Thirst Street (2017)

Quirky director Nathan Silver(ACTOR MARTINEZ) is at it again with THIRST STREET the story of a woman unlucky in love.

The film follows Gina, a flight attendant  who flees to Paris after her boyfriend commits suicide because he was convinced she only traveled to get away from him. Once there she misadventures herself into a relationship with Jerome. She then goes off the rails when Jerome's ex re-enters his life.

Quirky, odd ball and very deliberate film is not going to work for some audiences. With its ever present narration by Angelica Huston and throw back psychodrama lighting scheme this film is not going to  be either as compelling or as funny as intended. You either go with it's off beat and off kilter humor or you walk out of the audience

I liked what it was trying to do but ultimately I thought it wore out its welcome in the opening reel.

To be honest this film premiered at Tribeca early this year and it as the one film I simply refused to see because I disliked the director's earlier films. I agreed to see the film because I didn't realize what the film was. That said this is the first of Silver's films that I kind of liked Not a ringing endorsement I know but there are moments.

THIRST STREET opens in NYC at the Quad today  and on the 29th in Los Angeles

NEWFEST, NEW YORK'S LGBT FILM FESTIVAL, ANNOUNCES FULL LINEUP FOR THEIR 29TH ANNUAL FESTIVAL

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Features More Than 140 Films From 26 Countries Over 6 Days

NewFest Previously Announced Opening, Closing, Centerpiece Films

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Festival Runs October 19 - 24 and is Presented by HBO and

Programmed in Partnership with Outfest

New York, NY (September 19, 2017) – Following the announcement of their Opening, Closing and Centerpiece films, NewFest, which is programmed in partnership with Outfest, today announced the full lineup of their 29th annual celebration of the year’s best LGBT films from around the world. The program of more than 140 narrative features, documentaries, episodic series and shorts runs from October 19-24 at the SVA Theatre, Cinépolis Chelsea, and The LGBT Community Center in New York City.

In addition to the previously announced galas, this year’s festival will also feature a Spotlight Screening & Conversation presentation of Angela Robinson’s PROFESSOR MARSTON & THE WONDER WOMEN, the story of how the superhero Wonder Woman came to be and the secret life of her creator, Dr. William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans), his wife Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall) and their lover Olive (Bella Heathcote). The screening will be followed by a conversation on bisexuality and polyamory with director Angela Robinson and guests to be announced.

This year NewFest received a wealth of international submissions, with films being submitted from 34 countries spread across 6 continents, and 33 percent of the features were directed by women. Overall, the festival will screen 40 feature length films (including over 20 feature works from first-time feature filmmakers, such as Trudie Styler), 97 shorts and an episodic sidebar featuring 8 web-based projects for a total of 145 selections. The US Narrative, International Narrative and Documentary  Feature sections will include 11 films in each group, with 16 countries represented, including new works from the Philippines, Canada, Chile, Germany, Finland, Qatar, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, Spain, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

“This year’s festival takes a cross-generational look at the LGBTQ community through the lens of our history, our culture, and our sexual and gender identities,” said Executive Director Robert Kushner. “Through these established filmmakers and vibrant emerging voices of LGBTQ cinema, we’re given the opportunity to reflect on our progress, highlight our strengths, and illuminate the challenges we experience both as individuals and as a community.”

“We are so proud of the caliber of films in this year's NewFest lineup. The work from this year’s creatives shares a collective queer consciousness--looking at sexual fluidity, the gender spectrum, and resistance as a way of life,” said Director of Programming Lucy Mukerjee-Brown. “We've collected stories from our queer family across the globe in order to inspire New Yorkers for the 29th year in a row. Join us to take part in the post-screening conversations and make a statement about the value of LGBTQ visibility and community.”

“The varied stories and forms from around the world within this year’s electric festival program spiritually emulate the vitality of New York’s LGBTQ cultural and political landscape both past and present,” said NewFest’s Programming and Operations Manager Nick McCarthy. “And with so many New York-set films, we’re beyond excited to provide a space and platform for multiple storytellers to reflect on the LGBT experience through the power of cinema in their hometown. We are all looking forward to sharing the auspicious work of our talented filmmakers with the audiences of New York, and to facilitate engagement between artists and guests--highlighting the unity within community .”

