AFI FEST 2015 announced the films that will screen in the World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight, Shorts and Cinema’s Legacy programs.
AFI FEST will take place November 5–12, 2015, in the heart of Hollywood.
World Cinema showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year; Breakthrough highlights true discoveries of the programming process; Midnight selections will grip audiences with terror; and Cinema’s Legacy highlights classic movies and films about cinema. World Cinema and Breakthrough selections are among the films eligible for Audience Awards. Shorts selections are eligible for the Grand Jury Prize, which qualifies the winner for Academy Award® consideration.
WORLD CINEMA SELECTIONS (29 Titles)
The World Cinema section showcases the most acclaimed international films of the year.
AFERIM! – This Romanian Western is an odyssey through the landscape of feudal Eastern Europe, following a father and son on a mission to find a gypsy. DIR Radu Jude. SCR Radu Jude, Florin Lazarescu. CAST Teodor Corban, Mihai Comanoiu, Cuzin Toma, Alexandru Dabija, Alexandru Bindea, Luminița Gheorghiu, Victor Rebengiuc, Alberto Dinache, Mihaela Sîrbu. Romania/Bulgaria/Czech Republic
BLOOD OF MY BLOOD (SANGUE DEL MIO SANGUE) – In this dual narrative, lust plays out in a 17th-century convent and a modern-day count lives a bizarre life within those same walls. DIR Marco Bellocchio. SCR Marco Bellocchio. CAST Roberto Herlitzka, Pier Giorgio Bellocchio, Lidiya Liberman, Fausto Russo Alesi, Alba Rohrwacher, Federica Fracassi, Alberto Cracco, Bruno Cariello, Toni Bertorelli, Filippo Timi, Elena Bellocchio, Ivan Franek, Patrizia Bettini, Sebastiano Filocamo, Alberto Bellocchio. Italy/France/Switzerland. U.S. Premiere
CHEVALIER – In this wonderfully absurdist farce, six men at sea play a strange game that measures every aspect of who they are. DIR Athina Rachel Tsangari. SCR Athina Rachel Tsangari, Efthimis Filippou. CAST Yorgos Kentros, Panos Koronis, Vangelis Mourikis, Makis Papadimitriou, Yorgos Pirpassopoulos, Sakis Rouvas, Yiannis Drakopoulos, Nikos Orfanos, Kostas Philippoglou. Greece
CHRONIC – Tim Roth stars as an end-of-life caregiver who struggles with the intense relationships he develops with his patients. DIR Michel Franco. SCR Michel Franco. CAST Tim Roth, Robin Bartlett, Michael Cristofer, Sarah Sutherland, Nailea Norvind, Rachel Pickup, David Dastmalchian, Bitsie Tulloch. Mexico/France
THE CLAN (EL CLAN) – Argentina’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar® follows the vicious crime saga of the notorious Puccio family. DIR Pablo Trapero. SCR Pablo Trapero. CAST Guillermo Francella, Peter Lanzani, Lili Popovich, Gastón Cocchiarale, Giselle Motta, Franco Masini, Antonia Bengoechea, Stefania Koessl. Argentina/Spain
THE CLUB (EL CLUB) – At a bucolic seaside home for aging priests, the arrival of a new member unearths long-buried secrets about the Catholic Church. DIR Pablo Larraín. SCR Guillermo Calderón, Daniel Villalobos, Pablo Larraín. CAST Alfredo Castro, Roberto Farías, Antonia Zegers, Jaime Vadell, Alejandro Goic. Chile
DHEEPAN – In this 2015 Cannes Palme d’Or winner, a refugee concocts a fake family to gain passage to France — but his violent past still haunts him. DIR Jacques Audiard. SCR Noé Debré, Thomas Bidegain, Jacques Audiard. CAST Jesuthasan Antonythasan, Kalieaswari Srinivasan, Claudine Vinasithamby, Vincent Rottiers, Marc Zinga. France
EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (EL ABRAZO DE LA SERPIENTE) – This hypnotic epic follows the journey of a shaman and a German explorer in the Colombian Amazon. DIR Ciro Guerra. SCR Ciro Guerra, Jacques Toulemonde Vidal. CAST Jan Bijvoet, Brionne Davis, Nilbio Torres, Antonio Bolívar, Yauenkü Miguee. Colombia/Venezuela/Argentina
FREE IN DEED – When a young mother brings her special-needs son to a local storefront church for healing, a Pentecostal minister is forced to confront his own demons. DIR Jake Mahaffy. SCR Jake Mahaffy. CAST David Harewood, Edwina Findley, RaJay Chandler, Preston Shannon, Prophetess Libra, Helen Bowman, Zoe Lewis, Kathy Smith. USA/New Zealand. North American Premiere
IN THE SHADOW OF WOMEN (L’OMBRE DES FEMMES) – Master French filmmaker Philippe Garrel returns with this gentle, profound tale of a Parisian couple dealing with mutual infidelity. DIR Philippe Garrel. SCR Jean-Claude Carrière, Caroline Deruas, Arlette Langmann, Philippe Garrel. CAST Clotilde Courau, Stanislas Merhar, Lena Paugam, Vimala Pons, Antoinette Moya, Jean Pommier, Thérèse Quentin, Mounir Margoum, Louis Garrel. France/Switzerland
THE LADY IN THE VAN – Maggie Smith stars as a cantankerous yet eloquent homeless woman who sets up residence on the curb outside the home of a single writer. DIR Nicholas Hytner. SCR Alan Bennett. CAST Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Frances De La Tour, Roger Allam. UK
LANDFILL HARMONIC – In a landfill community in Paraguay, inhabitants turn trash into unique instruments for a world-touring orchestra of young musicians. DIR Brad Allgood, Graham Townsley. USA
A MONSTER WITH A THOUSAND HEADS – (pictured in main image above)A Mexican woman with a cancer-stricken husband embarks on a series of increasingly violent confrontations with uncaring insurance stakeholders and bureaucrats. DIR Rodrigo Plá. SCR Laura Santullo. CAST Jana Raluy, Sebastián Aguirre Boëda, Hugo Albores, Nora Huerta, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Emilio Echeverria, Ilya Cazés, Noé Hernández, Verónica Falcón. Mexico. North American Premiere
MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART – Jia Zhang-ke’s tender, melancholic epic follows a capitalist Chinese family over a quarter-century of intense change. DIR Jia Zhang-ke. SCR Jia Zhang-ke. CAST Zhao Tao, Zhang Yi, Liang Jin Dong, Dong Zijian, Sylvia Chang, Han Sanming. China/France/Japan
EL MOVIMIENTO – In this stark black-and-white vision of anarchy, groups of armed men belonging to “The Movement” cause havoc on a war-scarred landscape. DIR Benjamín Naishtat. SCR Benjamin Naishtat. CAST Pablo Cedrón, Marcelo Pompei, Francisco Lumerman, Céline Latil, Alberto Suarez, Agustin Rittano. Argentina. U.S. Premiere
