THE INVISIBLE GUEST

  • TRUMAN, I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, MY LIFE AS A ZUCCHINI Win Top Prizes at Portland International Film Festival

    Truman directed by Cesc Gay
    Truman directed by Cesc Gay

    Truman,  I Am Not Your Negro, My Life as a Zucchini, and Incendio were awarded the top prizes at the 40th Portland International Film Festival.

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  • Portland International Film Festival Announces 2017 After Dark Lineup

    [caption id="attachment_20266" align="aligncenter" width="1350"]THE INVISIBLE GUEST THE INVISIBLE GUEST[/caption] The After Dark program of the 40th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) will showcase late night movies like Emiliano Rocha Minter’s We Are the Flesh, Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s (Pulse) Daguerrotype, André Øvredal’s (Troll Hunter) The Autopsy of Jane Doe, Nicholas Pesce’s The Eyes of My Mother, and Oriol Paulo’s (The Body) The Invisible Guest. As in past years, PIFF After Dark presents films chosen with adventurous festival attendees in mind.

    40th Portland International Film Festival After Dark Lineup

    The Invisible Guest (Dir. Oriol Paulo) – Spain/South Korea As a suspect is prepped for court testimony, the story of the crime, a murder in a hotel room where only two people—the accused and the victim—were present, deepens as new details emerge with each retelling. Director Oriol Paulo’s (The Body) film is Rashomonic in structure, but keeping the action centered entirely on one person’s shifting account of the abominable act. An exquisitely intelligent and tense thriller crafted for adult audiences. “Early on, certain points are so ridiculously made and ‘on the button’ that they elicit laughter. Rest assured, that’s intentional. The Invisible Guest goes beyond locked rooms into the forbidden territory of adult motivations.” – Peter Martin, Screen Anarchy In Spanish with English subtitles. (106 mins.) https://vimeo.com/185461129 PRECEDED BY: Manoman Dir. Simon Cartwright | United Kingdom A man undergoing primal scream therapy releases his own Mr. Hyde, and then hits the town with him. (11 mins.) We Are the Flesh (Dir. Emiliano Rocha Minter) – Mexico The most transgressive film in this year’s program, Minter’s trance-inducing debut feature concerns a brother and sister drawn into an underground sanctuary inhabited by a lone stranger. In return for shelter, the man demands they push themselves into a series of shocking ritualistic actions with each other, their newfound guardian, and those who visit the subterranean and fleshy, womb-like structure they begin constructing. “His thoroughly arresting vision could squat quite comfortably alongside Hieronymus Bosch’s depiction of hell.”—Variety. (79 mins.) Adult Audiences. “Serving as co-editor as well as writer and director, Emiliano Rocha Minter is very much the author of all the chaos wrought here, and his thoroughly arresting vision could squat quite comfortably alongside Hieronymus Bosch’s depiction of hell.” – Catherine Bray, Variety In Spanish with English subtitles. (79 mins.) https://youtu.be/hC_wtrAdF2E PRECEDED BY: Judy Ariel Gardner, Alex Kavutskiy | United States “A film about male entitlement and the role of women in society—a smart and funny movie that says a whole lot in ten minutes.”—Catherine Bray, Birth. Movies. Death. (11 mins.) Directors Ariel Gardner and Alex Kavutskiy in attendance A Dark Song (Dir. Liam Gavin) – Ireland/United Kingdom A grieving mother (Catherine Walker) hires a man (Steve Oram) well-versed in the occult to help bring her son back to life. The genius of writer/director Liam Gavin’s film is how, unlike most films with a supernatural conceit, it paints its character’s attempts to break on through to the other side as humorous, highly questionable, and above all, time consuming. Favoring the notion that the journey is just as important as the destination, A Dark Song upends audience expectations of how horror films about people trying to resurrect their loved ones ought to operate. “A Dark Song is more concerned with psychological demons than the supernatural kind, and all the stronger for it.” – Stephen Dalton, The Hollywood Reporter (100 mins.) https://youtu.be/IeZ9OQ6ocP0 PRECEDED BY: The Man from