New feature-length work includes narratives DISCREET from Travis Mathews (INTERIOR. LEATHER BAR), Canadian entry PORCUPINE LAKE from Ingrid Veninger (THE ANIMAL PROJECT) and the BBC-produced AGAINST THE LAW from Fergus O'Brien, documentaries MY WONDERFUL WEST BERLIN from German filmmaker Jochen Hick (THE GOOD AMERICAN), OUT OF ORDER from Amanda Bluglass (VIVA) and BONES OF CONTENTION from Emmy-winner Andrea Weiss (U.N. Fever). The festival also includes exciting premieres of debut features such as FREAK SHOW from Trudie Styler, starring Bette Midler, Abigail Breslin, AnnaSophia Robb, Laverne Cox, John McEnroe and Larry Pine, ONE LAST THING from Tim Rouhana, starring Wendall Pierce (THE WIRE) and Jurnee Smollet, as well as Jennifer Gerber’s THE REVIVAL, Mike Roma’s DATING MY MOTHER, Samantha Lee’s MAYBE TOMORROW, Gail Freedman’s HOT TO TROT, and Lara Embry and Carolyn Sherer’s ALABAMA BOUND, among others.

Rounding out the US Narrative offerings are Christopher Schaap’s PROM KING, 2010, David Berry’s SOMETHING LIKE SUMMER, William Sullivan’s THE RING THING, Jenée LaMarque‘s THE FEELS, Albert Alarr’s A MILLION HAPPY NOWS and Anahita Ghazvinizadeh’s THEY, while Itako’s BOYS FOR SALE, Paul Oremland’s 100 MEN, Jeffrey Schwarz’s THE FABULOUS ALLAN CARR, Tristan Milewski’s DREAM BOAT and Arshad Khan’s ABU complete the feature length documentary entries.

The remaining International narratives include Marília Hughes and Guerreiro Cláudio Marques’ THE CITY OF THE FUTURE (Brazil), Carlos Lechuga’s SANTA & ANDRES (Cuba), Darren Thornton’s A DATE FOR MAD MARY (Ireland), Victor Villanueva’s  JESUS IS DEAD (the Philippines, East Coast Premiere), Joselito Altarejos’ TALE OF THE LOST BOYS (Taiwan, the Philippines, North American Premiere), Lokesh Kumar’s MY SON IS GAY (India, North American Premiere), Nicolas Videla’s THE DEVIL'S MAGNIFICENT (Chile, International Premiere) and Nils-Erik Ekblom’s SCREWED (Finland).

Through the film selection process this year’s event, the festival’s programming team chose to highlight several themes, including the history of LGBT activism in New York City, the global condition of LGBT communities and the ways in which different generations of LGBT artists, activists and storytellers influence each other by looking both backwards and forward in time.

To that end, they chose to program a Legacy section of shorts entitled Out of the Archive: Queer New York, containing 7 short films spanning the past 50 years of LGBT filmmaking, including a 2010 short documentary from Ira Sachs comprised of footage of the exteriors of houses where New York artists were living when they died of AIDS; QUEENS AT HEART, a short doc about two pre-Stonewall transgender women; and I NEVER DANCED THE WAY GIRLS WERE SUPPOSED TO, Dawn Suggs’ mediation on black lesbian subjectivity.

The Legacy feature is Hettie Macdonald’s 1996 narrative feature BEAUTIFUL THING. Two decades after its initial release, the film still stands as one of the most poignant and honest depictions of the coming-out process ever presented on screen, and represents this year’s festival’s theme of self-expression.

Considering the massive growth in LGBT-oriented TV and web-based episodic content over the past several years and a successful panel last year focused on Queer Storytelling in a Digital Age,  NewFest decided to add an Episodic Showcase that is comprised of three episodic programs for 2017, and including works such as Brooklyn-local Chanelle Aponte Pearson’s 195 LEWIS; THE T; DARLING SHEAR; Andre Perez’s AMERICA IN TRANSITION; Kit Williamson’s EASTSIDERS; MARICAS; and SNUGGLR.

