanna Arnow. SCR Joanna Arnow. CAST Eleanore Pienta, Keith Poulson, Joanna Arnow. USA BLOOD BELOW THE SKIN – Three teenage girls from different social circles form unexpected bonds when they discover the secrets that lie below the skin. DIR Jennifer Reeder. SCR Jennifer Reeder. CAST Jennifer Estlin, Kelsey Ashby-Middleton, Morgan Reesh, Tj Jagodowsky, Marissa Castillo. USA BOYS (POJKARNA) – At a home for wayward boys, Markus prepares for a very important appointment. DIR Isabella Carbonell. SCR Isabella Carbonell, Babak Najafi. CAST Sebastian Hiort af Ornäs, Marcus Lindgren, Rainer Gerdes. Sweden BUS NUT – The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott is articulated as an educational video on school bus safety. DIR Akosua Adoma Owusu. CAST MaameYaa Boafo. USA COLOR NEUTRAL – A color explosion sparkles, bubbles and fractures in this handcrafted 16mm short from film artist Jennifer Reeves. DIR Jennifer Reeves. USA DRAGSTRIP – A moment or two before the race. DIR Daniel Claridge, Pacho Velez. USA E.T.E.R.N.I.T – A Tunisian immigrant working in asbestos removal must make a radical choice in the name of his family. DIR Giovanni Aloi. SCR Nicolo Galbiati. CAST Ali Salhi, Serena Grandi, Alessandro Castiglloni, Mohamed Omar Abd Rabou, Youssef Tarek, Stefano Piumi, Alessandro Palumbo, Andrea Pompa, Roberta Madeo. France EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY (ALLES WIRD GUT) – A divorced father picks up his eight-year-old daughter. It seems like every second weekend, but something isn’t right. DIR Patrick Vollrath. SCR Patrick Vollrath. CAST Simon Schwarz, Julia Pointner. Germany/Austria THE EXQUISITE CORPUS – Based on various erotic films and advertising rushes, myriad fragments are melted into a single sensuous, humorous, gruesome and ecstatic dream. DIR Peter Tscherkassky. Austria FRANKENSTEIN’S BRIDE (LA NOVIA DE FRANKENSTEIN) – At her summer job, Ivana learns it’s easy to create a circle of lies, fiction and love when you’re bored. DIR Francisco Lezama, Agostina Gálvez. SCR Francisco Lezama, Agostina Gálvez. CAST Miel Bargman, Renzo Cozza, Claudia Cantero, Mariel Fernández, Jair Jesús Toledo. Argentina FUCKKKYOUUU – A lonely girl finds love and rejection with her past self in this alluring collaboration with Flying Lotus. DIR Eddie Alcazar. SCR Eddie Alcazar. CAST Jesse Sullivan, Charles Baker. USA GRAND FINALE – The end of a Fourth of July evening in Detroit. DIR Kevin Jerome Everson. USA GROUP B – A rally car driver mounts a comeback after a long and troubled absence. DIR Nick Rowland. SCR Joe Murtagh. CAST Richard Madden, Michael Smiley, Dominic Wolf, Andrei Alen, Matthew Jure, Stephen Bent, Alexander Cambell. UK HALF WET – A man with large pores tries to escape the realization that he’s slowly evaporating. DIR Sophie Koko Gate. UK I REMEMBER NOTHING – An epileptic seizure told in five phases. DIR Zia Anger. SCR Zia Anger. CAST Audrey Turner, Eve Alpert, India Menuez, Adinah Dancyger, Lola Kirke. USA LANCASTER, CA – A portrait of love in the California desert. DIR Mike Ott. SCR Cory Zacharia. CAST Cory Zacharia, John Brotherton. USA THE LITTLE DEPUTY – Trevor tries to have his photo taken with his father. DIR Trevor Anderson. SCR Trevor Anderson. CAST Trevor Anderson, Luke Oswald, Rob Chaulk, Trevor Schmidt, Lynn Anderson. Canada MAMAN(S) – Eight-year-old Aida and her family are thrown into chaos when her father returns from Senegal with a new wife. DIR Maïmouna Doucouré. SCR Maïmouna Doucouré. CAST Sokhna Diallo, Maimouna Gueye, Azize Diabate, Mareme N’dlaye, Eriq Ebouaney, Maissa Toumoutou, Aida Diallo, Khemissa Zarouel. France MANOMAN – Beware what lies within. DIR Simon Cartwright. SCR Simon Cartwright. CAST Gordon Pearson. UK MARYLAND PUBLIC TELEVISION INTERVIEWS THE REAGANS – The President nails an interview. Featuring: The First Lady and surprise guest. DIR