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  • NashFilm Announces 2018 Feature Films Lineup for Narrative, Documentary, New Directors & Graveyard Shift Competitions

    [caption id="attachment_25450" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Adventures in Public School Public Schooled Adventures in Public School[/caption] The Nashville Film Festival continues its lineup for the ten-day festival, running May 10 to 19, 2018, with the announcement of 48 additional feature films in Narrative, Documentary, New Directors and Graveyard Shift competitions. Capturing the essence of today’s most relevant social issues, historical stories and more, these 48 films hail from China, South Africa, Netherlands, Denmark, India, France and more, as well as 31 from the U.S. A jury of industry professionals will select the winning films that will take home up to $20,000 in cash and prizes. “We received over 6,100 film submissions and the process of determining the 48 participants was incredibly challenging as the caliber of submissions continues to astonish us each year,” said Artistic Director, Brian Owens. “We strive to always include a diverse roster of feature films that inspire, move and create meaningful conversations.” Below are the 2018 selections in the categories:

    Narrative Competition

    1985 (Southeast US Premiere) – A closeted young man goes home for the holidays and struggles to reveal his dire circumstances to his conservative family. Cast: Jamie Chung, Virginia Masden, Michael Chiklis, Director: Yen Tan, Producers: Hutch, Ash Christian (USA) Across the Waters (Southeast US Premiere) – ACROSS THE WATERS is the gripping tale of the Danish Jews’ escape to Sweden in October 1943. Cast: David Dencik, Danica Curcic, Director: Nicolo Donato, Producer: Peter Bech (Denmark) An Act of Defiance (Tennessee Premiere) – A South African lawyer risks his life and career to defend Nelson Mandela and his inner circle. Cast: Peter Paul Muller, Antoinette Louw, Sello Motloung, Sean Venter, Director: Jean van de Velde, Producers: Michael Auret, Richard Claus, Hugh Rogers (South Africa, Netherlands) Adventures In Public School (Southeast US Premiere) – A socially awkward home-schooled kid forces his way into public-school against his suffocating but loving mother’s wishes. Cast: Judy Greer, Daniel Doheny, Russell Peters, Grace Park, Siobhan Williams, Director: Kyle Rideout, Producer: Josh Epstein (Canada) Angels Wear White (Tennessee Premiere) – ANGELS WEAR WHITE is a powerful film noir that exposes the social injustices and difficult issues women face in contemporary China. Cast: Wen Qi, Zhou Meijun, Shi Ke, Geng Le, Liu Weiwei, Peng Jing, Director: Vivian Qu, Producer: Sean Chen (China) Bikini Moon (Tennessee Premiere) – A charismatic homeless woman captures the attention of a documentary film crew who are ready to exploit her story for their own shot at independent movie fame in this very modern, urban fairy tale set amidst a fractured ideal of family. Cast: Condola Rashad, Sarah Goldberg, Will Janowitz, Sathya Sridharan, Director: Milcho Manchevski, Producers: Anja Wedell, Munire Armstrong (USA) Craving (US Premiere) – Coco has no idea what to do with her life until she discovers her mother is terminally ill. Cast: Simone Kleinsma, Elise van ‘t Laar, Director: Saskia Diesing. Producers: Hans de Wolf, Hanneke Niens (Netherlands) Dating My Mother (Southeast US Premiere) – A single mother and her gay son navigate the world of online dating in search of their versions of Mr. Right. Cast: Kathryn Erbe, Patrick Reily, Kathy Najimy, James Le Gros, Paul Iacono, Director: Mike Roma, Producer: Ashley Hills (USA) DriverX (Tennessee Premiere) – Skidding into middle age, a “50-something” stay-at-home dad who recently lost his record store must start driving for a rideshare company to help support his working wife and two young daughters. Cast: Patrick Fabian, Tanya Clarke, Desmin Borges, Travis Schuldt, Melissa Fumero, Oscar Nunez, Director: Henry Barrial, Producers: Mark Stolaroff, Alex Cutler (USA) Fifty Springtimes (Southeast US Premiere) – A woman in her 50s loses her job, finds out she is about to become a grandmother and is given an opportunity to start life over again. Cast: Agnès Jaoui, Director: Blandine Lenoir, Producers: Fabrice Goldstein, Antoine Rein (France) Goliath (Southeast US Premiere) – When a young soon-to-be father is unable to defend in his girldfriend in an attack, he takes steps that may threaten everything he loves. Cast: Sven Schelker, Jasna Fritzi Bauer, Director: Dominik Locher. Producers: Rajko Jazbec, Dario Schoch (Switzerland) Prison Logic (Tennessee Premiere) – PRISON LOGIC is an original comedy that tracks the life of Tijuana Jackson, an ex-convict fresh out of prison, set on becoming a world renowned motivational speaker. Cast: Romany Malco Jr., Regina Hall, Tami Roman, Alkoya Brunson, Director: Romany Malco Jr., Producers: Romany Malco Jr., Josh Etting, Brian Etting (USA) Salvation (Southeast US Premiere) – Cris, a thirteen year old girl, is admitted to a hospital to undergo open heart surgery. There she meets Víctor, a boy her same age who says he’s a vampire and who proposes a different kind of salvation for her heart: immortality. Cast: Marina Botí, Laura Yuste, Alzira Gómez, Carmen Flores, Director: Denise Castro, Producer: Denise Castro (Spain) Shelter (Tennessee Premiere) – A subtle thriller set in Germany involving Mona, a Lebanese woman, and Naomi, an Israeli Mossad agent, sent to protect their informant who is recovering from plastic surgery to conceal her identity. Together for two weeks in a quiet apartment in Hamburg, the two women take us into a complex, multi-dimensional labyrinth of trust and mistrust, of honesty and deception, of loyalty and betrayal. Cast: Neta Riskin, Golshifteh Farahani, Haluk Bilginer, Director: Eran Riklis, Producers: Bettina Brokemper, Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Michael Eckelt, Eran Riklis (USA) When She Runs (Tennessee Premiere) – A young mother of limited means puts everything on the line to pursue her dream of becoming a competitive runner. Cast: Kirstin Anderson, Ivan Gehring, Jonah Graham. Directors: Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck, Producer: Laura Heberton (USA)