This year’s lineup of 97 new LGBT shorts have been divided into thematic programs, as follows:

DRAWN THIS WAY: QUEER ANIMATION

This bold and inventive series of formally adventurous and engaging shorts highlights animation's varied capacity to capture self-expression, identity, and communication. Beauty encompasses the fluidity of everyday life, whether going for a swim, cooking your father’s favorite dish, or reconnecting with a lost love. This eclectic combination of narrative and nonfiction works features stories from all around the world, yet possesses universal qualities and a brilliantly beating heart at its core. Audacious, heart-warming, inspiring, and a little absurdist—get ready for a gorgeously realized emotional roller coaster!

TransNation Film Festival Announces Lineup

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE SECOND ANNUAL TRANSNATION  FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP Three-day festival features new works and rarely seen repertory gems that reflect the trans experience. Highlights include A Tribute to The Cockettes, RuPaul’s THE STARBOOTY TRILOGY, THE LIFE AND DEATH OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON, and STRONG ISLAND.

Los Angeles, CA (September 19, 2017) – The TransNation Film Festival, presented by St. John’s Well Child and Family Center, a community health center in Los Angeles that serves one of the largest populations of transgender patients in the country, announced today its 2017 lineup of narrative and documentary features, experimental films, and shorts for its second annual festival. The festival will run October 13-15at the Silent Movie Theater in West Hollywood (611 N. Fairfax). Tickets and more information are available at www.transnationfestival.org. Hosted by Zackary Drucker (filmmaker, artist, and producer of Transparent), the TransNation Film Festival is a three-day event featuring an eclectic program of works by emerging and established filmmakers, as well as rare and underseen repertory gems and classics that reflect the trans experience. “I can’t imagine a more dynamic, challenging, and crucial time for us to build community around art and storytelling,” said Drucker. “Working with a politic of love and unity, we programmed this year’s festival to highlight filmmakers and subjects that keep us critical, galvanized, and empowered. Moving through time and around the world, this year we’re featuring vintage and cult films, alongside subversive and groundbreaking narratives of today.” Festival highlights include A Tribute to The Cockettes, the legendary San Francisco theatrical troupe, which will feature photographs, an art exhibition, and screenings of three rare Cockettes-made films: TRICIA’S WEDDING, ELEVATOR GIRLS IN BONDAGE, and PALACE. The screening of PALACE will be accompanied by a live score by Kristian Hoffman. This exhibition of original Cockettes costumes and photographs will be shown for the first time in Los Angeles, after touring museums around the country. Founding Cockette and photographer Fayette Hauser will be in attendance. RuPaul Is Starbooty in The Starbooty Trilogy, a cult-classic from RuPaul’s early public access days, will screen with a midnight dress-up party. All those who dress up will be photographed on the red carpet and are invited to attend a pre-party outfit contest on the patio. Two recent and acclaimed social justice documentaries that explore issues at the core of the mission of St. John’s Well Child and Family Center will screen: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON andSTRONG ISLAND. Academy Award-nominated filmmaker David France’s (HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE) THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON will open the festival and feature the film’s subject, trans activist for the Anti-Violence Project Victoria Cruz, in conversation with CEO of St John’s, Jim Mangia, who knew Marsha P. Johnson. The Sundance 2017 Special Jury Award winner for Storytelling, STRONG ISLAND, will feature the film’s director and subject Yance Ford, who will attend for a post-screening Q&A. The festival’s ground-breaking shorts program features world premieres and new works by emerging and acclaimed trans filmmakers as well as those working with trans themes, including Rhys Ernst, Luis De Filippis, Rosie Haber, Rain Valdez, Harriet Fleuriot, Sarah Cockings, Wes Hurley, and Nathan M. Mille. The festival will also screen the West Coast premiere of TRANS YOUTH, a nuanced verité documentary following the lives of trans millennials in