Interview:
Lisa Dreyer,
Festival Director,
Annick Mahnert,
Director of Programming,
Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest runs Sept. 22-29 at the Alamo South Lamar. The genre festival, which returns for the first time since 2019 with a full slate of films and live events, opens Sept. 22 with Parker Finn’s directorial debut Smile and closes Sept. 29 with director Ruben Östlund’s acclaimed Triangle of Sadness. Legendarily South Korean director Park Chan-wook will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and attend screenings of his new romantic mystery Decision to Leave and his 2000 thriller Joint Security Area. World premieres include Noah Segan’s Austin-shot Blood Relatives, Amazing Elisa, The Antares Paradox, Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle, Blood Flower, Disappear Completely, Evil Eye, Flowing Kids vs. Alien, King on Screen, Mister Organ, and The Nightmare. Other prominent films include Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin, Luca Guadagnino’s Bones and All, Thomas Hardiman’s Medusa Deluxe, Michel Hazanavicius’s One Cut of the Dead remake Final Cut, and Mark Mylod’s The Menu. Films by notable Fantastic Fest alums include Mickey Reece’s Country Gold, Quentin Dupieux’s Smoking Causes Coughing, Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt, Travis Stevens’ A Wound Fawn, and Mike Mendez and Gigi Saul Guerrero’s anthology Satanic Hispanics. Franchises films include V/H/S/99, Terrifier 2, and Shin Ultraman. The North American premiere of Year of the Shark anchors a shark sidebar that also features the American Genre Film Archive selections Aatank, Gamera vs. Zigra, Mako: The Jaws of Death, 12 Days of Terror, and Tintorera! The American Genre Film Archive will also screen Flesheater, The Stairway to Stardom Mixtape, Terminal USA, and Video Diary of a Lost and host a mystery marathon of five films. Austin-based directors Ben Steinbauer and co-director Berndt Mader bring their Found Footage Festival-related documentary Chop & Steele to Fantastic Fest. Film-themed documentaries include King on Screen, A Life on the Farm, Living With Chucky, and Lynch/Oz, In addition to an estimated 85 features, two secret screenings, and four shorts package, Fantastic Fest’s signature events 100 Best Kills, the Fantastic Feud, and Fantastic Debates will return this year. Approximately half of the Fantastic Fest feature films, all the shorts packages, and selections from past years will be available to stream during the Fantastic Fest @ Home virtual event from Sept. 29-Oct. 4. Fantastic Fest @ Home also includes Burnt Ends, and exclusive virtual showcase comprised of 11 features—including part-time Austinite Geoff Marslett’s Quantum Cowboys—and the Motern Media Collection celebration of films by Charles Roxburgh and Matt Farley.
Aired: Sept. 13, 2022. Web site: http://fantasticfest.com/ |
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