    Documentary Competition

    Chef Flynn (Tennessee Premiere) – With access to a trove of personal archival footage and including new, intimate vérité footage, director Cameron Yates creates a collage of Flynn’s singular focus and distinctive path through childhood. CHEF FLYNN shares a rare view of a young man’s successful rise from the inside. Director: Cameron Yates, Producers: Laura Coxson, Cameron Yates, Philipp Engelhorn (USA) Circles (US Premiere) – A Hurricane Katrina survivor who works to keep Black teenagers in school in Oakland, California finds his personal and professional lives colliding when his 15-year-old-son goes to jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Cast: Eric Butler, Tre Thomas, Betsye Steele, Mercedes Morgan, Ted Quant, Director: Cassidy Friedman, Producer: Cassidy Friedman (USA) Crime + Punishment (Tennessee Premiere) – Meet the NYPD12: a group of minority whistleblower officers who risk everything to expose racially discriminatory policing practices and smash the blue wall of silence. Director: Stephen Maing. Producer: Stephen Maing, Ross Tuttle, Eric Daniel Metzgar (USA) Crossroads (Tennesee Premiere) – This documentary follows a team of at-risk African-American teenagers and their lacrosse coach on a most improbable and inspiring journey. Director: Ron Yassen, Producers: Lauren Griswold, John Hirsch (USA) Dark Money (Tennessee Premiere) – Kimberly Reed returns to her native state of Montana to expose the insidious reach of corporate interests into politics and to chronicle its grassroots opposition. Director: Kimberly Reed, Producers: Kimberly Reed, Katy Chevigny (USA) Every Act of Life (Southeast Premiere) – The life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally: 60 years of groundbreaking plays and musicals, the struggle for LGBT rights, addiction and recovery, finding true love, and the relentless pursuit of inspiration. Cast: Rita Moreno, Meryl Streep, Bryan Cranston, Christine Baranski, Director: Jeff Kaufman, Producers: Jeff Kaufman, Marcia Ross (USA) hillbilly (World Premiere) hillbilly is a documentary film that examines the iconic hillbilly stereotype in film and television. The film explores more than a hundred years of media representation of mountain and rural people, reveals how the hillbilly icon reflects America’s aspirational self-image over the decades, and offers an urgent exploration of how we see and think about poor, white, rural America. Cast: Billy Redden, Ronny Cox, bell hooks, Michael Apted, Silas House, Crystal Good, Frank X Walker. Directors: Sally Rubin, Ashley York. Producers: Sally Rubin, Ashley York. (USA). Minding the Gap (Tennessee Premiere) – Three young men bond together to escape volatile families in their Rust-Belt hometown. As they face adult responsibilities, unexpected revelations threaten their decade-long friendship. Cast: Zack Mulligan, Keire Johnson, Bing Liu, Nina Bowgren, Director: Bing Liu, Producers: Bing Liu, Diane Quon (USA) A Murder in Mansfield (Tennessee Premiere) – In 1990, the testimony of a 12-year-old boy sealed his father’s fate. A jury convicted prominent Ohio doctor John Boyle of murdering Collier’s mother. 26 years later, the son returns determined to get an admission of guilt from his imprisoned father. Cast: Collier Landry, Director: Barbara Kopple, Producers: Barbara Kopple, David Cassidy, Ray Nowosielski (USA) On Her Shoulders (Tennessee Premiere) – Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi, survived genocide and sexual slavery committed by ISIS. Repeating her story to the world, this ordinary girl finds herself thrust onto the international stage as the voice of her people. Away from the podium, she must navigate bureaucracy, fame and people’s good intentions. Cast: Nadia Murad, Directors: Alexandria Bombach, Producers: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams (USA) Say Her Name: The Life and Death of Sandra Bland (Southeast US Premiere) – In 2015, Sandra Bland, a young black woman, was found hanging in a small-town Texas jail cell days after a traffic violation. Ruled a suicide, her death fueled worldwide allegations of a racially motivated police murder. The filmmakers embedded with Sandra’s family during their two-year battle to uncover the truth. Cast: Sandra Bland, Directors: Kate Davis, David Heilbroner, Producers: Nancy Knox Talcott, David Heilbroner (USA) The World Before Your Feet (Tennessee Premiere) – For over six years, and for reasons he can’t explain, Matt Green has been walking every block of every street in New York City – a journey of more than 8,000 miles. Cast: Matt Green, Director: Jeremy Workman, Producers: Jeremy Workman, Jesse Eisenberg (USA) Zero Weeks (Southeast US Premiere) – Weaving powerful stories together with insightful interviews from leading policy makers, economists, researchers and activists, ZERO WEEKS lays out a compelling argument for guaranteed paid leave for every American worker. Director: Ky Dickens, Producers: Ky Dickens, Alexis Jaworski (USA) Weed the People (Southeast US Premiere) – Cannabis has been off-limits to doctors and researchers in the US for the past 80 years, but recently scientists have discovered its anti-cancer properties. Armed with only these laboratory studies, desperate parents obtain cannabis oil from underground sources to save their children from childhood cancers. Director: Abby Epstein, Producers: Giancarlo Canavesio, Sol Tryon (USA)

