Chattanooga 2023: First Wave Arrives With WE MIGHT HURT EACH OTHER, Fest Returns In Person And Online

The Chattanooga Film Fest returns in style this year between June 23rd and the 29th to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The first film festival to pivot to an all-virtual event back in 2020 had remained online only in '21 and '22, but this year they are back to in-person screenings and events! Not a team to abandon the virtual option they pioneered, this year's CFF will be a hybrid event with a number of films and panels to service fans around the US and on the ground in Chattanooga.

Fans this year will be treated to some of the best genre cinema of the year including the North American premiere of Jonas Trukanas We Might Hurt Each Other, celebrated Satanic Panic doc Satan Wants You, the charming sci-fi romance of Michael Lukk Litwak's Molli & Max in the Future, a tenth anniversary screening of Matt Farley's uber cult classic Local Legends, finishing up with the closing night film, Ariel Vida's Trim Season. That's far from everything, though. Dozens of shorts and a ton of features round out this first wave, with some exclusives for both the in-person and at-home crowd. 

While it begins with the movies, it doesn't end there. LIve podcast recordings, panels, and plenty of great discussion also dot the schedule from favorites like The Best Movies Never Made, Dads From the Crypt, and L8 Night Ghouls. And this is just the first wave!

Check out the full lineup below, and grab your badges at ChattFilmFest.org

FEATURES

A Wandering Path

Director Michael Dimmitt | USA, 2023

*Special Screening

Synopsis:Adam Bartlett started the Gilead Media Record Label in 2005. His first releases were small runs of LPs and CDs, that he did for his own band and his friends’ bands, but fast forward to the present, he now runs a celebrated underground label that is renowned internationally for putting out black metal, doom, and noise rock releases of well-known bands. He and his business partner, Dave Adelson, from the record label, 20 Buck Spin, put on Migration Fest every two years where heavy music fans from around the world come together to perform, hang out, and create strong personal bonds. 

Through live performances, interviews, and behind-the-scenes hangouts, we meet the artists behind the music and learn how they write and perform music as a means to cope with issues such as sexual abuse, depression, childhood indoctrination of Christianity, and grief from the loss of loved ones. A Wandering Path, features appearances from members of Panopticon, Couch Slut, A Scanner Darkly, Mizmor, Thou, Emma Ruth Rundle, Krallice, Inter Arma, Neurosis, Enslaved, His Hero is Gone, Yellow Eyes, Mania, Leech, Blood Incantation, Fell Voices, Mutilation Rites, Wiegedood, Fórn, and Pyrolatrous.

*Virtual only

Beaten to Death

Director Sam Curtain | Australia, 2022

Presented by Welcome Villain

Synopsis:A desperate choice leads Jack down a path that leaves him beaten and bruised as he struggles against man, nature, and his own insanity.

*Virtual only.

Invoking Yell

Patricio Valladares | Chile, 2022

Synopsis:Set in 1997 South of Chile, a trio of metalhead twenty-something girls venture into the woods to shoot their demo tape for their black metal band, Invoking Yell, while also documenting the eerie and unsettling process of recording psicofonias in the woods for the final track.

*Virtual only.

Kokomo City

D. Smith | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A raw depiction of the lives of four black trans sex workers as they confront the dichotomy between the black community and themselves.

*In-person only.

Local Legends

Director Matt Farley | USA, 2013

Synopsis: The adventures of Matt Farley as he spends a few weeks preparing for a big comedy show in Manchester, NH.

*Virtual only

Molli & Max in the Future

Michael Lukk Litwak | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A billion years in the future there is magic, sentient robots, and demigods. Meanwhile, Molli (Zosia Mamet) and Max (Aristotle Athari) bump into each other across the course of twelve years, four planets, three dimensions, and one space cult. One of them is able to fly, while the other is half-human/half-fish.

*In-person only.

Mrs. Booker on 8th Avenue

Alexander Canepa | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Mrs. Booker on 8th Avenue follows Florence Booker who feels increasingly isolated in her marriage in New York. A shared cigarette with an alluring line cook sparks an affair that causes the different layers of Florence's life to unravel.

*Virtual only.

Piaffe

Director Ann Oren | Germany, 2022

Synopsis:Introverted and unqualified, Eva is unexpectedly tasked with foleying the sound for a commercial featuring a horse. As she slowly acclimates to the new job, her obsession with creating the perfect equine sounds grows into something more tangible. Eva harnesses this new physicality, becoming more confident and empowered, and lures an unassuming botanist into an intriguing game of submission. Shot on lush 16mm, PIAFFE is a visceral journey into control, gender, and artifice.

*In-person only.

Satan Wants You

Directors Steve J. Adams, Sean Horlor | USA, 2023

Synopsis: This documentary centers around the shocking story of how a young woman and her psychiatrist helped ignite the global Satanic Panic with their bestselling memoir Michelle Remembers.

*In-person and virtual.

Space Happy: Phil Thomas Katt and The Uncharted Zone

Louis Crisitello | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A documentary on Phil Thomas Katt, an eccentric entertainer who has found online viral success making earnest, low-budget music videos. The film explores the definition of success.