MY GOLDEN DAYS – Upon a man’s arrival home after years away abroad, he reflects on his youth, spent with little parental guidance, and ultimately a turbulent love affair. DIR Arnaud Desplechin. SCR Arnaud Desplechin, Julie Peyr. CAST Quentin Dolmaire, Lou Roy-Lecollinet, Mathieu Amalric, Dinara Drukarova. France
NAHID – A poor Iranian mother enters a “temporary marriage” with a well-off hotelier — with devastating results. DIR Ida Panahandeh. SCR Ida Panahandeh, Arsalan Amiri. CAST Sareh Bayat, Pejman Bazeghi, Navid Mohammad Zadeh, Milad Hossein Pour, Pouria Rahimi, Nasrin Babaei. Iran
NEON BULL (BOI NEON) – A young cowboy working the Brazilian rodeo circuit dreams of becoming a famous fashion designer. DIR Gabriel Mascaro. SCR Gabriel Mascaro. CAST Juliano Cazarré, Aline Santana, Carlos Pessoa, Maeve Jinkings. Brazil/Uruguay/Netherlands
NO HOME MOVIE – The late Chantal Akerman’s sweet, melancholic ode to her mother, an Auschwitz survivor, is about home and the wild places beyond it. DIR Chantal Akerman. SCR Chantal Akerman. Belgium
OUR LITTLE SISTER (UMIMACHI DIARY) – At a family patriarch’s funeral, three sisters make the impulsive decision to invite their much younger half-sister to live with them in the city. DIR Hirokazu Kore-eda. SCR Hirokazu Kore-eda. CAST Haruka Ayase, Masami Nagasawa, Kaho, Suzu Hirose. Japan
PARADISE – In this powerful film, shot guerrilla-style on the streets of Tehran, a violent act throws the life of a 25-year-old woman into turmoil. DIR Sina Ataeian Dena. SCR Sina Ataeian Dena. CAST Dorna Dibaj, Fateme Naghavi, Fariba Kamran, Nahid Moslemi, Roya Afshar. Iran/Germany
RAMS (HRUTAR) – Two estranged brothers in rural Iceland must come together when a fatal outbreak strikes their sheep herds. DIR Grímur Hákonarson. SCR Grímur Hákonarson. CAST Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving. Iceland
RIGHT NOW, WRONG THEN (JIGEUMEUN MATGO GEUTTAENEUN TEULLIDA)– In Hong Sang-soo’s latest, a director spends 24 hours with an attractive artist. This story then repeats itself midway through the film, but with important variations. DIR Hong Sang-soo. SCR Hong Sang-soo. CAST Jung Jae-young, Kim Min-hee. South Korea
SON OF SAUL (SAUL FIA) – This sparse yet resonant film, set in Auschwitz near the end of World War II, follows an internee on a mission to give a young boy a proper burial. DIR László Nemes. SCR László Nemes, Clara Royer. CAST Géza Röhrig, Levente Molnar, Urs Rechn, Todd Charmont, Sándor Zsotér, Marcin Czarnik, Jerzy Walczak, Uwe Lauer, Christian Harting, Kamil Dobrowlski, Amitai Kedar, István Pion, Juli Jakab, Levente Orbán. Hungary
SWEET BEAN (AN) – In this heartwarming yet subtle tale, an aging Japanese woman brings surprise success to a small bakery with her special homemade recipe. DIR Naomi Kawase. SCR Naomi Kawase. CAST Nagase Masatoshi, Kiki Kirin, Uchida Kyara. Japan
TALE OF TALES (IL RACCONTO DEI RACCONTI) – From the director of GOMORRAH, this collection of three ancient fairy tales features a star-studded cast set against the backdrop of Italy’s greatest wonders. DIR Matteo Garrone. SCR Edoardo Albinati, Ugo Chiti, Matteo Garrone, Massimo Gaudioso. CAST Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones, Shirley Henderson, Hayley Carmichael, Bebe Cave, Stacy Martin, Christian Lees, Jonah Lees, Guillaume Delaunay, Alba Rohrwacher, Massimo Ceccherini, John C. Reilly. Italy
THE TREASURE (COMOARA) – A financially struggling family man enters into a crackpot plan to find buried treasure in this masterfully deadpan comedy. DIR Corneliu Porumboiu. SCR Corneliu Porumboiu. CAST Cuzin Toma, Adrian Purcarescu, Corneliu Cozmei, Cristina Toma, Nicodim Toma. France/Romania
A WAR – When a routine mission in Afghanistan turns ugly, a company commander must make an impossible decision to save his men. DIR Tobias Lindholm. SCR Tobias Lindholm. CAST Pilou Asbæk, Tuva Novotny, Dar Salim, Søren Malling, Charlotte Munck, Dulfi Al-Jabouri. Denmark. U.S. Premiere
THE WHITE KNIGHTS (LES CHEVALIERS BLANCS) – This drama from Joachim Lafosse centers on the 2007 Zoé’s Ark scandal, when a French NGO illegally trafficked orphans out of war-torn Africa. DIR Joachim Lafosse. SCR Joachim Lafosse, Bulle Decarpentries, Thomas Van Zuylen. CAST Vincent Lindon, Valérie Donzelli, Reda Kateb, Louise Bourgoin, Rougalta Bintou Saleh. France/Belgium
MIDNIGHT SELECTIONS (3 Titles)
These dark and macabre films from around the world will grip audiences with terror.
BASKIN – A squad of Turkish policemen become entrapped in the basement of a cult of Devil-worshipping amputees. DIR Can Evrenol. SCR Can Evrenol, Cem Ozuduru, Ogulcan Eren Akay, Ercin Sadikoglu. CAST Gorkem Kasal, Ergun Kuyucu, Muharrem Bayrak, Mehmet Fatih Dokgoz, Sabahattin Yakut, Mehmet Cerrahoglu. Turkey
DER NACHTMAHR – A teenage girl who experiences severe nightmares makes a meaningful connection with a strange creature that has been haunting her. DIR AKIZ. SCR AKIZ. CAST Carolyn Genzkow, Kim Gordon, Julika Jenkins, Arnd Klawitter, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht, Alexander Scheer, Sina Tkotsch. Germany
SOUTHBOUND – In this refreshing take on the horror anthology, a series of characters encounter sinister forces on an isolated desert road. DIR Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath, Radio Silence. SCR Roxanne Benjamin, Susan Burke, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Dallas Hallam, Patrick Horvath. CAST Chad Villella, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Kristina Pesic, Fabianne Therese, Nathalie Love, Hannah Marks, Dana Gould, Susan Burke, Davey Johnson, Anessa Ramsey, Mather Zickel, Fabianne Therese Karla Droege, Zoe Cooper, Roxanne Benjamin, Justin Welborn, David Yow, Tipper Newton, Matt Peters, Maria Olsen, Tyler Tuione, Kate Beahan, Gerald Downey, Hassie Harrison, Larry Fessenden. USA
BREAKTHROUGH SELECTIONS (5 Titles)
The Breakthrough section is dedicated to the true discoveries of the programming process. It exists as a platform for artists at a crucial stage in their career to share their innovative work with enthusiastic audiences.
