Ithaca Fantastik 2018: Bringing Weird And Wonderful World Cinema to Upstate New York Once Again
Our friends at Ithaca Fantastik have done it again. Once again they have reached far and wide to assemble their signature vangaurd style of programming. They have also trimmed down their monikor, focusing on what is important. It is in Ithaca, and it's Fantastik. Simple and too the point.
Not content to play it safe their program always challenges, thematically and visually. From the sleazy and violent allure of Knife + Heart to animated violent tales of Crisis Jung and Violence Voyager there will no shortage of blood spilled at this year's festival. French absurdist Quentin Dupieux returns with Keep An Eye Out and Cannes Critics Week winner Diamantino is part of the festiv this year. Topping off this first wave of titles is a screening of a new transfer of René Manzor’s Game Over (3615 Père Noël), a film that can best be described as dark version of Home Alone before Home Alone was a thing.
We have arranged all the first wave entries into a handy gallery below. Have a look.
Ithaca Fantastik reveals first wave of sensationally stand-out programming for 7th edition October 26th - Nov 4th!IF brings a powerful genre punch to upstate NY with the E.C. Premieres of Quentin Dupieux’S KEEP AN EYE OUT! and Alexandros Avranas’ LOVE ME NOT, a trio of over-the-top BobbyPills animations, and the East Coast Premiere of newly restored Christmas-capper-horror GAME OVER!Ithaca, NY - September 10th, 2018 - Ithaca Fantastik is proud to announce the first wave of programing for the 7th edition of our upstate NY celebration of genre film, electrifying music and dynamic art. Returning to our homebase at Cinemapolis, IF embarks on our 10-day event October 26th - Nov 4th.Forging ahead with their mission to bring audiences the best fantastic and vanguard movies from around the world, the IF team presents Quentin Dupieux’s newest work KEEP AN EYE OUT! (Au Poste!), an uproariously absurd piece of cinema as only the maker of the fondly remembered tire-on-a-rampage comedy RUBBER could deliver. Keep an eye out (!) for the Cannes critics week winner DIAMANTINO, directed by Abrantes and Schmidt, with its layers of magical realism and social commentary seen through the eyes of the titular character—a star footballer who sees giant fluffy puppies surrounded by a pink mist… but only when he’s ready to score!Aaron Schimberg’s NYC indie festival fav CHAINED FOR LIFE challenges the perception of the viewer by creating a cinematic meta-reality where the notion of image and personality is blurred against the backdrop of a horror movie set. Kalik Allah’s BLACK MOTHER will takes you on an anthropological journey into Jamaica to reveal a tale that is truly larger than life. Following their academy award winning film EMBRACE THE SERPENT Gallego and Guerra are back with BIRDS OF PASSAGE (Pájaros de Verano), which depicts tribal life and the destruction of the social fabric of 1970s la Guaija, Colombia as the drug trade begins in South America.A pitch perfect statement on our narcissistic Western society Alexandros Avranas’s LOVE ME NOT, on par with the best work from Lanthimos, but without the fluff, and we promise it will punch you in the guts with it’s foreboding and uncompromising premise. Incorporating similar visual language, Nicolas Pesce’s sophomore film PIERCING offers a colorful descent into the deranged mind that excites the senses while shocking the heart with its unflinching bleakness.Yann Gonzales continues to awe and impress audiences with his formidable second feature KNIFE+HEART (shot on 35mm) is the ultimate modern-day Giallo with the alluring setting of the 70s Paris pornography scene. Similarly, Japanese ‘geki-mation’ pioneer Ujicha delivers more of his unique animation blend of child-like innocence and ultra-violence in his own highly stylized second film, VIOLENCE VOYAGER!Spicing up our selection with a little bit of French irreverent je ne sais quoi, IF is pleased to present three delightfully demented BobbyPills productions starting with the vibrant and utterly off-the-wall CRISIS JUNG, that takes audiences on an epic journey and feast of visual extravaganzas à la Fist of the North Star with a dash of smutty humour. BobbyPills scores again with VERMIN, an anthropomorphized buddy cop film with a stench of Peter jackson’s skin crawling musical freak fest MEET THE FEEBLES… What can go wrong? To add a charmingly irreverent cherry on top, viewers can revel in unrestrained positive sexuality with an exclusive look at Bobbypills’ new series, PEEPOODO AND THE SUPER FUCK FRIENDS—come to learn, and you won’t be disappointed! René Manzor’s glorious new transfer of GAME OVER (3615 Père Noël) rounds out our curation of crazy French cinema —an earlier, darker, take on the genius-child-defending-his-home holiday thriller that (adult) fans of Christmas classic Home Alone will devore with love!The second wave of programming for Ithaca Fantastik 2018 will be announced in early October, along with more details for this year’s special retrospective: The Wildling, as featured here in artwork by illustrator and long-time fest collaborator Steve Ellis. Stay tuned!
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