LET THE CORPSES TAN[/caption]
With little more than two weeks to go, the 6th Ithaca Fantastik (IF) taking place November 3 to 12 in Ithaca, NY, unveiled its full features and short film lineup of 37 films from 20 countries.
In LET THE CORPSES TAN, Belgian duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani pay visual homage to Italian gangster films. Marc Meyers’s award-winning MY FRIEND DAHMER, based on the graphic novel of the same name, follows the teenage years of the budding serial killer. Ryan Prows’s mesmerizing and gritty LA tale LOWLIFE takes viewers on a high-energy organ-harvesting misadventure. And Deborah Haywoods’s beautifully disturbing and deeply personal PIN CUSHION explores intergenerational bullying in a small but toxic English town.
Playing to a full range of IF6’s retrospective theme—Italiano Psichedeliko—with a contemporary eye, Rupert Jones’s murder-mystery, KALEIDOSCOPE, mesmerizes with lush visuals and amazing performances from Sinead Matthews and Toby Jones. Rainer Sarnet’s NOVEMBER plunges vanguard film-lovers into a surrealist maelstrom of faith, witchcraft, and love, while German tale FREDDY/EDDY ushers in a doubled and troubled soul from the mind of Tini Tüllmann.
Any pure horror lovers in the room? Giddens Ko’s MON MON MON MONSTER blows minds with its thoughtful subtext on bullying dressed with gory violence. A Taiwanese echo to Haywoods’s PIN CUSHION, this film takes no prisoners. The same can be said about Gabriela Amaral’s FRIENDLY BEAST: What starts out as a classic social drama makes a sharp turn into more graphic territory demanding self-reflection. And for undead action, Robin Aubert’s LES AFFAMÉS – an art house Zombie film full of deep social commentary—is a brilliant homage to maestro George Romero’s ghoul metaphor.
Sometimes, real life is more Fantastik than fiction. Brad Abrahams’s documentary, LOVE AND SAUCERS, tells the improbable story of David Higgins’ intimate love for an alien and the art that followed. For sheer genre joy, Australian mockumentary TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce’s madcap love letter to late-night Japanese television—from Lone Wolf and Cub and Mute Samurai to Message from Space and Space Sheriff Gavan.
IF completes this year’s smorgasbord with the crazies: Adolfo Kolmerer and William James’s SNOWFLAKE, the prodigal son of Pulp Fiction and Synecdoche NY, with producer Eric Sonnenburg here for the sceening; Thomas Berg and Frederik Waldeland’s super-weird, laugh-out-loud VAMPYR VIDAR; and Jimmy Henderson’s JAILBREAK with its roots in HK martial arts cinema, Jean Paul Ly’s choreography, dynamic camerawork, and the incisive power of a Tony Jaa elbow strike.
IF also shines a spotlight on BLUE UNDERGROUND, Bill Lustig’s distribution company, with the 4K restoration of Gary Sherman’s DEATH LINE, a direct transfer from the camera negative—as close as you can get to a director’s true vision! Another new 4K transfer, Bob Clark’s DEAD BY NIGHT, offers a deep meditation on the effects of war …with a zombie trope.
Along with this incredible lineup, IF will also present its 2017 art show: THE STRANGE COLORS OF GILLES VRANCKX featuring the work of the Belgian poster genius behind art for Amer, The Strange Colors of Your Body’s Tears, LET THE CORPSES TAN, and more.
Mon Mon Mon Monsters
-
6th Ithaca Fantastik Announces Lineup, LET THE CORPSES TAN, MY FRIEND DAHMER and More..
[caption id="attachment_24807" align="aligncenter" width="1023"] LET THE CORPSES TAN[/caption]
With little more than two weeks to go, the 6th Ithaca Fantastik (IF) taking place November 3 to 12 in Ithaca, NY, unveiled its full features and short film lineup of 37 films from 20 countries.
In LET THE CORPSES TAN, Belgian duo Hélène Cattet and Bruno Forzani pay visual homage to Italian gangster films. Marc Meyers’s award-winning MY FRIEND DAHMER, based on the graphic novel of the same name, follows the teenage years of the budding serial killer. Ryan Prows’s mesmerizing and gritty LA tale LOWLIFE takes viewers on a high-energy organ-harvesting misadventure. And Deborah Haywoods’s beautifully disturbing and deeply personal PIN CUSHION explores intergenerational bullying in a small but toxic English town.
Playing to a full range of IF6’s retrospective theme—Italiano Psichedeliko—with a contemporary eye, Rupert Jones’s murder-mystery, KALEIDOSCOPE, mesmerizes with lush visuals and amazing performances from Sinead Matthews and Toby Jones. Rainer Sarnet’s NOVEMBER plunges vanguard film-lovers into a surrealist maelstrom of faith, witchcraft, and love, while German tale FREDDY/EDDY ushers in a doubled and troubled soul from the mind of Tini Tüllmann.
Any pure horror lovers in the room? Giddens Ko’s MON MON MON MONSTER blows minds with its thoughtful subtext on bullying dressed with gory violence. A Taiwanese echo to Haywoods’s PIN CUSHION, this film takes no prisoners. The same can be said about Gabriela Amaral’s FRIENDLY BEAST: What starts out as a classic social drama makes a sharp turn into more graphic territory demanding self-reflection. And for undead action, Robin Aubert’s LES AFFAMÉS – an art house Zombie film full of deep social commentary—is a brilliant homage to maestro George Romero’s ghoul metaphor.
Sometimes, real life is more Fantastik than fiction. Brad Abrahams’s documentary, LOVE AND SAUCERS, tells the improbable story of David Higgins’ intimate love for an alien and the art that followed. For sheer genre joy, Australian mockumentary TOP KNOT DETECTIVE is Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce’s madcap love letter to late-night Japanese television—from Lone Wolf and Cub and Mute Samurai to Message from Space and Space Sheriff Gavan.
IF completes this year’s smorgasbord with the crazies: Adolfo Kolmerer and William James’s SNOWFLAKE, the prodigal son of Pulp Fiction and Synecdoche NY, with producer Eric Sonnenburg here for the sceening; Thomas Berg and Frederik Waldeland’s super-weird, laugh-out-loud VAMPYR VIDAR; and Jimmy Henderson’s JAILBREAK with its roots in HK martial arts cinema, Jean Paul Ly’s choreography, dynamic camerawork, and the incisive power of a Tony Jaa elbow strike.
IF also shines a spotlight on BLUE UNDERGROUND, Bill Lustig’s distribution company, with the 4K restoration of Gary Sherman’s DEATH LINE, a direct transfer from the camera negative—as close as you can get to a director’s true vision! Another new 4K transfer, Bob Clark’s DEAD BY NIGHT, offers a deep meditation on the effects of war …with a zombie trope.
Along with this incredible lineup, IF will also present its 2017 art show: THE STRANGE COLORS OF GILLES VRANCKX featuring the work of the Belgian poster genius behind art for Amer, The Strange Colors of Your Body’s Tears, LET THE CORPSES TAN, and more.