Pacho Velez. USA MYNARSKI DEATH PLUMMET (MYNARSKI CHUTE MORTELLE) – A handmade historical micro-epic and psychedelic photochemical war picture about self-sacrifice, immortality and jellyfish. DIR Matthew Rankin. SCR Matthew Rankin. CAST Alek Rzeszowski, Robert Vilar, Annie St-Pierre, Louis Negin. Canada OBJECT – A hypnotic underwater search from the point of view of the rescue team, the diver and the people waiting on shore. DIR Paulina Skibińska. SCR Paulina Skibińska. Poland OF THE UNKNOWN – In Hong Kong, millionaires and the working poor live side by side. DIR Eva Weber. UK/Hong Kong PALM ROT – An old Florida fumigator comes face to face with a mysterious threat. DIR Ryan Gillis. SCR Ryan Gillis. CAST Greg Tonner. USA PATTERN FOR SURVIVAL – A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the individuals involved. DIR Kelly Sears. USA THE PETER CASSIDY PROJECT – In 1972, a reporter and his team attempt to discover the truth behind an infamous director and the controversial advertisements he directed in the late ’60s. DIR Noah Lee. SCR Noah Lee. CAST Peter Falls, Lewis Pullman, Eden Brolin. USA PINK GRAPEFRUIT – A young married couple, two single friends and a long weekend in Palm Springs. DIR Michael Mohan. SCR Chris Levitus, Michael Mohan. CAST Wendy McColm, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nora Kirkpatrick, Matt Peters. USA POSTINDUSTRIAL – Eleven floors of thoughts held tight by iron brackets. DIR Boris Pramatarov. Bulgaria PYROMANCE – A lonely pyrotechnician finds an unlikely spark on the eve of the 4th of July fireworks show. DIR John de Menil. SCR John de Menil. CAST Paul McCarthy Boyington, Anna Khaja, Brantley Black, Karen Strassman. USA RATE ME – A portrait of a teen escort comes to life via online user reviews. DIR Fyzal Boulifa. SCR Fyzal Boulifa. CAST Zehra Zorba. UK THE RETURN OF ERKIN – A man just released from a long-term prison discovers that his former life has vanished, never to return. DIR Maria Guskova. SCR Maria Guskova. CAST Kahramonjon Mamasaliyev. Russia REVIEW – A young woman recounts a story to a group of friends who listen with rapt attention, but the tale sounds very familiar. DIR Dustin Guy Defa. USA RONALD REAGAN LIGHTS THE LIGHTS – The President conducts a delicate task. DIR Pacho Velez. USA RONALD REAGAN PARDONS A TURKEY – The President makes a tough call. DIR Pacho Velez. USA SEA CHILD – A young girl on the verge of womanhood is consumed by nightmares. DIR Minha Kim. SCR Islay Bell-Webb. CAST Rachel Park. UK SERENITY – Everyone remembers their first time. Everyone has regrets. DIR Jack Dunphy. SCR Jack Dunphy. CAST Jack Dunphy. USA SHARE – The victim of an unspeakable act gone viral returns to high school. DIR Pippa Bianco. SCR Pippa Bianco. CAST Taissa Farmiga, Keir Gilchrist, Madisen Beaty, Andre Royo. USA THE SUN LIKE A BIG DARK ANIMAL (EL SOL COMO UN GRAN ANIMAL OSCURO) – Even computers need love. DIR Ronnie Rivera, Christina Felisgrau. SCR Bernardo Britto, Ronnie Rivera. CAST Agustina Woodgate. USA SWIMMING IN YOUR SKIN AGAIN – A film about motherhood, banality, Miami, the water, the divine feminine and how to sing in church in a way that calls forth your own adulthood. DIR Terence Nance. SCR Terence Nance. CAST Norvis, Jr., Hadassah Amani, Genoa O’Brien, Vickie Lynn Washington-Nance. USA TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY – When a young woman living abroad receives a letter from home, it’s what she needs to fuse her transient self with the person she’s always known herself to be. DIR Matthew Porterfield. SCR Matthew Porterfield. CAST Hannah Gross, Jean-Christophe Folly, Angela Schanelec, Gob Squad. USA TEETH – That which is neglected, is lost. DIR Tom Brown, Daniel Gray. SCR Tom Brown, Daniel Gray. CAST Richard E. Grant. UK/Hungary/USA THE FACE OF UKRAINE: CASTING OKSANA BAIUL – Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul. DIR Kitty Green. SCR Kitty Green. Ukraine/Australia TRACKS – An amateur skateboarder is left to care for his girlfriend’s young daughter on the day of a championship tournament. DIR Logan Sandler. SCR Logan Sandler, Carly Stone. CAST Keith Stanfield, Lana Schwartz, Dominique Razon. USA TUESDAY (SALI) – An ordinary school day for a teenage girl in Istanbul. DIR Ziya Demirel. SCR Ziya Demirel, Buket Coşkuner. CAST Melis Balaban. Turkey/France TWELVE TALES TOLD – The dream factory folds in on itself. DIR Lurf Johann. Austria TWO FILMS ABOUT LONELINESS – A split screen separates two distinct worlds that are closer than they appear. DIR William Bishop-Stephens, Christopher Eales. SCR William Bishop-Stephens, Christopher Eales. CAST Tim Key, Detlef Bierstedt. UK UNDER THE SUN (RI GUANG ZHI XIA) – An attempted act of kindness sets two families on an irrevocable collision course from which there is no return. DIR Qiu Yang. SCR Qiu Yang. CAST Zhu Ping, Sun Zhongwei, Bai Lihong, Gong Weiming. Australia/China VICTOR XX – In a small seaside town, a young person makes a personal discovery when they experiment with their gender. DIR Ian Garrido. SCR Ian Garrido. CAST Alba Martínez, Shei Benzidour, Yolanda Cruz. Spain VOLTA (BOATA) – Nina is told she is just going for a walk. DIR Stella Kyriakopoulos. SCR Stella Kyriakopoulos. CAST Marissa Triandafyllidou, Katerina Douka, Giorgos Valais. Greece WAVES ’98 – Omar is lured into the depths of segregated Beirut. Isolated from reality, he struggles to keep his sense of home. DIR Ely Dagher. SCR Ely Dagher. CAST Elie Bassila. Lebanon/Qatar WORLD OF TOMORROW – A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future in the latest opus from Don Hertzfeldt. DIR Don Hertzfeldt. SCR Don Hertzfeldt. CAST Julia Pott, Winona Mae. USA YELLOW FIEBER – Athens was covered in a strange yellow dust. No one expected what was about to happen. DIR Konstantina Kotzamani. SCR Konstantina Kotzamani. CAST Mamadou Diallo, Eytuchia Stefanidou. Greece YOLO – Filmed in the remains of Soweto’s historic Sans Souci Cinema (1948-1998), YOLO is a makeshift structuralist mash-up created in collaboration with the Eat My Dust youth collective. DIR Ben Russell. USA/South Africa

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  • 2015 Stockholm Film Festival unleashes Twilight Zone Film Lineup, incl. GREEN ROOM

    Green Room The 2015 Stockholm Film Festival reveals the titles in the film section Twilight Zone.  Twilight Zone is the film section that offers the most adrenaline-filled and nerve wrecking cinema experiences.  “This year’s Twilight Zone presents more realistic and present dangers without being detached from the dark and the fantastic. Neo-nazis and punks clash in Green Room, a virus outbreak in Denmark triggers military action against middle class suburbia and a giant tsunami hits Norway,” says George Ivanov, program director at Stockholm Film Festival. A selection of titles: Baskin (2015) Can Evrenol, Turkey. Nordic premiere. Crumbs (2015), Miguel Llansó, Ethiopia, Spain. Scandinavian premiere. Demon (2015), Marcin Wrona, Poland, Israel. Nordic premiere. Green Room (2015), Jeremy Saulnier, USA. Scandinavian premiere. I am a Hero (2015) Shinsuke Sato, Japan. Nordic premiere. Island City (2015) Ruchika Oberoi, India. Nordic premiere. Office (2015) Won-Chan Hong, South Korea. Nordic premiere. The Devil’s Candy (2015) Sean Byrne, USA. Swedish premiere. The Invitation (2015), Karyn Kusama, USA. Nordic premiere. The Wave (2015) Roar Uthaug, Norway. Swedish premiere. Violator (2014) Dodo Dayao, Philippines. Nordic premiere. What We Become (2015) Bo Mikkelsen, Denmark. Nordic premiere. With The Lips Closed (2015) Carlos Osuna, Colombia. World premiere. Yakuza Apocalypse: The Great War of the Underworld (2015), Takashi Miike, Japan. Nordic premiere.