    New Directors Competition

    3/4 (Southeast US Premiere) – Mila is a gifted pianist with a bright future, yet her father pays more attention to the rings of Saturn than to her goals, and her brother tries to distract her with his unwanted talent for the absurd. A portrait of a family, struggling to find meaning during their last summer together. Cast: Mila Mihova, Nikolay Mashalo. Director: Ilian Metev, Producers: Ilian Metev, Ingmar Trost (Bulgaria) After Louie (Tennessee Premiere) – AFTER LOUIE explores the contradictions of modern gay life and history through Sam, a man desperate to understand how he and his community got to where they are today. Cast: Alan Cumming, Zachary Booth, Sarita Choudhury. Director: Vincent Gagliostro. Producers: Lauren Belfer, Alan Cumming, Bryce Renninger (USA) Best of All Worlds (Tennessee Premiere) – The true story of a child and his life in the unusual world of his heroin addict mother and their love for one another. Cast: Verena Altenberger, Jeremy Miliker, Lukas Miko, Michael Pink, Reinhold G. Moritz, Philipp Stix. Director: Adrian Goiginger, Producers: Wolfgang Ritzberger, Nils Dünker (Austria) The Marriage (Southeast US Premiere) – Bekim and Anita are getting married, but she is unaware that he is still in love with his best friend Nol. Cast: Alban Ukah, Adriana Matoshi, Genc Salihu. Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Producer: Kreshnik Keka Berisha (Kosovo) Mountain Rest (World Premiere) – After sequestering herself to a small mountain town, an aging actress calls her estranged daughter and granddaughter home for reconciliation and one final celebration. Cast: Natalia Dyer, Frances Conroy, Kate Lynn Sheil, Shawn Hatosy, Joshua Brady, Karson Kern, Director: Alex O Eaton, Producers: Fernando Loureiro, Roberto Vasconcellos, Renata Nascimento (USA) Never Steady, Never Still (Tennessee Premiere) – A mother struggles to take control of her life in the face of advanced Parkinson’s disease, while her son battles his sexual and emotional identity amongst the violence of Alberta’s oil field work camps. Cast: Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Mary Galloway, Nicholas Campbell, Jared Abrahamson, Hugo Ateo, Lorne Cardinal, Director: Kathleen Hepburn. Producers: James Brown, Tyler Hagan (Canada) Noblemen (Tennessee Premiere) – A 15-year-old boy, struggling with his adolescent years, is terrorized by a gang of bullies in a posh boarding school. This sets forth a chain of events that leads to a loss of life and innocence. Cast: Kunal Kapoor, Ali Haji, Director: Vandana Kataria, Producers: Siddharth Anand Kumar, Vikram Mehra (India) Still (Tennessee Premiere) – When Lily loses her way on a hike through the Appalachian wilderness, she finds rescue in the form of a peculiar married couple who have completely isolated themselves from the outside world. Cast: Lydia Wilson, Madeline Brewer, Nick Blood, Mark Ashworth, Kevin Wayne, Diesel Madkins, Director: Takashi Doscher, Producers: Alex P. Creasia, Takashi Doscher, Craig Miller, Gabrielle Pickle (USA) The Swan (Southeast US Premiere) – A wayward nine-year-old girl is sent to the countryside to work and mature, but finds herself instead deeply entangled in a drama she can hardly grasp. Cast: Thor Kristjansson, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson, Þuríður Blær Jóhannsdóttir, Gríma Valsdóttir, Katla M. Þorgeirsdóttir, Director: Ása Helga Hjörleifsdótirr, Producers: Birgitta Bjornsdottir, Hlín Jóhannesdóttir (Iceland)

