In two weeks’ timethe 28th edition of Lund Fantastic kicks off in the picturesque town in thesouth of Sweden (October 27 - November 5).
As previously announced,the festival opens on October 27 with Carlota Pereda’s sensationalSundance debut, Piggy, a blood-soakedthriller that presents a relevant, honest story packed with talent andemotion in equal measure.
Closing honors go to Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt, a highlyinventive love letter to the power of storytelling that celebrates art assomething vital thatgives meaning to life.
In between those creativeand richly cinematic bookends, the festival welcomes a hostof new features, classics and shorts from all corners of the world for in-personand online screenings (the latter as part of the festival’s extendedpartnership with TriArt Play).
Friday October28 treats viewers to a ‘utopia meets dystopia’ double bill inthe form of Leonor Will Never Die, followed by theSwedish premiere of Natalia Sinelnikova’s We Might As WellBe Dead. Closer to the witching hour, haunted-househorror comedy Deadstream will bringthe spooky fun as a film that’s both topical while winkingly acknowledging thepast.
On October 29 stories continue to take on a life of their own as ghosts (in both a metaphoricand literal sense) reemerge to cast shadows on the present. Jean Luc Herbulot’shigh-octane genre-hybrid Saloum - anaction-horror with western vibes, steeped in myths of African oral tradition -will be followed by Jenna Cato Bass’ post-apartheid horror Good Madam before a 30th anniversary screening of Bernard Rose’s Candyman returns Tony Todd’s immortalanti- hero to the silver screen once more.
Having set thehorror mood on Saturday, Lund Fantastic’s annual Halloween focus takes fullform on October30 with a darkly entertaining dose of Halloweenhorror shorts (including Eros V’s Good Boy, Jacen Tan’s Roach Love and Nuhash Humayun’s Moshari), the long-awaited cinematic premiere of Michael Dougherty’s quintessential seasonalcult classic, Trick ’r Treat and aproper Halloween party in the darkened alleys of Lund.
On October 31, LundFantastic continues to look back from a present-day vantage pointwith a focus on the oeuvre of Stephen King. The Swedishpremiere of DaphnéBaiwir’s extensively researched King on Screen documentary will be followed by De Palma’s vintageadaptation of the famed storyteller’s first novel, Carrie, before an experimental, ‘collage’-reimagining of The Langoliers takes flight inAristotelis Maragkos The Timekeepers ofEternity.
All this is just atantalizing taste of what Lund Fantastic has in store for its first half. Readon to discover the full feature film lineup and get a glimpse into the diverseshort film packages.
Piggy raises key universal questionsaround justice, family, trauma and self-love in a powerful yet subtle way that eschews easyanswers. This brave, lonely journey towardsself-acceptance, forgiveness and liberation is magistrally captured by CarlotaPereda in this beautiful slasher riff that takes us back to classics such as Carrie or The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but does so with its own twistedflavor.
Benson and Moorhead’s latest tour de force constructs an intricatecosmic puzzle that draws onvarious theories, pseudo facts,paranoid conspiracies and speculative scienceto further ex- tend the idiosyncratic microcosm that this creative pair havecrafted for themselves within a broader Lovecraft-verse. Aheartfelt love letter to the power of storytelling, Something in the Dirt is adelirious head trip and a terrific allegory thatcaptures theneed for creativeexpression as it celebrates art as something vital that gives meaning to life.
Michael Doughtery’s quintessential cult classic about the lore andlegends of All Hallow’s Eve and Halloween is finally making its way to cinemasto celebrate the film’s 15th anniversary. A horror anthology full of autumnal delightsand rich in holiday atmosphere, Trick ’r Treat spins a total of five deliciously interconnectedtales about the do’s and don’ts on Halloween night, and the price one pays fornot honoring tradition.
Chillingly adapted from Clive Barker’s short story, The Forbidden, Bernard Rose’s seminaltake on urban legends stands tall as a film that sees a story take on a life ofits own and tests the power of belief. Let yourself be transported to theCabrini-Green Projects to the orchestral gloom of Philip Glass’ foreboding, gothicscore and witness how the past is always present during Lund Fantastic’s 30thanniversary screening of Candyman.
Based on Stephen King’snovel and directed bya young Brian DePalma, Carrie tells the chilling story of a shy, alienatedteenage girl living under the overbearingly authoritarian hand of her mother,who claims to be protecting her through the practice of her religious ways andrules. Carrie presents a gentle yet blood-curling portrait about themental persecution social outcastssuffer from walking down their high school halls all the way into their homes.
Anenergetic rollercoaster from Senegal,Saloum is an inventive callingcard for writer-director Jean Luc Herbulot: ahybrid of a gangster movie and a western that tips its hat to mainstream
international actioncinema while being deeply rootedin African specificity,mysticism and the oral traditions offolk and tall tales. Saloum is a crime caperinwhich badmen try to make their great escape yet find theirget-rich-quick scheme thwarted by a supernatural menace.
