Fantastic Fest 2015 News: FANTASTIC FEST 2015 ANNOUNCES SHORTS PROGRAMMING

Source: Fantastic Fest/The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema

Austin, TX – Thursday, September 3rd, 2015 – Fantastic Fest is excited to announce the short film line up for the 11th edition of Fantastic Fest, happening Sept. 24th – Oct. 1st in Austin, Texas. Fantastic Fest once again will showcase a diverse range of short-subject genre films across three distinct programming sidebars and a dozen pre-feature presentations.

 

Curated by veteran festival programmer, film producer and hat enthusiast Peter Kuplowsky, the 40 film lineup champions the best, the brightest and, in an inaugural programme (SHORTS WITH LEGS), also the strangest and most eccentric short films from around the world. All in all, short-form cinema guaranteed to melt minds, split sides, and drop jaws.

 

The complete lineup, divided by programme, is as follows:

 

FANTASTIC SHORTS 2015

 

For those in the mood for a little bit of everything, FANTASTIC FEST 2015 is a sampling of the year’s best shorts; both live action and animated, ranging from the comic to the dramatic, and all of them guaranteed fantastic!

 

CHULYEN, A CROW’S TALE

CHULYEN

 

France, 2015

US Premiere, 20 min

Directors – Cerise Lopez & Agnès Patron

A rapscallious man-crow indulges his selfish whims and courts the wrath of the spirits of the forest in this simply sketched, but elegantly animated chiaroscuro adaptation of Northern Native American folklore.

 

DETECTIVE TROUSERS IN THE BEAT GOES ON

DETECTIVE TROUSERS

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere, 5 min

Directors –  Zachary Scheer and Matt Choi

The Gold Watch Murders have put a damper on Captain Padlilly’s Retirement party in this witty stab at an animated police procedural that intermingles humans with anthropomorphic animal gumshoes and will leave you jonesing for more. 

 

ENHANCED

ENHANCED

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 16 min

Director – Jeremy David White

Moments before taking the stage, a performer is contacted by his estranged sister and confronted with his stubborn decision to abstain from participating in their society’s “brave new world”. A dystopian tale with a refreshingly low-key, yet emotional expression of resistance.

 

 

GROWING PAINS

Denmark, 2014

Regional Premiere, 21 min

Director – Tor Fruergaard

After years of living under his mother’s thumb, a sexually repressed teenager finds his body undergoing some unusual transformations upon catching the eye of a cute neighbor. A coming of age story complete with threat of castration, brilliantly animated against a backdrop of paper dioramas.

 

THE GUESTS

GUEST

Australia, 2015

North American Premiere, 10 min

Director – Shane Danielsen

The guests have begun to arrive, only Anna didn’t invite them. An exquisitely eerie nightmare of manners.

 

 

 

 

MOVIES IN SPACE

MOVIES IN SPACE

United States, 2015

Regional Premiere, 14 min

Director – Chris Smith

The axiom that in Hollywood “nobody knows anything” also rings true in the rest of the galaxy, so Earth Ambassador Travis Shepherd discovers when he inadvertently becomes a movie mogul on an alien planet. An infectiously hilarious marvel in its comic escalation.

 

TOONPOCALYPSE

Scotland, 2015

Texas Premiere, 18 min

Director – Owen Rixon

Two cartoon characters become privy to a video documenting the invasion of the Earth by fiends hailing from the second-dimension! A thrilling and hilarious reinvigoration of the found footage genre through a delightful marriage of live-action and animation.

 

TRYING NOT TO EXPLODE

TRYING NOT TO EXPLODE

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere, 17 min

Director – Dave Dorsey

The spontaneous combustion of his parents has Leonard concerned that he might be next, so he’s not taking any chances. Fortunately, someone is prepared to take a chance on him.

  

SHORT FUSE 2015

 

Fantastic Fest once more ignites your synapses with an assembly of the year’s best short-form horror, including PORTAL TO HELL, the last film of genre film icon and wrestling legend Rowdy Roddy Piper!

 

THE BABYSITTER MURDERS

BABYSITTER MURDERS

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere, 21 min

Director – RYAN SPINDELL

A babysitter does epic battle with a dangerous psychotic in this slick and scary homage to slasher cinema.