-
Alexander Payne’s DOWNSIZING to Close + Final Wave of Films Announced for 2017 Fantastic Fest
[caption id="attachment_24425" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
DOWNSIZING[/caption]
The 2017 Fantastic Fest announced its final wave of films, along with Alexander Payne’s miniature masterpiece DOWNSIZING as the closing night film. Rounding out a trio of Fantastic-Fest first-timers making their way to Austin is Cory Finley and his jaw dropping debut THOROUGHBRED, and fan-favorite tough guy extraordinaire Frank Grillo for the World Premiere of his nail-biting getaway drama, WHEELMAN.
In keeping with world premieres, Fantastic Fest announced a fistful of titles that will receive their big screen bows. Screen great Barbara Crampton will be in attendance with director Bradford Baruh for a ride in his chilling APPLECART, featuring over forty minutes of zero gravity footage; Russia’s SALYUT-7 is guaranteed to pop 3D eyes; HAUNTERS: THE ART OF THE SCARE walks us through the world’s most terrifying haunted houses; and TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID delivers a contemporary fairytale from within the world of the mexican cartels.
“I’m incredibly proud of the vast array of filmmaking on display in this year’s program,” said Fantastic Fest Creative Director Evrim Ersoy. “From the most highly acclaimed studio titles to the smallest independent debuts, it’s exhilarating to embrace unique creativity from the four corners of the world. Bringing filmmakers together in a program that highlights the increasing diversity of cinema is truly an honor that we can’t wait to share with our audience.”
Female filmmakers once again deliver powerful voices with three of the most dynamic films of the festival. Angel Robinson will be in attendance to share the controversially kinky true story behind the year’s biggest superhero with PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN; Lisa Bruhlmann makes a stunning entrance with her fantastical coming-of-age debut BLUE MY MIND; and not to be outdone, first time feature-maker Coralie Fargeat turns the revenge genre upside down with her outrageous femme fatale fiesta, REVENGE.
A mainstay of Fantastic Fest has been showcasing world cinema’s finest exports and this year is no exception. Asia basks in the glory of master Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s return to the apocalyptic fold with BEFORE WE VANISH (Japan), while his countryman Sôichi Umezawa delivers the outlandish midnight spectacle of VAMPIRE CLAY (Japan). South Korea represents with the year’s toughest crime caper, THE MERCILESS, and serial killer shocker V.I.P., while NYAFF award-winner BAD GENIUS represents Thailand. And Taiwan shows school students no mercy with the hyper-violent MON MON MON MONSTERS. Not to be outdone, Europe comes out swinging with Hungarian auteur Kornél Mundruczó’s follow up to WHITE GOD, the stunning JUPITER’S MOON, French filmmakers Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani splash their hyper-stylized western LET THE CORPSES TAN across the screen and Norway’s Joachim Trier delivers one of the most quietly impressive films of the year, the assured THELMA.
The world premiere of Don Hertzfeldt’s WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE 2: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS highlights an animated sidebar that pushes the medium into brave new spaces. Rounding out the fantastical trio is the debut feature from Studio Ponoc, MARY AND THE WITCHES FLOWER, from ex Studio Ghibli key animator Hiromasa Yonebayashi, and JUNK HEAD, Takahide Hori’s claymation feature that took him over seven years to complete, entirely by himself.
American Genre Film Archive makes its triumphant return to Fantastic Fest with two movies that will rot your libido in the best way. BAT PUSSY, the world’s first X-rated parody, shares the spotlight the world premiere of a brand new 2K transfer of one of the most sought-after lost films in the history of exploitation cinema in a very special secret screening. Additional rep titles include the world premiere of the Takashi Miike-approved 4K restoration of ICHI THE KILLER, the digital remaster of the seminal Indian cult movie BAASHA, and Jean Rollin’s THE NUDE VAMPIRE, presented by Kier-la Janisse in celebration of her new book Lost Girls: The Phantasmagorical Cinema of Jean Rollin.
True to form, Fantastic Fest will be re-writing reality once more with a crowded cornucopia of events that invade all corners of the fest. Gross-out grub-gorging spectacle Puke and Explode rumbles once more, notorious VHS archival warriors Everything is Terrible return with an all-new show to both delight and horrify. Comedy legend Gilbert Gottfried will be performing and screening the incredible biographical doc GILBERT, and the seminal Fantastic Debates marks its 10-year anniversary of polemic pugilism in spectacular fashion.
FINAL WAVE OF FILM:
AGFA + SOMETHING WEIRD PRESENT: BAT PUSSY and SECRET SCREENING American Genre Film Archive makes its triumphant return to Fantastic Fest with two movies that will rot your libido in the best way. BAT PUSSY, the world’s first X-rated parody, is what happens when an anonymous smut producer gets inspired by the 1960s BATMAN TV show but only has $5. It’s also what happens when your wildest dreams and most horrifying nightmares collide in an explosion of flaccid stupefaction. Next up, after years of detective work, AGFA presents the world premiere of a brand new 2K transfer of one of the most sought-after lost films in the history of exploitation cinema. LOST GIRLS Book Launch: THE NUDE VAMPIRE presented by Kier-la Janisse THE NUDE VAMPIRE France, 1970 Repertory, 88 min Director – Jean Rollin Jean Rollin’s THE NUDE VAMPIRE (1970) follows a sinister businessman who’s keeping a young vampire girl captive and experimenting on her in the hope that he finds the key to eternal life. The film will be screened in celebration of the launch of the new book from publisher Spectacular Optical, LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN, the first examination of Rollin’s work to be written by all women critics, scholars and film historians, and will be introduced by the book’s publisher Kier-La Janisse. 3FT BALL & SOULS Japan, 2017 International Premiere, 93 min Director – Yoshio Kato Four strangers come together to commit suicide using explosives. But they discover that every time they blow up, they’re sent back to just before they killed themselves. APPLECART USA, 2017 World Premiere, 86 min Director – Bradford Baruh An idyllic weekend vacation to a secluded cabin turns deadly when the Pollack family discovers an unconscious woman whose sinister plans will pit the family members against each other. BAASHA India, 1995 Repertory/International Premiere, 165 min Director – Suresh Krissna Superstar Rajinikanth plays a rickshaw driver with a history of violence in this genre-defining musical gangster romance epic from the director of AALAVANDHAN. BAD GENIUS Thailand, 2017 Texas Premiere, 130 min Director – Nattawut Poonpiriya A quartet of high school students are better at cheating than anything you’ve ever done in your life in this epic nail-biter about the standardized tests that level the playing field for all kids, smart and dumb, rich and poor. BEFORE WE VANISH Japan, 2017 North American Premiere, 129 min Director – Kiyoshi Kurosawa Kurosawa’s latest film is a sci-fi thriller about an invasion in which aliens must come to understand humanity through understanding human emotion — most importantly, our collective capacity for love. BLUE MY MIND Switzerland, 2017 North American Premiere, 97 min Director – Lisa Brühlmann BLUE MY MIND follows 15-year-old Mia (Luna Wedler) as she undergoes a life-changing transformation, one that leaves her examining her body and her very existence in a new light. BRIMSTONE & GLORY Mexico, USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 67 min Director – Viktor Jakovleski Tultepec is a small Mexican town that celebrates its love of fireworks with a yearly week-long festival. This festival is captured