*In-person and virtual.

The Last Movie Ever Made

Nathan Blackwell | USA, 2022

Synopsis: With the world about to end, Marshall convinces a group of friends and strangers to help finish the sci-fi movie he abandoned in high school.

*Virtual only.

Trim Season

Director Ariel Vida | USA, 2023

*Closing Night Film

Synopsis: Jobless and searching for purpose, Emma and a group of twenty-somethings from Los Angeles head up the coast to make quick cash trimming marijuana on a secluded farm in Northern California. Cut off from the rest of the world, they soon realize that the estate is harboring darker secrets than any of them could imagine, and it becomes a race against time for Emma and her friends to escape the dense woods with their lives.

*In-person only.

We Might Hurt Each Other

Director Jonas Trukanas | Lithuania, 2022

*North American Premiere | Presented by Screambox

Synopsis:Inspired by local legends, WE MIGHT HURT EACH OTHER follows a group of privileged high school classmates. After these classmates destroy a set of life-size wooden statues during a wild graduation party, a mysterious killer begins picking the group off one by one.

*In-person and virtual.

EVENTS

CFF Boat Float, hosted by Jonah Ray

*Sponsored by Vinegar Syndrome

The infamous boat party returns to CFF! Held on Chattanooga’s famed Southern Belle Riverboat, this year’s Boat Float will be a sprawling triple-decker brouhaha. Comedian Jonah Ray will perform and then continue the evening as host, with performances by Chattanooga-based band Lillian, Texas’ Strange Joy, and Ohio’s Slug.

Best Movies Never Made

Join hosts Stephen Scarlata (producer, Jodorowsky's Dune) and Josh Miller (writer, Sonic The Hedgehog, Violent Night) as they explore the most legendary movies never made. In this special CFF edition, they’ll take part in this year’s TALES FROM THE CRYPT salute, and talk to Gil Adler and AL Katz about DEAD EASY.

Dads From the Crypt

It wouldn’t be right to have a TALES FROM THE CRYPT Salute without the Dad’s from the Crypt podcast, which is dedicated to the HBO series Tales from the Crypt. Hosted by Jason, Jody, and Mando they chat about episodes and give some dad wisdom along the way.

L8 Night Ghouls

Pretty h8 Machine and Crazysexyghoul discuss all things horror and sci-fi! Episodes feature guest filmmakers, musicians, friends, and more! Join them if you dare…

SHORTS

WTF (WATCH THESE FILMS) BLOCK

*In-person and virtual, Stills

CONTENT: The Lo-Fi Man

Directors Brian Lonano, Blake Myers | USA, 2022

Synopsis: This short starts as a documentary about a beloved cult film, then turns into a youtube video until it escapes into a dystopian sci-fi adventure, upon which it transforms into a body horror film resulting in a kaiju battle finale.

Don't Let Kyle Sit Down

Director Joel Jay Blacker | USA, 2023

Synopsis: Friends wind down around a campfire. When one couple attempts to leave, their desperate friend suggests throwing one more log on the fire, summoning a charred shirtless stranger (Kyle) looking for warmth.

Earthling

Directors Keith Lane, Molly Graham | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A ten-minute animated documentary about Jack Weiner, a grown man whose entire life has been shaped by being abducted by aliens when he was young, a life story nobody believes.

fin.

Directors Addie Doyle, Lee Hurst | USA, 2022

Synopsis: After witnessing their husbands explode in a freak fishing accident, Edna and Bertha are forced to carry on the family business.

Foot Trouble

Director Vanessa Meyer | USA, 2022

Synopsis: It’s 1999 and something is wrong (with Jade’s feet) but nobody wants to address it. Things go from bad to worse as Jade tries to cover up her feet by wearing socks in the pool for gym class. While this would embarrass most, she only cares about confessing her feelings to her goth boy crush. Unfortunately, he has other plans for her. Jade finally makes it home, only to be confronted by her mom’s strange boyfriend and a plate of cold hot dogs. In the end, though, Jade’s inner world is a formidable match for the obstacles that surround her.

Foul

Director Ted Stenson | Canada, 2023

Synopsis: A middle-aged man's inability to control his temper while playing sports causes his life to spiral out of control. 

Gold and Mud 

Director Conor Dooley | USA, 2022

Synopsis: A sprawling story of love and loss, as reflected on a single face. Tiny pieces that, when cobbled together, hint at a much larger picture. The larger picture being a woman’s life. Observed through the decades. Centuries, even. You know. A comedy. Starring Ana Fabrega (HBO's Los Espookys).

Seatbelts

Director Michael John Dunker | USA, 2023

Synopsis: When Chad and Rachel go on their second date, he refuses to put on his seatbelt because he did his own research.

The Promotion

Directors A.K. Espada, Phil Cheney | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Two office drones work late into the night, competing for a truly killer promotion.