THE LIAR – In this tightly wound thriller, beautiful, immaculately dressed Ah-young attempts to fool everyone into believing that she has it all. She doesn’t. DIR Kim Dong-myung. SCR Kim Dong-myung. CAST Kim Kkobbi, Chun Sin-hwan, Lee Sun-hee, Le Da-hae, Jang Seo-ee, Shin Yeon-suk, Kwon Nam-hee, Han Jin-hee. Korea
MA – Director Celia Rowlson-Hall uses her background as a choreographer to create MA, a modern-day retelling of Mother Mary’s pilgrimage. DIR Celia Rowlson-Hall. SCR Celia Rowlson-Hall. CAST Celia Rowlson-Hall, Andrew Pastides, Amy Seimetz, Matt Lauria, Peter Vack. USA. U.S. Premiere
THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF PÉROLA (A MISTERIOSA MORTE DE PÉROLA) – A young student, living alone in an old apartment, begins to lose herself in loneliness until reality merges with dreams. DIR Guto Parente. SCR Guto Parente. CAST Ticiana Augusto Lima, Guto Parente. Brazil/France. North American Premiere
NECKTIE YOUTH – Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, this bristling debut looks at a group of millennials, all peripherally related to a wealthy white teen who commits suicide. DIR Sibs Shongwe-La Mer. SCR Sibs Shongwe-La Mer. CAST Bonko Khoza, Sibs Shongwe-La Mer, Colleen Balchin, Kamogelo Moloi, Emma Tollman, Jonathan Young, Kelly Bates, Ricci-Lee Kalish, Giovanna Winetzki. Netherlands/South Africa
THOSE WHO FEEL THE FIRE BURNING – This poetic experimental documentary captures with raw force the modern migrant experience in Europe, as seen through the eyes of a deceased shipwreck victim. DIR Morgan Knibbe. SCR Morgan Knibbe. Netherlands
CINEMA’S LEGACY SELECTIONS (5 Titles)
Now in its third year, Cinema’s Legacy is AFI FEST’s celebration of motion picture history, and a special opportunity to screen both classic films and films about the history of cinema.
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (1933) – Dolores Del Río, the glamorous face of AFI FEST 2015, stars in this pre-Code musical with Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and fabulous song-and-dance routines. DIR Thornton Freeland. SCR Cyril Hume, H.W. Hanemann, Erwin Gelsey. CAST Dolores Del Rio, Gene Raymond, Raul Roulien, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Blanche Frederici, Franklin Pangborn, Eric Blore. USA
THE FORBIDDEN ROOM – Winnipeg filmmakers Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson search the human subconscious in this cinematic head-trip. DIR Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson. SCR Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, Robert Kotyk. CAST Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Mathieu Amalric, Geraldine Chaplin, Amira Casar, Charlotte Rampling, Karine Vanasse, Jacques Nolot, Udo Kier. Canada
HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT – For one week in 1962, French New Wave auteur François Truffaut interviewed the master of suspense, Alfred Hitchcock. DIR Kent Jones. SCR Kent Jones, Serge Toubiana. CAST Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Arnaud Desplechin, Wes Anderson, James Gray, Richard Linklater, Olivier Assayas, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Peter Bogdanovich, Paul Schrader. France/USA
SAFETY LAST! (1923) – In Harold Lloyd’s brilliant and most famous film, the great silent comedian plays a small-town bumpkin in the big city who plans a breathless publicity stunt to attract attention for the department store where he works. DIR Fred C. Newmeyer, Sam Taylor. SCR Hal Roach, Sam Taylor, Tim Whelan. CAST Harold Lloyd, Mildred Davis, Bill Strother, Noah Young, Wescott Clarke. USA
SEMBENE! – In this intimate documentary, the work of Senegalese filmmaker Ousmane Sembène is spotlighted, showing why he came to be known as the Father of African Cinema. DIR Samba Gadjigo, Jason Silverman. Senegal/USA
SHORTS SELECTIONS (53 Titles)
BAD AT DANCING – A perpetual third wheel and awkward outsider inserts herself into her roommate’s relationship. DIR Joanna Arnow. SCR Joanna Arnow. CAST Eleanore Pienta, Keith Poulson, Joanna Arnow. USA
BLOOD BELOW THE SKIN – Three teenage girls from different social circles form unexpected bonds when they discover the secrets that lie below the skin. DIR Jennifer Reeder. SCR Jennifer Reeder. CAST Jennifer Estlin, Kelsey Ashby-Middleton, Morgan Reesh, Tj Jagodowsky, Marissa Castillo. USA
BOYS (POJKARNA) – At a home for wayward boys, Markus prepares for a very important appointment. DIR Isabella Carbonell. SCR Isabella Carbonell, Babak Najafi. CAST Sebastian Hiort af Ornäs, Marcus Lindgren, Rainer Gerdes. Sweden
BUS NUT – The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott is articulated as an educational video on school bus safety. DIR Akosua Adoma Owusu. CAST MaameYaa Boafo. USA
COLOR NEUTRAL – A color explosion sparkles, bubbles and fractures in this handcrafted 16mm short from film artist Jennifer Reeves. DIR Jennifer Reeves. USA
DRAGSTRIP – A moment or two before the race. DIR Daniel Claridge, Pacho Velez. USA
E.T.E.R.N.I.T – A Tunisian immigrant working in asbestos removal must make a radical choice in the name of his family. DIR Giovanni Aloi. SCR Nicolo Galbiati. CAST Ali Salhi, Serena Grandi, Alessandro Castiglloni, Mohamed Omar Abd Rabou, Youssef Tarek, Stefano Piumi, Alessandro Palumbo, Andrea Pompa, Roberta Madeo. France
EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY (ALLES WIRD GUT) – A divorced father picks up his eight-year-old daughter. It seems like every second weekend, but something isn’t right. DIR Patrick Vollrath. SCR Patrick Vollrath. CAST Simon Schwarz, Julia Pointner. Germany/Austria
THE EXQUISITE CORPUS – Based on various erotic films and advertising rushes, myriad fragments are melted into a single sensuous, humorous, gruesome and ecstatic dream. DIR Peter Tscherkassky. Austria