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  • SOUTHBOUND, FRANKENSTEIN, THE DEVIL’S CANDY Among Lineup for Scary Movies 9, Film Society of Lincoln Center Annual Horror Fest

    Southbound Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the lineup for Scary Movies 9, the annual horror fest featuring highly anticipated new thrillers, genre rarities, and special guests, as well as a two-day event to celebrate the release of Kent Jones’s new documentary Hitchcock/Truffaut. The 9th edition of Scary Movies (October 30 – November 5) opens with Southbound (pictured in main image above), an anthology road film from some of the key players behind V/H/S, followed by a blow-out Halloween bash where prizes will be given for the best costume. The fright fest showcases 12 of the best new horror titles, including Sean Byrne’s eagerly anticipated follow-up to The Loved Ones, The Devil’s Candy, and the gut-wrenching Australian feral-dog thriller The Pack, plus horror movies of all stripes from Ireland, Denmark, Spain, and Turkey. Revival offerings include Juan Piquer Simón’s ’80s cult classics Pieces and Slugs, a free screening of James Whale’s essential Frankenstein as part of Lincoln Center’s campus-wide Halloween celebration for kids, and a 35mm screening of the Hammer gem The Gorgon in tribute to the dearly departed Christopher Lee. The Film Society is also thrilled to present evenings with Larry Fessenden, whose company Glass Eye Pix is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and Bernard Rose, whose new film, Frankenstein, a wildly original update set on the streets of L.A., closes this year’s festival with large doses of both heart and gore. On the occasion of Cohen Media Group’s release of Kent Jones’s Hitchcock/Truffaut, the Film Society presents a two-day event (October 27 & 28) featuring a sneak preview of Jones’s documentary, in which leading filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, James Gray, and Olivier Assayas unpack the legacy of François Truffaut’s canonical interview with Alfred Hitchcock, to be followed by a discussion with Jones about the book that helped to establish the Master of Suspense as the legendary figure he is today. This event will also feature a selection of films directed by Hitchcock—the director’s penultimate silent film The Manxman; the undervalued I Confess, starring Montgomery Clift and Anne Baxter; and wrong-man thrillers Frenzy and Saboteur—adding up to what should be a can’t-miss celebration of one of cinema’s most towering artists.   SCARY MOVIES FILM DESCRIPTIONS Opening Night Southbound Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath & Radio Silence, USA, 2015, DCP, 89m This knock-down drag-out road movie puts the pedal to the metal as it speeds down a lost highway to hell with five separate but neatly connected stories of terror and menace that will take you on a wild ride you won’t soon forget. The action ties together the grim and bloody tales of two men on the run from a nameless menace, an all-girl rock group who break down in the desert and get a lift from some too-good-to-be-true Samaritans, a businessman trying to save the life of the woman he’s run down, a gun-toting roughneck who bursts into a bar in search of his long-lost sister, and a family whose vacation becomes a terrifying ordeal. Another mind-bending work from many of the makers of V/H/S and featuring the voice of Larry Fessenden as the radio DJ, Southbound is the rare anthology movie with no weak links. An MPI release. Closing Night Frankenstein Bernard Rose, USA, 2015, DCP, 89m Frankenstein Bernard Rose From the terrifically imaginative mind of Bernard Rose (who gave us the fantasy-horror classics Paperhouse and Candyman) comes the latest retelling of Mary Shelley’s immortal tale. Updated to present-day Los Angeles, the film retains much of its source material’s key story elements and sentiments as two married scientists (Danny Huston and Carrie-Ann Moss) finally achieve perfection. Beautiful and gentle, their latest artificial creation (wonderfully embodied by Xavier Samuel) does indeed seem flawless, but his mind and body soon begin dramatically deteriorating. Left for dead, he enters the outside world—only to be further taken down by the hate that festers there. This violent, heartbreaking, wholly memorable experience, told from the perspective of the “monster,” also features Tony Todd (Candyman himself) as the blind man who provides temporary, judgment-free shelter. An Alchemy release. Paperhouse Bernard Rose, UK, 1988, 35mm, 92m Sometimes deep inside an overly imaginative mind can be the most dangerous place of all. Anna (Charlotte Burke in her only film role) is very special 11-year-old. Impetuous, sickly, and dissatisfied by life (her parents are having marital issues, her father is mostly absent) she creates an alternate world through her drawings. At first it’s a peaceful, less lonesome place to escape into (she even makes a new friend there in a disabled boy), but her nightly visits soon become terrifying. Paperhouse is a highly inventive, visual dream of a film featuring lush cinematography and a beautifully atmospheric score by Hans Zimmer and Stanley Meyers. It’s never been released on U.S. DVD; don’t miss this rare 35mm screening on the big screen, where all movies this beautiful are meant to be seen. Baskin Can Evrenol, Turkey, 2015, DCP, 97m Turkish with English subtitles Baskin, Can Evrenol A five-man unit of cops on night patrol get more than they bargain for when they arrive at a creepy backwater town in the middle of nowhere after a call comes over the radio for backup. Entering a derelict building, the seasoned tough guys and their rookie junior, who’s still haunted by a traumatic childhood dream, do the one thing you should never do in this kind of movie: they split up. They soon realize they’ve stumbled into a monstrous charnel house and descend into an ever-more nightmarish netherworld where