in a glorious documentary that is pure cinema. THE CURED Ireland, UK, France, 2017 US Premiere, 95 min Director – David Freyne A zombie virus has hit the world… but it has been cured. What’s next for the ex-zombies who have returned to normal? David Freyne’s debut feature throws lots of food for thought into the mouth of your mind. DARKLAND Denmark, 2017 US Premiere, 113 min Director – Fenar Ahmad An Iraqi doctor in Denmark seeks vigilante justice for his brother’s murder when the police come up short, biting off more than he can chew in a world of gangs, drugs and underground fight rings. FIRSTBORN Latvia, 2017 North American Premiere, 90 min Director – Aik Karapetian Provocative Latvian director Aik Karapetian returns to Fantastic Fest with a new thriller that explores how far a meek architect will go to protect his dignity in the eyes of his wife in the aftermath of an attack. FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES South Africa, 2017 US Premiere, 120 min Director – Michael Matthews A troubled young man returns to the town he fled as a youth and is forced to confront his past (and the town’s difficult future) in this gorgeous Xhosa language western. GEMINI USA, 2017 Special Screening, 93 min Director – Aaron Katz Our understandings of friendship, truth and celebrity are challenged when a heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant (Lola Kirke) and her Hollywood starlet boss (Zoe Kravitz) in Aaron Katz’s latest. GILBERT USA, 2017 Regional Premiere, 99 min Director – Neil Berkeley GILBERT is the story of Gilbert Gottfried as never seen before, both a behind-the-scenes documentary and a poignant look at the life of a comedian who has more layers than most people can imagine. GOOD MANNERS Brazil, France, 2017 North American Premiere, 135 min Directors – Juliana Rojas & Marco Dutra When lonely nurse Clara is hired as a nanny by wealthy Ana, she hardly expects anything like the friendship she finds with the lonely, pregnant woman. However, both women have dark secrets which will engulf all that they hold dear. HAUNTERS: THE ART OF THE SCARE USA, 2017 World Premiere, 88 min Director – Jon Schnitzer Delving behind the scenes of one of America’s most beloved seasonal pastimes, HAUNTERS shows the world of the people who make the scariest houses, mazes and experiences that range from the traditional to the controversial. ICHI THE KILLER – 4K RESTORATION Japan, 2001 Repertory/World Premiere of Restoration, 129 min Director – Takashi Miike The yakuza occupy a murky universe with more twists and turns than the Shinjuku alleys they call home. The mysterious disappearance of a Tokyo mob boss triggers a hunt to find him, dead or alive. The search leads to the city’s most depraved clubs and sex dens and eventually to Ichi, the schizophrenic hitman behind the crime. Even more shocking is the discovery that the mastermind who hired Ichi is a fellow gangster out for revenge. JUNK HEAD Japan, 2017 US Premiere, 114 min Director – Takahide Hori Humanity is dying. It’s been 1200 years since our rebellious clone workforce moved underground, and the only way we can survive is by plunging into the depths to learn more about our terrifying creations. JUPITER’S MOON Hungary, Germany, 2017 North American Premiere, 123 min Director – Kornél Mundruczó The most ambitious science fiction film of the year is also perhaps the most visually stunning. Aryan is a refugee who finds himself with the power to levitate after being shot. Stern is a disgraced, corrupt doctor. The two will meet and alter the entire world. LES AFFAMES Canada, 2017 US Premiere, 100 min Director – Robin Aubert In the remote Quebec countryside, things are not well. A plague has infected the land, affecting almost all the residents of a small village. The survivors have to navigate their new existence as well as deal with the infected with an appetite for flesh. LET THE CORPSES TAN Belgium, France, 2017 US Premiere, 92 min Directors – Hélène Cattet & Bruno Forzani On a beautiful corner of the Mediterranean, Rhino and his men take refuge after the robbery of 250 kilograms of gold. The plan is simple: Wait and split. But some unwanted visitors are about to turn this idyllic corner into a bloodbath. LETTERKENNY Canada, 2016 US Premiere, 151 min Director – Jacob Tierney The spiritual successors to STRANGE BREW’s Bob and Doug MacKenzie, the rural residents of the fictitious town of LETTERKENNY deliver a hysterical slice of Canadiana in the comedy phenomenon chronicling the daily problems of hicks, skids, hockey players and Christians. THE LINE Slovakia, Ukraine, 2017 North American Premiere, 112 min Director – Peter Bebjak One line is literal, the border between Slovakia and Ukraine. Criminal Adam Krajnak (Tomas Mastalir) crosses it often, smuggling product and people. The other line is metaphorical, and crossing it leads to a death spiral of violence and vengeance. LOVE AND SAUCERS USA/Canada, 2017 Texas Premiere, 67 min Director – Brad Abrahams David Huggins, a 72-year-old man who claims to have lost his virginity as a young man to an extraterrestrial being, turned to art to express his interspecies romance and lifelong relationship with the otherworldly. MARY AND THE WITCH’S FLOWER Japan, 2017 North American Premiere, 102 min Director – Hiromasa Yonebayashi Directing the first film out of Studio Ponoc, Hiromasa Yonebayashi (WHEN MARNIE WAS THERE) creates the dazzling and heartwarming story of an ordinary girl who becomes an extraordinary witch. THE MERCILESS South Korea, 2017 North American Premiere, 117 min Director – Byun Sung-hyun Cribbing liberally from the history of gangster films, Byun Sung-hyun’s hard-boiled Korean crime saga is filled with all manner of murder, deceit, double and triple crosses… and, oh yeah, slap-fighting. MOM AND DAD USA, 2017 US Premiere, 83 min Director – Brian Taylor Selma Blair and Nicolas Cage are seemingly ideal parents until an unknown force causes their town’s adults to murder their offspring. MON MON MON MONSTERS Taiwan, 2017 Regional Premiere, 112 min Director – Giddens Ko A bullied schoolboy is teamed up with his tormentors to do community social work. While on duty, they encounter a strange creature which they kidnap, and take bullying to a whole new level. THE PRINCE OF NOTHINGWOOD France, Germany, 2017 US Premiere, 85 min Director – Sonia Kronlund Meet Salim Shaheen: Afghani auteur, prolific actor and one-man moviemaking industry. Along with his trusted troupe of actors, he defies all the odds in the Middle East to fulfill his dreams of making movies. PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN USA, 2017 US Premiere, 108 min Director – Angela Robinson In a superhero origin tale unlike any other, this film is the incredible true story of what inspired Harvard psychologist Dr. William Moulton Marston to create the iconic Wonder Woman character in the 1940s. RABBIT Australia, 2017 International Premiere, 99 min Director – Luke Shanahan After a full year, Maude is still stricken by visions of her sister Cleo’s kidnapping. Believing that Cleo is still alive, Maude undergoes a suspenseful journey to find her in this stunning, atmospheric feature debut from Luke Shanahan. RADIUS Canada, 2017 US Premiere, 91 min Directors – Caroline Labrèche & Steeve Léonard When a man wakes up from a car crash with no memory of what happened, his first instinct is to find help. However, as he gets closer to civilization and other people, an ugly truth will rear its head and affect all those who surround him. REVENGE France, 2017 US Premiere, 108 min Director – Coralie Fargeat Three rich male thrill-seekers discover that Jennifer isn’t the human sex doll that they assumed she was when they invited her on their isolated hunting getaway. Jennifer teaches them fundamental lessons about consent in a manner that they — and we — won’t soon forget. RIFT Iceland, 2017 Texas Premiere, 111 min Director – Erlingur Thoroddsen After a phone call from his ex wakes him late one night, Gunnar drives out to a secluded vacation cottage to save Einar from himself, but what awaits him there is