FRANKENSTEIN’S BRIDE (LA NOVIA DE FRANKENSTEIN) – At her summer job, Ivana learns it’s easy to create a circle of lies, fiction and love when you’re bored. DIR Francisco Lezama, Agostina Gálvez. SCR Francisco Lezama, Agostina Gálvez. CAST Miel Bargman, Renzo Cozza, Claudia Cantero, Mariel Fernández, Jair Jesús Toledo. Argentina
FUCKKKYOUUU – A lonely girl finds love and rejection with her past self in this alluring collaboration with Flying Lotus. DIR Eddie Alcazar. SCR Eddie Alcazar. CAST Jesse Sullivan, Charles Baker. USA
GRAND FINALE – The end of a Fourth of July evening in Detroit. DIR Kevin Jerome Everson. USA
GROUP B – A rally car driver mounts a comeback after a long and troubled absence. DIR Nick Rowland. SCR Joe Murtagh. CAST Richard Madden, Michael Smiley, Dominic Wolf, Andrei Alen, Matthew Jure, Stephen Bent, Alexander Cambell. UK
HALF WET – A man with large pores tries to escape the realization that he’s slowly evaporating. DIR Sophie Koko Gate. UK
I REMEMBER NOTHING – An epileptic seizure told in five phases. DIR Zia Anger. SCR Zia Anger. CAST Audrey Turner, Eve Alpert, India Menuez, Adinah Dancyger, Lola Kirke. USA
LANCASTER, CA – A portrait of love in the California desert. DIR Mike Ott. SCR Cory Zacharia. CAST Cory Zacharia, John Brotherton. USA
THE LITTLE DEPUTY – Trevor tries to have his photo taken with his father. DIR Trevor Anderson. SCR Trevor Anderson. CAST Trevor Anderson, Luke Oswald, Rob Chaulk, Trevor Schmidt, Lynn Anderson. Canada
MAMAN(S) – Eight-year-old Aida and her family are thrown into chaos when her father returns from Senegal with a new wife. DIR Maïmouna Doucouré. SCR Maïmouna Doucouré. CAST Sokhna Diallo, Maimouna Gueye, Azize Diabate, Mareme N’dlaye, Eriq Ebouaney, Maissa Toumoutou, Aida Diallo, Khemissa Zarouel. France
MANOMAN – Beware what lies within. DIR Simon Cartwright. SCR Simon Cartwright. CAST Gordon Pearson. UK
MARYLAND PUBLIC TELEVISION INTERVIEWS THE REAGANS – The President nails an interview. Featuring: The First Lady and surprise guest. DIR Pacho Velez. USA
MYNARSKI DEATH PLUMMET (MYNARSKI CHUTE MORTELLE) – A handmade historical micro-epic and psychedelic photochemical war picture about self-sacrifice, immortality and jellyfish. DIR Matthew Rankin. SCR Matthew Rankin. CAST Alek Rzeszowski, Robert Vilar, Annie St-Pierre, Louis Negin. Canada
OBJECT – A hypnotic underwater search from the point of view of the rescue team, the diver and the people waiting on shore. DIR Paulina Skibińska. SCR Paulina Skibińska. Poland
OF THE UNKNOWN – In Hong Kong, millionaires and the working poor live side by side. DIR Eva Weber. UK/Hong Kong
PALM ROT – An old Florida fumigator comes face to face with a mysterious threat. DIR Ryan Gillis. SCR Ryan Gillis. CAST Greg Tonner. USA
PATTERN FOR SURVIVAL – A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the individuals involved. DIR Kelly Sears. USA
THE PETER CASSIDY PROJECT – In 1972, a reporter and his team attempt to discover the truth behind an infamous director and the controversial advertisements he directed in the late ’60s. DIR Noah Lee. SCR Noah Lee. CAST Peter Falls, Lewis Pullman, Eden Brolin. USA
PINK GRAPEFRUIT – A young married couple, two single friends and a long weekend in Palm Springs. DIR Michael Mohan. SCR Chris Levitus, Michael Mohan. CAST Wendy McColm, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Nora Kirkpatrick, Matt Peters. USA
POSTINDUSTRIAL – Eleven floors of thoughts held tight by iron brackets. DIR Boris Pramatarov. Bulgaria
PYROMANCE – A lonely pyrotechnician finds an unlikely spark on the eve of the 4th of July fireworks show. DIR John de Menil. SCR John de Menil. CAST Paul McCarthy Boyington, Anna Khaja, Brantley Black, Karen Strassman. USA
RATE ME – A portrait of a teen escort comes to life via online user reviews. DIR Fyzal Boulifa. SCR Fyzal Boulifa. CAST Zehra Zorba. UK
THE RETURN OF ERKIN – A man just released from a long-term prison discovers that his former life has vanished, never to return. DIR Maria Guskova. SCR Maria Guskova. CAST Kahramonjon Mamasaliyev. Russia
REVIEW – A young woman recounts a story to a group of friends who listen with rapt attention, but the tale sounds very familiar. DIR Dustin Guy Defa. USA
RONALD REAGAN LIGHTS THE LIGHTS – The President conducts a delicate task. DIR Pacho Velez. USA
RONALD REAGAN PARDONS A TURKEY – The President makes a tough call. DIR Pacho Velez. USA
SEA CHILD – A young girl on the verge of womanhood is consumed by nightmares. DIR Minha Kim. SCR Islay Bell-Webb. CAST Rachel Park. UK
SERENITY – Everyone remembers their first time. Everyone has regrets. DIR Jack Dunphy. SCR Jack Dunphy. CAST Jack Dunphy. USA
SHARE – The victim of an unspeakable act gone viral returns to high school. DIR Pippa Bianco. SCR Pippa Bianco. CAST Taissa Farmiga, Keir Gilchrist, Madisen Beaty, Andre Royo. USA
THE SUN LIKE A BIG DARK ANIMAL (EL SOL COMO UN GRAN ANIMAL OSCURO) – Even computers need love. DIR Ronnie Rivera, Christina Felisgrau. SCR Bernardo Britto, Ronnie Rivera. CAST Agustina Woodgate. USA
SWIMMING IN YOUR SKIN AGAIN – A film about motherhood, banality, Miami, the water, the divine feminine and how to sing in church in a way that calls forth your own adulthood. DIR Terence Nance. SCR Terence Nance. CAST Norvis, Jr., Hadassah Amani, Genoa O’Brien, Vickie Lynn Washington-Nance. USA
TAKE WHAT YOU CAN CARRY – When a young woman living abroad receives a letter from home, it’s what she needs to fuse her transient self with the person she’s always known herself to be. DIR Matthew Porterfield. SCR Matthew Porterfield. CAST Hannah Gross, Jean-Christophe Folly, Angela Schanelec, Gob Squad. USA
TEETH – That which is neglected, is lost. DIR Tom Brown, Daniel Gray. SCR Tom Brown, Daniel Gray. CAST Richard E. Grant. UK/Hungary/USA
THE FACE OF UKRAINE: CASTING OKSANA BAIUL – Adorned in pink sequins, little girls from war-torn Ukraine audition to play the role of Olympic champion figure skater Oksana Baiul. DIR Kitty Green. SCR Kitty Green. Ukraine/Australia