    Graveyard Shift Competition

    Door In the Woods (Tennessee Premiere) – A struggling family installs a vintage door only to find it’s a portal to supernatural danger, leading to a heart wrenching choice. Cast: Jennifer Pierce Mathus, David Snell, C.J. Jones, John-Michael Fisher, Director: Billy Chase Gofort, Producers: Kerri Elder, Blake Elder, Billy Chace Goforth (USA) Found Footage 3D (Tennessee Premiere) – A group of filmmakers set out to make the first 3D found footage horror movie, but find themselves in a found footage horror movie when the evil entity from their film escapes into their behind-the-scenes footage. Cast: Carter Roy, Alena von Stroheim, Chris O’Brien, Director: Steven DeGennaro, Producers: Steven DeGennaro, Kim Henkel, Charles Mulford (USA) Get My Gun (Tennessee Premiere) – After an innocent prank leaves Amanda pregnant and out of a job, she finds herself on the verge of motherhood and the target of a psychotic stalker who will stop at nothing to get her hands on her unborn child. Cast: Kate Hoffman, Christy Casey, Rosanne Rubino, William Jousset, Director: Brian Darwas, Producer: Jennifer Carchietta (USA) Katrina’s Dream (US Premiere) – Katrina wishes to have children but her boyfriend Louis doesn’t. She falls in love with his best friend Ron, who becomes the man of her life. When the two men are involved in a car accident in which Ron loses his head and Louis his body, a drastic surgery helps them survive, but merged into one person. Cast: Dagna Vinet Litzenberger, Manfred Liechti, Adrian Furrer, Simon Esteban, Directors: Mirko Bischofberger, Dario Bischofberger. Producers: Mirko Bischofberger, Dario Bischofberger (Switzerland) The Laplace’s Demon (Nashville Premiere) – Eight people are imprisoned in a secluded mansion on an uninhabited island. After waiting in vain for the host, they find a model with eight self-propelled pawns that reproduces the movements of each group member in real time. Cast: Alessandro Zonfrilli, Carlotta Mazzoncini, Silvano Bertolin, Duccio Giulivi, Walter Smorti, Director: Giordano Giulivi, Producers: Silvano Bertolin, Ferdinando D’Urbano, Duccio Giulivi, Giordano Giulivi (Italy) Mickey Reece’s Alien (Southeast US Premiere) – Elvis Presley struggles with an existential meltdown before his TV comeback special. Spirituality, space, and divine art clash in his marriage to Priscilla and his obligations to those surrounding The King. Cast: Jacob Snovel, Cate Jones, Director: Mickey Reece, Producers: Jacob Snovel, Cate Jones, Mickey Reece. (USA) The Odds (Southeast US Premiere) – A young woman enlists in an underground game of pain endurance in the hope of winning the million dollar prize. She soon learns the real opponent is the man who’s running the game, as he employs horrific methods to manipulate and defeat her. Cast: Abbi Butler, James Fuertes, Sean Ramey, Les Parker, Katie Gunn, Director: Bob Giordano, Producers: Tom Steinmann, Kelly Frey, Alan McKenna (USA) PROTOTYPE (Southeast US Premiere) – As the deadliest natural disaster in US history strikes Galveston, Texas, taking an estimated 6,000 to 12,000 lives, a mysterious televisual device projects images of unknown origin. Director: Blake Williams, Producer: Marco Gualtieri (Canada) Zerzura (Southeast US Premiere) – ZERZURA is a feature-length ethnofiction shot in the Sahara desert. Mixing folktales and documentary, the film follows a young man from Niger who leaves home in search of an enchanted oasis. Cast: Ibrahim Affi, Zara Alhassane, Ahmoudou Madassane, Director: Christopher Kirkley, Producer: Christopher Kirkley, Rhissa Koutata, Ahmoudou Madassane, Guichene Mohamed (Niger|USA)

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  • 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Reveals 2nd Wave of Films, Closes with THE BOOK OF BIRDIE

    [caption id="attachment_24277" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]The Book of Birdie The Book of Birdie[/caption] The 2017 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival will close with the North American premiere of the mesmerizing, all-female casted The Book of Birdie. First-time director Elizabeth E. Schuch impressively blends psychological horror, whimsical fantasy, and feminist ideals in one-of-a-kind The Book of Birdie. Shy and fragile teenager Birdie’s unusual hallucinations, dark obsessions and fascination with blood are triggered as she’s forced into a remote convent and faced with what her fate will be. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GRWQCoMj-A Mayhem directed by Joe Lynch will make its New York premiere as the Centerpiece screening of the festival. Mayhem follows office scapegoat Derek Cho (played by The Walking Dead’sSteven Yeun) as he’s fired f rom his cozy legal job just as the dreaded rage-inducing “ID7 virus” quarantines the building. The twist? Thanks to Cho, all acts of violence committed while infected are instantly acquitted, making it the perfect battleground for revenge. In addition, the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival dropped its second wave two of films including, locals only showcase, shorts and more.