mystery and confusion. SALYUT-7 Russia, 2017 World Premiere, 119 min Director – Klim Shipenko Based on a true story, SALYUT-7 is the little-known mission to dock with an unmanned space station in order to stop it from crashing into Earth, a feat never before attempted in space history. THELMA Norway, 2017 Texas Premiere, 116 min Director – Joachim Trier A conservative young woman attending college in Oslo begins to fall in love while discovering her burgeoning supernatural powers in a stunning new film from Norway. THOROUGHBRED USA, 2017 Austin Premiere, 92 min Director – Cory Finley Two teenage girls in suburban Connecticut rekindle their unlikely friendship after years of growing apart. In the process, they learn that neither is what she seems to be, and that a murder might solve both of their problems. TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID Mexico, 2017 World Premiere, 83 min Director – Issa López When her mother suddenly disappears with no one to care for her, young Estrella ends up on the street and joins a gang of children, triggering a dangerous and tragic chain of events in the third feature from Mexican filmmaker Lopez. UNDER THE TREE Iceland, Denmark, Poland, Germany, 2017 US Premiere, 89 min Director – Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson On the outskirts of Reykjavik, the shadow cast by a tree triggers a feud between two neighboring families, with tragic and darkly comic consequences. V.I.P. South Korea, 2017 International Premiere, 128 min Director – Hoon-jung Park A notorious serial killer who happens to be the son of a defecting DPRK official sends South Korea’s National Intelligence, police from both states and even international brass into a mad political scramble in this thrilling neo-noir. VAMPIRE CLAY Japan, 2017 US Premiere, 80 min Director – Soichi Umezawa A class of art school hopefuls is stalked by blood-thirsty, flesh-hungry clay in this bizarre practical effects-heavy horror assault from THE ABCs OF DEATH 2 segment director and longtime special makeup effects artist Umezawa. VIDAR THE VAMPIRE Norway, 2017 Texas Premiere, 82 min Directors – Thomas Aske Berg & Fredrik Waldeland Christian farmer Vidar has a boring life, living with his mom and tending sheep. When he wishes for more excitement he wakes up undead, hangs out with vampire Jesus and discovers that sometimes the party can go on too long. WHEELMAN USA, 2017 World Premiere, 82 min Director – Jeremy Rush Frank Grillo (KINGDOM; CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR) stars as the wheelman, a getaway driver thrust into a high stakes race to survive after a bank robbery goes terribly wrong. With a car full of money and his family on the line, the clock is ticking to figure out who double-crossed him and the only person he can trust… his 14-year-old daughter. All reasons to think fast and drive faster. WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE TWO: THE BURDEN OF OTHER PEOPLE’S THOUGHTS USA, 2017 World Premiere, 22 min Director – Don Hertzfeldt The highly anticipated follow-up to Don Hertzfeldt’s Oscar-nominated WORLD OF TOMORROW finds Emily Prime swept into the brain of an incomplete backup clone of her future self, who’s on a mission to reboot her broken mind. Continuing the tradition of the first film, WORLD OF TOMORROW EPISODE TWO was written entirely around candid audio recordings of Hertzfeldt’s five-year-old niece.
-
Fantasia 2017 Unveils Poster and First Wave of Films, Opens with Action Thriller THE VILLAINESS
The Fantasia International Film Festival celebrates its 21st Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 13-August 2, 2017, with its Frontières International Co-Production Market and Industry Rendez-Vous Weekend being held July 20-23. The full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced July 5. In the meantime, the festival is excited to reveal a selected First Wave of titles, along with several special happenings.
In celebration of Montreal’s 375th anniversary, veteran Fantasia artist Donald Caron has created a poster the festival describes as “a visual love letter to our city with a piece that truly speaks for itself.”
[caption id="attachment_22723" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
THE VILLAINESS[/caption]
Fantasia 2017 will start with a thunderous smash! After leaving the Cannes audience absolutely mesmerized with its groundbreaking and spectacular fight scenes and Kim Ok-vin’s ferocious, yet poignant interpretation, Jung Byung-gil’s action thriller THE VILLAINESS (North American Premiere) will be the Opening Film of this year’s edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival.
Following this astonishing jolt of raw adrenaline, who else than the Grand Maestro of international genre cinema could keep the pace? Fantasia favorite Takashi Miike, who received a well deserved Lifetime Achievement Award last year, will once again please his hordes of Montreal fans with the exuberant JOJO’S BIZARRE ADVENTURE: DIAMOND IS UNBREAKABLE (North American Premiere), masterfully adapted from Hirohiko Kitakubo’s cult manga and featuring a stellar cast led by Kento Yamazaki.
This Summer, Fantasia will be saluting the groundbreaking work of independent American filmmaker Larry Cohen. Widely recognized as one of the godfathers of progressive, socially conscious genre cinema with such individualistic landmarks as the IT’S ALIVE films, BLACK CASEAR, Q, and THE STUFF, in addition to his distinctive screenwriting work for a plethora of other filmmakers, Cohen’s output has always been smart, character-driven, and boldly confrontational.
Larry Cohen will be awarded before the World Premiere of Steve Mitchell’s KING COHEN, a phenomenal documentary about the filmmaker’s extraordinary history and work, that features appearances by Martin Scorsese, John Landis, Yaphet Kotto, J.J. Abrams, Fred Williamson, Rick Baker, Joe Dante, and Eric Bogosian, among many others.
Following our past live performance events of METROPOLIS and THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, Gabriel Thibaudeau and Fantasia are re-teaming for a presentation of a unique cinematographic concert of Paul Leni’s 1928 classic THE MAN WHO LAUGHS, rightfully recognized as an early masterpiece of horror cinema. Thibaudeau’s original score for the film, which has been performed worldwide over the past 20 years, from Paris to São Paulo, Tokyo to New York, will be interpreted live by a nine-piece orchestra under the direction of the composer, featuring the Quatuor Molinari. Do not miss this true homage to silent cinema’s golden age!
Georgian-born French filmmaker Géla Babluani created one of the most significant thrillers of the last 15 years with his enthralling debut, the classic 13 TZAMETI. Now, after a seven-year hiatus following that film’s 2010 US remake, he has returned with MONEY’S MONEY – a taut robbery thriller whose stellar cast includes Benoît Magimel, Olivier Rabourdin, Vincent Rottiers, and Féodor Atkine. Fantasia will proudly be showcasing the film’s World Premiere.
Fantasia’s Axis Section presents two new animated films by Japan’s Yuasa Masaaki, who will attend the festival in person. Masaaki’s 2004 opus MIND GAME, showcasing his free-spirited sensibility, remains an all-time animated highlight of the festival’s programming history. First up, a wild jumble of characters and events that come together on one strange night in Kyoto, in the madcap, musical romantic comedy NIGHT IS SHORT, WALK ON GIRL (International Premiere). And then there’s LU OVER THE WALL (North American Premiere) – boy meets mermaid in this manic anime mash-up of Gothic folklore, wild fantasy, and feelgood teenage J-pop jams!
Fantasia will be presenting a special screening of Luc Besson’s hotly anticipated fantasy spectacular VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS. Based on the adored French comic series by Pierre Christin and Jean-Claude Mézières, the film stars Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, and Rihanna – and promises to be one of the most visually extravagant genre works the screen has ever seen.