Variations on a Theme

Director Peter Collins Campbell | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A couple has begun physically splitting into many different versions of themselves, and must investigate an uncomfortable mutation that has arisen.

Vertical Valor

Director Alex Kavutskiy | USA, 2022

Synopsis: After being drafted for World War III, a group of burnout skateboarders are recruited into a casualty notification unit.

We Forgot about the Zombies

Director Chris McInroy | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Two dudes think they found the cure for zombie bites.

FUN SIZE EPICS

*Virtual only, Stills

Black Tea

Director Laura McQuay | USA, 2022

Synopsis: A lonely Victorian widow longing for her lost love, conjures a spell to be reunited.

Cafe Cicatriz

Director Jordan Bahat | Chile, 2023

Synopsis: Max craves human connection. But he can’t bear to expose his truth.

Canal

Director Will Rahilly | USA, 2022

Synopsis: A woman crossing a bridge on her walk home feels an impulse to peer over at the river below. An otherworldly disturbance transports her through a watery portal into uncanny territory. She emerges in the spotlight to the laughter of a self-populated audience demanding entertainment. Perplexed at her new surroundings and being surrounded by herself, she flees the stage in panic, seeking exit through a labyrinthian course. But can she evade the force that drew her into this grim domain? 

Farmer Ed

Director Azwan Badruzaman | USA, 2022

Synopsis: After an isolated farmer makes a shocking discovery on his land, he unlocks its mysteries unbeknownst to his wife. 

Greetings

Director Stephanie Bencin | USA, 2023

Synopsis: Greetings is the story of Trish, a shy cubicle dweller in an office that’s big on birthdays. After struggling over what to write in a coworker’s birthday card, Trish discovers that whatever she writes comes true. At first, this goes great, but when her coworkers accidentally forget her own birthday, things...take a turn. Fed up with middle managers who act like they're in middle school, Trish takes her revenge. Armed with a stack of kitten cards and her ballpoint pen, Trish shifts the power of her toxic work environment, only to be consumed by her own long-simmering resentments. 

Kickstart My Heart

Director Kelsey Bollig | USA, 2022

Synopsis: After a brutal car accident, a young woman fights her mind's 3 levels of hell to wake up again.

Likeness

Director David A. Flores | USA, 2023

Synopsis: A young woman works with a digital copy of her mom to investigate the sudden disappearance of her real mom.

Picture Day

Director Kelly Pike | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Casey, an Asian-American tomboy coming of age on Army bases, prepares for picture day at her new school, deciding what she's willing to sacrifice to fit in.

Ringworms

Director Will Lee | USA, 2022

Synopsis: After discovering her boyfriend’s plan to propose on their weekend vacation, a young girl undergoes a crisis of commitment that attracts the attention of a sinister local cult.

Shallots and Garlic

Director Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Canada, 2022

Synopsis: When polar opposite sisters Nur and Karina reunite for their grandparents' wedding anniversary dinner, Karina starts itching and blames Nur for putting garlic in her food. 

The Five Fingers of a Dog

Directors Charlie Compton, Justin Landsman | USA, 2022

Synopsis: In this gothic neo-giallo: A depraved killer, a deadly cycle, a possessed detective, and a perverse world merge to form the most disreputable piece of horror.

The Lizard Laughed

Director Allen Cordell | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Based on the acclaimed indie comic from Noah Van Sciver (Fante Bukowski, The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln), this is the bitterly comedic story of an unreliable father doing the absolute least he can to reconnect with his estranged son during a hike to see The Laughing Lizard rock formation.

The Red Orchid

Director Montana Cypress | USA, 2022

Synopsis: Deep in the swamps of Florida, an Indian Tribe prepares for the coming of an entity that seeks to feed on the children.

The Spirit Became Flesh

Director Jesse Aultman | USA, 2023

Synopsis: In idyllic, middle-of-nowhere Alabama, Sam Summers returns to his deeply religious hometown to visit his sister, Lilah. To his horror, Sam discovers that his old community has turned into a fanatic cult that worships a sinister monster residing in their woods. Through their disturbing rituals and unnerving sacrifices, Sam is cornered by his townspeople as they attempt to induct him into their faith. He realizes he must find out what this being is and how to tell his sister of its true nature.

The Stewards

Director Hannah Eaton | USA, 2023

Synopsis: In the near-distant future, Avery, a "virtual reality conservationist" begins to have a strangely familiar recurring dream that leads her to question her isolated community and way of life.

Twin Turbo

Directors Raul Esko, Romet Esko | Estonia, 2022

Synopsis: Twin undercover cops have to restore the balance between themselves to close a case revolving around a valuable twin-turbo engine.

The Waiting Room, or Eggs in Purgatory

Director Madeline Blair | USA, 2022

Synopsis: In a waiting room in the space between the living and the beyond, an unlikely pair sits impatiently for their final reckoning.

When You're Gone

Director Kristin Noriega | USA, 2023

Synopsis: Amid heartbreak and self-implosion, a lapsed writer turned party girl must learn what it truly means to face her pain when she's hunted by a subterranean mother and its brood.