TRACKS – An amateur skateboarder is left to care for his girlfriend’s young daughter on the day of a championship tournament. DIR Logan Sandler. SCR Logan Sandler, Carly Stone. CAST Keith Stanfield, Lana Schwartz, Dominique Razon. USA
TUESDAY (SALI) – An ordinary school day for a teenage girl in Istanbul. DIR Ziya Demirel. SCR Ziya Demirel, Buket Coşkuner. CAST Melis Balaban. Turkey/France
TWELVE TALES TOLD – The dream factory folds in on itself. DIR Lurf Johann. Austria
TWO FILMS ABOUT LONELINESS – A split screen separates two distinct worlds that are closer than they appear. DIR William Bishop-Stephens, Christopher Eales. SCR William Bishop-Stephens, Christopher Eales. CAST Tim Key, Detlef Bierstedt. UK
UNDER THE SUN (RI GUANG ZHI XIA) – An attempted act of kindness sets two families on an irrevocable collision course from which there is no return. DIR Qiu Yang. SCR Qiu Yang. CAST Zhu Ping, Sun Zhongwei, Bai Lihong, Gong Weiming. Australia/China
VICTOR XX – In a small seaside town, a young person makes a personal discovery when they experiment with their gender. DIR Ian Garrido. SCR Ian Garrido. CAST Alba Martínez, Shei Benzidour, Yolanda Cruz. Spain
VOLTA (BOATA) – Nina is told she is just going for a walk. DIR Stella Kyriakopoulos. SCR Stella Kyriakopoulos. CAST Marissa Triandafyllidou, Katerina Douka, Giorgos Valais. Greece
WAVES ’98 – Omar is lured into the depths of segregated Beirut. Isolated from reality, he struggles to keep his sense of home. DIR Ely Dagher. SCR Ely Dagher. CAST Elie Bassila. Lebanon/Qatar
WORLD OF TOMORROW – A little girl is taken on a mind-bending tour of the distant future in the latest opus from Don Hertzfeldt. DIR Don Hertzfeldt. SCR Don Hertzfeldt. CAST Julia Pott, Winona Mae. USA
YELLOW FIEBER – Athens was covered in a strange yellow dust. No one expected what was about to happen. DIR Konstantina Kotzamani. SCR Konstantina Kotzamani. CAST Mamadou Diallo, Eytuchia Stefanidou. Greece
YOLO – Filmed in the remains of Soweto’s historic Sans Souci Cinema (1948-1998), YOLO is a makeshift structuralist mash-up created in collaboration with the Eat My Dust youth collective. DIR Ben Russell. USA/South Africa
Read more
The 
From the terrifically imaginative mind of Bernard Rose (who gave us the fantasy-horror classics Paperhouse and Candyman) comes the latest retelling of Mary Shelley’s immortal tale. Updated to present-day Los Angeles, the film retains much of its source material’s key story elements and sentiments as two married scientists (Danny Huston and Carrie-Ann Moss) finally achieve perfection. Beautiful and gentle, their latest artificial creation (wonderfully embodied by Xavier Samuel) does indeed seem flawless, but his mind and body soon begin dramatically deteriorating. Left for dead, he enters the outside world—only to be further taken down by the hate that festers there. This violent, heartbreaking, wholly memorable experience, told from the perspective of the “monster,” also features Tony Todd (Candyman himself) as the blind man who provides temporary, judgment-free shelter. An Alchemy release.
Paperhouse
Bernard Rose, UK, 1988, 35mm, 92m
Sometimes deep inside an overly imaginative mind can be the most dangerous place of all. Anna (Charlotte Burke in her only film role) is very special 11-year-old. Impetuous, sickly, and dissatisfied by life (her parents are having marital issues, her father is mostly absent) she creates an alternate world through her drawings. At first it’s a peaceful, less lonesome place to escape into (she even makes a new friend there in a disabled boy), but her nightly visits soon become terrifying. Paperhouse is a highly inventive, visual dream of a film featuring lush cinematography and a beautifully atmospheric score by Hans Zimmer and Stanley Meyers. It’s never been released on U.S. DVD; don’t miss this rare 35mm screening on the big screen, where all movies this beautiful are meant to be seen.
Baskin
Can Evrenol, Turkey, 2015, DCP, 97m
Turkish with English subtitles
Six long years may have elapsed since Aussie writer-director Sean Byrne made The Loved Ones—the closing-night film of Scary Movies 4, and perhaps the most satisfying horror film of the last decade—but it will come to no genre fan’s surprise that his follow-up was more than worth the wait. As exquisitely crafted as his debut feature, The Devil’s Candy stars a captivatingly intense and nearly unrecognizable Ethan Embry as an artist struggling to support his devoted wife (Shiri Appleby) and preteen daughter (Kiara Glasco). But the real fight for survival begins when the tight-knit family moves into a new house, unaware that its previous occupant is a royally disturbed child-killer (Pruitt Taylor Vince) who wants his home back. And even worse, the devil’s demands that swirl around in the sick man’s head—muted only by heavy-metal music—also begin taking hold of the artist and his paintings. After witnessing this intensely emotional and haunting work, audiences too will struggle to shake those demonic voices.
Emelie
Michael Thelin, USA, 2015, DCP, 82m
It’s the Thompsons’ anniversary. They plan to go out and celebrate, but their regular babysitter Maggie isn’t available to look after their three kids. Luckily, Maggie’s friend Anna can cover for her, and she seems an absolute dream. But first impressions fade quickly, and it turns out that Anna isn’t actually Anna, she is Emelie, and she’s clearly not right in the head. A bloodcurdling mash-up of the bad-babysitter and home-invasion subgenres, Emelie builds tension steadily and uncomfortably as the young woman’s behavior becomes increasingly menacing, playing the children (all refreshingly likable and unaffected) against one another as she attempts to carry out a secret, sinister mission. Emelie is every parent’s worst nightmare. An MPI/Dark Sky Films release.