The lives of an addict, a Luchador, a cartel organ smuggler, and an ex-con collide in this wildly original crime/drama/blacker-than-black comedy/thriller that’s as informed by Mexican subcultures as it is by American cinema. A ferocious feature debut by Ryan Prows, LOWLIFE is one of the most gobsmacking crime film discoveries that we’ve come across in years. Beg, cheat, or steal to be at our World Premiere and witness the birth of an unforgettable instant classic.
Director Cho Sun-ho amazes with his masterfully crafted first feature film A DAY (International Premiere), which tells the story of a famous doctor stuck in a time loop where he must try to save his daughter from a fatal car accident over and over again. Going far beyond the GROUNDHOG DAY concept in terms of emotional implication and unpredictable twists, this riveting thriller will keep you on the very edge of your seat! Cho Sun-ho is definitely a name to remember!
Fantasia is proud to be presenting the World Premiere of FRIENDLY BEAST, a bold and brilliant feature debut from Brazilian writer/director Gabriela Amaral Almeida. Easily one of the most provocative works you’ll encounter this year, the film concerns a restaurant owner going over the edge when an armed robbery is attempted at his establishment. He holds everyone captive at gunpoint – criminals and customers alike – and situations corrode into a nightmare state, guided by manipulation and raw compulsion.
Ted Geoghegan’s sophomore feature, following 2015’s acclaimed WE ARE STILL HERE, confronts audiences with a very different kind of horror: our collective history. Set in 1814, MOHAWK tells the white-knuckle tale of two young Mohawk warriors and their British lover pursued by murderous American military renegades Hell-bent on blind revenge, and features a striking ensemble cast that includes Kaniehtiio Horn, Eamon Farren, Ezra Buzzington, Jonathan Huber (WWE Superstar Luke Harper), and Noah Segan. History often hurts, but sometimes it hits hard enough to kill.
The CAMERA LUCIDA Section is back at Fantasia for its eighth consecutive year! Opening with the Québec Premiere of David Lowery’s A GHOST STORY, a metaphysical exploration of love, longing, destiny and mortality that reunites the PETE’S DRAGON’s director with actors Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck, the section will once again showcase some of world cinema’s boldest and most innovative voices, at the very edge of genre cinema.
World premiering at Fantasia, Giordano Giulivi’s THE LAPLACE’S DEMON unfolds like an all-time great TWILIGHT ZONE episode directed by the three-headed offspring of Guy Maddin, Mario Bava, and Val Lewton! It will send you right over the edge with its unique mix of faux-vintage aesthetics, probabilistic science-fiction, and Gothic style. A total discovery, it beautifully balances pastiche, homage, and invention!
Also in the section, Yuya Ishii’s THE TOKYO NIGHT SKY IS ALWAYS THE DENSEST SHADE OF BLUE (Canadian Premiere) is an offbeat rom-com, a slacker dramedy, and a poetic ode to the Big City, all rolled into one virtuosic film from the director of THE GREAT PASSAGE, and based on the poetry of Tahi Saihate.
Geng Jun’s FREE AND EASY (also a Canadian Premiere) sees a soap salesman, a monk, and some lazy cops collide in a factory town in the Northeast of China. Putting the “dead” firmly back in deadpan, Geng’s comedy unfolds as an absurdist caper of Beckettian proportions, making for a great portrait of small-town crime in the wake of China’s rapid industrialization. The rest of this year’s Camera Lucida lineup will be revealed on July 5.
Years ago, Thailand gave the world ONG BAK. Then Indonesia surprised us with THE RAID. This year, it’s Cambodia’s turn to redefine the limits of action cinema with spectacular stunts and breathtaking fights at an unrelenting, frenetic pace. Explosively directed by Jimmy Henderson, JAILBREAK highlights the beauty and the know-how of a national cinema worth discovering. Don’t miss this!
YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, the hilarious feature debut of Spanish stunt coordinator Federico Cueva, who has worked extensively on the films of Alex de la Iglesia and Santiago Segura, is an explosive action/comedy that sees a framed con man (Peter Lanzani) having to impersonate an orthodox Jew in order to escape ruthless killers – played by Segura, Gerard Depardieu, and Hugo Silva! Fantasia offers you the chance to be the first to see this incredible actioner outside its home country!
Fantasia favorite Yuichi Fukuda (HK: FORBIDDEN SUPERHERO) is back, with his biggest film yet: GINTAMA, based on Hideaki Sorachi’s long-running, best-selling shonen manga series – adapted to the big screen in all its comedic, swashbuckling, fourth-wall-breaking glory! Fukuda runs completely wild with the manga’s many sight gags and extravagant costumes, in what proves to be at once a must for diehard fans and a treat for manga enthusiasts in general; a crash-course in live-action done right!
From the Oscar-winning director of THE COUNTERFEITERS and the ANATOMIE films comes the crushingly intense COLD HELL – a film that crackles with elements of Giallo, horror, thriller, and full-throttle action cinema, anchored with powerful doses of socio-political confrontation. A tough-as-nails Turkish taxi driver (Violetta Schurawlow) in Vienna witnesses a murder and finds herself stalked by a fundamentalist serial killer inspired by Islam. After a lifetime of being under siege, she’s not about to run from anyone. What follows is anything but the usual cat and mouse formula, as ideology and hate clash up against ferocious, end-of-the-rope anger.
Danish madmen Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam became a comedy team for the ages in the unforgettable KLOWN series – the first film having won a Cheval Noir at Fantasia, where it had its North American Premiere. Now, they’re together again, as co-writers and stars, in Jesper Rofelt’s DAN DREAM, an ‘80s-set comedy about a group of eccentric men striving to make an electric car. Fantasia’s audience will be the very first to see the film outside of Denmark. Get excited!
If Nicolas Machiavelli would’ve written a comic book with an edgy sense of humor, it would look like Usamaru Furuya’s manga Teiichi no Kuni. Akira Nagai, director of the Fantasia 2016 success IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD, adapts this witty mix of political satire and coming of age story without falling one second into outrageous cynicism. With a dynamic performance from actor Masaki Suda who bring just enough humanity to his aspiring politician character, TEIICHI: BATTLE OF THE SUPREME HIGH (North American Premiere) is the perfect film to maintain a bit of sanity in today’s political context.
[caption id="attachment_19876" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
BRIGSBY BEAR[/caption]
After celebrating its World Premiere at Sundance and its European launch at Cannes (Critic’s Week), Dave McCary’s extraordinary BRIGSBY BEAR will have its Canadian bow at Fantasia. Brigsby Bear Adventures is a children’s TV show produced for an audience of one: James (Kyle Mooney). When the show abruptly ends, James’s life changes forever, and he sets out to finish the story himself. Co-starring Mark Hamill, Claire Danes, and Greg Kinnear, BRIGSBY BEAR is an inventive and touching outsider comedy about the power of storytelling that easily ranks among the most charming films you’ll encounter this year.
Liu Jian’s award-winning 2010 debut, PIERCING 1, marked him as China’s first world-class independent animator, and established an austere, understated visual style and caustic social commentary that has carried through to his latest. Making its Canadian Premiere at Fantasia 2017, Liu’s bold second feature, the Berlinale breakout HAVE A NICE DAY is a bitter, bitingly funny slice of low-key neo-noir, in which a memorable bunch of nobodies chase a bag of cash and strike hopeless bargains with fate.