A presumed utopic safe-haven starts to show its cracks and slowlybecomes dystopian in this impressive graduation film. We Might As Well Be Dead spins a tale of encroaching paranoia, peerpressure and the ‘danger’ of non-conformism as mob mentality takes hold and a‘happy home’ turns hellish. A shrewdsocial satire that tacklesxenophobia, Sinelnikova’s uncanny de- butleaves viewers with a powerful reflection: ‘belonging or not belonging - whichis worse’?
A well-executed love letter to our beloved genre classics, The Passenger is a unique kind ofbuddy comedy and sci-fi creature feature presentedthrough a wonderfully polished look and badass special effects. All of it comeswrapped in 80s Spanish-culture nostalgia and with a sweet character arc thatgradually reveals things are not always as they seem.
The Timekeepers ofEternity rewritesStephen King's story ‘The Langoliers’ through the most impressive collageedit: a compelling reinterpretation of the already produced media made by printingTom Holland’s original mini series into previously printedpaper and re-composing it with the use of animation, new editing techniques andVFX. The result is a hypnotic and fascinating experimental experience, whichwill absorb you in the narrative’s turmoil in ways the original never managedto find.
A middle-aged couple finds a strange tunnel in their new house. If youcrawl through it, you realize that twelve hours have gone by, and that you havebecome three days younger. Alain, the man of the household, doesn’t know whatto do with this time-bending feature. His wife Marie becomes possessed with thethought of regaining her lost youth.
Ghosts from the past are front andcenter in post-apartheid horror GoodMadam. Jenna Cato Bass’ haunting film explores the lingering legacy ofSouth-African segregation and the almost casual, everyday racism that’s pervaded an affluent white suburb where a Black housekeeper’sfamily is allowed to move in on the condition that everyone respects the rulesof the house. Confrontationaland creepy, this historicalhorror film seeks to exorcize South-African trauma.
A distinct riff on the serial killerformula that ponders the value of life and what it means to truly live, KatayamaShinzo’s ambitious sophomore feature, Missing, is a stark, stylish hybrid of a thriller anda drama that benefits from engaging performances, a three-actnarrative that disrupts chronology to heighten its elusive mysteries and anunusually tense, singular climax that plays out over a memorable game of pingpong.
An inventive rom-com with a unique take on a lost woman’s pursuit ofhappiness, Ghosting Gloria shows awoman’s unconventional path towards self-discovery and personal expansion bythe hand of a giving lover who will show her what real pleasure feels like;there’s only one complication: her newfound lover is a ghost! Expect to breakall boundaries and be elevated to uncharted realms of spiritual connection,where the film will take you through a heartfelt journey full of entertainment.
A genre-bending meta story about a retired filmmaker who gets knockedon the head by a television and falls into a deep coma. Leonor’s body may bestill but in her mind she is welcomed into her currently unfinished film,reminiscent of the glory days of Filipino action movies. Blendingfantasy and reality asLeonor re-edits herfilm and life, this passionate debut will leave you feelinginspired and grateful to be alive.
Daphné Baiwir’s passion for Stephen King shinesthrough in this two-hour tour through some of the brightest stages inKing’s film journey. Memorialized through theanalytic lens of iconic film directors such as Frank Darabont (The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile)or Mick Garris (The Shining mini-series,The Stand), these conversations bring to light the secrets to King’sunrivaled and long-lastingon-screen success,a legacy that will only continue to grow as years go by.
Flavored with the whole spectrum ofjump-scares, haunted houses, blood and silly-but-scaryghostly creatures, Deadstream is wonderfully wrapped in a Gen Zparodical social commentary while taking you for acreepy spook-house ride. A fun take on TheBlair Witch Project made with love and stuffed with eerie suspense, Deadstream is the found-footagehorror-comedy you need in your life this Halloween.
- highlights include: Successful Thawing of Mr Moro (Jerry Carlsson), The Diamond (Vedran Rupic)
- highlights include: Good Boy(Eros V), Moshari (Nuhash Humayun), Roach Love (Jacen Tan)
- highlights include: Hideous(Yann Gonzalez), The Last Queen on Earth(Michael Shumway),
Tank Fairy (Erich Rettstadt)
A coming-of-age action film abouttalented teenage assassins who are trying to figure out how tofend for themselves andget swept up in a violent showdown with yakuza thugs. Hugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins is as much aninspired comedy about thedifficulty of growing into one’s own self as it is a polished martial arts flick that gives John Wick-style fightchoreography a run for its money during itssuper-charged, life-or-death climax.
Short film packages: Future of Fantastic, Strange Worlds: Asci-fi package, Méliès, Borders of Reality, Totally oFF - full details to beannounced on the official website
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