MELBOURNE / SYDNEY 20 FEBRUARY – 4 MARCH 2020

WELCOME— Genre cinema has a unique ability to act as a monument; marking the social, cultural and political climate within which it exists. It has the power to conjure truth that is raw; truth that gets under our skin.

As we take a step into a new decade, we can look to those on the fringes to call out our bullshit, kill our darlings and question our reality. Without spoiling some of the exciting revelations and twists the program has to offer, I can assure you that there is not only something for everyone, but also something just for you.

Enjoy the festival, keep taking risks, and for all you mind-breakers, trendsetters, razor-walkers, loose wires, truth-talkers, trailblazers and envelope-pushers, I hope you find a new home at FFFA.

Hudson Sowada Festival Director

COVER: (page 25). FIND US— fantasticfilmfestival.com.au @fantasticfilmfestaus @fantasticfilmfestaus

FESTIVAL TEAM— Festival Director Hudson Sowada Executive Director Lindy Tamir Catalyst Eddie Tamir Festival & Marketing Manager Erin Rosenberg Publicity Original Spin Design Kylie Holmes & Lauren Doherty Web Development Chook Trailer Hudson Sowada Materials & Conversion Roar Digital

SPECIAL THANKS— Richard Sowada Amari Sleiman Ben Buckingham Emily Milledge The Lido and Ritz Cinemas teams We're grateful for the inspiration and support from Fantastic Fest, U.S.

Fantastic Film Festival Australia has received a classification exemption from the Classification Board. Films screening at FFFA are Unclassified 18+. Nobody under 18 (including infants) can legally attend a session with this exemption. CONTENTS— Films (in alphabetical order)...... 6

Events...... 31

Session Times...... 32

Tickets & Venues...... 34

Code of Conduct ...... 34 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

7 REASONS TO RUN AWAY (FROM SOCIETY) (7 RAONS PER FUGIR (DE LA SOCIETAT))

DIR Esteve Soler, Gerard Quinto, David Torras | Spain | 2019 | 75 min LANGUAGE Spanish, Catalan (English subtitles) CAST Emma Suárez, Sergi López, Alain Hernández

“Black, terrifying and absurd.” SESSIONS —Cineuropa Lido Cinemas “Mean but funny but mean… Tuesday 3 March, 9PM Seventy-five minutes of absurd bliss.” —Birth. Movies. Death. Ritz Cinemas Saturday 22 February, 4:30PM Reminiscent of Monty Python’s The Monday 2 March, 7PM Meaning of Life, 7 Reasons takes a caustic and nihilistic look at contemporary western FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS society. In seven short episodes, each 2019 SXSW, 2019 Fantaspoa, 2019 Karlovy about a human trait we prefer not to talk Vary International Film Festival, Neuchatel, about, this Spanish anthology film explores 2019 Raindance Film Festival the flipside of our satisfied lives. This surrealist horror comedy pulls no punches: CONTENT WARNING its bizarre stories are inventive, funny, Graphic violence, coarse language, sometimes harsh, and always ruthlessly contains themes of suicide. honest—no matter whether the equally bizarre protagonists are crotchety retirees dozing by the TV, a dogged real estate agent selling a flat with a hanged man inside, or a bride and groom who aren’t so sure about the decision they’re about to make.

6 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

ACHOURA (ACHOURA LA NUIT DES ENFANTS)

DIR Talal Selhami | Morocco, France | 2018 | 90 min LANGUAGE French (English subtitles) CAST Sofiia Manousha, Younes Bouab, Omar Lotfi

“It’s a serious, somber meditation on the Werewolves, vampires, golems and ghouls death of innocence, bleaker than what converge in an entirely unique North Stephen King offers and full of powerful, African chiller. evocative imagery all the way to its final moments.” —Bloody Disgusting SESSIONS Lido Cinemas “A dark, uncompromising and beautifully Monday 2 March, 7PM executed monster movie.” —Morbidly Beautiful Ritz Cinemas Sunday 23 February, 8:45PM RITZ LANEWAY Somewhere in the Moroccan countryside, Saturday 29 February, 9PM four children scare the living daylights out of each other, just for fun. In a house that FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS is rumoured to be the dwelling of ghosts, one of them mysteriously disappears. A 2019 Cinepocalypse, Winner Special Jury quarter-century later, the three remaining Prize—2019 Sitges Fantastic Film Festival friends bump into their long-lost playmate. His reappearance coincides with a series CONTENT WARNING of child kidnappings. Could he have Graphic violence. something to do with that?

Achoura is the second feature film by French-Moroccan director Talal Selhami. Dissatisfied with the lack of genre movies in the land of his forebears, he vowed to make the first Moroccan creature feature.

