42nd International Sitges Film Festival

Sitges'09 Fantasy and Horror Film Festival

From 1st to 12th October, film lovers in general and fans of the fantasy and horror genre in particular, have an unmissable date in Sitges, with the arrival of the 42nd International Fantasy Film Festival of Catalonia.

Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia is the #1 fantasy film festival in the world and represents, at the same time, the cultural expression with the most media impact in Catalonia. With a solid experience, the Sitges Festival is a stimulating universe of encounters, exhibitions, presentations and screenings of fantasy films from all over the world.

Born in 1968 as the 1st International Week of Fantasy and Horror Movies, today the Festival is an essential rendezvous for movie lovers and audiences eager to come into contact with new tendencies and technologies applied to film and the audiovisual world.
Sitges’ status as the number one fantasy film festival in the world allows it to receive visits from top-level movie stars, directors and producers like Quentin Tarantino, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Paul Verhoeven, George A. Romero, Viggo Mortensen, Rutger Hauer,  John Landis, Joe Dante, Dino de Laurentii, Takashi Miike, Wim Wenders, Tony Curtis, David Cronenberg, Vanessa Redgrave, Brad Dourif, John Woo, Park Chan-Wook, Paul Naschy, Jon Voight, Sam Raimi, Robert Englund, Roger Corman, Santiago Segura, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, Guillermo del Toro, Álex de la Iglesia, among others from the long list of people who, year after year, are a media attraction.

To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Alien is the star of this year’s edition, and the festival will once again be showcasing the best this genre has to offer.

A festival where Horror is the protagonist

The festival will open with a screening of the eagerly-awaited sequel [REC]2, which ties in with the first film by relating the events which take place just fifteen minutes after the last images of that film.

The Official Fantasy Section will include many other outstanding titles from this genre, such as Thirst, by Park Chan-wook about vampires, Yatterman, an adaptation of the comic of the same name, and Crows II, which highlights youth violence, both by Takashi Miike.

You will also get a chance to see the film which won an award at Cannes for best director, Kinatay, by Brillante Mendoza, a journey to hell, a hyper-realist horror, and Moon by Duncan Jones, recent winner of the Award for Best Film at the Edinburgh International Film Festival.

Home-grown cinema will also play an important role in the festival, with films such as Orphan, by Jaume Collet-Serra, and Ingrid, by Eduard Cortés. And from Europe, Monica Belluci and Sophie Marceau come face to face in Ne te retourne pas.

In addition to the usual sections of the festival, this year sees the introduction of 3D cinema, with titles such as The Final Destination and Toy Story 3D.

The 80′s make a come back

For nostalgics, Sitges 09 will be taking a look back at some of the best films of this genre from the 1980s, including the North American production, previously unreleased in Spain, The Shining, and Nightmare on Elm St.

Another retrospective will be the Other Fantasy Films, with productions that vindicate the atypical genre, produced by Catalan and Spanish film makers who have regularly turned to it, such as Vicente Aranda, with Las Crueles.

Clive Barker, author of horror novels, will be one of those celebrated at the festival, which will screen two films based on his works: Dread and Book of Blood.

Brigadoon, one of the festival’s classics, will also pay tribute to Alien, with the screening of films inspired by this film in the After Alien section.

And once again, as we saw last year, the living dead will take to the streets of Sitges with a new edition of the Zombie Walk, Saturday 10 October, and a tribute to Zombie 2, which debuted at Sitges 30 years ago.

More inf@: Sitges Film Festival

Digital Barcelona Film Festival

Digital Barcelona Film Festival 09

Digital Barcelona Film Festival  (DiBa) is the Festival that opens the cinema to the digital generation.
DiBa is more than just a film festival. Since its first edition, it has consolidated its position as the meeting point of the “Prosumers” generation and the place where you can make your own cinema, as well as seeing it.

Screenings: the latest audiovisual trends in a wide variety of cinematographic genres and formats such as: documentaries, animation, video clips, short films, etc.
Contests: be the main star with DiBa Express, the contest that challenges professional and amateurs to make a short film in 72 hours, or with DiBa Clip, the contest that proposes you to make a music video for one of the best musical groups of the moment.
Workshops: Check other ways of making films through the workshops DiBa Doc (documentary film) and DiBa Kids (cinema for and by children) in order to approach the digital creation.
Technology: DiBa is a meeting point of technology and creativity. We organize masterclasses, pro conferences and techrooms showing the latest digital technology innovations.

DiBa wants to see cinema, DiBa wants to make cinema!

More inf@: DiBa Felstival website

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