Cine-Excess XI 9th- 11th November 2017 Guest of Honour: Fear and the Unfamiliar: Sergio Martino (All the Colours of the Dark, Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Torso, The Violent Professionals) Wrong Crowd Keynote Speaker: Professor Mark Jancovich (UEA) 1 Dear Delegates, Colleagues and Friends It is with great pleasure and pride that we welcome you to the 11th Cine-Excess International Film Festival Cine-Excess XI (www.cine-excess.co.uk) is this in London, and featured a three day conference year hosted by Birmingham City University, theme that explored global constructions of cult the Birmingham and Midland Institute and adaptation. Additionally, the event hosted the the Mockingbird Cinema in order to stage an iconic European directors Enzo G. Castellari (The international film conference and festival that Inglorious Bast***s, Keoma) and Sergio Martino considers cult cinema cultures from around the (Torso, The Violent Professionals) as Guests of world. Honour, as well as a special ‘Script to Scream’ panel discussion on new horror talent that was Having now reached its 11th year of operation, supported by Time Out magazine. Xavier Mendik it is worth briefly reflecting on the evolution of the event. Cine-Excess was conceived as 2013 saw us collaborating with the B-Film: a unique industry-into-academia forum that The Birmingham Centre for Film Studies for began in May 2007, with an event featuring the production of Cine-Excess VII: European a three day conference and guest visits by Erotic Excess: Identity Desire and Disgust. We international filmmakers including John Landis were honoured to host visits by Catherine (An American Werewolf in London). Cine-Excess Breillat (Romance, Anatomy of Hell, Abuse of II (May 2008) was an even bigger occasion, with Weakness) and Francesco Barilli (Perfume of Roger Corman receiving the firstCine-Excess the Lady in Black, Pensiona paura), both of Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his whom have created iconic and yet challenging outstanding career as a leading cult director and and controversial representations of European Fran Pheasant-Kelly producer. eroticism that were dealt with by the wider conference component of the 2013 event. Cine-Excess III (May 2009) saw proceedings move Alongside a special themed ‘Dark Romance’ season to the Odeon Covent Garden, with Italian horror exploring the obsessive extremes of desire, Cine- legend Dario Argento and Goblin composer Excess VII facilitated the special industry panel Claudio Simonetti attending to receive Cine- ‘Echoes of Excess: Cult Film Creation, Financing Excess Lifetime Achievement Awards for their and the Digital Economy’, which considered how work. The 2009 event was also significant for new technology is changing the creation of cult launching the Nouveaux Pictures-Cine-Excess content. DVD label, which has released a number of titles including the first UK Blu-ray release of Cine-Excess VIII was the first of two years that Robert Sharl Argento’s Suspiria (1977). Cine-Excess IV (May saw the event taking place at the University of 2010) hosted a visit by horror icon Joe Dante, Brighton’s Sallis Benney theatre. The theme of who here premiered the UK cut of his lost 1968 Cine-Excess VIII in 2014 was ‘Are You ready for cult collage epic The Movie Orgy. Cine-Excess IV the Country: Cult Cinema and Rural Excess’, which further continued its commitment to showcasing contemplated cult cinema’s continued fascination leading critical thinkers in the field, withProfessor with the countryside and its inhabitants. We Richard Dyer delivering a keynote address on were honoured to host a visit by cult American European serial killers, which complemented the film director Jeff Lieberman (Squirm, Blue 2010 themed conference of ‘Corporeal Excess: Sunshine, Just Before Dawn), whose iconic titles Cult Bodies.’ have frequently explored longstanding fears of rural degeneracy. Cine-Excess VIII also tackled Cine-Excess V (May 2011) hosted visits by Italian the issue of contemporary cult film funding and acting legend Franco Nero (Django, Keoma, Die audience design with the special industry panel Hard 2) and controversial cult director Ruggero ‘Cult Crowdfunders’ that paired film directors Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust, House on the Edge with contemporary audience designers and of the Park), both of whose presence perfectly crowdfunding platform creators. In conjunction suited the 2011 theme of ‘Subverting the Senses: with these exciting debates, the two day The Politics and Aesthetics of Excess.’ As well conference Are You Ready for the Country: Cult as headlining the world theatrical premiere Cinema and Rural Excess ran across the daytime of Deodato’s new director’s cut of Cannibal slots of the entire festival, and featured a range of Holocaust, the event also presented a historic fascinating panels from international scholars in panel discussion between the director, academics the field. and BBFC examiners. Cine-Excess VI was held in conjunction with the Italian Cultural Institute 2 The second Brighton based event was Cine- Edge’ profiles a current project by a Birmingham Excess IX in 2015. Here, the theme of ‘Historical housing group, who are creating a zombie film Trauma, Hysterical Texts: Cult Film in Times of short in conjunction with Birmingham City Crisis’ considered how the cult image acts as an University staff and students in order to document uncomfortable mirror of wider social concerns. residents perceptions of urban regeneration and Courtesy of Brighton City Council, Cine Excess its impact on community relations. was able to offer a rare uncut public screening of the controversial Canadian home invasion Highlights of this year’s screening season include movie Death Weekend, while its veteran director UK premiere Beset by Demons, which is scheduled William Fruet (Death Weekend [1976], Wedding for Friday 10th November (7pm-8pm) with Skype in White [1972] and Search and Destroy [1979]) Q and A from co-creators Kim Henkel and Brian accepted his Cine-Excess Lifetime Achievement Huberman. The film details the life and brutal Award in Toronto before addressing delegates via murder of The Texas Chain Saw Masacre II cult conference call to discuss how his films reflected actor Lou Perryman and is a must see real life wider social tensions. Fruet’s participation was exposé for chainsaw and true crime fans alike. complemented by the attendance of iconic comic Other films programmed for Friday evening book creator Pat Mills (Action Magazine, 2000AD include Aaron B Koontz’s debut film Camera and Slaine) at Cine-Excess IX. Pat participated in Obscura, which centres on a returning Iraq war the special panel debate ‘Poor, Angry White Kids’, photographer suffering from post-traumatic in which he discussed the social significance of his stress disorder, who finds himself plagued by controversial comic book creation Action before images of impending death in the images he receiving a Cine-Excess Lifetime Achievement shoots. Screenings scheduled for Saturday noon Award from Professor Martin Barker and former include Incarnation, directed by Filip Kovacevic. 2000AD artist Jim McCarthy. Here, the need to find answers to a perplexing life is a central theme to this Serbian time loop For its 10th anniversary, Cult Genres, Traditions thriller about an amnesiac man who tries to Eugenio Triana and Bodies: A Decade of Excess, Cine-Excess recover his identity and find out who’s trying moved to Birmingham. Here, international to kill him. Following the Conference Dinner, critics and scholars assessed a range of classic Cine-Excess XI rounds off at the Mockingbird and contemporary cult film case-studies, while Cinema with evening screenings. First up is also debating the stylistic, performative and Freddy/Eddy (Tini Tüllmann), in which Freddy representational strategies that came to dominate finds himself in the biggest crisis of his life after such startling visions. In addition to its usual cult being accused of attacking his wife. While his film focus, this conference focus also considered world collapses, Eddy, his childhood imaginary the rising popularity of series such as The Walking friend reappears, with devastating results. This Dead, Penny Dreadful, American Horror Story, is followed by a UK premiere, Lou Simon’s 3 at and Supernatural, to assess what could be seen 8.30pm, which includes a Skype Q and A from Robert McLaughlin as a new golden age of horror TV. The issue was acclaimed female horror auteur Lou Simon. Aptly debated by a panel of academic experts. Other named, this dark character-led piece centres topics discussed over the three days included the on a man and a woman who kidnap a potential films of John Carpenter, It Follows, alchemy in abuser in order to extract a confession from him film, Baise Moi and Grindhouse cinema traditions. regardless of the cost. Cine-Excess concludes with Graham Skipper’s Sequence Break at 10pm. For 2017, Cine-Excess XI is again hosted by In the tradition of David Cronenberg and body Birmingham City University in association with horror cinema, Sequence Break is a surreal sci-fi screening venues in the region. The conference romance, wherein a beautiful young woman and component of this year’s event is Fear and the strange metaphysical forces threaten the reality Unfamiliar: Wrong Time, Wrong Place, Wrong of a reclusive video arcade technician, resulting in Rob Anderson Crowd, and considers the ways in which marginal bizarre biomechanical transformations. groups and communities are constructed sources of fear and fascination in cult film traditions. We We very much hope you all enjoy the 11th year of are delighted to welcome back the iconic Italian Cine-Excess. director Sergio Martino (Torso, All the Colours of the Dark and The Violent Professionals), as our filmmaking Guest of Honour. Sergio Martino will be discussing his career as well as judging the Cine-Excess 2017 short film competition. On Thursday 9th November, he will be introducing a special screening of his influential thriller Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I have the Key (1972) at 7.30pm.