7 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

AREN’T YOU HAPPY? (DAS MELANCHOLISCHE MÄDCHEN)

DIR Susanne Heinrich | Germany | 2019 | 80 min LANGUAGE German (English subtitles) CAST Marie Rathscheck, Nicolai Borger, Malte Bündgen

“An ironically ironic commentary on SESSIONS feminism, consumerism, art and sex.” —ScreenDaily Lido Cinemas Sunday 23 Febuary, 4:30PM “Explicitly anti-capitalist, feminist, and Tuesday 25 February, 9PM personal.” —Women and Hollywood Ritz Cinemas With a bubblegum colour palette, Tuesday 25 February, 9PM self-consciously kitsch staging and a big band jazz score, writer-director Susanne FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS Heinrich’s film is clever and witty, delving 2019 International Film Festival Rotterdam, into life, love and relationships for the 2019 Edinburgh Film Festival modern woman. A nameless young woman (Marie Rathscheck) is a writer with writing CONTENT WARNING issues. She searches for meaning to life Nudity, sex scenes. and a bed for the night, meets various men, rides a unicorn, and is encouraged to have a child as a cure for her narcissism. Always ironic and playful, Aren’t You Happy? is an oddball delight.

8 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

AWAY

DIR Gints Zilbalodis | Latvia | 2019 | 75 min LANGUAGE No dialogue

“Somewhere between Hayao Miyazaki SESSIONS and Terrence Malick lies Away, a gorgeously made minimalist cartoon Lido Cinemas that’s long on beauty and breathtaking Sunday 1 March, 4:30PM scenery.” —The Hollywood Reporter Ritz Cinemas “A wondrous, wordless animated Sunday 23 February, 4:30PM work of bright simplicity and subtle sophistication.” —Cineuropa FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS 2019 Annecy International Animation Film “One of the most impressive feature Festival, 2019 Fantasia International Film debuts in recent years… [with] plenty Festival, 2019 Sitges Film Festival of heart to captivate its audience, and a large world filled with possibility.” —SlashFilm

A boy winds up lost on a mysterious island, inhabited only by a few animals and a giant who insistently pursues our hero. This boy's journey across a strange landscape gives rise to a minimalist and evocative animated film, made entirely by Gints Zilbalodis.

9 OPENING NIGHT FILM

VIC/NSW PREMIERE

CHAINED FOR LIFE

DIR Aaron Schimberg | USA | 2019 | 91 min LANGUAGE English CAST Jess Weixler, Adam Pearson, Stephen Plunkett

“Extraordinary. Schimberg points toward reality and fiction, fair representation and a grass-roots cinematic revolution – exploitation cinema, become excessively movies made by people about their own porous. experiences.” —The New Yorker SESSIONS “Schimberg's film is odd, darkly funny Lido Cinemas and – when it means to be – a little Thursday 20 February, 7PM frightening.” —The New York Times Ritz Cinemas On the set of a horror film with artistic Thursday 20 February, 7PM pretensions, beautiful Hollywood actress Mabel admits to being outside her comfort FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS zone. She plays the role of a blind woman and the film she’s in, already anticipated 2019 Fantasia Film Festival, 2019 BFI by the media to be in bad taste, deals London Film Festival, 2018 Fantastic Fest explicitly with deformity. The production has even cast several disabled actors, CONTENT WARNING including Rosenthal, a nervous comedian Graphic violence, coarse language, nudity. with a major facial deformity. Mabel struggles to identify with him, but as their “Chained for Life is a wholly unique characters connect on camera, the actors experience with an earnest charm do the same behind it. while speaking an incredibly moving truth. An ode to the adventurous spirit As the film crew walks on the eggshells of of filmmaking that calls out wayward political correctness and strange rumours attitudes in a way that pushes the whole begin to circulate about the abandoned medium forward.” hospital serving as a backdrop to the —Hudson Sowada, Festival Director production, the boundaries between

10 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

DIR Mickey Reece | USA | 2019 | 90 min LANGUAGE English CAST Ginger Gilmartin, Mary Buss, Ben Hall

“Climate of the Hunter never sacrifices SESSIONS its smarts for fun (or vice versa), but with its dazzling visuals and hypnotic descent Lido Cinemas downwards into a seemingly inevitable Thursday 27 February, 7PM chaos, the film’s delights are ultimately as Tuesday 3 March, 7PM sensorial as they are intellectual.” Ritz Cinemas —Alexandra Heller-Nicholas Wednesday 26 February, 7PM Two sisters, Alma and Elizabeth, are enjoying a stay at their family cabin, FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS eagerly anticipating the arrival of a man 2019 Fantastic Fest, 2019 Nashville Film from their past, Wesley. It is rumoured Festival that Wesley's wife, Genevieve, has ended up incapacitated in a mental institution, CONTENT WARNING rendering Wesley, to some extent, a new Graphic violence, nudity. bachelor. Throughout their time spent together, Alma begins to suspect Wesley may be a vampire, though she also suffers from mental health issues. Elizabeth is aware of Alma's deteriorating condition but has her own demons to face in this gothic, psychological drama.

