Tremendous things happen in the world of fantastic/genre cinema. Not only do the weird and wonderful, the frightening and inspiring, and the sick and depraved co-exist but I do not believe that any other film genre (grouping all of this together in a bulbous lump) has the support foundation like this one does.
No one is out doing co-production markets or mentoring programs for family dramas. Are they? Can you imagine? If the family does not have to fight through five levels of Hell to get their lost dog back then I am not interested.
Moving along, take this community aspect of genre filmmaking to the next level and the growth and support for female genre filmmakers continues to rise exponetianlly. Case in point, The Attic Lab, a brand new mentoring initiative that will be launched this year at Stranger With My Face down in Australia.
The Attic Lab is a pilot program in 2016. Primarily a mentoring initiative, it features group and one-on-one sessions on 14 and 15 April, with networking and social opportunities across the festival weekend of 16 and 17 April. It is focused on supporting genre filmmakers to take new feature film projects to the marketplace and includes an industry pitch session on 15 April.
Participation this year is by invitation. Featuring nine filmmakers in its inaugural year, the lab is designed for filmmakers developing dark stories in feature film format. It takes its name from the archetype of the ‘Madwoman in the Attic’, suggesting place where violent and disruptive female impulses are hidden away… and yet grow stronger, to be unleashed on an unsuspecting world!
The Attic Lab filmmakers will be supported to pitch their new feature film projects to the marketplace by Snowfort Pictures’ Head of Development Stephanie Trepanier (attending the festival as a guest speaker also) and Tasmanian-born horror director Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones, The Devi’s Candy). The filmmakers will also hear from Mai Nakanishi (director of Scream Queen Filmfest Tokyo) and Heidi Honeycutt (direct of Etheria Film Night, Los Angeles), who, along with Stranger With My Face are co-founders of the Alliance of Women’s Fantastic Film Festivals. The AWFFF is developing new strategies to collectively promote its filmmakers and raise their profile worldwide.
The 2016 Attic Lab filmmakers and their projects are:
GERAHAM BES (Indonesia)Dir/Co-Wri: Ginanti Rona Tembang AsriTHE GOBLIN CHILD (USA)Dir/Wri: Shoshana RosenbaumMY HUSBAND SWALLOWED A TREE (Tasmania/Australia)Dir/Wri: Rebecca ThomsonKATE KELLY (Victoria, Australia)Dir/Wri: Donna McRaeMORGANA (Victoria, Australia)Dir/Wri: Isabel PeppardQUEEN OF HEARTS (Tasmania, Australia)Wri: Carrie McLeanRAESITA GREY (Queensland, Australia)Dir/Wri: Katriana Irawati GrahamRELIC (Victoria, Australia)Dir/Co-Wri: Natalie JamesTRACELESS (New South Wales, Australia)Dir/Wri: Megan Riakos
I sugges that you go to the Attic Lab event page on the Stranger With My Face site and read the loglines for each of these invited projects. There are some really, really good ideas there; many of these I would see in an instant (Queen of Hearts, Traceless and My Husband Swallowed a Tree to name three off the top).