ADDITIONAL FIRST WAVE TITLES INCLUDE:
68 KILL
USA – Dir: Trent Haaga
Matthew Gray Gubler and AnnaLynne McCord incinerate the screen in this crazy scumbag thrill-ride of white-trash crime and kink that manages to subversively play with gender and be a toxic anti-romantic bloodbath of a comedy in the same breathless blow. Winner: Audience Award (Midnighters), SXSW 2017. Canadian Premiere.
BAD GENIUS
Thailand – Dir: Nattawut Poonpiriya
When Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) discovers that her academic skills can bring her thousands of baht if she helps her wealthy friends cheat at exams, she elaborates a complex scheme. What if OCEAN’S ELEVEN would somehow meet THE BREAKFAST CLUB? Well, it happened! A breathtaking coming-of-age thriller that is way smarter than anything you can expect! Official Selection: New York Asian Film Festival. Canadian Premiere.
BASTARD SWORDSMAN
Hong Kong – Dir: Tony Liu
Who will truly master the silkworm technique and bring balance to the martial world? The last surviving 35mm copy of the Shaw Brothers gem will blast you with its avalanche of unfettered lunacy. First Canadian screening in 30 years!
BITCH
USA – Dir: Marianna Palka
The provocative tale of a woman (Palka) who snaps under crushing life pressures and assumes the psyche of a vicious dog. A sharp, feminist satire that’s alternately uncomfortably funny and confrontational with a warrior soul, BITCH is a stunning achievement in every sense. Official Selection: Sundance 2017, Chicago Critics Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
DEAD MAN TELLS HIS OWN TALE
Argentina – Dir: Fabián Forte
Misogynist alpha male Angel has it all – money, power, family, sex. His only problem is, he’s dead. Gender politics are unpacked in Fabián Forte’s subversive black comedy dosed with unexpected terror. Official Selection: Morbido 2016, Fantasporto 2017. Canadian Premiere.
DEAD SHACK
Canada – Dir: Peter Ricq
A rural Canadian mix of DEAD ALIVE, SCOUTS GUIDE TO THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE, and ’80s kids’ movies! Director Peter Ricq (creator of the animated series FREAKTOWN) keeps things fast, light, and full of fight. Official Selection: Neuchetal Fantastic Film Festival 2017, Lund 2017. North American Premiere.
THE ENDLESS
USA – Dir: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorehead
Two brothers return to the cult they fled from years ago to discover that the group’s beliefs may be more sane than they once thought. SPRING and RESOLUTION announced Benson and Moorehead as unconventional genre forces to be reckoned with. THE ENDLESS – in which the gifted filmmaking duo also star – confirms their brilliance beyond any question. Official Selection: Tribeca 2017. Canadian Premiere.
GAME OF DEATH
Canada – Dir: Sebastien Landry and Laurence Baz Morias
A hard-partying pack of teens are forced into a desperate game of kill-or-be-killed after playing the wrong retro game in this high-energy, blood-spattered brainchild of Montreal filmmakers Sebastien Landry and Laurence Baz Morais. Official Selection: SXSW 2017, Jeonju International Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
KILLING GROUND
Australia – Dir: Damien Power
A young couple (Harriet Dyer; Ian Medows) on a romantic getaway in the Australian wilderness encounter a dangerous pair of locals (Aaron Pedersen; Aaron Glenane) and a make deadly discovery in this inventively intense thriller that brings audiences back to the glory days of Aussie genre cinema and sun-drenched outback horror. Official Selection: Sundance Film Festival. Canadian Premiere.
KODOKU MEATBALL MACHINE
Japan – Dir: Yoshihiro Nishimura
People are turning into bizarre organic/mechanical creatures who terrorize the last survivors of a decimated, dome-covered Tokyo. Yoshihiro Nishimura (TOKYO GORE POLICE), Japan’s master of extreme make-up effects, is back with more of his gory creativity and his formidable capacity to create hellish – but funny – monsters. Official Selection: SXSW 2017, Night Visions 2017, The Overlook Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
MAYHEM
USA – Dir: Joe Lynch
Amid a frightening viral outbreak that leaves the infected temporarily unable to control their impulses – and subsequently not criminally responsible for their behaviour – a lawyer (THE WALKING DEAD’s Steven Yeun) and shafted homeowner (Samara Weaving) fight to confront the top executives who wronged them. A cheerfully ferocious middle finger salute to cutthroat corporate culture. Official Selection: SXSW 2017. Canadian Premiere.
M.F.A.
USA – Dir: Natalia Leite
After being sexually assaulted by a fellow classmate, an art student (Francesca Eastwood) becomes an avenging vigilante, refusing the vulnerability of victimization and exacting cold-blooded – and bloody – revenge. Official Selection SXSW 2017, Galway Film Fleadh 2017. Canadian Premiere.
MON MON MON MONSTERS
Taiwan – Dir: Giddens Ko
In a shabby Taipei neighborhood plagued by nocturnal killings, four teenage boys find trouble… and trouble finds them. A twisted coming-of-age film from the writer of MACHI ACTION and an impressive blend of genres, bouncing from comedy to horror in matters of seconds without ever making a mess. Official selection: Hong Kong International Film Festival 2017, Udine Far East Film Festival 2017, New York Asian Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
MUSEUM
Japan – Dir: Keishi Ohtomo
Fantasia favorite Keishi Ohtomo (the RUROUNI KENSHIN trilogy) is back with MUSEUM, based on Ryosuke Tomoe’s 2013 manga of the same name. It’s overworked cop vs. sadistic, frog-headed killer in this gruesome and deranged, horror-tinged thriller in the tradition of David Fincher’s SE7EN! Official Selection: Sitges 2016, Busan 2016. Canadian Premiere.
MY FRIEND DAHMER
USA – Dir: Marc Meyers
Ross Lynch stars in the haunting, sad, funny, and true story of Jeffrey Dahmer in high school, based on Derf Backderf’s critically acclaimed 2012 graphic novel of the same name and Meyers’s own 2014 Black List script. Also starring Anne Heche, Dallas Roberts, and Vincent Kartheiser. Official Selection: Tribeca 2017. Canadian Premiere.
NAPPING PRINCESS
Japan – Dir: Kenji Kamiyama
The divide between teenage Kokone’s fanciful reveries and the real world is crumbling in NAPPING PRINCESS, a sleek Japanese anime that blends steampunk fantasy and plugged-in techno-thrillers. From acclaimed director Kenji Kamiyama (GHOST IN THE SHELL: SAC, CYBORG 009, and EDEN OF THE EAST). Canadian Premiere.
NIGHT OF THE VIRGIN
Spain – Dir: Roberto San Sebastián
The first time is often clumsy and awkward, but for Nico the virgin, it’s the beginning of an endless nightmare. An unmissable comedy/horror rollercoaster of blood and lust that features some of the most grotesquely imaginative grossouts we’ve seen in years. Official Selection: Fantaspoa 2017, FrightFest 2017. Canadian Premiere.
