Lund Fantastic Film Festival 2018: Lineup Includes MANDY, LUZ, NUMBER 37 And More

Lund Fantastic Film Festival 2018 Presents Diverse Slate for 24th Edition, September 27 - October 6.

 

Celebrating its 24th edition with 25 feature films, the long-running Lund Fantastic Film Festival favors the unusual over the expected.

 

Over the course of ten days Lund Fantastic treats Swedish audiences to a broad range of feature film premieres, welcoming the works of directors of 17 different nationalities to Kino.

 

Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy kicks the festivities into high gear on September 27 with a psychedelic and beautiful nightmare that expertly submerges viewers in the protagonist's darkening psyche. The film was a breakout sensation at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival and went on to claim a spot in Cannes' prestigious Directors' Fortnight. Before an October 29 release date in Nordic territories, a deliriously unhinged Nicolas Cage gets to pursue his unfettered vengeance in Lund.

 

An atypical but sure-to-be crowd-pleasing closer comes from the opposite end of the world and finds kinetic action chops in genetically enhanced teens. On October 6, Park Hoon-jung’s The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion cheekily toys around with superhero tropes, and guides viewers to a spectacular and surprising climax that highlights the many talents of screen debutant Kim Da-mi.

 

Following the South-Korean box office triumph, the second closing night film turns to tiny terror of a partially homegrown nature with the national premiere of Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich. Swedish directors Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund unleash an irreverent shocker full of murderous puppet mayhem that’s sure to delight a midnight crowd. 

 

Half of this year’s Lund Fantastic lineup consists of competition films. Six face off against one another in the European Méliès d’Argent competition while six go toe to toe in the international competition. 

 

THE MÉLIÈS D’ARGENT NOMINEES (FEATURES) OF LUND FANTASTIC 2018 ARE:  

 

- Tiere (Greg Zglinski) (Switzerland, Austria, Poland) - Swedish premiere

 

Different realities and dreams blend into one another in this puzzle box mystery that manages to be an engaging treat to the senses as well as a masterclass in editing. 

 

- Await Further Instructions (Johnny Kevorkian) (UK) - Swedish premiere

 

A social satire about the dangers of xenophobia that morphs into a thrilling body horror/ sci-fi mystery about the stupidity of blind obedience. The film probes our relation to authority with a delicious wink at Cronenbergian classics and no shortage of black goo.

 

- Luz (Tilman Singer) (Germany) - Swedish premiere 

 

Shot on 16mm as a film-studies thesis project, this Berlinale debut reinvents possession films and takes viewers on an unsettling, spellbinding journey into seventies arthouse Euro-horror hell. 

 

 

- Blue My Mind (Lisa Brühlmann) (Switzerland) - Swedish premiere

 

Akin to coming-of-age genre films like Ginger Snaps and Raw, this sensitive graduation film originally captures the difficulties of stepping into adulthood and learning about acceptance through the eyes of a teenage girl.

 

- Gutland (Govinda Van Maele) (Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany) - Swedish premiere

 

A naturalistic backwoods thriller that smolders patiently before dipping into surrealism and tackles its themes of alterity, assimilation and the malleability of identity in an eerily assured manner.

 

- Killing God (Caye Casas, Albert Pintó) (Spain) - Swedish premiere

 

When crashing a dinner party, God claims the end of the world is near. But can he be trusted? Killing God is a dark comedy and farce that puts faith to the test.

 

 

THE INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION CONSISTS OF: 

 

- Liverleaf (Naito Eisuke) (Japan) - Swedish premiere

 

Presenting violence born from the frustration of feeling stuck and as retaliation for being pushed too far, Liverleaf boasts a bold tonal palette that mixes dark drama and blood-soaked splatter. 

 

- The Wind (Emma Tammi) (USA) - Swedish premiere

 

The Wind whispers a tale of jealousy, solitude and frontier madness that leaves a haunting impression; a simmering mystery with a paranormal spin that worms its way under your skin.

 

- Seven Stages to Achieve Eternal Bliss By Passing Through the Gateway Chosen By the Holy Storsh (Vivieno Caldinelli) (USA) - European premiere

 

An absurdist comedy featuring Taika Waititi as the leader of a deranged cult whose members perform their ritualistic suicides in the bathtub of a young couple’s new apartment. 

 

- Family (Veronica Kedar) (Israel, Germany) - Swedish premiere

 

Steps into the mind of a murderer-in-the-making with poetic grace, restraint and occasional outbursts of violence.

 

- Brothers’ Nest (Clayton Jacobson) (Australia) - Swedish premiere

 

Family disputes motivate murderous thoughts but plans turn sour in this tricky tonal balancing act that encompasses tragedy, dark comedy and thriller.

 

- Sultry (Marina Meliande) (Brazil) - Swedish premiere

 

Set against the backdrop of preparations for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, Sultry fuses a social realist nightmare with body horror tropes. A public defender sees a strange rash breaking out over her body. 

 

OUT-OF-COMPETITION LINEUP:

 

Seven more international favorites have Swedish premieres and one - Mike Wiluan’s Buffalo Boys - is a first for European audiences:  

 

Giddens Ko’s Mon Mon Mon Monsters (Taiwan) is a horror-fantasy featuring flesh-eating ghouls that exposes the monstrous nature of peer pressure and conformity. 

 

Daniel Goldhaber’s Cam (USA) takes viewers into the world of erotic webcam performance to deliver a supernaturally-tinged identity theft thriller centered on a rogue avatar. Carried by a great Madeline Brewer (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Isa Mazzei’s intelligent script, Cam channels universal fears related to online lives and social media security.