Austin, TX, as well as a sneak peek of the forthcoming HBO documentary short film 15: A QUINCEAÑERA STORY. The film will air in 2018 and follows transgender teen Zoe Luna getting ready for her quinceañera in Los Angeles. Luna and filmmaker Matthew O’Neill will be in attendance. Filmmaker Michael Sarne’s 1970 gender-bending comedy MYRA BRECKINRIDGE, starring Raquel Welch, John Huston, Farrah Fawcett, Rex Reed, Tom Selleck, and Mae West, will have a special midnightscreening. The special program, West African Spirit Worlds and the Non-binary Experience, will highlight two films that deal with African spirituality and gender fluidity. BIGHT OF THE TWIN features legendary industrial music pioneer and alt-culture iconGenesis Breyer P-Orridgein Benin exploring the Vodoun twin fetish tradition, while OYA: SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO WEST AFRICA is directed by Queer Gender-Non-Conforming Nigerian media artistSeyi Adebanjo. Adebanjo will appear in person to present the film. TransNation Film Festival is part of the TransNation Festival 2017, a week-long celebration of the trans community that also includes ELEGANZA, the official closing gala on Saturday, October 21, and numerous community events throughout the week. Proceeds from the festival will benefit St. John’s Well Child and Family Center’s Transgender Health Program, which is an independent 501(c)3 community health center that serves one of the largest populations of transgender patients in the country with primary medical, dental, and behavioral health care, as well as support for the community’s unique socioeconomic, legal, and advocacy needs. “St. John’s is honored to have built a transgender health program serving thousands of trans patients,” said St. John’s CEO Jim Mangia. “And we are extremely honored to sponsor a film festival that gives expression, support, and affirmation of the beauty of trans lives.” More information is available at the festival website: www.transnationfestival.org About St. John’s St. John’s Well Child and Family Center is an independent 501(c)(3) federally qualified health center network of thirteen health centers and two mobile clinics spanning the breadth of Central and South L.A. and Compton. The organization began as a one-room volunteer pediatric clinic in 1964, one year before the Watts Riots, in response to the poverty and lack of access to health services for underserved South L.A. residents. Fifty-three years later, South L.A. remains a region of economic deprivation and social marginalization. In response to the disturbing health inequalities, St. John’s has expanded its outreach and programs over the years to meet the needs of its primarily immigrant Latino and indigent African-American community. Today, St. John’s is one of the most significant safety net providers in L.A. County, offering comprehensive healthcare as well as supportive services to address socio-economic, housing, mental health, and advocacy needs. In 2016, the St. John’s’ network provided more than 261,000 primary medical, dental and behavioral health visits, plus 5,199 supportive services case management visits, to more than 84,000 low-income children and adults—regardless of their ability to pay for services. In 2013, in response to the alarming poverty, health risks, and marginalization of the transgender community in South L.A., St. John’s launched a comprehensive Transgender Health Program at its Warner Traynham Health Center. In a patient-centered medical home, the program addresses the deep disparities facing the transgender population through the provision of linguistically and culturally competent trans-specific services including primary and preventive care–medical, dental, and behavioral health, including no-barrier hormone therapy, individual counseling, family counseling and support groups; pharmacy; victim advocacy; case management; referrals to trans advocates, legal support and other services; health insurance enrollment assistance; assistance with legal name/gender change paperwork; workforce readiness; and referrals for gender affirming surgeries. Through comprehensive services for children, families, and adults from all walks of life, St. John’s’ mission is to eliminate health disparities and foster community well-being by providing and promoting the highest-quality care in South L.A. FESTIVAL SCHEDULE FRIDAY, OCTOBER 13 7:30 pm          THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON                         St. John’s CEO Jim Mangia in conversation with subject and activist Victoria Cruz 10:00 