 

EL GIGANTE

El Gigante

Canada, 2014

Texas Premiere, 13 min

Director – Gigi Saul Guerrero

A desperate trek across the US/Mexico border condemns a man to a blood-stained ring of death at the behest of a cannibalistic family of luchador aficionados in this slick and sick grand guignol of guts and gore.

 

HOUSE OF STRAW

United States, 2015

US Premiere, 16 min

Director – Kyle Bogart

It’s almost 6 o’clock and Emma and Reed’s marriage is coming apart at the seams, but more importantly: it’s almost 6 o’clock. A novel supernatural slice of monstrous domestic drama containing exemplary emotional resonance.

 

THE LISTING

THE LISTING

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere, 12 min

Director – Luke Jaden

An invisible malevolent entity impatiently waits for a family to haunt in this expertly wound and spooky jack-in-the-box of a horror short.

 

 

 

THE MILL AT CALDER’S END

MILL AT CALDERS

United States, 2014

Texas Premiere, 14 min

Director – Kevin McTurk

A young man returns to his childhood home intent on breaking a family curse. An exceptionally creepy pastiche of Poe and Lovecraft’s mood and mythology realized through bunraku rod puppets voiced by Jason Flemyng (THE MISSING) and Barbara Steele (BLACK SUNDAY).

 

 

 

OUT OF THE MOLD

United States, Australia, Canada, 2014

Regional Premiere, 12 min

Director – Michel moon

A gross-out, but poignant portrait of a relationship disintegrating at the prospect of having a child, in poetic tandem with the growth bathroom mold.

 

PORTAL TO HELL

PORTAL TO HELL

Canada, 2015

US Premiere, 11 min

Director – Vivieno Caldinelli

Toilet clogged? Call the super. Hallway light needs replaced? Call the super. Got an infestation of Cthulhu’s tentacles in the basement? Pray that Rowdy Roddy Piper is your super. Fortunately for the folks in this short, he is, and unfortunately for the elder god, he’s all outta of bubblegum.

 

 

 

SISTER HELL

SISTER HELL

Norway, 2015

World Premiere, 14 min

Director – Fredrik Hana

A nun absconds from her monastery and embraces a more hedonistic lifestyle, but the sisters she left behind are soon hot on her heels in a bid to save her soul. Only it might not be her soul that needs saving. Fredrik Hana (ANGST, PISS AND DRID, AUTUMN HARVEST) returns with this demonic parable inspired in part by the “energy & sheer insanity” of last years Fantastic Fest.

 

TRUST

TRUST

United States, 2015

US Premiere, 2 min

Director – Jerry Pyle

Two roommates engage in an escalating game of trust exercises (that we fear will eventually become a Fantastic Fest after-party activity).

SHORTS WITH LEGS 2015

 

Inspired by the DIY tour-de-force I AM A KNIFE WITH LEGS, which played at last year’s Fantastic Fest, this programme compiles the strangest and most compelling eccentric short films we’ve seen all year, from polished excursions into existential surrealism from the creators of SOUND OF NOISE and THE EDITOR to enthusiastic reveries of outsider art madness.

 

ALIKE & DIFFERENT

ALIKE AND DIFFERENT

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 4 min

Director – David Davis

David Davis becomes your new favorite outsider artist in this lo-fi satirical look at a first contact scenario.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISCO INFERNO

DISCO INFERNO

Spain, 2015

North American Premiere, 12 min

Director – Ali Waddington

A black clad vixen infiltrates a sumptuous mansion overrun with cultists in what begins as a rescue mission, and then deliriously descends into an eerie musical reverie, before finally arriving at a most unexpected conclusion.

 

 

 

DIVORCED DAD : HOME IMPROVEMENTS

DIVORCE DAD

Canada, 2015

World Premiere, 6 min

Directors – Adam Brooks, Conor Sweeney, Matthew Brooks

Divorced Dad (with you the first and third weekend of the month) gets some bad news in this hilarious and disturbing public access nightmare that could have only emerged from the mad minds at ASTRON-6 (MANBORG, THE EDITOR).

 

 

 

 

DOG BOWL

DOGBOWL

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere, 19 min

Director – Gordy Hoffman

The theft of service “dog” vest ignites an existential crisis with “sirius” cosmic repercussions. This short is also exactly 44.5x funnier than that aforementioned pun. It is impecable absurdism, the kind that inspires both wonder and gleeful delight.