Death Stephen Reedy | United States A manic homage to spaghetti Westerns, video game iconography, and ADHD. (13 mins.) The Eyes of My Mother (Dir. Nicolas Pesce) – United States A young girl named Francisca witnesses a terrible act of violence perpetrated by a stranger upon her mother. Years later, the child has grown into a solitary woman whose life on the same farm where those events occurred has devolved into a cycle of caring for her family’s livestock and a mysterious figure sequestered away in the barn. When Francisca finally opens herself up to human contact, however, it threatens to both break the patterns she’s established and rip the precariously hung safety net out from below her feet. Director Nicolas Pesce’s debut film is a visual treat, filled with breathlessly orchestrated passages, and forbidden fruit that’s rotten to the core. “If Ingmar Bergman had helmed The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, it might look something like this exquisite nightmare.”—The A.V. Club. (76 mins.) https://youtu.be/H5cmrW-Ej84 PRECEDED BY: The Dog Hallvard Holmen, Aleksander Nordaas | Norway A child watches as a squabble between neighbors unfolds. (10 mins.) Daguerrotype (Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa) – Japan Japanese horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s continues his winning stream with this patient and elegantly rendered ghost story set in modern-day France. Jean (Tahar Rahim) is hired as the assistant to Stéphane, a former fashion photographer who wallows in grief for his late wife while stubbornly clinging to the antiquated, long-exposure process of daguerreotype photography. As Jean learns the ropes, he begins to fall for Stéphane’s daughter Marie who endures, as her mother did in the past, the painful and physically demanding role of modeling for her father’s images. In French with English subtitles. “You’ll need patience for it to work on you, but all effort’s repaid tenfold, thanks to Kurosawa’s murmur-soft, immaculate craft and a trio of gorgeous central performances.” – Robbie Collin, The Telegraph https://vimeo.com/180867219 PRECEDED BY: Overtime Craig D. Foster | Australia Workplace stresses conspire to bring out the inner beast when mandatory overtime comes into play. (9 mins.) Without Name (Dir. Lorcan Finnegan) – Ireland Eric, a surveyor by trade, is hired by a corporate developer to assess a large plot of ancient forest. Superstitious warnings from the locals about the area, the discovery of a handwritten book filled with hallucinogenic recipes and half-mad ravings about trees, and a shadowy figure have Eric on edge. First time director Lorcan Finnegan’s eco-horror tale not only offers up the most vivid dose of paranoia tied to location since Polanski’s The Tenant, it also throws down the gauntlet for the creepiest trees captured on film this decade. “Without Name is the truest, and perhaps finest, example of the Lovecraftian sensibility ever put on film.” – Peter Gutierrez, Screen Anarchy (93 mins.) https://youtu.be/cd4K6qICqC8 PRECEDED BY: Strangers in the Night Conor McMahon | Ireland While protecting his grandmother from a banshee, Damien is overcome by unexpected feelings for the creature. (12 mins.) The Autopsy of Jane Doe (Dir. André Øvredal) – United Kingdom/United States A father (Brian Cox) and son (Emile Hirsch) coroner team delve into the mystery of a body discovered at a site of multiple murders. Unlike the other casualties of the crime, the corpse delivered to them is untouched by the multiple traumas visited upon the other victims. The deeper the two dig into this fleshy puzzle, the more disturbing secrets, residing tantalizingly below the surface, are revealed. “The Autopsy of Jane Doe is proof that Trollhunter was no fluke – André Øvredal is one of the most clever guys making genre movies today and he’s refusing to let himself get boxed into a corner.” – Jacob Hall, Slash Film (86 mins.) https://youtu.be/mtTAhXuiRTc PRECEDED BY: Limbo Will Blank | United States Stranded in the desert, a man is given a chance to wish for anything he wants. (8 mins.) For the first time, all seven PIFF After Dark shows are scheduled to happen at the Bagdad Theater (3702 SE Hawthorne Boulevard) and will include short, After Dark-themed films presented before each feature.