    The Films

    [caption id="attachment_24279" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Mayhem directed by Joe Lynch Mayhem directed by Joe Lynch[/caption] MAYHEM USA | 2017 | 86 min | Dir. Joe Lynch NEW YORK PREMIERE Making its New York Premiere, MAYHEM follows office scapegoat Derek Cho (played by THE WALKING DEAD’s Steven Yeun) as he’s fired from his cozy legal job just as the dreaded rage-inducing “ID7 virus” quarantines the building. The twist? Thanks to Cho, all acts of violence committed while infected are instantly acquitted, making it the perfect battleground for revenge. Director Joe Lynch (WRONG TURN 2, EVERLY) delivers a fast-paced blend of corporate satire, corporeal brutality and heavy metal in this powerful new feature. COLD HELL (DIE HÖLLE) Germany | 2017 | 92 min | Dir. Stefan Ruzowitzky EAST COAST PREMIERE After witnessing a brutal murder from the window of her apartment, Turkish-born and taking-no-shit Ozge finds herself the next target of a calculated serial killer. Unfortunately for the killer, she has her own brand of viciousness on tap and is anything but a victim. An intelligent and live-wire cross between Italian Giallo and Jason Bourne, Oscar-winning director Stefan Ruzowitzky’s (THE COUNTERFEITERS) COLD HELL is a first-rate, action-packed genre-bender. THE CRESCENT Canada | 2017 | 99 min | Dir. Seth A. Smith EAST COAST PREMIERE Plagued by painful memories, a young, recently-widowed mother relocates to a remote town and does her best to overcome emotional trauma. But the town locals have their own plans for her and before long their strange, dark and ancient traditions turn her life into a waking nightmare. Visually ambitious and tonally hypnotic, Canadian filmmaker Seth A. Smith’s haunting THE CRESCENT casts a sneakily powerful spell. INHERITANCE USA | 2017 | 93 min | Dir. Tyler Savage EAST COAST PREMIERE A man learns of the death of his absentee biological father and inherits his 2.5 million dollar home in the aptly named INHERITANCE. While staying there with his pregnant fiancé, he begins to uncover horrible truths about his father that could destroy his life. Fantastic lead performances and a patient, sinister narrative make this one hell of an impressive debut for director Tyler Savage who will be in attendance. RIFT (RÖKKUR) Iceland | 2017 | 111 min | Dir. Erlingur Thoroddson NEW YORK PREMIERE Intrigued by an unexpected call, Gunnar heads to a remote outpost to reconnect with his ex-boyfriend Einar. Despite the happy reunion the two men can’t shake the feeling that someone, or something, is there—and has sinister plans. Elegant and assured, the subtly creepy RIFT is the audacious follow-up feature from Icelandic filmmaker Erlingur Thoroddsen, whose debut feature, CHILD EATER, world-premiered at BHFF 2016 as our closing night screening. Director Erlingur Thoroddson will be in attendance. FASHIONISTA USA | 2016 | 106 min | Dir. Simon Rumley NEW YORK PREMIERE British cinema provocateur Simon Rumley completes his unofficial Texas trilogy (after RED WHITE & BLUE and JOHNNY FRANK GARRETT’S LAST WORD) with a film that proves you can’t spell “distress” without “dress.” RED WHITE & BLUE’s Amanda Fuller is fascinating as April, a clothing-obsessed woman whose suspicions about her husband’s infidelity send her down a rabbit hole of dangerous, self-destructive behavior. SALVATION (SALVACIÓN) Spain | 2016 | 80 min | Dir. Denise Castro NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE Stuck in a hospital waiting to undergo open heart surgery, Cris finds a reason to stay in another patient named Victor who claims to be a vampire. Surrounded by death, Cris must decide between immortality and leaving her future up to fate. Filled with moments of sadness and paralyzing dread, Salvation is a terrifying new entry in the vampire canon. GAME OF DEATH Canada / France | 2017 | 73 min | Dir. Baz Morais & Sebastien Landry NEW YORK PREMIERE For a group of party-crazy teens, it’s all about smoking, drinking and sex. But that goes to hell when they play a board game that requires human blood and whose uncontrollable countdowns lead to head explosions. Survival requires killing someone else. Bodies will drop and craniums will burst in this insanely gory and fun-as-hell, splatter feature by Canadian co-directors Sebastien Landry and Laurence Baz Morais. TO HELL AND BACK: THE KANE HODDER STORY USA | 2017 | 108 min | Dir. Derek Dennis Herbert EAST COAST PREMIERE The man behind two of horror’s greatest slashers, Jason Voorhees and the HATCHET franchise’s Victor Crowley, Kane Hodder has proven himself unbeatable when it comes to offing on-screen victims. But as it turns out he’s even more unbeatable in real life, having persevered through a painful childhood and a nearly fatal accident. Derek Dennis Herbert’s heartfelt documentary TO HELL AND BACK candidly reveals the heart and soul of a horror icon. I REMEMBER YOU (ÉG MAN BIG) Iceland | 2017 | 105 min | Dir. Oskar Thór Axelsson US PREMIERE While investigating the mysterious suicide of an old woman inside a local church, a psychiatrist learns that she was obsessed his young son’s disappearance. Meanwhile, across the bay, three friends discover that the house they’re restoring is haunted. How these two stories intersect is the ultimate gut punch of Icelandic filmmaker Óskar Thór Axelsson’s I REMEMBER YOU, a haunting and cerebral marriage of the procedural with the supernatural.