The Last Winter
Larry Fessenden, USA/Iceland, 2006, 35mm, 101m
In an isolated Alaskan base near the Arctic Circle, a team of oil prospectors begrudgingly tolerate the presence of two scientists sent by the team’s corporate bosses to assess the environmental impact of the exploratory drilling project. As an eco scientist (James Le Gros) and a roughneck oil boss (Ron Perlman) butt heads, the team slowly begins to unravel as one by one its members realize that… there’s something out there. With its linking of the supernatural to nature and landscape, The Last Winter builds upon Larry Fessenden’s 2001 Wendigo, and expands the canvas for the director’s distinctive brand of unnerving, mood-driven horror. An IFC Films release.
Darling
Mickey Keating, USA, 2015, DCP, 75m
Although Mickey Keating’s Darling, like his Pod from last year, is set mostly within the confines of one home, it is a genuinely New York film—and the city has never felt so ominous or alienating. The title character (an entrancing Lauren Ashley Carter) is hired by a kooky women (Sean Young!) to act as caretaker of a sprawling apartment building with a notoriously haunted history, where she proceeds to have a Repulsion-style psychological meltdown (black and white included). The film’s barebones approach yields considerable rewards, as audiences embark on an emotion-shaking surreal journey—and possible revenge mission—with a young woman who becomes more and more unhinged. Larry Fessenden, whose Glass Eye Pix produced the film, appears briefly as a policeman.
Frankenstein
James Whale, USA, 1931, Blu-ray, 70m, FREE
In conjunction with Lincoln Center’s campus-wide Halloween celebration for kids—and our closing-night presentation of Bernard Rose’s new adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic—we offer a free screening of the one of the greatest, most influential monster movies ever made, in the Amphitheater of the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center. Essential viewing for audiences of all ages—and vital in the education of the next generation of horror fans—this beloved tale of the mad scientist who creates a monster has gone down in cinema history for its iconic Boris Karloff performance, groundbreaking makeup, and, of course, the immortal line, “It’s alive!” The same can certainly be said for James Whale’s film, still magical and moving after all these years. A Universal Pictures release.
The Gorgon
Terence Fisher, UK, 1964, 35mm, 83m
Hammer’s dream team reunites with the late, great Christopher Lee (playing the good guy for a change) joining forces with co-star Peter Cushing and Hammer’s master director Terence Fisher for this visually striking gothic horror mystery that transports one of the most memorable monsters from Greek mythology to turn-of-the-century middle Europe. Lee plays Professor Meister, who travels to the village of Vandorf to investigate a series of deaths in which the victims are turned to stone. Accompanied by the son of the latest victim, Meister is met with a frosty reception by the village doctor (Cushing) and the local police Inspector (Patrick Troughton, the second Doctor Who). While his traveling companion and the doctor’s assistant (First Leading Lady of British Horror Barbara Shelley) fall for each other, Meister begins to suspect that the good doctor knows more than he’s letting on…
The Hallow
Corin Hardy, Ireland/UK, 2015, DCP, 97m
In this excitingly distinctive variation on the man-versus-nature setup, a scientist is sent to rural Ireland to explore a tree-fungus infestation deep in the forest, bringing along his wife, dog, and newborn baby—which only heightens the tension. Disregarding the brusque warnings of the townspeople and an alarming early discovery, the family decides to stay put. And as can be expected, things go very, very wrong—especially when the titular woodland creatures come out to play. Employing impressive old-school effects, Irish director Corin Hardy has crafted an intense, folklore-steeped monster-movie tour de force that never loosens its grip. An IFC Midnight release.
The Pack
Nick Robertson, Australia, 2015, DCP, 90m
Not to be confused with Robert Clouse’s 1977 when-animals-attack classic (which screened as part of last year’s Scary Movies), Nick Robertson’s directorial debut The Pack does feature killer canines, but their prey here is a family of four—already battling assorted harsh realities—who must rely on their own ingenuity to survive a night of sheer terror, as they are relentlessly stalked by ravenous dogs on their remote Australian farm. The film is horror of the most jarring, edge-of-your-seat kind, with the added bonus of a cast of characters actually worth rooting for.
Pieces
Juan Piquer Simón, USA/Spain Puerto Rico, 1982, 35mm, 89m
Little Timmy’s toys include a naughty, naughty jigsaw puzzle and an axe, with which he gave his mother 40 whacks. Forty years later, a black-gloved killer is chain-sawing nubile coeds across a college campus and taking pieces (wink, wink) for nefarious purposes. One of the most insanely over-the-top films ever made, Pieces is packed to the gills with atrocious over-dubbed dialogue, amazing gore, stunning camerawork and murder setpieces, terrible cops, terrible tennis players, terrible tennis-playing cops, and even a completely random kung-fu fight. Co-written by Joe D’Amato, the film’s script defies any sense of narrative logic, yet this cult classic from Spanish director Juan Piquer Simón (whose Slugs we will also be screening) is a sublimely sleazy, entirely entertaining exercise in melding giallo and American slashers that begs to be watched again and again. And now’s your chance to see it on the big screen in glorious 35mm.
Shrew’s Nest
Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel, Spain, 2014, DCP, 91m
Montse (Macarena Gómez, the bewitching star of Scary Movies 7 selection Sexykiller) has spent much of her prime tending to her younger sister Nia (Nadia de Santiago) after their mother dies and their father runs off. Agoraphobic and severely anxiety-ridden, she connects to the outside world only through the now-grown Nia, and when she takes in their hunky upstairs neighbor, Carlos, who’s been injured in a fall, her fragile state unravels further and her neuroses turn monstrous. She keeps Carlos drugged and bedridden—à la Misery—and as his wounds fester, he must figure out an escape, as Montse is driven ever closer to absolute madness. Produced by Álex de Iglesia, this unpredictable, impeccably directed period piece—set in 1950s Madrid—is a claustrophobic nightmare, unfolding largely in the sisters’ apartment and within the dark abyss of insanity. But despite the cruelty Montse inflicts, as reality encroaches on her carefully protected nest, she demands empathy, thanks in large part to Gómez’s powerhouse performance.
Slugs
Juan Piquer Simón, Spain/USA, 1988, digital projection, 89m
A small New England town (filmed somewhere in Spain) is beset by a plague of garden-variety carnivorous slugs. Everyman hero Mike Brady is a county health inspector who seems mad at the world as gastropods chew through his town and the local sewer management officials, zoning commissioners, and land developers do nothing to help him save it. After all, who could believe his wild theory about killer slugs? The insanity of the concept is even lampshaded in the film, with a character quipping, “What’s next? Demented crickets?” Featuring a smorgasbord of slug-on-human violence, mid-coitus slug sneak attacks, explosive greenhouses, geysers of blood, and demented dialogue, Slugs is a rare and forgotten gem of the nature-gone-wild variety. The director’s equally insane Pieces will show in this year’s Scary Movies as well.