 

Jenn Wexler’s The Ranger (USA) pits punk teens against a deranged park ranger in a spirited homage to eighties slashers. Kick-ass killings set to an exhilarating soundtrack! 

 

Issa López’s Tigers Are Not Afraid (Mexico) filters day-to-day Mexican cartel violence through the lense of magical realism to trace the impact on the lives of children. A macabre yet hopeful adult fairy tale.

 

Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade (Australia) sets a bereaved and dangerously augmented boyfriend on the path of vengeance. Like The Terminator on speed, Upgrade is a non-stop sci-fi action extravaganza.

 

Sophon Sakdaphisit’s The Promise (Thailand) entices with a carefully crafted ghost story centered on a suicide pact gone wrong; a Thai chiller that combines a haunting locale with well-timed jump scares.

 

Karthik Subbaraj’s Mercury (India) presents a haunting look at the aftermath of a chemical disaster in a richly atmospheric mashup of ghostly ballet and silent thriller.

 

Mike Wiluan’s Buffalo Boys (Indonesia, Singapore) dispenses vigilante justice in a colonial revenge tale that takes aim at historical crimes.

 

No film festival would be complete without an extensive short film program and Lund Fantastic has assembled five eclectic packages (discover them on: http://www.fff.se/en/).

 

THE MÉLIÈS D’ARGENT NOMINEES (SHORT FILMS) OF LUND FANTASTIC 2018 ARE:

 

Apoptosis (Slovenia, 2017) (Tomaz Gorkic)

 

Bailaora (Spain, 2018) (Rubin Stein)

 

Madres de Luna (Spain, 2017) (Alicia Albares)

 

Metal Health (Ireland, 2018) (Michael Carolan) 

 

The Shadows Await (Sweden, 2017) (Tomas Stark)

 

The Sound (Great Britain, 2017) (Antony Petrou)

 

EVENT: THE BLACK GAZE - OCTOBER 4

 

While providing a place for the viewer’s imagination, the Lund Fantastic Film Festival hopes to imagine what the future of visual media could look like.

 

To this purpose, Thursday October 4 spotlights burgeoning talent from South-Africa with a double bill of Nosipho Dumisa’s Number 37 and Jerome Pikwane’s The Tokoloshe. The former revisits Hitchcock classic Rear Window, transplants it to the bleak social realities of life in the Cape Flats and invests the suspense with an emotional dimension so as to raise the stakes in meaningful ways. The latter delves into African mythology to tackle themes of abuse and female oppression in a manner that will surely resonate with fans of supernatural horror and Babak Anvari’s Under the Shadow.

 

The South-African double bill will be preceded by Dianca London Potts’ lecture on “Black Horror: The Revolutionary Act of Subverting the White Gaze”. An MFA graduate from The New School (NY), Potts’ discussion will present an overview of how African diaspora filmmakers have used cinema as a means of subversion:  

 

“Through the camera’s lens, tales of hauntings, demonic possession, vampirism, and hoodoo rituals gone awry have become a celluloid metaphor for colonization and racism’s toll on the Black psyche. Whether it’s Blaxploitation classics like Blacula and Sugar Hill, or successors like Candyman and Spike Lee’s Da Sweet Blood of Jesus, Black horror films are a historically visual mode of resistance within a pervasively supremacist culture.”  

 

 

EVENT: FFF KIDS - 30 SEPTEMBER

 

Presented in cooperation with BUFF and Återskapa

 

Fueling the imagination and creativity of young film fans, the Lund Fantastic Film festival is proud to host its first Kids Day: a fun-filled event entirely dedicated to the younger members of our audience.

 

A workshop will help participants develop their own unique version of what a fantastical Lund could look like and will encourage them to build a character they can take home. The organisation Återskapa (www.aterskapa.com) works with recycled material to create fun and creative workshops for children of all ages and will guide this experience. The workshop is free for all and open for drop-ins between 12 noon and 4pm at Mejeriet in Lund.

 

Meanwhile in the cinema at Mejeriet Lund Fantastic teams up with the children's film festival BUFF (www.buff.se) to share fantastic cinematic experiences. At 1pm, join us for a selection of short films that will entertain and delight! This will be followed by a feature film presentation at 4pm of Seen and Unseen, by Indonesian filmmaker Kamila Andini. The film tells the story of how a young girl uses her imagination to cope with her twin brother’s death. 

 

 

EVENT: INDUSTRY DAYS AND INNOVATION HUB -  2 & 3 OCTOBER

 

Presented in cooperation with BoostHBG

 

The Lund Fantastic Film Festival presents their inaugural Innovation Hub to showcase works that use new formats to tell fantastic stories. For two days, attendees will be able to explore a range of works from local and international creators. Works included in the hub range from the thrillingly evocative Dinner Party (based on the true account of the first nationally reported case of UFO encounters) to chapters of the frightful Campfire Creepers anthology, directed by French master of horror Alexandre Aja (Horns, The Hills Have Eyes). 

 

In conjunction with the exhibit Lund Fantastic hosts a series of talks from creators and other industry professionals in the cinema at Mejeriet. The keynote speaker is Christine Berg, filmmaker and creator of the short film and VR experience Wonder Buffalo (available in the Innovation Hub). Other highlights include a panel on alternative financing for genre projects, case studies from local VR creators, and the sneak preview of two upcoming Swedish produced audio drama podcasts, starring among others Alex Lawther (The End of the F*cking World), Saga Becker (Någoting Måste Gå Sönder), Amy Deasismont (Upcoming HBO Nordic show Gösta), followed by a Q&A with creator and select cast.

 

Lund Fantastic is able to present this packed program thanks to the generous support of BoostHBG, the regional talent development organisation focused on supporting creators across platforms and formats. Read more about their work here: www.boosthbg.org.