    INCORPOREAL: A POPUP ART SHOW & VR SHOWCASE

    The annual pre-fest art show will feature new artwork from Brooklyn-based artist Andrew Abbott, who’s this year’s poster designer. The critically acclaimed horror VR studio Dark Corner will be presenting two works from director Guy Shelmerdine; the clown-filled and nightmarish journey that is NIGHT NIGHT, and MULE, which sucks you into the last moments of a man’s life and the hellish fate that comes next.

    ​THE BK PARANORMAL SOCIETY PRESENTS: MIDNIGHT GHOST HUNT

    Join the celebrated BK Paranormal Society as they lead festival goers on a candle-lit ghost hunt through the streets of Brooklyn and provide the tools and know-how needed to keep you safe from spirits and creatures of the night. ​The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies presents THE TIME HAS COME TO TELL THE TALE: PETER STRAUB IN CONVERSATION with DOUGLAS E. WINTER Join us for this rare on-stage conversation between one of the world’s foremost horror authors, Peter Straub – who gave us JULIA, GHOST STORY, MR. X, KOKO and more, as well as collaborating with Stephen King on THE TALISMAN and BLACK HOUSE – as he talks about his writing career and the films that sprung from it with famed horror biographer and critic Douglas E. Winter. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is a non-profit community-based curriculum through which established horror writers, directors, scholars and programmers/curators celebrate horror history and culture with a unique blend of enthusiasm and critical perspective.

    LOCALS ONLY SHOWCASE

    This year’s spotlight on NYC-made horror headlined by a World Premiere screening of unadulterated grindhouse flick GET MY GUN! GET MY GUN USA | 2017 | 90 min | Dir. Brian Darwas WORLD PREMIERE BHFF is thrilled to present the World Premiere of Brian Darwas’ homegrown feature GET MY GUN. In line with such films as MS. 45 and INSIDE, GET MY GUN’s Amanda is left pregnant after being raped at work. When a crazed stalker becomes obsessed with her unborn child she is forced to evolve from prey to predator. Director Bryan Darwas and Writer/Producer Jennifer Carchietta in attendance.

    LOCALS ONLY SHORTS 2017

    A NIGHTMARE WAKES Dir. Nora Unkel This proof of concept originally shown at Fantasia’s Frontières Market shares a haunting vision focused on Mary Shelley after a tragic miscarriage. RAZOR Dir. James​ ​Clay​ ​Jenkins Dark desires and devout religion collide for two sisters and a young priest in early 19th century New England. ARE YOU WILD LIKE ME Dir. Billy Nawrocki A string of missing person cases plagues a small New England town. Could they be related to the infant girl who disappeared in the woods nine years prior? FLUFFERNUTTER Dirs. Adam R. Brown, Kyle I. Kelley Twins Stephen and Clyde are forced to grow up fast “for their own good” in this bloody satirical yarn. IN HERE Dir. James Barton An unknown entity communicates to a girl through refrigerator magnets. SCORCH Dir. Robbie Lemieux Two young lovers think it’s a good idea to mess around with an occult object they’ve recently discovered. It’s a horrible idea. SLAPFACE Dir. Jeremiah Kipp Monsters come in many forms for a boy after the difficult loss of his mother. A TASTE FOR IT Dir. Oliver David An old woman has a strange experience in a parking garage. True WTF material. BEWARE, THE BEAST I WORSHIP Dir. Adam Chitayat A dog with ill intent leads a man through the color-soaked nighttime streets of New York City. RUBY Music Video / Dir. Richard Bates A young woman’s dreamy stroll through the woods is impeded when a sorcerer is allured by her moon necklace. The sorcerer summons an evil spirit from the land to follow the young woman and claim her soul bounded by the necklace.

