Lund 2013: THE BATTERY, CHEAP THRILLS, And BORGMAN Among Final Wave Of Titles

    Lund International Fantastic Film Festival

    19th Edition

    September 26 to October 5 2013

This is the last wave of films for this year Lund International fantastic Film Festival. We have two competition sections at the festival. Our own The Siren which is awarded to the best International film and The Melies d'Argent awarded to our nominee to the prestigious Melies d'Or which is presented to this years best European fantastic film at the festival in Sitges.

Up for The Siren are the following films:

Big Bad Wolves

A rowdy macho cop, a vigilante father of a murdered girl, an elementary school teacher whom everybody suspects is the most brutal serial killer in recent history. After a game of cat and mouse with more plot turns than a season finale of Falcon Crest, lock the whole gang in a soundproof basement and let them work out their differences. Add more plot turns. Hardboiled and absurd, this Israeli thriller resembles in tone that successful breed of dark crime comedies that Danish cinema made famous in the late nineties.

Doomsdays

Movie critic Eddie Mullins put his pen down, picked up a camera and crafted the immediate cult classic Doomsdays. Join Dirty Fred and Bruho on an absurd, sometimes nihilistic but throughout deeply humorous journey as many different living rooms, and some companions pass by in bittersweet and perfectly composed images. This is a America you haven't seen on film before. And according to Bruho and Dirty Fred - but pretty much no one else - it will be gone in the next second or so.

Borgman

Combining such elements as unsympathetic married men and well dressed supernatural vagrants with Danish au pairs and sudden outbursts of violence, Alex van Warmerdam delivers an ambiguous and stylish tale filled with anxiety in highly luxurious surroundings.

The Battery

Two young men are wandering aimlessly through New England's empty wasteland, none of them particularly satisfied with life partly because their involuntary wilderness trip is triggered by some sort of ongoing zombie apocalypse, but also because they are stuck in each others company. Jeremy Gardner's excellent low budget debut film, where zombies are mainly used as a catalyst to examine a relationship born out of necessity rather than friendship between a pitcher and catcher, a duo which baseball lingo calls The Battery.

Mars et Avril

In light of the first manned expedition to Mars we watch as a love triangle unfolds on earth between an acclaimed musician and his instrument builder as both have fallen for the lovely photographer Avril, and as we all know a little love can change a lot. Just look at the theoretically impossible but practically irresistible March et Avril which in itself is a strong testament to how far you can get with love ... and time.

Talaash

Directed by Reema Kagti, this is not your average traditional Bollywood film. There are no lavish song and dance numbers here, no colorful dresses to feast your eyes upon, instead Talaash is an Indian neo noir mystery thriller which takes place in a dirty and corrupt Mumba.

Cheap Thrills

Craig, a father who's just lost his job and got an eviction notice since he has not paid rent. He doesn't want to go home and face his wife and newborn son, so he takes a detour to a bar where he bumps in to his old buddy Vince. Through a chance meeting with a man called Colin and his young wife, an opportunity presents itself to Craig. By performing a series of insane and sometimes provocative dares, which escalates throughout their drunken evening, Colin offers Craig money. The crazier and more intense the dare, the more money is put on the table. From there the journey goes from exciting and fearless to dark and frightening.

And the Melies d'Argent line up:

A Field In England

With Kill List and Sightseers, Ben Wheatley has begun to carve out his name in the European genre scene. With his latest feature, he's dug a whole new kind of grave. A Field in England will most likely be among the most fantastic films to hit Swedish silver screens this year.

Love Eternal

Love Eternal is based on the Japanese novel Loving The Dead, but the film takes place in Europe. Framed by beautiful cinematography and with a dreamy soundtrack it's a poetic portrayal of how death is an absolute prerequisite for life.

The Machine

Caradog W. James brings us a uniquely beautiful and intelligent tech noir with a Vangelis styled electronic soundtrack and dark atmospheric visuals that makes us feel like the 80's never ended. Although the premise is familiar, The Machine is no mechanical creation as it constantly raises new moral questions on what it means to be human. But the biggest question of all remains - will you risk missing out on a sci-fi that's already been compared to Blade Runner?

Stalled

Stalled is a messy visit to the loo filled with dark humor, that has been described as Evil Dead meets Phone Booth. A janitor, a stall - and the most impatient bathroom line in film history!

Dark Touch

When Niamh's family dies in a strange accident in their home, their friends take her in as foster child. They try to give her the comfort she needs, but this turns out to be difficult . Niamh is unable to handle tenderness and sinister things keep happening around her. It appears that much was seriously wrong in Niamh's family - and, furthermore, that there is something very strange and dangerous about Niamh herself.

Chimeres

Love is a powerful thing, but what it makes us do, even more so. During a holiday in Romania with his girlfriend Livia, Alex gets hit by a car. His recuperation is slow and painful until he one morning experiences a burning sensation whilst stood in the breaking sunlight. Alex questions the blood transfusions he received in the Romanian hospital and his sanity is put to the test when the reflection in the mirror starts looking more like a vampire than himself.

Lund International Fantastic Film Festival in Sweden is Scandinavia's leading film festival dedicated to films of the fantastic, i.e. horror, science fiction, fantasy, animation, psychological drama, thrillers and fantastic documentaries. Between September 26th and October 5th the 19th edition of the festival will be held. The festival has international competitive sections. Every year we invite international guests; latest years have featured such prominent people as; George A. Romero, Peter Greenaway, Marc Caro, Terry Gilliam, Alain RobbeGrillet, Corey Feldman, Béla Tarr, Niel Gaiman, Alexandre Aja, to name a few. Lund International Fantastic Film Festival is also a member of the European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals.

Read more about the festival at: http://www.fff.se and the Méliès competition at: http://www.melies.org.