11 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

CUTTERHEAD

DIR Rasmus Kloster Bro | Denmark | 2019 | 84 min LANGUAGE English CAST Christine Sønderris, Kresimir Mikic, Samson Semere

“As simple as it is relentless, the story SESSIONS told in Cutterhead awakens certain instincts and uncomfortable sensations Lido Cinemas that almost seem to break through the Sunday 23 February, 8:45PM LIDO ROOFTOP screen.” —Cineuropa Friday 28 February, 7PM

“A terrifyingly claustrophobic Ritz Cinemas experience.” —The Wee Review Saturday 22 February, 9PM Friday 28 February, 9PM RITZ LANEWAY Rie, a PR coordinator, visits Copenhagen Metro’s new tunnel boring construction FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS site to portray the company’s efforts as 2019 Prague International Film Festival, a perfect example of a well-oiled intra- 2019 Festival of Tolerance European collaboration. When an accident occurs, she takes refuge in an airlock inside CONTENT WARNING the tunnel boring machine with a Croatian Graphic violence. miner and a worker from Eritrea. They put their lives and bodies in each other’s hands to survive the heat, pressure and mud in the cramped cutterhead, exposing their radically different world views and forcing them to reconsider their lives. A survival film of nail-biting claustrophobia.

12 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

DINER

DIR Mika Ninagawa | Japan | 2019 | 118 min LANGUAGE Japanese (English subtitles) CAST Tatsuya Fujiwara, Kanata Hongô, Nobuaki Kaneko

“A Tarantino-esque romp… [a] madly SESSIONS colored, frantically paced and urgently orchestrated faux-horror-comedy.” Lido Cinemas —The Hollywood Reporter Friday 28 February, 9PM

“A cracked ode to feminine power... Ritz Cinemas gaudy to the nth degree.” Wednesday 26 February, 9PM —The Japan Times FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS Kanako is all alone, and thinks her life 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival, can't get any worse...until she applies for 2019 L'Étrange Festival a dubious part-time job on a whim, and is instantly torn from her mundane existence. CONTENT WARNING She ends up being sold to a restaurant Graphic violence. with fortress-like walls, thick iron doors, and an intensely colorful interior. Trapped within, she has no choice but to work as a waitress for the owner Bombero, a genius chef who also happens to be a retired assassin. The diner is visited by a succession of deadly and highly unusual assassins. Before long, Kanako realises she has been hurled into a world of insanity, in which every day is a fight for survival.

13 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

THE GOLDEN GLOVE (DER GOLDENE HANDSCHUH)

DIR Fatih Akin | Germany | 2019 | 110 min LANGUAGE German, Greek (English subtitles) CAST Jonas Dassler, Margarete Tiesel, Katja Studt

“Vomitous.” —The New York Times SESSIONS

“So disgusting you can smell it… one of Lido Cinemas the most putrid and willfully unpleasant Wednesday 26 February, 9PM things ever projected onto a screen.” Monday 2 March, 9PM —Indiewire Ritz Cinemas “Fatih Akin’s The Golden Glove is the Friday 28 February, 9PM rawest, most real, and most brutal serial killer movie since Henry: Portrait of a FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS Serial Killer... Unflinchingly gruesome, 2019 Berlin Film Festival, 2019 Fantastic and covered in a thick layer of grime.” Film Festival —SlashFilm CONTENT WARNING Acclaimed director Fatih Akin (In the Fade) takes us on a dark and depraved Graphic violence, nudity, sex scenes, journey into the world of Fritz Honka, an contains sexual violence. alcoholic serial killer who terrorised the “Proceed with extreme caution, this film female patrons of his local dive bar in is not for the faint of heart. But as serial 1970s Germany. Featuring an astonishing, killers consolidate themselves into our booze-soaked performance by young popular culture, The Golden Glove is a German actor Jonas Dassler, who is wake up call that will make you question completely unrecognisable in his portrayal the very meaning of violence.” of the unfortunate-looking Honka, The —Hudson Sowada, Festival Director Golden Glove is a deeply disturbing look at a deeply disturbed individual, which becomes even more horrifying when you consider that it is based on true events.

14 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

HOMEWRECKER

DIR Zach Gayne | Canada | 2019 | 76 min LANGUAGE English CAST Precious Chong, Alex Essoe, Tony Matthews

“The twists and turns of irrationality SESSIONS and intricacies are endless as these two women explore sisterhood through Lido Cinemas forceful interactions, obsessions, and Sunday 23 February, 7PM subversions.” —Black Girl Nerds Saturday 29 February, 4:30PM

Michelle is in her early 30s. Linda is in her Ritz Cinemas late 40s. Michelle is an interior designer Thursday 27 February, 9:15PM and newlywed to Robert. Linda lives alone; she fills her days with painting and FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS exercise classes. Seeking a new friend, 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival, Linda pursues Michelle after one of their 2019 Fantastic Fest classes together. When Linda coerces the reserved, deferential Michelle into visiting CONTENT WARNING her home for a spontaneous interior design Graphic violence. consultation, it quickly becomes clear that Linda has something more sinister on her mind than throw pillows.