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  • Fantastic Fest to Close with COLOSSAL Starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis

    [caption id="attachment_16738" align="alignnone" width="1000"]COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis COLOSSAL, starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis[/caption] Closing out Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest festival is the triumphant return of Fantastic Fest’s Karaoke King Nacho Vigalondo with his kaiju monster mash-up COLOSSAL, starring  Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. In more final wave of film programming announcements, Fantastic Fest welcomes fellow festival alumni and Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA for his first ever live re-score. Eighteen months in the making, RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN is a mammoth live re-scoring of the Shaw Brothers classic. Featuring over 40+ tracks culled from RZA’s monumental catalog, instrumentals, beats, samples and vocals amplify Lau Kar-leung’s narrative and Gordon Liu’s iconic performance. “I am thrilled to be welcoming so many first-time directors to our weird festival family this year,” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “But as counterpoint, I am equally excited to be closing it down with veterans Nacho and RZA. In 2016, we’re going out with an epic bang.” Fantastic Fest embraces its more physical side with a series of violent smashers that are guaranteed to leave heads spinning and jaws rattled. All 6’ 5” of our favorite chemical engineer will be in attendance as Dolph Lundgren promises to pummel Austin and demons alike with DON’T KILL IT. Paul Schrader will be making a very special appearance in the second half of the festival to share and discuss his wild exploration of the criminal underground, DOG EAT DOG. Indonesia is gloriously represented with HEADSHOT, the latest from the Mo Brothers and THE RAID / THE RAID 2’s Iko Uwais in what is guaranteed to be the most violent film of the year, and Hong Kong comes correct with the legendary Sammo Hung choreographing the action in Benny Chan’s wuxia western, CALL OF HEROES. “There was so much that we loved this year, it’s wonderful to finally be able to share the full slate. We watched over 800 films and getting it down to 80 proved nearly impossible,” said Fantastic Fest Head of Programming, Evrim Ersoy, “But we’re here and we can’t wait to see people watch these brilliant delights with shock and awe in equal measure.” TV takes center stage with two of the season’s most hotly anticipated shows gracing the big screen. The man, the myth, The Bruce Campbell will be in attendance battling the Necronomicon once more and bringing new episodes of ASH VS EVIL DEAD with him. Campbell will also be sitting with critic/film historian Leonard Maltin for an exclusive dialog spanning his entire career. HBO joins the Fantastic Fest fray with an exclusive screening of the first episode of its highly anticipated new drama series, WESTWORLD. Inspired by Michael Crichton’s ‘73 sci fi classic, this supremely contemporary rendering is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. WESTWORLD will be accompanied by a complimentary, classic western meal for all guests courtesy of HBO. Artfully prepared by the Alamo Drafthouse culinary team, the meal will draw its influence and ingredients from the frontier era and its expansive environment. Western meals aren’t the only munchies inspiring programming as three of the festival’s most high profile gross-outs are first timers. Morgan Spurlock marks his Fantastic Fest debut with his uber-disgusting dissection of the most loathsome rodent in his doc RATS. Spurlock will be in attendance to talk about the vicious vermin and their endless conquest to take over the world. Another stomach-churning debut is Puke and Explode, a gala event of competitive eating dedicated to both gastro excess and grotesque edibles as contestants devour the most mortifying morsels imaginable. And in the grand tradition of festival favorite 100 BEST KILLS, Fantastic Fest vets Zack Carlson and Laird Jimenez deliver 100 BEST KILLS: 100 WORST BIRTHS, a dazzling array of the most nauseating, disturbing, inhuman and downright vomitous births in cinematic history. From sci-fi cesareans to martial arts miscarriages to horror hysterectomies, they will permanently sterilize viewers with 80 minutes of no-holes-barred babyrage. Mondo will be driving movie fans crazy with a creative cornucopia of limited-edition collectibles at Fantastic Fest for the first time. The roll call of film tie-ins include super-exclusives for RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, and product signing sessions with Don Coscarelli and the cast of PHANTASM: REMASTERED and André Øvredal with THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE. During Fantastic Fest, Mondo is also hosting Italian composer extraordinaire Fabio Frizzi as he performs THE BEYOND: COMPOSER’S CUT, his all-new live re-score of Lucio Fulci’s shocker in a supremely gothic church with jaw-dropping acoustics. The full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2016. A MONSTER CALLS United States, 2016 Texas Premiere, 108 min Director – J. A. Bayona Twelve year old Conor, dealing with his mother’s illness, unexpectedly summons a most unlikely ally – a 40-foot-high Monster. AGE OF SHADOWS South Korea, 2016 US Premiere, 140 min Director – KIM Jee-woon Korea, during the Japanese occupation. Police Chief Lee Jung-Chool is hunting members of the resistance under strict orders from the Japanese overlords. However, a chance encounter with Jung Chae-San will have him questioning his loyalties… ANOTHER WOLFCOP Canada, 2016 World Premiere, 82 min Director – Lowell Dean Alcoholic werewolf cop Lou Garou springs into action when an eccentric businessman with evil intentions seduces Woodhaven’s residents with a new brewery and hockey team in this outrageous horror-comedy sequel. ASH VS EVIL DEAD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director – Rick Jacobson, episode 1 Director – Tony Tilse, episode 2 “Ash vs Evil Dead,” a 10-episode