 

 

 

MAN WITHOUT DIRECTION

MAN WITHOUT DIRECTION

Sweden, 2015

World Premiere, 15 min

Directors – Johannes Stjärne Nilsson, Pelle Öhlund, Nina Jemth

A put-upon man nearly loses himself to the labyrinthine corridors of a shabby roadside hotel in this sublimely surreal dark comedy inspired by Dante’s Inferno. A unique collaboration between the creators of SOUND OF NOISE and Moomsteatern, an acclaimed Swedish theatre company comprised of performers with intellectual disabilities.

 

 

 

MY JOHNNY

MY JOHNNY

United States, 2014

Texas Premiere, 30 min

Director -Vincent de Ghoulie

An epic suburban fever dream about a boy, a babysitter and prescription LSD. LA fringe filmmaker Vincent De Ghoulie claims to have invoked the spirit of his former teacher and great experimental artist George Kuchar while making the film and the result is something so magnificently singular it deserves to sits alongside cinematic company as prestigious as Lynch’s INLAND EMPIRE and as infamous as Breen’s FATEFUL FINDINGS. May melt your brain, but will split your sides and leave you in utter astonishment.

 

REVERSE EFFECTS

REVERSE EFFECTS

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 3min

Director – David Davis

David Davis warns of the dangers of purchasing time travel over the Internet.

 

 

 

 

SUPERHERO

SUPERHERO

United States, 2013

Austin Premiere, 30 seconds

Director – David Davis

David Davis reminds us about the importance of being an organ donor. Don’t wait till your dead.

 

 

 

TRIAL RUN

TRIAL RUN

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 20 min

Director – Lawrence Peter Klein

A pop-up ad on a porn site leads an unemployed and unstable man on a convoluted cross-country mission to recover a litany of mysterious corpses with the promise of sexual fulfillment. A kinetic and compelling menagerie of conspiratorial musings and manic ruminations reminiscent of Craig Baldwin’s Tribulation 99 monologues, as if performed by a deranged Jack Burton.

 

WIND THROUGH A TREE

WIND THROUGH A TREE

Canada, 2015

US Premiere, 10 min

Director – Seth Smith

Experimental filmmaker Seth Smith (LOWLIFE) offers up the eccentric anti-adventures of four members of his family, connecting their souls through colour and composition in this poetic, tragicomic fusion of fiction and home movie.

 

SHORTS PAIRED WITH FEATURES:

 

THE CHAMP

THE CHAMP

Canada, 2015

World Premiere, 9 min

Director – Fabian Velasco

A former boxing champion sits on death row. He has accepted the inevitable, but is nonetheless determined to ensure that no one will ever lay claim to his championship belt. An exceedingly odd and idiosyncratic parable of ego and futility.

 

THE CHICKENING

THE_CHICKENING_STILL

Canada, 2015

US Premiere, 5 min

Directors – Nick DenBoer & Davy Force

All work and no chicken makes Jack a dull boy, so heeeere’s THE CHICKENING! The most awe-inspiring and ridiculous mash-up of cinema and cuisine your eyes will ever see.

 

 

COPYCAT

COPYCAT

United States, 2015

Regional Premiere, 9 min

Director – Charlie Lyne

In 1991 Rolfe Kanefsky made a meta-horror film that few people saw, but perhaps one person stole. Experimental filmmaker Charlie Lyne records the testimony and sets its against a hypnotic and witty montage of horror cinema.

 

 

 

 

DEATHLY

DEATHLY

United States, 2015

North American Premiere, 13 min

Director – Mike Williamson

A man’s home becomes the site of supernatural occurrences following his wife’s untimely passing. Alan Ruck (FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF) stars in this fun slice of pulpy horror from Fantastic Fest alumni Mike Williamson (IN THE WALL).

 

FUCK BUDDIES

Canada, 2015

World Premiere, 19 min

Director – Nathaniel Wilson

Platonic roommates Joseph and Ellie try to ‘keep it casual’ when they find themselves manipulated into sex with each other by an enigmatic entity. A gross, disturbing and scathingly funny investigation of the compulsion for intimacy and its emotional and biological collateral damage.

 

FUCKKKYOUUU

FUCKKKYOUUU

United States, 2015

Texas Premiere

Director – Eddie Alcazar

Love hurts in this gorgeous and grotesque experimental trance of time travel and body horror, stunningly captured with immaculately textured black and white photography.

