Festivals - Fantastic Fest 2021 : Discover the first Wave of programming

By Mulder, 06 august 2021

Mechanophilia, possessed nuns, possessed children, hallucinations, ghostly hauntings, time travel, exorcism, cerebral expansion, heavy metal, friendship, yakuza, canine trauma, multiple serial killers, coprophagia, cannibalism, tender embraces, vampires, copious bodily fluids, superheroes, warm laughs, disco-dancing firemen and more, more, more. Yes, this can only mean one thing: Fantastic Fest is back. 
 
After 18 months of isolation and uncertainty, this year’s “Post-Apocalyptic” edition of Fantastic Fest is here to remind us of the joy of cinema, community, and weird and wonderful movies. 
 
The first wave of films is headlined by the truly extraordinary 2021 Palme D’Or winner Titane from Parasite distributor Neon. It might not have seemed possible to top her staggering debut Raw (Fantastic Fest 2016), but Julia Ducournau has somehow done just that. A poignant study on loneliness, isolation and gender identity wrapped in a constantly surprising world of body horror, muscle cars, violence, and disco-dancing firemen. Fantastic Fest is so proud to share this singular vision. Fantastic Fest 2021's opening night party will be dedicated to the instantly iconic visuals of TITANE. Muscle cars will be on hand, and metallic-themed or “French firefighter” costumes are highly encouraged. TITANE opens in US cinemas on October 1.

After blue (dirty paradise) (France) (2021) (US Premiere) (130mns)

Director - Bertrand Mandico
Synopsis : On a mysterious new planet populated entirely by women, teenager Roxy and her mother undergo a fantastical journey in pursuit of a murderous criminal.

Agnes (USA) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (93mns)

Director - Mickey Reece
Notes : Fantastic Fest favorite Mickey Reece is back with his most ambitious production yet, the story of a headstrong young nun accused of possession and her best friend who’s left to grapple with the aftermath.

Alone with you (USA) (2021) (World Premiere) (83mns)

Directors - Emily Bennett & Justin Brooks
Synopsis: As a young woman painstakingly prepares a romantic homecoming for her girlfriend, their apartment begins to feel more like a tomb when voices, shadows, and hallucinations reveal a truth she has been unwilling to face.

Barbarians (United Kingdom) (2021) (World Premiere) (90mns)

Director - Charles Dorfman
Synopsis : An alpha male social media influencer and his beta brother meet for an explosive dinner with their significant others – one where secrets are revealed, lives are ruined, and chaos reigns (fox included).

The Beta Test (USA) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (93mns)

Directors - Jim Cummings & PJ McCabe
Notes : Jim Cummings is back as co-director and star in this pitch black film biz satire. Cummings revels in the full spectrum of bad behavior, leaving you laughing and gasping in equal measure.

Beyond the infinite 2 minutes (Japan) (2021) (North American Premiere) (70mns)

Director - Junta Yamaguchi
Synopsis : Kato is a cafe owner in Kyoto who suddenly finds his bedroom computer screen linked to the one in his cafe, showing him exactly what’s going on downstairs – two minutes in the future. Things get really absurd when his friends find out and devise a way to go ... Beyond the infinite 2 minutes.

Bingo Hell (USA) (2021) (World Premiere) (85mns)
Director - Gigi Saul Guerrero
Synopsis : The big, steel-toed boot of gentrification won’t stop one determined locally-grown advocate as a new building owner offers Bingo as a portal to financial prosperity – but the price is something far more sinister and much less liberating.

Cannon arm and the arcade quest (Denmark) (2021) (US Premiere) (97mns)

Director - Mads Hedegaard
Synopsis : Kim Cannon Arm sets out to shatter records by playing Gyruss for 100 hours straight on a single coin and he can’t do it on his own in this funny and philosophical documentary about the importance of friends and community.

Dance of death (Taiwan, Hong Kong) (1976) (Repertory Screening) (90mns)

Director - Chi-Hwa Chen
Synopsis : At the nexus point where Jackie Chan’s star began to rise and Angela Mao’s (ENTER THE DRAGON) was waning, they collaborated on this wild, rarely seen gem. Channeling Chan’s own acrobatic style, Mao avenges the defeat of her teachers using a powerful “dancing girl” kung fu style inspired by the gyrations of brothel attendants.

Dead & beautiful (The Netherlands, Taiwan) (2021) (North American Premiere) (98mns)

Director - David Verbeek
Synopsis : Five wealthy, fashionable friends wake up from a wild night in Taipei to find they’ve become vampires in David Verbeek’s aesthetically gorgeous thriller.