15 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

HORROR NOIRE

DIR Xavier Burgin | USA | 2019 | 83 min LANGUAGE English CAST Meosha Bean, Ashlee Blackwell, Robin R. Means Coleman

“People go to horror films to scream and renaissance signalled in the late 2010s by squirm and have a good time. Horror films like Get Out. Noire shows that to many, horror films are more than just blood and guts. It's a SESSIONS matter of life and death.” —Detroit News Lido Cinemas Monday 24 February, 7PM “The best kind of film documentary— one that both entertains and informs. Ritz Cinemas This is a must-see for all horror fans.” Monday 24 February, 7PM —SlashFilm Saturday 29 February, 4:30PM “A thoughtful, exhilarating watch, which FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS finds hope in even the bloodiest maw.” —The Verge 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, 2019 Sitges Film Festival Based on Robin R. Means Coleman’s landmark book Horror Noire: Blacks in CONTENT WARNING American Horror Films from the 1890s to Graphic violence. the Present, this new documentary traces the under-represented history of African American artists in Hollywood through their connection to the horror genre. Horror Noire provides a critical look at a century of films that by turns caricatured, exploited, sidelined, and eventually embraced Black culture — from the silent era through to early genre cinema, blaxploitation, urban horror, and the horror

16 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

IT COMES (KURU)

DIR Tetsuya Nakashima | Japan | 2018 | 135 min LANGUAGE Japanese (English subtitles) CAST Jun'ichi Okada, Nana Komatsu, Satoshi Tsumabuki

“The film is horror as relentlessly busy his happiness, which, as it turns out, may extravaganza, crammed with everything not be as genuine as it seems. from wordy explanations to a blizzard of visceral shocks.” —The Japan Times SESSIONS Lido Cinemas “A brilliantly told, complex, and surprising Saturday 22 February, 9PM journey… Just when you think it's going to zig, it zags; just when you think you've Ritz Cinemas got a handle on where the film is going, Thursday 20 February, 9PM Nakashima grabs you by the hand and whips you around.” —ScreenAnarchy FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS Hideki and Kana are the embodiment of 2019 Fantasia Film Festival happiness. Recently married, the Taharas are now waiting for their first-born. When CONTENT WARNING a mysterious guest at work talks to his Graphic violence. colleague about a certain Chisa, Hideki is dumbstruck. Chisa is the name he and Kana had planned to give their daughter, a decision they had kept to themselves. What's worse, the friend who had spoken to the stranger suddenly dies under horrid circumstances. Two years later, convinced that a supernatural force is threatening his family, Hideki reaches out to Nozaki, a writer specialising in the occult, and his clairvoyant girlfriend Makoto to rid himself of the entity that is casting a shadow on

17 JALLIKATTU

DIR Lijo Jose Pellissery | India | 2019 | 95 min LANGUAGE Malayalam (English subtitles) CAST Antony Varghese, Chemban Vinod Jose, Sabumon Abdusamad

“As exciting and unusual an experience as into frenzies of communal bluster, building you're likely to get this year. Grab it by its towards a fiery climax in which violence horns and don't dare let go.” breeds its own kind of ecstasy. —Globe and Mail SESSIONS “Alluring, unconscionable, and impossible Lido Cinemas to avert your eyes from.” —SlashFilm Saturday 22 February, 7PM “Get ready to be gored by cinema’s Ritz Cinemas horns, trampled under a stampede of Friday 21 February, 9PM deliciously grotesque, fleshy imagery and tossed aloft on a buffalo-snort of FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS bravado.” —Variety 2019 Busan International Film Festival, ‘Jallikattu’ is a ritual or a game that has 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, been played since before the common 2019 Fantastic Fest era in India’s Tamil region. Similar to a rodeo, the person who stays the longest CONTENT WARNING on the back of an ox is considered the Graphic violence, coarse language. winner. The film begins in a quiet village in the countryside, with a buffalo fleeing a slaughterhouse. The village men try to capture the beast, and even the men from neighbouring villages join in, creating chaos intermingled with confusion, violence, and hatred beyond control. But the buffalo proves more elusive than anyone expected, goading its pursuers

18 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

THE LAST BERLINER (DER LETZTE MIETER)

DIR Gregor Erler | Germany | 2018 | 97 min LANGUAGE German (English subtitles) CAST Pegah Ferydoni, Sebastian Achilles, Tom Keune

“Funny, tense, sad and sympathetic at the SESSIONS same time… a surprising gem.” —The Movie Isle Lido Cinemas Thursday 27 February, 9PM The last un-renovated building in a trendy Berlin neighbourhood is being vacated. Ritz Cinemas The former tenants are moving out, but Tuesday 25 February, 7PM Dietmar refuses to budge. His son Tobias tries convincing him to move into social FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS housing. However, his father resists and the 2019 Manchester Film Festival situation between Tobias, Dietmar, and the building's realtor, who seems to be there CONTENT WARNING by chance, escalates and gets completely Graphic violence, coarse language. out of hand.

A highly suspenseful and compelling hostage thriller about the issue of gentrification – and the good souls who lose along the way. Nail-biting and tragic right until its very surprising end.