grotesque, mind-wrenching horrors await them at every turn. This is one baskin (that’s “police raid” to you non-Turkish speakers) that isn’t going to end well. But wait! Things aren’t what they seem in this truly disturbing, outrageously gory, and increasingly surreal film whose unpredictable narrative slippages pull the carpet from under your feet and keep you guessing right up to the final moment. A wildly original whatsit that reconfirms Turkey as the breakout national cinema of the moment. An IFC Midnight release. Cherry Tree David Keating, Ireland, 2015, DCP, 90m It’s no coincidence that, just after 15-year-old Faith (Naomi Battrick) learns that her sick father has only a few months to live, her school’s new field hockey coach Sissy (Anna Walton) takes an unusual interest in her. Sissy matter-of-factly reveals that she’s the leader of a coven of witches and has the power to cure Faith’s dad—as long as she agrees to bear a very special child for her. No spoilers here, this is just the setup for Faith’s nightmarish downward spiral, centering around a cherry tree—which according to local folklore, is nourished by the blood of human sacrifice. Will Faith keep up her end of the bargain? One thing’s for sure: if you don’t like centipedes, this film is guaranteed to freak you out! An MPI/Dark Sky Films release. The Devil’s Candy Sean Byrne, USA, 2015, DCP, 90m The Devil’s Candy Sean Byrne, Six long years may have elapsed since Aussie writer-director Sean Byrne made The Loved Ones—the closing-night film of Scary Movies 4, and perhaps the most satisfying horror film of the last decade—but it will come to no genre fan’s surprise that his follow-up was more than worth the wait. As exquisitely crafted as his debut feature, The Devil’s Candy stars a captivatingly intense and nearly unrecognizable Ethan Embry as an artist struggling to support his devoted wife (Shiri Appleby) and preteen daughter (Kiara Glasco). But the real fight for survival begins when the tight-knit family moves into a new house, unaware that its previous occupant is a royally disturbed child-killer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who wants his home back. And even worse, the devil’s demands that swirl around in the sick man’s head—muted only by heavy-metal music—also begin taking hold of the artist and his paintings. After witnessing this intensely emotional and haunting work, audiences too will struggle to shake those demonic voices. Emelie Michael Thelin, USA, 2015, DCP, 82m It’s the Thompsons’ anniversary. They plan to go out and celebrate, but their regular babysitter Maggie isn’t available to look after their three kids. Luckily, Maggie’s friend Anna can cover for her, and she seems an absolute dream. But first impressions fade quickly, and it turns out that Anna isn’t actually Anna, she is Emelie, and she’s clearly not right in the head. A bloodcurdling mash-up of the bad-babysitter and home-invasion subgenres, Emelie builds tension steadily and uncomfortably as the young woman’s behavior becomes increasingly menacing, playing the children (all refreshingly likable and unaffected) against one another as she attempts to carry out a secret, sinister mission. Emelie is every parent’s worst nightmare. An MPI/Dark Sky Films release. The Last Winter Larry Fessenden, USA/Iceland, 2006, 35mm, 101m In an isolated Alaskan base near the Arctic Circle, a team of oil prospectors begrudgingly tolerate the presence of two scientists sent by the team’s corporate bosses to assess the environmental impact of the exploratory drilling project. As an eco scientist (James Le Gros) and a roughneck oil boss (Ron Perlman) butt heads, the team slowly begins to unravel as one by one its members realize that… there’s something out there. With its linking of the supernatural to nature and landscape, The Last Winter builds upon Larry Fessenden’s 2001 Wendigo, and expands the canvas for the director’s distinctive brand of unnerving, mood-driven horror. An IFC Films release. Darling Mickey Keating, USA, 2015, DCP, 75m Darling Mickey Keating Although Mickey Keating’s Darling, like his Pod from last year, is set mostly within the confines of one home, it is a genuinely New York film—and the city has never felt so ominous or alienating. The title character (an entrancing Lauren Ashley Carter) is hired by a kooky women (Sean Young!) to act as caretaker of a sprawling apartment building with a notoriously haunted history, where she proceeds to have a Repulsion-style psychological meltdown (black and white included). The film’s barebones approach yields considerable rewards, as audiences embark on an emotion-shaking surreal journey—and possible revenge mission—with a young woman who becomes more and more unhinged. Larry Fessenden, whose Glass Eye Pix produced the film, appears briefly as a policeman. Frankenstein James Whale, USA, 1931, Blu-ray, 70m, FREE In conjunction with Lincoln Center’s campus-wide Halloween celebration for kids—and our closing-night presentation of Bernard Rose’s new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic—we offer a free screening of the one of the greatest, most influential monster movies ever made, in the Amphitheater of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Essential viewing for audiences of all ages—and vital in the education of the next generation of horror fans—this beloved tale of the mad scientist who creates a monster has gone down in cinema history for its iconic Boris Karloff performance, groundbreaking makeup, and, of course, the immortal line, “It’s alive!” The same can certainly be said for James Whale’s film, still magical and moving after all these years. A Universal Pictures release. The Gorgon Terence Fisher, UK, 1964, 35mm, 83m Hammer’s dream team reunites with the late, great Christopher Lee (playing the good guy for a change) joining forces with co-star Peter Cushing and Hammer’s master director Terence Fisher for this visually striking gothic horror mystery