half-hour series, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film The Evil Dead. ASURA US Premiere, 136 min South Korea, 2016 Director – Sung-soo KIM Corrupt police detective Han protects Mayor Park’s interests while he saves up to pay for his wife’s terminal cancer treatment. When intimidation of a witness goes wrong, they’re all thrown into a violent storm. [caption id="attachment_16127" align="alignnone" width="1000"]THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE[/caption] THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE United Kingdom, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 99 min Director – André Øvredal When a mysterious body turns up at a crime scene, the local sheriff turns to the coroner and his son to find the cause of death. BAD BLACK Uganda, 2016 World Premiere, 65 min Director – Nabwana IGG A mild-mannered doctor is trained in the art of ass-kicking commando vengeance by a no-nonsense ghetto kid named Wesley Snipes (!). This is only one of the many delirious action-packed stories that converge in this exuberant DIY extravaganza from the home of “da best of da best movies”: WAKALIWOOD, UGANDA!!! BOYKA:UNDISPUTED United States, 2016 World Premiere, 90 min Director – Todor Chapkanov Escaped from prison and longing for a legitimate life, Yuri Boyka must choose between a shot at the glory he has trained for and the demands of his conscience after tragedy strikes in the ring. BUGS Denmark, 2016 Regional Premiere, 74 min Director – Andreas Johnsen Two researchers search the globe for the best flavors the insect world has to offer in an attempt to make this inevitable future food source more palatable to wimpy Westerners. CALL OF HEROES Hong Kong, 2016 North American Premiere, 120 min Director – Benny Chan During China’s Warlord era, in the village of Pucheng, a sheriff and his ragtag band of men must make sure the cruel general Cal’s son Shaolin faces justice in this brilliant blend of wuxia and westerns! CHINYUKI Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 100 min Director – Yudai Yamaguchi Yudai Yamaguchi’s Chinyuki is one of those rare films where its own subtitle tells you everything you need to know about the movie: A journey to the West with farts. COLOSSAL Canada, 2016 US Premiere, 110 min Director – Nacho Vigalondo Fantastic Fest favorite Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES) wrings an extraordinarily potent allegory for personal responsibility and emotional toxicity in this witty and absorbing drama about an alcoholic (Anne Hathaway) who discovers an improbable connection between herself and a giant monster ravaging South Korea. DON’T KILL IT United States, 2016 North American Premiere , 93 min Director – Mike Mendez An ancient demon is unleashed in a Mississippi town and the only people who can stop it are FBI agent Evelyn Pierce and grizzled, cynical demon hunter Jebediah Woodley. FASHIONISTA United States, 2016 World Premiere, 108 min Director – Simon Rumley April and Eric own a clothing store together and are happily in love. April will have to rely on her fashion obsession for survival when everything unexpectedly crumbles after Eric makes a single destructive mistake. HEADSHOT Indonesia, 2016 US Premiere, 117 min Director – Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto The bone-crunching, soul-crushing, face-breaking story of an amnesiac young man named Ishmael, the doctor named Rika who cares for him and the bad men who all need to die in a maelstrom of sweet violence. HENTAI KAMEN 2: The Abnormal Crisis Japan, 2016 Texas Premiere, 118 min Director – Yuichi Fukuda At the request of his girlfriend Aiko, Kyosuke Shikijo agrees to retire Hentai Kamen. But when a new threat starts stealing panties, who will the people of Tokyo call on? THE INVISIBLE GUEST Spain, 2017 US Premiere, 106 min Director – Oriol Paulo A wealthy businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room with the body of his dead lover next to him in Orio Paulo’ latest. THE LURE Poland, 2015 Texas Premiere, 93 min Director – Agnieszka Smocynska Two young mermaids get caught up in the world of a Warsaw nightclub as they navigate human life and love in this Polish musical. [caption id="attachment_16739" align="alignnone" width="1000"]MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA[/caption] MY ENTIRE HIGH SCHOOL SINKING INTO THE SEA United States, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 74 min Director – Dash Shaw Jason Schwartzman voices a young, hopeful writer who jumps into action during a disaster in this dazzling and hilarious animated adventure from famed graphic novelist Dash Shaw. RATS United States, 2016 Austin Premiere, 84 min Director – Morgan Spurlock Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary shows us the world of the rat, from the garbage of NYC to the dining plates of Vietnam to a Karni Mata Temple of worship in India. RE: BORN Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 115 min Director – Yûji Shimomura Tak Sakaguchi is a seemingly untouchable super soldier who must return to the life he left behind when a former colleague threatens his fragile world. RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN Hong Kong, 1978 Special Screening, 115 min Director – Chia-Liang Liu What happens when one of the most influential hip hop artists descends on one of the most influential martial arts movies? There’s only one way to find out. SCIENCE FICTION VOLUME ONE : THE OSIRIS CHILD Australia, 2017 World Premiere, 95 min Director – Shane Abbess A far-future military contractor – and moderately shitty father – must race to save his daughter when his employer’s negligence puts her in the path of a rampaging alien race. THE TRUTH BENEATH South Korea, 2016 International Premiere, 108 min Director – LEE Kyoung-mi When a politician’s teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate mother takes it upon herself to uncover the truth in this startling Korean thriller. WESTWORLD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director – Jonathan Nolan A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.

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