Interview:
Lars Nilsen,
author,
Kier-La Janisse,
editor,
"Warped and Faded:
Weird Wednesday and the Birth of The American Genre Film Archive"
Authored by Lars Nilsen and edited by Kier-La Janisse, the new Mondo book “Warped and Faded: Weird Wednesday and the Birth of The American Genre Film Archive” offers an oral history of the Alamo Drafthouse’s most influential weekly film program and the theatrical and home video distribution arm spun out of the movie theater chain’s collection and conservation of previously obscure and/or rarely seen independently produced oddities. The book also includes capsule reviews of each selection screened between 2001 and 2010 and appreciations of the filmmakers whose work defined Weird Wednesday during its first decade. Lars Nilsen programmed Weird Wednesday from 2010-2013 and Kier-La Janisse served as an Alamo Drafthouse programmer from 2003-2007. Mondo will ship “Warped and Faded” in November but Nilsen and Janisse will sign copies 8:30-9:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Highball during Fantastic Fest, Running Sept 23-30. Fantastic Fest will also screen two prominent Weird Wednesday selections in conjunction with the November shipping of “Warped and Faded”: The Visitor at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Alamo South Lamar and Snakes at 10:30 p.m. Sept. 29 at the Alamo South Lamar. The Visitor will be available to stream during Fantastic Fest's FF @ Home on Oct. 3 for a 48-hour window. Kier-La Janisse will also attend the U.S. theatrical premiere of her documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 25 at the Alamo South Lamar as well as the 1983 folk horror film Eyes of Fire at 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26. Eyes of Fire will be available to stream during Fantastic Fest's FF @ Home on Oct. 2 for a 48-hour window. Janisse offers an exhaustive examination of folk horror cinema with her Severin Films-produced documentary. Her deep dive into folk horror cinema begins with outlining its literary roots and defining its unifying themes and properties; compares and contrasts the folk horror cinema of England, the United States, and elsewhere; and dissects the reasons behind the current resurgence in folk horror cinema. Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched will be available Dec. 7 both on Blu-Ray and as part of the boxed set All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror that features 19 folk horror films highlighted in the documentary, including director Avery Crounse’s Eyes of Fire. Kier-La Janisse is also an editor/producer for Severin Films; Lars Nilsen is the lead film programmer for the Austin Film Society. Aired: Sept. 23, 2021. Web sites: https://mondoshop.com/ https://www.kierlajanisse.com https://woodlandsdarkanddaysbewitched.com https://www.facebook.com/woodlandsdarkanddaysbewitched/ https://drafthouse.com/austin/movies/weird-wednesday |
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