PORK PIE
New Zealand – Dir: Matt Murphy
A trio of young misfits in pursuit of lost love race the length of the country in a stolen Mini Cooper S. Avoiding the law and with nothing to lose, they become folk heroes and most wanted criminals as they find themselves caught in the crosshairs of a media frenzy and escalating police operation. North American Premiere.
REPLACE
Germany/Canada – Dir: Norbert Keil
Afflicted with a dermatological disease, young and beautiful Kira discovers she can replace her skin with that of other girls. REPLACE is a visually sumptuous and grotesque horror/science-fiction creation, co-scripted by Richard Stanley and co-starring genre legend Barbara Crampton. Canadian Premiere.
RON GOOSSENS, LOW-BUDGET STUNTMAN
Netherlands – Dir: Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kuil
A failed stunt makes Ron Goossens an overnight national celebrity in Holland, in the incendiary new comedy from the team who gave you the insane NEW KIDS films! Official Selection: Fantaspoa 2017, Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival 2017. North American Premiere.
SEQUENCE BREAK
USA – Dir: Graham Skipper
A loner’s budding romance is menaced by a mysterious arcade game that’s a portal to the cosmos in this masterful melding of retro ’80s horror nostalgia and Lovecraftian doom. The directorial debut of actor Graham Skipper (THE MIND’S EYE), SEQUENCE BREAK won Best Feature Film at the 2017 Chattanooga Film Festival. International Premiere.
SPLIT
South Korea – Dir: Choi Kook-hee
A fallen bowling champion (OLDBOY’s Yoo Ji-tae) attempts to team up with an autistic prodigy (POETRY’s David Lee) to rack big money with underground bowling gambles. Built like a genuine sports drama, SPLIT has way more to offer than the traditional competition story… but it will still make you cheer for the protagonists until the end credits! Official Selection: New York Asian Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
SUPER DARK TIMES
USA – Dir: Kevin Phillips
An emotionally incinerating and strangely dream-like gaze into the shadowy crevices of teenage psychology, directed with vivid imagination, telling a powerful story about adolescence’s end and the darkening of innocence, friendship, loyalty… and murder. Official Selection: Rotterdam Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
THOUSAND CUTS
France – Dir: Eric Valette
From the maker of MALEFIQUE and ONE MISSED CALL comes a compelling story about wine, drugs, neighbors, neophobia, and politics, in which a hitman seeks a place to hide. Starring Tomer Sisley (SLEEPLESS NIGHT). Official Selection: Rotterdam Film Festival 2017. North American Premiere.
TOKYO IDOLS
UK/Canada/Japan – Dir: Kyoko Miyake
“Idols”, girl bands and their pop music, permeate every moment of Japanese life. TOKYO IDOLS peeks behind the curtains of this industry, explores a cultural phenomenon driven by an obsession with young female sexuality, and the growing disconnect between men and women in hyper-modern societies. Official Selection: Sundance 2017, Hot Docs 2017, DOXA 2017, Japan Cuts 2017. Québec Premiere.
TOM OF FINLAND
Finland – Dir: Dome Karukoski
Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski (LAPLAND ODYSSEY) brings the life and work of one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth century gay culture to the screen in this extraordinary story of revolution and acceptance through counter-cultural art. Official Selection: Goteborg Film Festival 2017, Edinburgh International Film Festival 2017, Tribeca 2017. Canadian Premiere.
VAMPIRE CLEANUP DEPARTMENT
Hong Kong – Dir: Yan Pak-Wing and Chiu Sin-Hang
A motley crew of misfits tackle the bloodthirsty hopping vampires descending on Hong Kong! Laughter, kung fu, horror, and insanity, with a gallery of HK icons! Official Selection: Udine Far East Film Festival 2017, Bucheon International Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
WHAT A WONDERFUL FAMILY! 2
Japan – Dir: Yoji Yamada
The Hirata family is back, and Grandpa is acting up again! This sequel reunites legendary director Yoji Yamada (of the TORA-SAN series) with the exceptional cast of the first film for another round of hilarious, multi-generational slapstick comedy! Official Selection: Beijing International Film Festival 2017, Shanghai International Film Festival 2017. Canadian Premiere.
WU KONG
China/Hong Kong – Dir: Derek Kwok
Award-winning director Derek Kwok (GALLANTS) reboots the famous Monkey King legend from the popular novel, with fresh vigour of epic proportions that you’ll love for 10,000 years. To be released during the same week in China and North America. Québec Premiere.
-
2017 New York Asian Film Festival Unveils Lineup, BAD GENIUS, BIRDSHOT, THE VILLAINESS and More
[caption id="attachment_22573" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]
Bad Genius[/caption]
The 16th New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF) will take place from June 30 to July 13 at the Film Society and July 14 to 16 at the SVA Theatre. North America’s leading festival of popular Asian cinema will showcase 57 feature films, including 3 International Premieres, 21 North American Premieres, 4 U.S. Premieres, and 15 films making their New York City debuts.
This year, all three of NYAFF’s Gala screenings are brilliant reinventions of the thriller genre. The Opening Gala will be the International Premiere of Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Bad Genius, the first Southeast Asian film to open the festival, with the director and stars in attendance. In this exhilarating high school thriller, straightA students Lynn (Chutimon Chuengcharoensukying) and Bank (Chanon Santinatornkul) stage a heist that will undermine the U.S. university entrance system after they lose their own scholarships. The Centerpiece Gala of the festival will be the North American Premiere of Mikhail Red’s Birdshot, a continuation of the festival programmers’ efforts to champion films from Southeast Asia, and the Philippines in particular. The Closing Gala is the U.S. Premiere of Jung Byunggil’s The Villainess, fresh from its Midnight screening in Cannes. The adrenaline soaked action film stars Kim Okvin as a ruthless female assassin trained in China who starts a new life with South Korea’s Intelligence Agency.
New to NYAFF in 2017 is the Main Competition section, featuring seven diverse works by first or second time directors that are all having their North American premieres at the festival. Competing are Bad Genius (Thailand), Birdshot (Philippines), A Double Life (Japan), The Gangster’s Daughter (Taiwan), Kfc (Vietnam), Jane (South Korea), and With Prisoners (Hong Kong). The competition jury will be announced at a later date, with winners revealed on the festival’s final night at Film Society of Lincoln Center on July 13.
More now than ever, Hong Kong cinema is at the core of the festival’s programming: faithful to its Chinatown origins, this year’s edition celebrates the best filmmaking from the Special Administrative Region with a central Hong Kong Panorama section, commemorating the 20th anniversary of its establishment, with major support from the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in New York. Over the past two decades, Hong Kong cinema has continuously influenced and inspired many filmmakers in Asia and in the world. This year’s lineup proves the originality and excellence of its production is intact: from a powerful condemnation of life inside the territory’s juvenile detention centers (With Prisoners), to a wartime epic about resistance heroes during the Japanese occupation (Our Time Will Come), to a tale of corruption and redemption set in the underbelly of 1960s Hong Kong (Dealer/Healer), the films bear testimony to the city’s rich cinema history.