Summer Camp
Alberto Marini, Spain, 2015, DCP, 84m
Spanish with English subtitles
The summer camp is the setting of choice for some of the best ’80s slasher films, a locale of fun, sex, sun… and murder. But in [REC] producer and Sleep Tight scripter Alberto Marini’s delightfully fresh and nasty directorial debut, it’s off-season, and the four young American counselors that show up for duty at a secluded, run-down European camp are faced with cold temperatures, creepy backwoods neighbors, shut-off water—and so much worse. Before the kids even arrive, something is transforming the new counselors into virus-infected, blood-drooling maniacs. Viciously pitted against one another, they must race against time, trying to find the source of the infection before camp goes into session. A Pantelion release. North American Premiere
What We Become
Bo Mikkelsen, Denmark, 2015, DCP, 85m
Danish with English subtitles
The idyllic Danish town of Sorgenfir is enjoying a beautiful summer, and the Johansson family is feeling great. Their neighbors are friendly, the weather is perfect, and the cute new girl who’s moved in across the street has teenager Gustav’s eye. But young love isn’t the only thing bubbling beneath the surface in Bo Mikkelsen’s striking debut film—a virulent outbreak soon sweeps the town. Military men in Hazmat suits force everyone indoors and information is locked down. From what the Johanssons can see through their covered-up windows, the townspeople are changing, as the mysterious virus drives them mad, and turns them violent. Trapped in their home, the Johannsons face a deadly—and all too real—fight for survival.
HITCHCOCK/TRUFFAUT FILM DESCRIPTIONS
Frenzy
Alfred Hitchcock, UK, 1972, 35mm, 116m
More graphic than Psycho following the relaxed censorship in the ’70s, this typically English and terrifying story of a sex killer at large, written by Anthony Shaffer (screenwriter of Sleuth and The Wicker Man), deploys Hitchcock’s The Wrong Man plot structure one last time. Jon Finch (Polanski’s Macbeth) plays the disaffected bartender and ex-RAF pilot suspected by the police of being the “Necktie Killer” after his ex-wife is murdered. In truth, the killer is his cheerful Cockney friend, fruit-merchant Bob Rusk, unforgettably played by Barry Foster (after a disgusted Michael Caine turned down the role). Hitchcock has great, morbid fun with a cast of English character actors—Billie Whitelaw, Alec McCowan, Anna Massey, Bernard Cribbins, Jean Marsh, Vivien Merchant, and Michael Bates—and takes particularly dark pleasure in using London’s Covent Garden Market, the filmmaker’s childhood haunt where his greengrocer father worked, as ground zero for the murders.
Hitchcock/Truffaut
Kent Jones, USA, 2015, DCP, 85m
The 2015 Fantastic Fest running September 24 to October 1st in Austin, Texas, announced its final wave of features and events. Joining Fantastic Fest for the first time, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson will be in attendance to share their wildly inventive world of stop motion animation ANOMALISA, Cannes Grand Prix winner SON OF SAUL is screening in glorious 35mm, the stunning adult fairytale from GOMORRAH director Matteo Garrone TALE OF TALES will unfurl, Jerusalem Film Festival’s top prize winner TIKKUN, and the World Premiere of the action-thriller CAMINO with Zoe Bell and Fantastic Fest veteran / mayor Nacho Vigalondo as a religious psychopath.
Asia is well represented with a diverse array of titles including Hou Hsiao-hsien’s breathtaking Taiwanese martial arts ballet THE ASSASSIN, Japanese wonder-animator Mamoru Hosoda’s THE BOY AND THE BEAST, and two seminal repertory titles from Hong Kong’s legendary Shaw Brothers Studio. Getting the royal treatment are two wuxia masterpieces, Cheng Pei Pei’s COME DRINK WITH ME and Gordon Liu’s EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER. The Shaw Brothers Studio screenings are being screened in 35mm with COME DRINK WITH ME coming directly from the Shaw Brothers’ archive in China.
Fantastic Fest welcomes back celebrated genre writer Kier-La Janisse to close out the festival’s rep slate with a rare 35mm screening of satanic shocker EVILSPEAK.
Presented by Starz’s ASH VS EVIL DEAD, the FF tradition FANTASTIC DEBATES returns, featuring four rock-’em-sock-’em matches between visiting filmmakers, actors, and journalists. Each debate begins with two rounds of verbal conflict before the stage is transformed into a battleground for full-tilt boxing! Past debaters have included Keanu Reeves, Elijah Wood, Michelle Rodriguez, Uwe Boll, Ti West, and dozens of others ferocious fighters from across the globe!
Other events see Jonah Ray and Kumail Nanjiani make their triumphant return to Fantastic Fest for another night of stand up as they host a live version of Comedy Central’s The Meltdown With Jonah And Kumail. A double helping of Doug Benson serves up a very special Movie Interruption featuring the animal apocalypse extravaganza ROAR and a live recording of his Doug Loves Movies podcast while legendary turntablist, artist and music producer Kid Koala finally joins the Fantastic fray. After nearly two decades of crafting some of the most singularly eclectic turntable creations of all time, Kid Koala will perform live at the Fantastic Fest party as the composer of this year’s genre-bending official selection ZOOM.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2015.
ANOMALISA
United States, 2015
Regional Premiere, 90 min
Directors – Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson
Charlie Kaufman’s newest story, a revolutionary and emotional stop-motion animation, follows an unhappy customer service guru looking for an escape from the monotony of his life.
THE ASSASSIN (pictured above)
Taiwan, 2015
US Premiere, 104 min
Director – Hou Hsiao-hsien
After failing to dispatch a corrupt government official, an assassin is disciplined by her master with a mission to murder her cousin (and former betrothed) in order to steal her heart against sentimentality. An immaculate and arresting romantic wu-xia from Taiwan’s chief art-house auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien.
THE BOY AND THE BEAST
Japan, 2015
US Premiere, 119 min
Director – Mamoru Hosoda
In the latest breathtaking animation by Fantastic Fest veteran Mamoru Hosoda (SUMMER WARS, THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME), nine-year-old Ren becomes the apprentice to beast warrior Kumatetsu and finds himself on the adventure of a lifetime in the beast world Jutengal.
CAMINO
United States, 2015
World Premiere, 104 min
Director – Josh C. Waller
A photojournalist gets more than she bargained for when she snaps a photo of a shadowy religious figure in the jungles of Colombia, triggering a flight – and fight – for her life.
COME DRINK WITH ME
Hong Kong, 1966
Repertory Screening, 95 min
Director – King Hu
One of the foundational classics on which all martial arts cinema is built, COME DRINK WITH ME stars the incomparably talented Chang Pei-Pei as an avenging warrior, Golden Swallow, on a mission to save the local governor’s son from the Jade-Faced Tiger’s gang.