that transports one of the most memorable monsters from Greek mythology to turn-of-the-century middle Europe. Lee plays Professor Meister, who travels to the village of Vandorf to investigate a series of deaths in which the victims are turned to stone. Accompanied by the son of the latest victim, Meister is met with a frosty reception by the village doctor (Cushing) and the local police Inspector (Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor Who). While his traveling companion and the doctor’s assistant (First Leading Lady of British Horror Barbara Shelley) fall for each other, Meister begins to suspect that the good doctor knows more than he’s letting on… The Hallow Corin Hardy, Ireland/UK, 2015, DCP, 97m In this excitingly distinctive variation on the man-versus-nature setup, a scientist is sent to rural Ireland to explore a tree-fungus infestation deep in the forest, bringing along his wife, dog, and newborn baby—which only heightens the tension. Disregarding the brusque warnings of the townspeople and an alarming early discovery, the family decides to stay put. And as can be expected, things go very, very wrong—especially when the titular woodland creatures come out to play. Employing impressive old-school effects, Irish director Corin Hardy has crafted an intense, folklore-steeped monster-movie tour de force that never loosens its grip. An IFC Midnight release. The Pack Nick Robertson, Australia, 2015, DCP, 90m Not to be confused with Robert Clouse’s 1977 when-animals-attack classic (which screened as part of last year’s Scary Movies), Nick Robertson’s directorial debut The Pack does feature killer canines, but their prey here is a family of four—already battling assorted harsh realities—who must rely on their own ingenuity to survive a night of sheer terror, as they are relentlessly stalked by ravenous dogs on their remote Australian farm. The film is horror of the most jarring, edge-of-your-seat kind, with the added bonus of a cast of characters actually worth rooting for. Pieces Juan Piquer Simón, USA/Spain Puerto Rico, 1982, 35mm, 89m Little Timmy’s toys include a naughty, naughty jigsaw puzzle and an axe, with which he gave his mother 40 whacks. Forty years later, a black-gloved killer is chain-sawing nubile coeds across a college campus and taking pieces (wink, wink) for nefarious purposes. One of the most insanely over-the-top films ever made, Pieces is packed to the gills with atrocious over-dubbed dialogue, amazing gore, stunning camerawork and murder setpieces, terrible cops, terrible tennis players, terrible tennis-playing cops, and even a completely random kung-fu fight. Co-written by Joe D’Amato, the film’s script defies any sense of narrative logic, yet this cult classic from Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón (whose Slugs we will also be screening) is a sublimely sleazy, entirely entertaining exercise in melding giallo and American slashers that begs to be watched again and again. And now’s your chance to see it on the big screen in glorious 35mm. Shrew’s Nest Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel, Spain, 2014, DCP, 91m Shrew’s Nest Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel Montse (Macarena Gómez, the bewitching star of Scary Movies 7 selection Sexykiller) has spent much of her prime tending to her younger sister Nia (Nadia de Santiago) after their mother dies and their father runs off. Agoraphobic and severely anxiety-ridden, she connects to the outside world only through the now-grown Nia, and when she takes in their hunky upstairs neighbor, Carlos, who’s been injured in a fall, her fragile state unravels further and her neuroses turn monstrous. She keeps Carlos drugged and bedridden—à la Misery—and as his wounds fester, he must figure out an escape, as Montse is driven ever closer to absolute madness. Produced by Álex de Iglesia, this unpredictable, impeccably directed period piece—set in 1950s Madrid—is a claustrophobic nightmare, unfolding largely in the sisters’ apartment and within the dark abyss of insanity. But despite the cruelty Montse inflicts, as reality encroaches on her carefully protected nest, she demands empathy, thanks in large part to Gómez’s powerhouse performance. Slugs Juan Piquer Simón, Spain/USA, 1988, digital projection, 89m A small New England town (filmed somewhere in Spain) is beset by a plague of garden-variety carnivorous slugs. Everyman hero Mike Brady is a county health inspector who seems mad at the world as gastropods chew through his town and the local sewer management officials, zoning commissioners, and land developers do nothing to help him save it. After all, who could believe his wild theory about killer slugs? The insanity of the concept is even lampshaded in the film, with a character quipping, “What’s next? Demented crickets?” Featuring a smorgasbord of slug-on-human violence, mid-coitus slug sneak attacks, explosive greenhouses, geysers of blood, and demented dialogue, Slugs is a rare and forgotten gem of the nature-gone-wild variety. The director’s equally insane Pieces will show in this year’s Scary Movies as well. Summer Camp Alberto Marini, Spain, 2015, DCP, 84m Spanish with English subtitles Summer Camp Alberto Marini The summer camp is the setting of choice for some of the best ’80s slasher films, a locale of fun, sex, sun… and murder. But in [REC] producer and Sleep Tight scripter Alberto Marini’s delightfully fresh and nasty directorial debut, it’s off-season, and the four young American counselors that show up for duty at a secluded, run-down European camp are faced with cold temperatures, creepy backwoods neighbors, shut-off water—and so much worse. Before the kids even arrive, something is transforming the new counselors into virus-infected, blood-drooling maniacs. Viciously pitted against one another, they must race against time, trying to find the source of the infection before camp goes into session. A Pantelion release. North American