Dynasty (Taiwan, Hong Kong) (1977) (Repertory Screening) (92mns)

Director - Chang Mei-chung
Synopsis : Now! DYNASTY! On the surface it looks like just another indie kung fu flick from Taiwan, but within minutes this crazy train has picked up a full head of steam and is on its way to a Never Never Land of wild weapons, mass mutilation, and major mayhem … all in 3-D!!!

The exorcism of god (USA, Mexico, Venezuela) (2021)  (World Premiere) (98mns)

Director - Alejandro Hidalgo
Synopsis : When children in a small Mexican town start dying of demonic possession, the inhabitants seek the help of Father Peter Williams, a priest haunted by a past exorcism gone sinfully wrong. What follows is an epic battle between good and evil.

The found footage phenomenon (United Kingdom) (2021) (US Premiere) (102mns)

Directors - Sarah Appleton & Phillip Escott
Synopsis : Whip out your phone cams and prepare to get immersive: Sarah Appleton and Phillip Escott’s The found footage phenomenon is a documentary-shaped crash course on the wobbliest horror films out there.

Hellbender (USA) (2021) (US Premiere) (82mns)

Directors - Toby Poser, Zelda Adams & John Adams
Notes : Fantastic Fest favorite filmmaking family Toby Poser, John Adams, and Zelda Adams return with their newest creative endeavor Hellbender, a witchy, heavy metal coming-of-age thriller.

Iké boys (USA) (2021) (World Premiere) (88mns)

Director - Eric McEver
Synopsis : Two self-proclaimed geeks and a live-in Japanese foreign exchange student procure a long-lost anime classic that inadvertently turns them into superheroes ... just in time for a Y2K-era Kaiju face-off!

King car (Brazil) (2021) (US Premiere) (97mns)

Director - Renata Pinheiro
Synopsis : A young man’s ability to surreally “be one” with cars sparks a revolution that could save transport in his community. When his invention inadvertently accelerates the underlying problems, our hero’s quest must grow bigger than his own personal ambitions.

Knocking (Sweden) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (78mns)

Director - Frida Kempff
Synopsis : Molly seems to be the only one who hears strange knocking day and night in her apartment. But she won’t be deterred by unbelievers until she’s discovered the cause of the noises tormenting her.

Lamb (Iceland) (Sweden, Poland) (2021) (US Premiere) (107mns)

Director - Valdimar Jóhannsson
Synopsis : On a remote farm in Iceland, a couple that experienced recent loss is caring for their flock of sheep. One day, one of their sheep gives birth to a very peculiar lamb that will change their lives forever.

Last of the wolves (Japan) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (139mns)

Director - Kazuya Shiraishi
Synopsis : A hard-won truce between rival yakuza gangs threatens to erupt into bloody violence when a psychopathic hoodlum is released from prison and vows to avenge the death of his boss.

Let the wrong one in (Ireland) (2021) (World Premiere) (97mns)

Director - Conor McMahon
Synopsis : Sibling rivalry takes on a whole new meaning when one brother is turned into a vampire and has to rely on his younger brother to protect him. Will brotherly love win out or is someone getting staked?

Limbo (Hong Kong) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (118mns)

Director - Soi Cheang
Synopsis : A burnt-out cop and a by-the-book young detective team up to catch a vicious serial killer lurking in the garbage-filled alleys of Hong Kong in Soi Cheang’s grimy monochrome masterpiece.

Mad God (USA) (2021) (US Premiere) (83mns)
Director - Phil Tippett
Synopsis : An adventurer descends into a pit reaching the bowels of the Earth, searching for a spot on a crumbling map. On his journey in an apocalyptic world, he meets and fights monsters and creatures out of your worst nightmares in this passion project from stop-motion legend Phil Tippett.

The Marco effect (Denmark) (2021) (North American Premiere) (125mns)

Director - Martin Zandlivet
Synopsis : When Marco, a Romani kid without papers, is caught at the Danish border with the passport of a man who went missing, Detective Carl Mørck from Department Q unknowingly opens Pandora’s Box on what was supposedly a simple case.

Master of the flying guillotine presented by 36 cinema (Taiwan, Hong Kong) (1975) (Repertory Screening) (93mns)

Director - Jimmy Wang Yu
Synopsis : A blind assassin armed with a vicious flying guillotine is out to kill the legendary one-armed boxer (martial arts superstar Jimmy Wang Yu). 36 Cinema presents Master of the flying guillotine with live commentary by RZA!

Midnight (South Korea) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (103mns)

Director - KWON Oh-seung
Synopsis : Discover the twisted nighttime alleys of Seoul in the tense and thrilling MIDNIGHT, the gripping tale of a Deaf woman and the serial killer who has underestimated his opponent.

Mother schmuckers (Belgium) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (70mns)

Director - Lenny Guit & Harpo Guit
Synopsis : Issachar and Zabulon are two not-so-bright brothers who never manage to do anything right. When they lose Jacques-Janvier, their mom’s beloved dog, she gives them a day to find him ... or else. And of course nothing goes smoothly.