19 CLOSING NIGHT FILM

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

MUTANT BLAST

DIR Fernando Alle | Portugal | 2019 | 83 min LANGUAGE Portuguese (English subtitles) CAST Pedro Barão Dias, Maria Leite, Joaquim Guerreiro

“Gloriously low-brow and creatively SESSIONS gnarly… a surging splatter romp.” —Flickering Myth Lido Cinemas Wednesday 4 March, 8:30PM “So much invention and craziness… a trashy delight.” —Exclaim! Ritz Cinemas Monday 2 March, 8:30PM Maria, a fearless soldier, and TS-347, a man with superhuman strength, are being FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS pursued by a military cell responsible for 2019 Sitges Film Festival, Best Screenplay scientific experiments that have resulted in –Fantaspoa 2019 a zombie apocalypse. On the way, they will meet Pedro, a man with few ambitions and CONTENT WARNING a brutal hangover. Together, they will try to Graphic violence, coarse language, nudity. escape to a safe place, but complications cross their path in the form of a nuclear bomb.

“Mutant Blast will have your jaw to the floor, slides splitting with laughter and mind deep fried melted like only the best Troma films can.” —Hudson Sowada, Festival Director

20 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

THE MUTE (KREW BOGA)

DIR Bartosz Konopka | Poland | 2018 | 104 min LANGUAGE Polish (English subtitles) CAST Krzysztof Pieczynski, Karol Bernacki, Wiktoria Gorodecka

“Strikes with brutal clarity.” SESSIONS —ScreenAnarchy Lido Cinemas “A stunning showcase of experiential Friday 21 February, 9PM horror… with impressive cinematic flair, Sunday 1 March, 8:45PM LIDO ROOFTOP mounting dread, and captivating style.” —Bloody Disgusting Ritz Cinemas Sunday 1 March, 8:45PM RITZ LANEWAY In the early Middle Ages, two Christian knights (an elder one, Willibrord, and a FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS novice, Nameless) set off to christen a 2019 Sitges Film Festival small pagan village hidden deep in the mountains. Despite the differences in their CONTENT WARNING views and perspectives on religion, the two Graphic violence. men become travel companions and create a father-son relationship. As they settle into the local community, their faith, belief system and the bond between them are all put to the test. Soon, love is confronted with hate, dialogue with violence, madness with rules and many will have to die.

21 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

NOBADI

DIR Karl Markovics | Austria | 2019 | 89 min LANGUAGE German (English subtitles) CAST Heinz Trixner, Borhanulddin Hassan Zadeh, Konstanze Dutzi

“Markovic's Nobadi is a film you'll never SESSIONS forget. It's going to make your head spin and possibly cause you to lose your Lido Cinemas lunch.” —Film Threat Saturday 29 February, 7PM

Robert, a 91-year-old, set-in-his-ways Ritz Cinemas pensioner, lives on a small allotment in Saturday 29 February, 7PM Vienna. When his beloved dog dies during the night, he is determined, despite his FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS failing body, to dig a hole on his property 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, to put his dear friend to rest. He soon 2019 Fantastic Fest realises he is incapable of the strenuous task, and begrudgingly enlists the services CONTENT WARNING of Adib, a migrant from Afghanistan. As Graphic violence, coarse language. the two dredge through prejudices to find common ground, Adib finds ways to pacify Robert, whose humanity briefly surfaces when he becomes concerned about a gaping, unattended wound on Adib's foot. When the situation suddenly becomes life- or-death, their day takes an unexpected turn—with tremendous, irreversible consequences.

22 VIC/SYD PREMIERE

O BEAUTIFUL NIGHT (DOCH WIR LÄCHELN ZURÜCK)

DIR Xavier Böhm | Germany | 2019 | 89 min LANGUAGE German (English subtitles) CAST Noah Saavedra, Marko Mandic, Vanessa Loibl

“A striking and self-contained SESSIONS psychological drama.” —Cineuropa Lido Cinemas Although Juri is young, he lives in constant Saturday 29 February, 9PM fear of dying. Nightly panic attacks for him are routine—but one night he meets a dark Ritz Cinemas figure who claims to be Death incarnate. Friday 21 February, 8:45PM RITZ LANEWAY So begins a bizarro-Faustian trip together Sunday 1 March, 7PM through the night, during which Juri meets Nina and falls in love with her. But come FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS dawn, one of them must die. 2019 Berlin Film Festival

CONTENT WARNING Graphic violence, drug use, nudity.

23 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

S HE (NV TA)

DIR Shengwei Zhou | China | 2018 | 95 min LANGUAGE Chinese (English subtitles) CAST Fuyang Lyu, Shengwei Zhou

“An inspired, one-of-a-kind creation, SESSIONS its bravado art direction, eruptive colour scheme and unsettling, onomatopoeic Lido Cinemas sound design certain to stain the memory Saturday 22 February, 4:30PM cells of those daring enough to dive in.” Sunday 1 March, 7PM —Fantasia Ritz Cinemas “Accomplished and inventive... Sunday 23 February, 7PM conceptually bizarre.” —Variety Sunday 1 March, 4:30PM

In the authoritarian world dominated FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS by male shoes, female high heels are 2019 Shanghai International Film Festival, forbidden to work or even exist. Newborn 2019 Fantasia Film Festival baby girl shoes are transformed into male shoes so that they can work in the cigarette factory. In a birth prison, a high heel mother murders the male shoe chief to protect her daughter from being transformed into a male shoe. To feed her daughter, she uses the chief’s leather coat as a gender disguise and works in the cigarette factory. When her identity is exposed, she is ruthlessly ridiculed and tortured by her colleagues and superiors. Finally, she discovers her inner energy and begins to plan revenge in the name of her daughter.