DAG
Norway, 2015
World Premiere, 92 min
Director – Oystein Karlsen
A misanthropic relationship counselor, his (mostly) reformed hippy girlfriend, and his sex addict best friend drive this hugely popular Norwegian TV comedy from the creators of previous fest hit FUCK UP.
DANIEL’S WORLD
Czech Republic, 2015
North American Premiere, 75 min
Director – Veronika Lišková
Veronika’s Lisková’s brave documentary from the Czech Republic takes a very open, unflinching and non-emotional view of the most despised, misunderstood and taboo trait: pedophilia.
THE DEVIL’S CANDY
United States, 2015
U.S. Premiere, 90 min
Director – Sean Byrne
A struggling painter, his wife and his young daughter move into their dream house in rural Austin, Texas, but soon find themselves targeted by both satanic forces and the house’s previous occupants.
DOGLEGS
Japan/ USA, 2015
US Premiere, 89 min
Director – Heath Cozens
A look inside one of the world’s oddest wrestling leagues, where disabled fighters take on able-bodied opponents in brutal and bloody fights for their own dignity and self-respect. From where else but Japan?
THE EIGHT DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER
Hong Kong, 1984
Repertory Screening, 98 min
Director –
Midnight Madness returns to the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival to satiate late night audiences’ appetites for wild sensory stimulation. The program will present the best in action, horror, shock and fantasy films from the rabble-rousers of cinema, opening with Jeremy Saulnier’s tense siege shocker Green Room.
“Midnight Madness winds up Festival audiences as the days are winding down and they are hungry for more,” says Colin Geddes, International Programmer for the Festival. “From adrenaline-filled action and untamed horror to twisted comedy and darkly blurred lines of reality, this year’s lineup welcomes back celebrated masters and fresh visionaries of renegade genre cinema.”
Among this year’s returning Midnight Madness directors are Joe Begos and Sean Byrne, who both debuted in the program and are back with their much anticipated follow-up features, and Japanese bad boy auteur Takashi Miike with his high-octane Yakuza Apocalypse. Closing out the selection is the raucously reverent homage to classic slasher movies The Final Girls.
Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness program include:
Baskin
Can Evrenol, Turkey World Premiere
A squad of unsuspecting cops goes through a trapdoor to Hell when they stumble upon a Black Mass in an abandoned building. The nightmarish feature debut Baskin is the first-ever Midnight Madness film from Turkey.
The Devil’s Candy
Sean Byrne, USA World Premiere
The director of the 2009 Midnight Madness People’s Choice Award winner The Loved Ones is back with an equally fresh twist on the supernatural genre. A struggling artist (Ethan Embry) and his family buy the house of their dreams only to discover the property’s mysterious dark past and a former tenant who wants more than to simply come back home. From the producers of Midnight Madness hits You’re Next and The Guest.
Midnight Madness Closing Night Film.
The Final Girls
Todd Strauss-Schulson, USA International Premiere
Max (American Horror Story’s Taissa Farmiga) is a high school senior whose mom (Malin Akerman) was a celebrated ’80s scream queen. At a screening, Max and her friends are mysteriously transported inside her mom’s most infamous movie, where they must fend off the camp counselors’ raging hormones, battle a deranged machete-wielding killer and find a way to escape the movie and get back home.
The Girl in the Photographs
Nick Simon, USA World Premiere
Big-city glamour clashes with small-town values and a killer’s knife, in this bloody cocktail of terror from director Nick Simon and executive producer Wes Craven. Colleen’s life in the sleepy town of Spearfish is disrupted when she starts receiving photographs of brutally murdered women. Things get even crazier for Colleen when L.A. based celeb-photographer Peter Hemmings (Kal Penn) returns to his hometown of Spearfish to investigate.
Midnight Madness Opening Night Film.
Green Room (pictured above)
Jeremy Saulnier, USA North American Premiere
Broke, tired and at each other’s throats after a cancelled gig, a young punk rock band accepts a sketchy matinee show to get themselves home. When they stumble upon something they weren’t supposed to witness, the quartet is trapped in a terrifying siege.
Directed by Jeremy Saulnier (of 2013 Cannes Film Festival FIPRESCI Prize winner Blue Ruin), the film stars Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, and Patrick Stewart. Green Room is preceded by the previously announced short film The Chickening from directors Nick DenBoer and Davy Force.
Hardcore
Ilya Naishuller, Russia/USA World Premiere
Resurrected with no recollection of his past, a cyborg named Henry (the audience’s POV) and his ally, Jimmy (Sharlto Copley, District 9) must fight through the streets of Moscow in pursuit of Henry’s kidnapped wife in the world’s first action-adventure film to be entirely shot from the first person perspective.
The Mind’s Eye
Joe Begos, USA World Premiere
Joe Begos returns with a psychokinetic thriller about Zack Connors (Graham Skipper), whose abilities have kept him off the grid for years until he’s recruited by the mysterious Dr. Slovak. The snowy New England landscape turns into a whirlwind of psychic rage, flying axes, and brutal revenge as Zack does everything in his power to stop Dr. Slovak’s deadly descent into synthetically engineered telekinetic madness.
Southbound
Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence, USA World Premiere
Five intertwining tales of terror unfold along an endless desert highway. On a desolate stretch of road, weary travelers — two men on the run from their past, a band on their way to the next gig, a man struggling to get home, a brother in search of his long-lost sister and a family on vacation — are forced to confront their worst fears and darkest secrets in these interwoven tales of terror and remorse on the open road.
SPL 2 – A Time For Consequences
Soi Cheang, Hong Kong International Premiere
The anticipated follow-up to the bone-cracking martial arts brawler SPL (also known as Sha Po Lung and Kill Zone) that debuted in the program in 2005 stars Midnight Madness discovery Tony Jaa (Ong Bak). When an undercover cop (Wu Jing) has his cover blown and is thrown into a prison in Thailand run by a crime syndicate, he must team up with a prison guard (Jaa) to bust out and get revenge on those who wronged him. Filled with gun battles, prison riots and frenetic fight choreography, SPL 2 might knock the wind out of you — and possibly a few teeth.
Yakuza Apocalypse (Gokudo Daisenso)
Takashi Miike, Japan North American Premiere
Japanese cinematic extremist Takashi Miike returns to his gonzo roots with this mind-melter that finds room for vampires, gangsters, monsters, martial arts and even a yakuza knitting circle. A true master and MVP of the program, Miike wowed previous Midnight Madness audiences with such hits as Fudoh: The New Generation, Audition, The City of Lost Souls, Ichi the Killer, Zebraman, The Great Yokai War and Sukiyaki Western Django. He returns with a film too wild to be described and too fun to be missed!
The 40th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 10 to 20, 2015.