    HEAD TRIP 2017: ALTERNATIVE SHORTS

    A MOTHER OF MONSTERS Brazil / Dir. Julia Zanin de Paula Welcome to the Freak Show. Twisted and visually hypnotic, this Guy de Maupassant adaptation features a circus troupe with wicked intentions. COVER UP USA / Dir. Satya Bhabha She loves make-up to death. He loves her so. Alison Pill and Jason Ritter star. GREAT CHOICE USA / Dir. Robin Comisar A woman finds herself trapped within a Red Lobster commercial that just…won’t…stop. Carrie Coon stars. TASTE USA / Dir. Adrian Selkowitz All Claire wants to do is throw a fancy dinner party for her husband’s Hollywood power couple friends, hoping it’ll lead to her own cooking show. She just never expected that naked woman lying in her driveway, or what this woman’s past means for Claire’s big night. OTHERS LIKE YOU (ALTRE) Italy / Dir. Eugenio Villani Determined to become pregnant, Ester, having previously been ruled sterile, finally has success after sleeping around with random men. The news displeases Ester’s family doctor, Greta, who has a ghoulishly sinister plan in mind. THE SERVANT Iran / Dir. Farnoosh Abedi A silent and gorgeously animated tale of a bug servant who grows weary of his servitude. INK Canada / Dir. Ashlea Wessel Traumatized by a scarring pregnancy, an emotionally fragile woman seeks solace in covering her body with tattoos. After an alcohol-fueled bender, her worst fears come to pass. DON’T OPEN YOUR EYES (ÖPPNA INTE ÖGONEN) Sweden / Dir. Adrián García Bogliano & Andrea Quiroz Sisters reunite after a year apart. One is suddenly doing incredibly well for herself and it’s all because of a mysterious hypnotic vinyl record with extraordinary powers.

    NIGHTMARE FUEL 2017: SCARY HORROR SHORTS

    AMY USA / Dir. L. Gustavo Cooper During an overwhelming heat wave, a nurse at a home for sick patients warns young resident Amy to stay inside her room. Unfortunately for her, Amy doesn’t listen. FEEDING TIME USA / Dir. Matt Mercer Filling in for her friend on a babysitting gig, Sasha is weirded out after a strange encounter with the child’s parents. Strange doesn’t even begin to describe the night she’s about to have. EARWORM USA / Dir. Tara Price Piercingly loud music continually disrupts a man’s sleep. He’ll wish he didn’t figure out the source of the music. FREDERIK REMEMBERS USA / Dirs. Ben Sottak & Steven Russel Old and senile, Frederik passes the time in solitude. A box of Nazi paraphernalia found inside his apartment is about to disrupt that. BESTIA Canada / Dirs. Gigi Saul Guerrero A man awakes to find himself alone by the frigid woods. Whatever ravaged his people is now stalking him. THE BABY’S CRYING UK / Dir. Bob Pipe It’s every parent’s burden: Answering the cries of a baby late at night. For this mommy and daddy pair, however, it’s more of a nightmare. FOR A GOOD TIME, CALL… USA / Dir. Izzy Lee Unbeknownst to the woman involved, a man uploads a homemade sex tape. Upon making a pit stop inside a grungy public bathroom, he’ll receive his comeuppance. BIRTHDAY Italy / Dir. Alberto Viavattene Using her job to hawk prescription drugs and steal from patients, a young nurse goes about her delinquent ways inside an old folks’ home. In Room 12 however, three elderly sisters have a surprise waiting for her. iMEDIUM Spain / Dir. Alfonso García This frenetic techno-terror murder mystery imagines the day we have an app for speaking to the dead.

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