24 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

SAINT MAUD

DIR Rose Glass | USA | 2019 | 83 min LANGUAGE English CAST Morfydd Clark, Jennifer Ehle

“An unholy cross between First Reformed SESSIONS and The Exorcist, Rose Glass’ taut and trembling Saint Maud transmutes a young Lido Cinemas woman’s spiritual crisis into such a refined Friday 21 February, 7PM story of body horror that genre fans Friday 28 February, 8:45PM LIDO ROOFTOP might feel like they’re having a religious Wednesday 4 March, 6:30PM experience.” —Indiewire Ritz Cinemas “Maud is like Carrie White and her mother Friday 21 February, 7PM Margaret rolled into one unholy holy Tuesday 25 February, 8:45PM RITZ LANEWAY terror; as played with brilliant, blood- Sunday 1 March, 9PM freezing intensity by Morfydd Clark, she's a genre anti-heroine to cherish, protect FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS and recoil from, sometimes all at once.” 2019 Toronto International Film Festival —Variety CONTENT WARNING The debut film from writer-director Rose Coarse language, sex scenes, contains Glass, Saint Maud is a chilling and boldly themes of suicide. original vision of faith, madness, and salvation in a fallen world. Maud, a newly devout hospice nurse, becomes obsessed with saving her dying patient’s soul — but sinister forces, and her own sinful past, threaten to put an end to her holy calling.

The latest horror film by indie production company (The Witch, Hereditary, ).

25 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

SATOR

DIR Jordan Graham | USA | 2019 | 85 min LANGUAGE English CAST Michael Daniel, Rachel Johnson, Aurora Lowe

“Burning a slow wick towards a vile end, cinematic feat by filmmaker Jordan Jordan Graham's calling card becomes Graham. dreadful sorrow and invasive haunts.” —Slate Film SESSIONS Lido Cinemas “It's scary and sleepy and utterly strange, Friday 21 February, 8:45PM LIDO ROOFTOP a dusky little dream of a film that no one Sunday 1 March, 9PM on earth could make but Jordan Graham.” —Bloody Disgusting Ritz Cinemas Sunday 23 February, 9PM “Think Krisha meets The Blair Witch with some “gang-gang supernatural FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS cultishness” stirred in.” —SlashFilm 2019 Fantasia Film Festival Deep in the woods, it’s hard to really say what’s whispering in the night. Ask CONTENT WARNING Grandma, though, and she’ll tell you it’s Graphic violence. Sator—a protective dark force among the trees, a satanic presence, a ritualistic killer who’s haunted their family for generations. A young man ventures back to the forest in an attempt to rebuild a relationship with his brother who’s been hibernating in seclusion after traumatic events led to the disappearance of their mother years past.

A disturbing mediation on family bonds and mental illness, Sator is an impressive

26 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE

DIR Staten Cousins Roe | UK | 2019 | 81 min LANGUAGE English CAST Katie Brayben, Poppy Roe, Ben Lloyd-Hughes

“Thelma and Louise meets Natural Born SESSIONS Killers, A Serial Killer’s Guide is set to become a British cult classic.” Lido Cinemas —The Hollywood News Thursday 20 February, 7PM Wednesday 26 February, 7PM Self-help addict Lou leads a mundane existence, dreaming of a more fulfilling Ritz Cinemas life but reluctant to make the necessary Friday 28 February, 7PM plunge into the unknown. All that changes when she meets Val, an ambitious life FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS coach with a genuine killer instinct, and Fright Fest 2019, Grimm Fest 2019 finds herself embarking on a murder spree with her unhinged new mentor as CONTENT WARNING they traverse the south coast of England, Graphic violence, coarse language. leaving a trail of death and destruction in their wake.

A jet-black comedy thriller guaranteed to satisfy the self-help generation, and the modern human's blood lust.

27 HIGH DEFINITION RESTORATION

SONS OF STEEL

DIR Gary L. Keady | Australia | 1989 | 104 min LANGUAGE English CAST Rob Hartley, Roz Wason, Jeff Duff

“Nuts. The last great Australian post- Director Gary Keady and cast and crew apocalyptic/heavy metal action sci-fi.” will be in attendance at the Ritz Cinemas, —SBS Films Randwick for a post-screening Q&A.