Premiere What We Become Bo Mikkelsen, Denmark, 2015, DCP, 85m Danish with English subtitles The idyllic Danish town of Sorgenfir is enjoying a beautiful summer, and the Johansson family is feeling great. Their neighbors are friendly, the weather is perfect, and the cute new girl who’s moved in across the street has teenager Gustav’s eye. But young love isn’t the only thing bubbling beneath the surface in Bo Mikkelsen’s striking debut film—a virulent outbreak soon sweeps the town. Military men in Hazmat suits force everyone indoors and information is locked down. From what the Johanssons can see through their covered-up windows, the townspeople are changing, as the mysterious virus drives them mad, and turns them violent. Trapped in their home, the Johannsons face a deadly—and all too real—fight for survival. HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT FILM DESCRIPTIONS Frenzy Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1972, 35mm, 116m More graphic than Psycho following the relaxed censorship in the ’70s, this typically English and terrifying story of a sex killer at large, written by Anthony Shaffer (screenwriter of Sleuth and The Wicker Man), deploys Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man plot structure one last time. Jon Finch (Polanski’s Macbeth) plays the disaffected bartender and ex-RAF pilot suspected by the police of being the “Necktie Killer” after his ex-wife is murdered. In truth, the killer is his cheerful Cockney friend, fruit-merchant Bob Rusk, unforgettably played by Barry Foster (after a disgusted Michael Caine turned down the role). Hitchcock has great, morbid fun with a cast of English character actors—Billie Whitelaw, Alec McCowan, Anna Massey, Bernard Cribbins, Jean Marsh, Vivien Merchant, and Michael Bates—and takes particularly dark pleasure in using London’s Covent Garden Market, the filmmaker’s childhood haunt where his greengrocer father worked, as ground zero for the murders. Hitchcock/Truffaut Kent Jones, USA, 2015, DCP, 85m Hitchcock/Truffaut Kent Jones French filmmaker François Truffaut developed the politique des auteurs—a now-ubiquitous claim that certain filmmakers have distinct styles and themes that run through all of their films. In 1962, he found an ideal test case in world-famous Hollywood Master of Suspense Alfred Hitchcock, in order to free him from his reputation as a maker of light entertainment and cement him as a bona fide artist. Over the course of eight days, Truffaut conducted a series of interviews with the man, later published as a single volume in 1967, which followed Hitchcock’s whole career up to that point, and elicited unprecedentedly candid and precise discussions of his films. Humbling himself as a student to Hitchcock’s trenchant musings on the definition of suspense and the role of the director, Truffaut’s book validated the idea of Hollywood movies as worthy of serious discussion, and became a bible for an international array of world-class auteurs. Featuring extended testimonials from David Fincher, Martin Scorsese, James Gray, Olivier Assayas, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, and others, Hitchcock/Truffaut is a lively tribute to a defining work of modern film culture. I Confess Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1953, 35mm, 95m One of Hitchcock’s most undervalued films, I Confess was an early rallying point for the critics at Cahiers du Cinéma, who located a recurring theme in the transference of guilt in his thrillers of the 1930s, and which found full fruition in this Roman Catholic tale. When Father Logan (Montgomery Clift) hears the confession from his caretaker Otto (O.E. Hasse) of an accidental killing, he keeps mum in accordance with the bonds of his faith. But when Inspector Larrue (Karl Malden) hears that a man wearing a priest’s cassock was seen walking away from the scene of the crime, Logan finds himself under suspicion, and teams up with a well-meaning old flame (Anne Baxter), who might only further incriminate him. Shot largely on location in Quebec City, the film that was called “a modern masterpiece” by Eric Rohmer is as gripping and playful as any of Hitchcock’s best-known works. The Manxman Alfred Hitchcock, 1929, UK, DCP, 129m Set in a secluded Isle of Man fishing community, The Manxman is Alfred Hitchcock’s penultimate silent film and considered one of the most mature works of his early career. The story follows two childhood friends who choose significantly different paths as adults: Pete becomes a fisherman, Philip a lawyer, but both fall for the same woman—the daughter of a puritanical Methodist—triggering a heartbreaking love triangle that clashes with not only their own moral compasses but also with the stern Manx society. With his filmmaking bravado on full display, Hitchcock’s depiction of the untamed coast is among the most expressive flourishes in his lengthy, peerless career, elevated by a nuanced performance by Anny Ondra that preceded her role in Blackmail later that year. Saboteur Alfred Hitchcock, USA, 1942, 35mm, 109m Made shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Hitchcock’s wartime thriller follows naïve factory worker Barry Kane, who is wrongfully accused of incinerating an aircraft plant. Kane, played with brilliant candor by Robert Cummings, knows the only way to prove his innocence is to catch the real saboteur. An American variation on The 39 Steps, Hitchcock’s film pulls its fugitive across disconcerting settings where civic uprightness veils ulterior motives. Hitchcock teamed with art director Robert Boyle to create a cross-country medley of imposing set pieces—from the California desert to the top of the Statue of Liberty—much like those found in their future collaborations on North by Northwest, The Birds, and Marnie. This was also Hitchcock’s first film to feature an all-American cast, and its box-office success secured his creative foothold in Hollywood for the iconic films to come.

