The world premieres of Paramount’s survival horror Primate from Johannes Roberts and Shudder’s ancient Aztec curse horror Whistle from Corin Hardy will bookend the 20th anniversary edition of Fantastic Fest.
Overall 45 world premieres will screen at the event in Austin, Texas (September 18-25), among them Universal/Blumhouse’s Black Phone 2 from Scott Derrickson; Jalmari Helander’s Sisu: Road To Revenge from Sony’s Stage 6 and Screen Gems that has just been dated for November 1; and Bryan Bertino’s Vicious starring Dakota Fanning , which debuts on Paramount+ on October 10.
The offering includes world premieres of Dinner To Die For, Diana Mills Smiths’ South African culinary horror-true crime hybrid; Dean Francis’s Australian neo-noir Body Blow that has gone to Dark Star Pictures for the US; Martín Mauregui’s Crazy Old Lady at Shudder, a captive drama that touches on the Argentinian dictatorship; Patrik Syversen’s Norwegian wilderness-set Dawning; and a restoration of Doris Wishman’s 2002 Sexploitation Dildo Heaven.
There are North American premieres for Radu Jude’s Locarno selection Dracula, Julia Kowalski’s Her Will Be Done from Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, Ben Wheatley’s Edinburgh-bound Bulk, and Kiah Roache-Turner’s Beast Of War that premiered at Melbourne International Film Festival.
For the first time, Fantastic Fest will stage Fantastic Pitches offering $100,000 in funding and a global distribution deal from new genre label Chroma. Finalists will pitch projects live in front of a jury featuring Canadian director Matt Johnson, whose Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie plays in TIFF next month following its SXSW world premiere earlier this year.
Among the events are a fundraiser for The Transgender Film Center, as well as a medieval drag show, on-stage conversations, and the Fantastic Debates.
Fantastic Fest director Lisa Dreyer said: “The fest has grown immensely over the years, and we are proud to find new impactful ways to champion genre cinema and bring our audience the best of the best.” The festival was created by Alamo Drafthouse and CEO Michael Kustermann added: “We’re thrilled that these films continue to perform well at the box office and are honoured to be the launchpad for our studio partners and independent filmmakers.”
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