 

 

MORE THAN FOUR HOURS

MORE THAN FOUR HOURS

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 10 min

Director – Bryan Poyser

It would be cruel to spoil the comedic set up to this short which confirms that boners are hilarious. So just expect a boner and expect hilarity. And a full-body cringe.

 

 

SLOW CREEP

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 12 min

Director – Jim Hickcox

Three teens defy the warnings of a video store clerk and go ahead with renting a cursed VHS. What begins as an endearing exercise in creature feature schlock then transforms into a sublime and infectious… well I won’t spoil it here.

 

TEETH

TEETH

United States/Spain, 2015

North American Premiere, 14 min

Director – Jennifer Cox

A high-school girl learns to stand up to her bullies by embracing precisely that which makes her a target. An ambitious and confidently executed exploration of adolescent anxiety.

 

 

THIS HOME IS NOT EMPTY

THIS HOME IS NOT EMPTY

Canada, 2015

Texas Premiere, 3 min

Director – Carol Nguyen

A chilling experimental meditation on the lies in which we tell ourselves expressed through the starkly minimalist dioramic presentation of a seemingly empty home. Haunting stuff.

 

 

THORN

THORN

Japan, 2015

Regional Premiere, 15 min

Director – Soichi Umezawa

A grieving mother discovers her son’s supernatural secret after communing with his cactus. Soichi Umezawa follows up his acclaimed segment from THE ABCS OF DEATH 2 (Y is for YOUTH) with another surreal venture into body horror and adolescent angst, only this time adding psychic powers to the mix!

 

 

WARM INSIDES

WARM INSIDE

United States, 2015

World Premiere, 10 min

Director – Andrew Merrill

A skin-crawling and impressively haptic grayscale psychodrama, wherein a woman’s body becomes host to a parasitic, worm-like organism. She really doesn’t need this right now, especially so close to the holidays.

 

WORLD OF TOMORROW

WORLD OF TOMORROW

United States, 2015

Special Screening, 16 min

Director – Don Hertzfeldt

A young girl is confronted with her future in this sublime award-winning festival favorite by Don Hertzfeldt (IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY, REJECTED).

 

Attend Fantastic Fest:

 

DAYTIME ONLY Badges, FAN Badges, and 2ND HALF Badges for Fantastic Fest 2015 are available for purchase here.

 

About Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. In years past the festival has been home to world premieres of JOHN WICK, FRANKENWEENIE, MACHETE KILLS, RED DAWN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND and RED while the guest roster has included such talent as Tim Burton, Andy and Lana Wachowski, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. Fantastic Fest also features world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films. Fantastic Fest has seen the acquisition of many titles, including BULLHEAD, KILL LIST, MONSTERS, KLOWN, THE FP, PENUMBRA, HERE COMES THE DEVIL, NO REST FOR THE WICKED, VANISHING WAVES, COMBAT GIRLS and I DECLARE WAR. Fantastic Fest is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. Alamo Drafthouse has been named the best theater in the country by Entertainment WeeklyWired and TIMEVariety included Fantastic Fest in a list of “10 Film Festivals We Love,” and was also named one of the “25 coolest film festivals” by Moviemaker Magazine.

 

Our Partners

Presenting Sponsors for Fantastic Fest include Texas’ own Shiner Beer, whose family of products will be featured throughout the festival. And Chiller, the only cable channel devoted to delivering round-the-clock scares.

 

About Alamo Drafthouse

Tim and Karrie League founded Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin.  17 years later, the now 19-location chain has been named “the best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and “the best theater in the world” by Wired. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has built a reputation as a movie lover’s oasis not only by combining food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high-profile, star studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse Founder & CEO, Tim League, created Fantastic Fest, a world renowned film festival dubbed “The Geek Telluride” by Variety. Fantastic Fest showcases eight days of genre cinema from independents, international filmmakers and major Hollywood studios. The Alamo Drafthouse’s collectible art gallery, Mondo, offers breathtaking, original products featuring designs from world-famous artists based on licenses for popular TV and Movie properties including Star Wars, Star Trek & Universal Monsters. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is expanding its brand in new and exciting ways, including Drafthouse Films which has garnered two Academy Award nominations in its short three year existence and Birth. Movies. Death, an entertainment content platform edited by veteran journalist Devin Faraci.

 

 

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

 

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