Celebrating 30 years since its release, SESSIONS Australian sci-fi metal-musical Sons of Lido Cinemas Steel returns to the big screen! Sunday 23 February, 8:30PM In the year 2112 AD, a group of four post- Ritz Cinemas apocalyptic survivors accidentally fall Thursday 27 February, 6:30PM through a hole in the desert floor to be Q&A SCREENING trapped underground in the dark remains of Sydney's subway system. Wandering FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS through this ominous underworld in search 1989 Brussels International Fantastic Film of an exit, they come upon the holographic Festival form of Black Alice, a violent anti-nuclear leader from the pre-apocalypse. Once materialised, Black Alice discovers that CONTENT WARNING members of his own peace movement Graphic violence, coarse language, nudity. collided with a nuclear submarine and triggered the nuclear reaction that all but destroyed the world. In a desperate bid to save mankind, Black Alice is returned to the 21st century. He arrives at the exact time he had left and faces a race against all odds to avert the tragedy.

28 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

SUICIDE TOURIST (SELVMORDSTURISTEN)

DIR Jonas Alexander Arnby | Denmark, Germany, Norway, Sweden, France | 2019 | 90 min LANGUAGE Danish, English (English subtitles) CAST Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Kate Ashfield, Tuva Novotny

“All class.” —Cineuropa SESSIONS

“A disturbing psychological wake-up call Lido Cinemas about the meaning of life.” —Films List Tuesday 25 February, 7PM

Insurance detective Max (Nikolaj Coster- Ritz Cinemas Waldau, Game of Thrones) is investigating Saturday 22 February, 7PM the disappearance of Arthur. The assignment takes him on a long and FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS mysterious journey into the clandestine 2019 Sitgès, 2019 Zurich Film Festival Hotel Aurora. A unique secretive facility that specialises in elaborate assisted CONTENT WARNING suicide fantasies. While in the midst of an Graphic violence, drug use, contains existential crisis, Max starts to question themes of suicide. his own perception of reality... Is death the only way out of the hotel?

29 AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE

ZOMBI CHILD

DIR Bertrand Bonello | France | 2019 | 103 min LANGUAGE French, Haitian, English (English subtitles) CAST Louise Labeque, Wislanda Louimat

“The kind of lithe and lucid dream that SESSIONS gets its tendrils round your brain stem, so that when all hell finally breaks loose, you Lido Cinemas can't jolt yourself awake from its grip.” Monday 24 February, 9PM —Daily Telegraph Ritz Cinemas “Provides a bold and compelling bridge Monday 24 February, 9PM between the living and the dead... There've been a lot of movies about FESTIVAL APPEARANCES/AWARDS Voodoo culture and its colonialist history, 2019 Cannes Film Festival, 2019 San but only Bertrand Bonello's includes a Sebastian International Film Festival, speech about Rihanna." —Indiewire 2019 New York Film Festival

Haiti, 1962. A man is brought back from CONTENT WARNING the dead to work in the hell of sugar Graphic violence. cane plantations. 55 years later, a Haitian teenager tells her friends her family secret —not suspecting that it will push one of them to commit the irreparable.

30 EVENTS— Dungeons and Dragons Create your own fantastic adventure at our one-off night of Dungeons and Dragons.

Hosted by the most experienced Dungeon Masters of Melbourne, experts at introducing new heroes to the game and challenging the most seasoned globetrotters, open to lone wolfs and pack animals, there’s never been a better time to meet new people, start new quests, and join the hype. Rooftop tables available.

All tickets come a metal treasure coin from Campaign Coins, yours to keep, and prizes by Mind Games for those most in character!

THANK YOU TO SARAH WAHJUDI AT MELBOURNE MINI PAINTER.

Tickets $15 Thursday 27 February, 4:30PM–8:30PM, Lido Cinemas

Sons of Steel Director Q&A Celebrating 30 years since its release, Australian sci-fi metal-musical Sons of Steel returns to the big screen! Join director Gary Keady with cast and crew for a post-screening Q&A at Ritz Cinemas, Randwick.

Tickets at standard pricing Thursday 27 February, 6:30PM, Ritz Cinemas

Analogue Orgy Take a trip back into the truly analogue world of 16mm film as we present this specially curated program of rare and wonderful education and information films, TV commercials and all manner of oddball moments from the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Presented on lovely 16mm film, these rare nuggets will explain to you everything you need to know about being a success in life. With titles the calibre of How to Meet Your Marriage Partner, Personal Hygiene for Boys, Shy Guy and How Do You Do? and the Disney classic The Story of Menstruation, this collection will have your jaw on the floor and go a good way in explaining how we got to where we are today. Great music, great architecture, great furniture and mood, these teenagers from yesterday are today’s leaders…that’s right…so see where it all began as it unfolds on original formats.

CURATED BY RICHARD SOWADA, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF THE ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL.

FREE! Saturday 29 February, 3:30PM–9:30PM, Lido Cinemas

Trivia Put your knowledge of the strange and the absurd, the horrific and the hilarious, and all things fantastic to the test at our Trivia night. Hosted at Lido by Swinburne and at Ritz by resident trivia maestro Talia, join us for a night that’ll have you scratching your head and clenching your sides in this battle of trivial prowess.

Tickets $10 per player, with complimentary drink on arrival (teams of 2-6). Monday 2 March, 7:30PM Lido Cinemas hosted by Cinema and Screen Studies at Swinburne University. Ritz Cinemas hosted by the Ritz trivia team.