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  • Fantastic Fest 2015 Reveals 2nd Wave of Films + Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER to Open

    Yorgos Lanthimos’ THE LOBSTER 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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  • Action, Horror, Shock and Fantasy Films on Midnight Madness Lineup for 2015 Toronto Film Festival

    Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier, Midnight Madness returns to the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival to satiate late night audiences’ appetites for wild sensory stimulation. The program will present the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy films from the rabble-rousers of cinema, opening with Jeremy Saulnier’s tense siege shocker Green Room. “Midnight Madness winds up Festival audiences as the days are winding down and they are hungry for more,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “From adrenaline-filled action and untamed horror to twisted comedy and darkly blurred lines of reality, this year’s lineup welcomes back celebrated masters and fresh visionaries of renegade genre cinema.” Among this year’s returning Midnight Madness directors are Joe Begos and Sean Byrne, who both debuted in the program and are back with their much anticipated follow-up features, and Japanese bad boy auteur Takashi Miike with his high-octane Yakuza Apocalypse. Closing out the selection is the raucously reverent homage to classic slasher movies The Final Girls. Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness program include: Baskin Can Evrenol, Turkey World Premiere A squad of unsuspecting cops goes through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building. The nightmarish feature debut Baskin is the first-ever Midnight Madness film from Turkey. The Devil’s Candy Sean Byrne, USA World Premiere The director of the 2009 Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award winner The Loved Ones is back with an equally fresh twist on the supernatural genre. A struggling artist (Ethan Embry) and his family buy the house of their dreams only to discover the property’s mysterious dark past and a former tenant who wants more than to simply come back home. From the producers of Midnight Madness hits You’re Next and The Guest. Midnight Madness Closing Night Film. The Final Girls Todd Strauss-Schulson, USA International Premiere Max (American Horror Story’s Taissa Farmiga) is a high school senior whose mom (Malin Akerman) was a celebrated ’80s scream queen. At a screening, Max and her friends are mysteriously transported inside her mom’s most infamous movie, where they must fend off the camp counselors’ raging hormones, battle a deranged machete-wielding killer and find a way to escape the movie and get back home. The Girl in the Photographs Nick Simon, USA World Premiere Big-city glamour clashes with small-town values and a killer’s knife, in this bloody cocktail of terror from director Nick Simon and executive producer Wes Craven. Colleen’s life in the sleepy town of Spearfish is disrupted when she starts receiving photographs of brutally murdered women. Things get even crazier for Colleen when L.A. based celeb-photographer Peter Hemmings (Kal Penn) returns to his hometown of Spearfish to investigate. Midnight Madness Opening Night Film. Green Room (pictured above) Jeremy Saulnier, USA North American Premiere Broke, tired and at each other’s throats after a cancelled gig, a young punk rock band accepts a sketchy matinee show to get themselves home. When they stumble upon something they weren’t supposed to witness, the quartet is trapped in a terrifying siege. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier (of 2013 Cannes Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize winner Blue Ruin), the film stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, and Patrick Stewart. Green Room is preceded by the previously announced short film The Chickening from directors Nick DenBoer and Davy Force. Hardcore Ilya Naishuller, Russia/USA World Premiere Resurrected with no recollection of his past, a cyborg named Henry (the audience’s POV) and his ally, Jimmy (Sharlto Copley, District 9) must fight through the streets of Moscow in pursuit of Henry’s kidnapped wife in the world’s first action-adventure film to be entirely shot from the first person perspective. The Mind’s Eye Joe Begos, USA World Premiere Joe Begos returns with a psychokinetic thriller about Zack Connors (Graham Skipper), whose abilities have kept him off the grid for years until he’s recruited by the mysterious Dr. Slovak. The snowy New England landscape turns into a whirlwind of psychic rage, flying axes, and brutal revenge as Zack does everything in his power to stop Dr. Slovak’s deadly descent into synthetically engineered telekinetic madness. Southbound Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence, USA World Premiere Five intertwining tales of terror unfold along an endless desert highway. On a desolate stretch of road, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road. SPL 2 – A Time For Consequences Soi Cheang, Hong Kong International Premiere The anticipated follow-up to the bone-cracking martial arts brawler SPL (also known as Sha Po Lung and Kill Zone) that debuted in the program in 2005 stars Midnight Madness discovery Tony Jaa (Ong Bak). When an undercover cop (Wu Jing) has his cover blown and is thrown into a prison in Thailand run by a crime syndicate, he must team up with a prison guard (Jaa) to bust out and get revenge on those who wronged him. Filled with gun battles, prison riots and frenetic fight choreography, SPL 2 might knock the wind out of you — and possibly a few teeth. Yakuza Apocalypse (Gokudo Daisenso) Takashi Miike, Japan North American Premiere Japanese cinematic extremist Takashi Miike returns to his gonzo roots with this mind-melter that finds room for vampires, gangsters, monsters, martial arts and even a yakuza knitting circle. A true master and MVP of the program, Miike wowed previous Midnight Madness audiences with such hits as Fudoh: The New Generation, Audition, The City of Lost Souls, Ichi the Killer, Zebraman, The Great Yokai War and Sukiyaki Western Django. He returns with a film too wild to be described and too fun to be missed! The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.

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