The core of the panorama will be a special (and first of its kind) focus on the exciting new generation of directors, titled Young Blood Hong Kong. As part of the 20th anniversary, the festival is looking to the future of Hong Kong cinema, rather than its past: these recent Hong Kong directors are working in various genres, tackling a range of social issues, and paying homage to the film traditions they grew up with, from tenement dramas to vampire comedies. Meanwhile, NYAFF continues to bring established, major filmmakers from the region: Lawrence Lau, who, along with Ann Hui, is one of Hong Kong’s best neorealist directors, will be introducing his star studded crime action drama Dealer/Healer; the Panorama will spotlight the new generation from the region with guest filmmaker Wong Chun and screenwriter Florence Chan with Mad World, Derek Hui with This Is Not What I Expected, and Alan Lo with Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight. Other films by first time Hong Kong directors in this year’s lineup are Derek Tsang’s Soul Mate, Yan Pakwing and Chiu Sinhang’s Vampire Cleanup Department, and Andrew Wong’s With Prisoners.
The 2017 lineup also includes five LGBTQ themed films: two dramas with transsexual protagonists, Naoko Ogigami’s CloseKnit from Japan, and Cho Hyunhoon’s drama Jane from South Korea; two coming of age high school youth dramas, Ahn Jungmin’s Fantasy of the Girls from South Korea, and Leste Chen’s 2006 Eternal Summer from Taiwan, which merits a second look a decade on; and Lee Sangil’s wild and violent mystery thriller Rage, featuring Go Ayano (NYAFF 2016 Rising Star Asia awardee) as a homeless stranger invited into the home of a semi closeted salaryman (Satoshi Tsumabuki) as his live in lover.
Another highlight of this year’s festival are three films that celebrate Japan’s unique “Roman Porno” genre, each having their North American premieres: Aroused by Gymnopedies, Dawn of the Felines, and Wet Woman in the Wind. Nikkatsu, Japan’s oldest film studio, is celebrating 45 years since they birthed the soft core Roman Porno genre (roman derives from the French word for novel). Invented to save a dying industry, they gave carte blanche to directors with minimal rules: keep it under 80 minutes with a sex scene every ten. This allowed for wild stream of consciousness works of both the highest and lowest caliber. Now, Nikkatsu has enlisted top contemporary talent for the Roman Porno Reboot Project, taking the provocative, envelope pushing format to a whole new level.
In addition to the festival’s screenings, the NYAFF awards a number of honorees each year, including this year’s recipients:
The 2017 NYAFF Lifetime Achievement Award goes to veteran Hong Kong actor Tony Leung Kafai, who will attend a three film tribute, including Johnnie To’s Election, Longman Leung & Sunny Luk’s Cold War 2 and Tsui’s Hark’s The Taking of Tiger Mountain 3D. In a career spanning 35 years, Leung has worked with the iconic directors Li Hanhsiang, Wong Karwai, Stanley Kwan, and JeanJacques Annaud, and starred opposite the screen legends Jackie Chan, Leslie Cheung, Maggie Cheung, Andy Lau, Jet Li, and Fan Bingbing. Leung was arguably the first Hong Kong star to become an international heartthrob, in JeanJacques Annaud’s The Lover.
THe Star Asia Award recipient is Korean movie star Gang Dongwon, whose charisma and emotional investment in his performances gives his films a unique edge. His most iconic films include Lee Myungse’s Duelist, Park Jinpyo’s Voice of a Murderer, and Jang Hoon’s Secret Reunion. Last year, NYAFF presented two of his films, The Priests and A Violent Prosecutor, and in 2017, the festival will be joined by Gang to present a special screening of the magical fable Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned.
The Screen International Rising Star Asia Award will be given to Thailand’s Chutimon “Aokbab” Chuengcharoensukying. The 21 year old model, who is still a student at Bangkok’s Chulalongkorn University, found fame last year in Thank You for Sharing, an eight minute, viral short about cyberbullying. The NYAFF is opening with her feature debut, Bad Genius, in which she stars as a high school student who masterminds an ambitious heist of the American university entrance exam system. It’s a demanding role, in which her quick witted character must navigate a complex moral universe where parents and teachers don’t always know best.
FULL LINEUP (57)
Titles in bold are included in the Main CompetitionCHINA (6)
Battle of Memories (Leste Chen, 2017) Blood of Youth (Yang Shupeng, 2016) Duckweed (Han Han, 2017) Extraordinary Mission (Alan Mak & Anthony Pun, 2017) Someone to Talk to (Liu Yulin, 2016) Soul on a String (Zhang Yang, 2016)HONG KONG PANORAMA (11)
Cold War 2 (Longman Leung, Sunny Luk, 2016) Dealer/Healer (Lawrence Lau, 2017) Election (Johnnie To, 2005) Mad World (Wong Chun, 2016) Our Time Will Come (Ann Hui, 2017) Soul Mate (Derek Tsang, 2016) The Taking of Tiger Mountain (Tsui Hark, 2014) This Is Not What I Expected (Derek Hui, 2017) Vampire Cleanup Department (Yan Pakwing, Chiu Sinhang, 2017) With Prisoners (Andrew Wong, 2017) Zombiology: Enjoy Yourself Tonight (Alan Lo, 2017)JAPAN (15)
Aroused by Gymnopedies (Isao Yukisada, 2016) CloseKnit (Naoko Ogigami, 2017) Dawn of the Felines (Kazuya Shiraishi, 2016) Destruction Babies (Tetsuya Mariko, 2016) A Double Life (Yoshiyuki Kishi, 2016) Happiness (Sabu, 2016) Japanese Girls Never Die (Daigo Matsui, 2016) The Long Excuse (Miwa Nishikawa, 2016) Love and Other Cults (Eiji Uchida, 2017) The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio (Takashi Miike, 2016) Rage (Lee Sangil, 2016) Suffering of Ninko (Norihiro Niwatsukino, 2016) Survival Family (Shinobu Yaguchi, 2017) Traces of Sin (Kei Ishikawa, 2016) Wet Woman in the Wind (Akihiro Shiota, 2016)SOUTH KOREA (11)
Fabricated City (Park Kwanghyun, 2017) Fantasy of the Girls (Ahn Jungmin, 2016) Jane (Cho Hyunhoon, 2016) Ordinary Person (Kim Bonghan, 2017) A Quiet Dream (Zhang Lu, 2016) A Single Rider (Lee Jooyoung, 2017) Split (Choi Kookhee, 2016) The Tooth and the Nail (Jung Sik, Kim Whee, 2017) The Truth Beneath (Lee Kyoungmi, 2016) Vanishing Time: A Boy Who Returned (Uhm Taehwa, 2016) The Villainess (Jung Byunggil, 2017)SOUTHEAST ASIA (6)
Bad Genius (Nattawut Poonpiriya, Thailand, 2017) Birdshot (Mikhail Red, Philippines, 2016) Kfc (Le Binh Giang, Vietnam, 2017) Mrs. K (Ho Yuhang, Malaysia, 2016) Saving Sally (Avid Liongoren, Philippines, 2016) Town in a Lake (Jet Leyco, Philippines, 2015)TAIWAN (6)
Eternal Summer (Leste Chen, 2006) The Gangster’s Daughter (Chen Meijuin, 2017) Godspeed (Chung Monghong, 2016) Mon Mon Mon Monsters (Giddens, 2017) The Road to Mandalay (Midi Z, 2016) The Village of No Return (Chen Yuhsun, 2017)DOCUMENTARIES (2)
Bamseom Pirates Seoul Inferno (Jung Yoonsuk, 2017) Mrs. B., A North Korean Woman (Jero Yun, 2016)