31 SCHEDULE—

Lido Cinemas Hawthorn

Thursday 20 February Friday 28 February 7:00PM Chained for Life 10 7:00PM Cutterhead 12 9:00PM A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life 27 8:45PM Saint Maud LIDO ROOFTOP 25 9:00PM Diner 13 Friday 21 February 7:00PM Saint Maud 25 Saturday 29 February 8:45PM Sator LIDO ROOFTOP 26 3:30PM Analogue Orgy 9:00PM The Mute 21 Special Event 31 4:30PM Homewrecker 15 Saturday 22 February 7:00PM Nobadi 22 4:30PM S He 24 9:00PM O Beautiful Night 23 7:00PM Jallikattu 18 9:00PM It Comes 17 Sunday 1 March 4:30PM Away 9 Sunday 23 February 7:00PM S He 24 4:30PM Aren't You Happy? 8 8:45PM The Mute LIDO ROOFTOP 21 7:00PM Homewrecker 15 9:00PM Sator 26 8:45PM Cutterhead LIDO ROOFTOP 12 9:00PM Sons of Steel 28 Monday 2 March 7:00PM Achoura 7 Monday 24 February 7:30PM Trivia 31 7:00PM Horror Noire 16 9:00PM The Golden Glove 14 9:00PM Zombi Child 30 Tuesday 3 March Tuesday 25 February 7:00PM Climate of the Hunter 11 7:00PM Suicide Tourist 29 9:00PM 7 Reasons to Run Away (From Society) 6 9:00PM Aren't You Happy? 8

Wednesday 4 March Wednesday 26 February 7:00PM Saint Maud 25 7:00PM A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life 27 9:00PM Mutant Blast 20 9:00PM The Golden Glove 14

Thursday 27 February 4:30PM Dungeons and Dragons Special Event 31 7:00PM Climate of the Hunter 11 9:00PM The Last Berliner 19

32 Ritz Cinemas Randwick

Thursday 20 February Thursday 27 February 7:00PM Chained for Life 10 6:30PM Sons of Steel 9:00PM It Comes 17 with director Q&A 28 9:15PM Homewrecker 15 Friday 21 February 7:00PM Saint Maud 25 Friday 28 February 8:45PM O Beautiful Night 7:00PM A Serial Killer’s Guide to Life 27 RITZ LANEWAY 23 8:45PM Cutterhead RITZ LANEWAY 12 9:00PM Jallikattu 18 9:00PM The Golden Glove 14

Saturday 22 February Saturday 29 February 4:30PM 7 Reasons to Run Away 4:30PM Horror Noire 16 (From Society) 6 7:00PM Nobadi 22 7:00PM Suicide Tourist 29 9:00PM Achoura 7 9:00PM Cutterhead 12 Sunday 1 March Sunday 23 February 4:30PM S He 24 4:30PM Away 9 7:00PM O Beautiful Night 23 7:00PM S He 24 8:45PM The Mute RITZ LANEWAY 21 8:45PM Achoura RITZ LANEWAY 7 9:00PM Saint Maud 25 9:00PM Sator 26 Monday 2 March Monday 24 February 7:00PM 7 Reasons to Run Away 7:00PM Horror Noire 16 (From Society) 6 9:00PM Zombi Child 30 7:30PM Trivia 31 9:00PM Mutant Blast 20 Tuesday 25 February 7:00PM The Last Berliner 19 8:45PM Saint Maud RITZ LANEWAY 25 9:00PM Aren't You Happy? 8

Wednesday 26 February 7:00PM Climate of the Hunter 11 9:00PM Diner 13

33 TICKETS & VENUES— Book now at fantasticfilmfestival.com.au MELBOURNE Lido Cinemas 675 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn (03) 8658 0000 lidocinemas.com.au

SYDNEY Ritz Cinemas 45 St Pauls Street, Randwick (02) 8324 2500 ritzcinemas.com.au

ALL VENUES Single tickets Adult $21.50 Concession and Member $16.50

Festival film passes 5 pass $70 VIP pass (valid for redemption on all films) $250

Terms and conditions Single ticket concession rates apply to students, healthcare and pension cardholders and seniors, as well as Lido and Ritz Cinemas members. All tickets are non-refundable. Tickets can be exchanged for a film at the same venue for a fee of $2.50 per ticket at least 24 hours prior to screening. VIP festival passes are for separate sessions for one person and can be redeemed on special events.

CODE OF CONDUCT— Fantastic Film Festival Australia does not tolerate inappropriate or unacceptable behaviour, nor any off-screen activities that cause anyone to feel uncomfortable or unsafe. If you experience any of this behaviour, we encourage you to approach festival staff. Please know that these experiences will be treated seriously, with sensitivity and confidentiality. We insist that you work with us to keep these spaces safe and inclusive. We reserve the right to remove anybody who does not adhere to our code of conduct.

34

Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn 20 February – 4 March

Ritz Cinemas, Randwick 20 February – 2 March

fantasticfilmfestival.com.au