Christopher Walken will receive the Grand Honourary Award at Sitges 2016 this year. A stellar career whose highlights include iconic performances in The Deer Hunter, The Dead Zone, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, and countless other films, will grace the festival with his presence next month to accept this great honour (and yes, I will be asking him to dance).
This great news comes on the heels of a flurry of screening announcements. Closing the festival will be Juan Carlos Medina's The Limehouse Golem, a Victorian serial killer tale starring Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke. Other recently added titles from Europe and the Americas include Alice Lowe's fantastic Prevenge; The Untamed, a monster movie of a different colour from Mexico, and Raw, the best cannibal film in years. Nacho Vigalondo will bring his own flair for the monsterous with Colossal, and the latest in genre films making a spash on the circuit, including Swiss Army Man, Blair Witch, The Untamed, Are We Not Cats, and the amazing Under the Shadow.
For the Asian sections, Stephen Chow's bizarre yet charming The Mermaid will screen, along with Sion Sono's strange and ethereal The Whispering Star. Also in the monster movie vein will be Anno Hideaki and Higuchi Shinji's Shin Godzilla, and for fans of Manga, Ohtomo Keishi's Museum brings the famous story to cinematic life. And for fans of Johnnie To, there's a documentary about his creative process in Johnnie To's Vision & Craft.
And have we mentioned screenings of The Greasy Stranger? Pet? The latest from Terrance Malick and Werner Herzog? A Monster Calls? A documentary about iconic director Brian de Palma?
If anyone needs to find me in early October, I'll be pretty much living in the cinemas of Sitges. For full listings of the films being screened, check out the link below.