pm         SHORTS PROGRAM                         Rain Valdez and others in person 12:00 am         RuPaul Is Starbooty in The Starbooty Trilogy! With a dress-up party! SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14 4:00 pm           DRUNKTOWN’S FINEST 7:00 pm           STRONG ISLAND                         Director Yance Ford in person for Q&A 9:30 pm           A TRIBUTE TO THE COCKETTES                         Original Cockette Fayette Hauser in person and live score by Kristian Hoffman 12:00 am         MYRA BRECKINRIDGE SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15 3:00 pm           IN FULL BLOOM                         Filmmaker Michael Brewer and cast members in person 5:00 pm           Special FREE sneak preview of HBO short film 15: A QUINCEAÑERA STORY                         Subject Zoe Luna in person 7:00 pm           TRANS YOUTH – West Coast Premiere                         Filmmaker Rebecca Adler and cast members in person 9:30 pm           Special program: West African Spirit Worlds and the Non-binary Experience                         featuring OYA: SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO WEST AFRICA and BIGHT OF THE TWIN                                     Filmmaker Seyi Adebanjo in person                                     Filmmaker Hazel Hill and special guests in person FESTIVAL PROGRAM FEATURES THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON US/2017/105min/DCP/English Director: David France Logline: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF MARSHA P. JOHNSON reexamines the death of a beloved icon of the trans world while celebrating the story of two landmark pioneers of the trans-rights movement, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. DRUNKTOWN’S FINEST US/2014/95 min./DCP/Engilsh Director: Sydney Freeland Logline: Three Native Americans: a college-bound student, a father-to-be, and a promiscuous transsexual struggle to escape their Indian reservation. IN FULL BLOOM US/2015/90 min./DCP/English Director: Michael Brewer Logline: The feature-length documentary follows the journey of thirteen transgender and two gay actors as they prepare for the world premiere of the stage play, “Lovely Bouquet of Flowers: An Exploration of Non-Traditional Gender Voices.” STRONG ISLAND US, Denmark/2017/107 min./DCP/English Theatrical Premiere Director: Yance Ford Logline: The forces of family, grief and racial injustice converge in this powerful documentary exploring the murder of filmmaker Yance Ford's brother. TAMARA Venezuela, Uruguay, Peru/ 2016/110 min./DCP/Spanish w/ English Subtitles Director: Elia K. Schneider Logline: The film is based on the true story of Tamara Adrián, the first trans person elected to national office in Venezuela. TRANS YOUTH – West Coast Premiere US/2017/84 min./DCP/English Director: Rebecca Adler Logline: This intimate documentary filmed over three years centers on seven trans young adults as they navigate growing older in the southern city of Austin, Texas. Trans Youth is a stirring tribute to the courage necessary to become oneself in a sometimes unloving world. REPERTORY/SPECIAL PROGRAMS Special Program: A TRIBUTE TO THE COCKETTES Tribute to the hugely influential 1960s-70s trans-collective performance troupe The Cockettes, with an introduction by special guest and original Cockette Fayette Hauser and a screening of three very rare films: TRICIA’S WEDDING, ELEVATOR GIRLS IN BONDAGE, and PALACE. The screening of PALACE will be accompanied by a live score by Kristian Hoffman. TRICIA’S WEDDING US/1971/33 min./DCP restoration/English Director: Milton Miron aka Sebastian Logline: The Cockettes' hilarious, dazzling underground-film spoof of the wedding of Tricia Nixon, daughter of President Richard Nixon, in the White House Rose Garden. ELEVATOR GIRLS IN BONDAGE US/1972/56 min./DCP restoration/English Director: Michael Kalmen Logline: The underpaid staff of a seedy hotel rise up in revolt when head Elevator Girl Maxine (Rumi) starts a Marxist-Feminist secret association to liberate the girls, followed by explicit and wildly unconventional sexual encounters. PALACE (with live score by Kristian Hoffman) US/1970/25 min./35mm/English Director: Syd Dutton Logline: This very rare film, screened in 35mm, is the only recorded live performance of the Cockettes, at the Palace Theater in San Francisco on Halloween, 1970. Special Program: West African Spirit Worlds and the Nonbinary Experience featuring OYA: SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO WEST AFRICA! And BIGHT OF THE TWIN OYA: SOMETHING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO WEST AFRICA! US, Nigeria/2015/30 min./DCP/English and West African dialect Director: Seyi Adebanjo Logline: Queer Gender-Non-Conforming Nigerian media artist Seyi Adebanjo tells a tale not often heard about gender and indigenous Yorùbá spirituality as Seyi journeys to Nigeria to connect with Òrìṣà tradition, or African God/dess tradition, and the powerful legacy of the filmmaker's great grandmother, Chief Moloran Ìyá Ọlọ́ya. BIGHT OF THE TWIN US, Benin/2016/55 min./DCP/English, French, Fon w/ English Subtitles Director: Hazel Hill McCarthy III Logline: Takes viewers to Ouidah, Benin, the geographic heart of the Vodoun religion, where legendary musician, cultural engineer and self-proclaimed non-binary “Pandrogyne” Genesis Breyer P-Orridge immerses h/irself in the Vodoun fetish “twin culture” and explores the relationship between Vodoun and Western secular art and performance. MYRA BRECKINRIDGE US/1970/94 min./35mm/English Director: Michael Sarne Logline: Style, grace, sworn against the male race? Enter ultra-femme, sadistic she-devil Myra Breckinridge, the inaugural trans Bad Bitch, who – in her wicked pursuit of revenge – never fails to properly accessorize and outfit. RUPAUL IS STARRBOOTY US/1987/60 min./DCP/English Director: Jon Witherspoon Logline: Long before Supermodel, an unknown RuPaul with gigantic ambition created the unstoppable secret-agent-spy-model Starbooty and made three epic Starbooty adventure movies for Atlanta public access television, treasured for decades by cult-film connoisseurs but rarely seen on the large screen. 15: A QUINCEAÑERA STORY – FREE sneak preview screening US/2017/27 min. DCP/English Director: Matthew O’Neill & Thalia Sodi Logline: 15: A Quinceañera Story is about Zoey, a young Mexican-American celebrating her 15th birthday. Though Zoey was assigned male at birth, she identifies as female and this celebration has special significance for her trans madrinas (godmothers) who couldn't have Quinceañeras of their own. SHORTS PROGRAM HEXED US/2017/10 min./DCP/English Director: Rain Valdez Logline: A woman is “kiss-hexed” by a homeless person and must find another person to kiss by midnightor she expires – an unlikely love story. LITTLE POTATO US/2017/14 min./DCP/English Director: Wes Hurley & Nathan M. Miller Logline: Struggling to survive in the USSR during the turbulent years of Perestroika, Elena and her young gay son escape into the world of pirated American movies. But soon the movies are not enough and Elena decides to become a mail-order-bride and discover America for herself. Saving its most unexpected twist til the end, this is an inspiring and timely story of two immigrants’ take on the American Dream. MY OWN WINGS USA, Spain, Ukraine/2016/8 min./English, Spanish, Russian, French//English subtitles World Premiere Director: Katia Repina, Carla Moral Logline: A documentary project that aims to explore the intersex identity thought stories of intersex people in USA, Spain, and Ukraine. NEW DEEP SOUTH: HOUSE OF JXN US/2017/10min/DCP/English Director: Rosie Haber Logline: This series explores the vibrant and multifaceted queer culture emerging in the American South. Playing against old stereotypes of Mississippi as a state of social conservatism and stagnation, we follow the lives of queer youth to explore the tangled and complex nature of sexual identity in the New Deep South. FOR NONNA ANNA - U.S. Premiere Canada/2017/13 minutes/English, Italian Directed by Luis De Filippis Log line: A trans girl cares for her Italian grandmother. She assumes that her Nonna disapproves of her – but instead discovers a tender bond in their shared vulnerability. PLASMA VISTA United Kingdom/2016/7 ½ min./DCP/English Director: Sarah Cockings & Harriet Fleuriot Logline: Objects and devices become bodily and manipulative. The magician is a composed cartoon machine repeating tricks and equations. When products become prosthetics does the accessory take some emotional control? TIME MARCHES FORWARD & SO DO WE US/2017/4min/DCP/English Director: Kim Boekbinder & Jim Batt Logline: Through a collaborative video from the ACLU, “Transparent” producer and artist Zackary Drucker, Emmy-nominated actress Laverne Cox, and the creative team of Molly Crabapple and Kim Boekbinder, we are telling the story of trans history and resistance. UMBRELLA US/2017/16min/DCP/English Director: Rhys Ernst Logline: In 2016, Rhys teamed up with Google to direct a series of three shorts on trans pioneers. That series, #Transvoices, premiered on Google’s home page.

