ALIEN ON STAGE, THE SADNESS, WOODLANDS DARK & More at Saskatoon Fantastic 2021

It's my personal belief that the advent of home movie watching, be it by television, VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, and now streaming, has actually increased the interest in smaller indie and genre films, and helped to create the wonderful network of film festivals in smaller places. Such as the wonderful Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival. They've cultivated a fine event, with terrific programming of both the bigger and smaller titles, and have been rewarded with a great audience. (Or so I've heard about their audience. They screened a short film I made a few years ago, so I admit my bias. Fingers crossed I can get out there one day and meet everyone).

SFFF was one of the few that was able to operate in person last year, and they're back at the Broadway Theatre again (at reduced capacity, everyone has to be vaccinated and maxed, show your love for humanity and let's make sure we're all safe to enjoy great movies). Amazing films like The Beta Test, Prisoners of the Ghostland, Slumber Party Massacre, plus shorts (always my favourite section) and much more. Check out details in the press release below.

The Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival, Saskatchewan’s largest feature film festival, returns for its 12th edition at the Broadway Theatre on November 22-27, and will bring the best in international independent cinema to Saskatoon.
 
“We heard from our fans that they want to have the theater experience, but safety is our number one priority again this year,” said Festival Director John Allison. “All of the movies will be in-person at the Broadway Theatre, and the theatre’s COVID protocol will be in effect to ensure everyone has a safe and happy festival experience.”
 
The Broadway Theater will have reduced seating capacity, all attendees will need to be double vaccinated or show proof of a negative test, and everyone will need to wear a mask.
 
“This year’s theme is ‘folk horror,’ so movies with elements including rural settings, themes of isolation, and the power of nature will be featured,” adds Allison. “On Saturday at noon we have the definitive documentary on folk horror, Woodlands Dark & Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror  and the new Welsh folk horror The Feast playing Friday evening.  We have two retro folk horror movies, Clear Cut  and Eyes of Fire on Thursday and Friday night. On Saturday we’re excited to have Saskatchewan filmmaker Rueben Martell participate in a live Q&A along with actors Sheena Kaine and Sera-Lys McArthur after their new movie Don’t Say its Name.”
 
The festival also features movies outside of the folk horror movie genre, including comedies, the documentary Alien on Stage, and the Nicolas Cage film Prisoners of the Ghostland opens the festival.
 
“We are also thrilled to have Canadian filmmaker Danishka Esterhazy participate in a video Q&A after her new film Slumber Party Massacre,” says Allison. “Danishka’s first movie screened at our first festival, so it’s great to have her involved again 12 years later.”
 
This year’s festival features 21 feature length and many short films from around the world. For information on the full film lineup and festival passes, visit www.skfilmfest.com
 
2021 Saskatoon Fantastic Film Festival Schedule
A short film will be featured before each feature film where time permits.
 
Monday, Nov 22
6 pm: Prisoners of the Ghostland
In the treacherous frontier city of Samurai Town, a ruthless bank robber gets sprung from jail by a wealthy warlord whose adopted granddaughter has gone missing.
 
8 pm: Paul Dood’s Deadly Lunch Break
A thrift store worker is set on winning a big national talent show. But when the actions of five selfish people cause him to miss his audition, he sets out to seek deadly revenge.
 
10 pm: King Car
A taxi company owner's son has an extraordinary connection with cars: he can talk to them. He makes friends with the car that saved him from a traffic accident, and hears old wrecks complain about the new law.
 
Tuesday, Nov 23
6 pm: Alien on Stage
British bus drivers spend one year creating a stage production of Ridley Scott's classic 1979 science fiction film "Alien."
 
8 pm: All Sorts
A lonely data entry clerk finds his way into the magical world of championship folder filing.
 
10:15 pm: Take Back the Night
Finding herself the victim of a violent monster attack, Jane launches a vigilante campaign to hunt the beast that tried to kill her.
 
Wednesday, Nov 24
6 pm: Short Film Block
An entertaining collection of short films from around the world.
 
8 pm: Poser
A young woman on the edges of the Columbus, Ohio underground music scene desperately wants to break in.
 
10 pm: Coming Home in the Dark
Ruthless drifters take a schoolteacher and his family on a nightmarish road trip that forces the man to confront his past self.
 
Thursday, Nov 25
6 pm: Masking Threshold
Conducting a series of experiments in his makeshift home-lab, a skeptic IT worker tries to cure his harrowing hearing impairment.
 
8 pm: Slumber Party Massacre (followed by video Q&A with filmmaker Danishka Esterhazy)
A slumber party turns into a bloodbath, as a psychotic serial killer wielding a power drill disrupts the fun.
 
10:15 pm: Clear Cut
After a lawyer fails to prevent a logging company from clearing a huge swath on Indigenous land, an embittered man becomes obsessed with inflicting suffering on the men who allowed his people's land to be abused.
 
Friday, Nov 26
6 pm: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes
A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.
 
8 pm: See for Me
A blind former skier accepts a last-minute housesitting job in a secluded mansion and awakens in the middle of the night to find the house under invasion by a group of thieves.
 
10 pm: The Feast
While a mysterious woman serves privileged guess at a dinner party in a remote house in rural Wales, the assembled guests do not realize they are about to eat their last supper.
 
Midnight: Eyes of Fire
Almost lynched in 1750, a preacher leads his followers west to a valley whose dirt holds the devil.
 
Saturday, Nov 27
Noon: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched
Exploring the history of folk horror from its beginnings, through its proliferation on British television in the 1970s to the genre's revival over the last decade.
 
3:30 pm: When I Consume You
Siblings Daphne and Wilson Shaw brave the long shadow of childhood trauma together in a fight with a demon stalker that is hell-bent on their destruction.
 
5:45 pm: The Beta Test
A married Hollywood agent receives a mysterious letter for an anonymous sexual encounter and becomes ensnared in a sinister world of lying, murder and infidelity.
 

 
10 pm: Baby Assassins
Two teenage assassins are just trying to get by when a run-in with the Yakuza throws a wrench in their plans.
 
Midnight: The Sadness
A Taiwanese couple attempt to reunite amidst a viral pandemic that turns people into bloodthirsty maniacs.