Name above title (Portugal) (2020) (North American Premiere) (59mns)

Director - Carlos Conceição
Synopsis : A serial killer is propelled into fame after he kisses a dying woman who has just thrown herself off a balcony. Viewed by the world as an act of kindness, that gesture may well be hiding something far more sinister.

Once upon a time in Uganda (USA) (Uganda) (2021) (World Premiere) (94mns)

Director - Cathryne Czubek & Hugo Perez
Notes : Documenting the rise of Uganda’s Tarantino and his complex relationship with a middle-aged white dude from New York, Once upon a time in Uganda tells the amazing story of a micro-film industry making $200 action films that have traveled the world, and how it happened almost by accident.

Possession (France, Germany) (1981) (US Premiere of 4K Restoration) (124mns)

Director - Andrzej Zulawski
Notes : It took 30 years for people to catch up to Possession’s bizarre, gelatinous majesty, and now it graces the Fantastic Fest screen in a breathtaking 4K restoration.

Poupelle of chimney town (Japan) (2020) (US Premiere) (100mns)

Director - Yusuke Hirota
In this animated adventure, a young chimney sweep meets a sentient pile of junkyard scrap one Halloween night, raising questions about the world outside the isolated, walled-off community the boy has known his entire life.

Preman (Indonesia) (2021) (Texas Premiere) (91mns)

Director - Randolph Zaini
After Pandu witnesses a murder by a local gang – the unsavory mini-mob that his father works for – Deaf criminal Sandi has to turn against his own crew and flee town to protect him. Unfortunately, his boss Guru is not about to let go so easily.

The sadness (Taiwan) (2021) (US Premiere) (99mns)

Director - Rob Jabbaz
As Taiwan succumbs to a viral pandemic that transforms ordinary peaceful citizens into sadistic, bloodthirsty maniacs, a young couple must battle to be reunited before they too become infected in this gleefully gory, morally reprehensible late-night splatterfest.

She will (United Kingdom) (2021) (North American Premiere) (95mns)

Director - Charlotte Colbert
After a double mastectomy, actress Veronica Ghent travels to a remote place in Scotland in order to recuperate. However, the land around the retreat radiates with a dark power that will ultimately help liberate her from a traumatic past.

Snakes (USA) (1974) (Repertory Screening) (83mns)

Director - Art Names
An exceedingly odd rural snake revenge movie — made on a zilch budget and scored by electronic music pioneer Suzanne Ciani — that will make you question your relationship with reality, relativity, and reptiles.

This is gwar (USA) (2021) (World Premiere) (110mns)

Director - Scott Barber
Synopsis : GWAR is the galaxy’s greatest rock ‘n roll band, an intergalactic troupe of marauders who crash-landed in Antarctica and are committed to rocking your face off. But they’re also a bunch of amazing artists from Virginia determined to put on the wildest, bloodiest show you’ve ever seen. This is how.

Titane (France, Belgium) (2021) (US Premiere) (108mns)

Director - Julia Ducournau
Synopsis : A car accident irreparably changes the course of one woman’s life, sending her down a bizarre, twisted path in the search for love and acceptance.

The trip (Norway) (2021) (International Premiere) (113mns)
Director - Tommy Wirkola
Synopsis : A married couple travels to their isolated cabin in the woods for some peace and quiet, with the husband planning to murder his wife. Of course, nothing goes as planned, and things only get worse from there.

The visitor (Italy, USA) (1979) (Repertory Screening) (108mns)

Director - Michael J. Paradise
Notes : This Italian-made horror/soap-opera/psychedelic light show was made to scoop up any stray dollars that The omen and The exorcist may have left on the table. Featuring an amazing will-work-for-food cast that includes John Huston as a kind of cosmic child pimp for the lord, Shelley Winters, Lance Henriksen, Sam Peckinpah (!!!), and of course Franco Nero as Jesus Christ.

Yellow dragon’s village (Japan) (2021) (International Premiere) (67mns)

Director - Hugo Sakamoto
Synopsis : And now for something completely different: Cannibal cultists and vengeful martial artists lead the way as found footage horror gets a cult film makeover courtesy of Hugo Sakamoto’s inventive and spirited debut.

FAN Badges, 2ND HALF Badges, and MIDNIGHT Badges for Fantastic Fest 2021 are available for purchase here. The all-new FANTASTIC FEST @ HOME Badges are also available and provide access to the fest’s new virtual event which takes place from 9/30 - 10/11. 

For the latest developments, visit the Fantastic Fest official site www.fantasticfest.com and follow us on Facebook & Twitter.

(Source : press release)