Ithaca Fantastik First Wave

​​ITHACA FANTASTIK RETROSPECTIVE AND FIRST WAVE OF TITLES REVEALED FOR 6TH EDITION! Don't miss our spotlight on ITALIANO PSICHEDELICO with the 40th Anniversary of SUSPIRIA, mind-melting midnighters, CINEMA PUR miniseries, and more!

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​Ithaca, NY, September 19, 2017 - The Ithaca Fantastik (IF) festival returns to Ithaca, New York, November 3-12, 2017 with a carefully curated selection of new and classic genre films. With less than a month and a half to go, IF is announcing exciting changes, its first wave of titles, and a truly inspired retrospective!

Returning audiences will notice an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. The festival’s two weekends will be dedicated to the best in current genre and festival cinema, with the week between featuring classic retrospective selections.

​​​SAMURAI RAUNI

Our first weekend begins with the return of the CINEMA PUR miniseries, with gems that genre fans won’t want to miss! From Finnish action comedy SAMURAI RAUNI (Mika Ratto, Finland) to the hyper-real dark fairy tale TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (Issa Lopez, Mexico), audiences will be delighted by the variety the IF programmers are bringing to Central New York. Turkey and Canada are well-represented again this year, with the SXSW award-winner INFLAME (Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik, Turkey), and the TIFF midnight madness selection THE CRESCENT (Seth A. Smith, Canada). The lineup wouldn't be complete without a little witchcraft—the IF team promises HAGAZUSSA: A Heathen’s Curse (Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany) will haunt viewers long after the screening. Rounding out CINEMA PUR, the documentary BIGHT OF THE TWIN (Hazel McCarthy, US), about the personal journey of avant-garde performance artist Genesis Breyer P-Oridge, interlaces belief and grief in a beautiful and unexpected way.

SUSPIRIA

The 40th Anniversary of the Giallo masterpiece SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento, 1977) provides an excellent occasion to revisit Italian exploitation classics with fresh eyes. The festival retrospective, ITALIANO PSICHEDELICO, will focus on the amazing visuals these inspired directors put on-screen. Selections include late 60s to mid 70s Italian films SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento, 1977), AUTOPSY (Armando Crispino, 1975), LE ORME (Luigi Bazzoni, Mario Fanelli, 1975), BABA YAGA (Corrado Farina, 1973), DEADLY SWEET (Tinto Brass, 1967), as well as more titles to be announced in wave two!

​TRAGEDY GIRLS

Continuing our weekend lineup we have slasher comedy TRAGEDY GIRLS (Tyler McIntyre, UK), Tribeca award winner THE ENDLESS (Benson and Moorhead, USA), Graham Skipper’s directorial debut SEQUENCE BREAK (USA), Nordic ghost tale I REMEMBER YOU (Oskar Thor Axelsson, Iceland), and a twisted take on the timeloop trope A DAY (Sun-Ho Cho, South Korea). From start to finish, there will be plenty to captivate audiences whose tastes lie across the horror spectrum and beyond!

BRAVE STORM

            

Ithaca Fantastik would not be complete without its midnight series, featuring the riveting zombie comedy ZOMBIOLOGY (Alan Lo, Japan) and the surprising BRAVE STORM (Junya Okabe, Japan), which can be best described as an inventive and improbable mix between Terminator and Evangelion.

Visit the IF website (www.ithacafilmfestival.com) and stay tuned for more Fantastik announcements and title waves soon!

Local artist Steve Ellis (The Walking Dead, The Only Living Boy, High Moon), once again perfectly captures the spirit of the IF retrospective with a custom illustrated poster.

About Ithaca Fantastik

The Ithaca Fantastik festival is a ten-day film, art, and music festival that takes place over the first weekend of November in Ithaca, NY. Our mission is to bring the best of fantastic culture to upstate NY by presenting a selection of the most anticipated international films, community organized concerts and diverse art exhibitions.