Fantastic Fest Online 2008

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Some people complain about their life unraveling, but it's rarely as pronounced as in this whimsical, bizarre short from a young Colombian visualist already on par with mighty artists like Michel Gondry. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .
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Brief Summary: Set in one night in a seedy hotel, cult Novelist Eric Shapiro’s debut feature intertwines two stories of sexual encounters gone horribly awry. Full Description: US Premiere Winner, best actor, Ben Siegler, Fantasia Film Festival 2008 "This is refreshing, exciting indie cinema, and the rule here is to see it when you get the chance." - Ryan Levey, Fangoria “Shapiro’s transition from novelist to feature filmmaker delivers on every promise with a rare and engrossing work whose qualities can perhaps best be likened to a darker PT Anderson or Steven Soderbergh” – Mitch Davis, Fantasia Film Festival Twenty-something Lo (Rhoda Jordan), checks into a roadside motel with her boyfriend for a bit of innocent sexual exploration. In the same hotel, a dowdy middle-aged businessman is planning for his own romantic rendezvous, a first sexual encounter with a co-worker that he feels might turn out better if Rohipnol is in the mix. Neither encounter works out according to plan, and as the stories cleverly intertwine, the tension swirls to a gut-punch climax. Novelist/ essayist Eric Shapiro directs his debut feature with a sure hand and stretches his budget by cleverly limiting the action to the claustrophobic interior of one seedy hotel. Instead of a large budget, Shipiro substitutes exceptional writing to move the story briskly forward and keep the audience fully engaged. His cast of relative newcomers execute the naturalistic dialogue flawlessly, in particular Ben Siegler (THE WEST WING) as Lo’s anxious father and Rodney Eastman (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. 3 & 4) as a particularly loathsome drug dealer. RULE OF THREE is exactly the type of film we are seeking in the Next Wave competition, a young first-time director storming out of the gate with a sack full of talent, a mature understanding of cinema and a strong story to tell. (Tim League) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .
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SXFantastic: SXSW 2010 presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight!
Fantastic Fest 2009: September 24-October 1, 2009
SXFantastic! SXSW 2010 presents Fantastic Fest at Midnight!

Austin, Texas - February 4, 2010 – The South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival has announced the complete features lineup for this year’s Festival, March 12 – 20, 2010 in Austin, Texas.

Over the course of nine days, 119 features will screen at the festival, with 55 of those having their world premieres at SXSW 2010.

For the second year in a row, Fantastic Fest has selected a slate of midnight features as part of the official SXSW Lineup.  You can see these films and more with a SXSW film badge.  SXSW film badges are on sale at www.sxsw.com/attend.

SXFantastic

Mind-bending international Midnighters, hand-selected by Fantastic Fest.

Films screening in SX Fantastic are:

HIGANJIMA (Japan/Korea)
(International Festival Premiere)

Director: Tae-Kyun Kim.
Screenwriter: Tetsuya Ôishi


Two years after losing contact, Akira discovers that his long-lost brother may be found on
Higanjima Island. He may also find an army of blood-sucking vampires.


Cast: Koji Yamamoto, Hideo Ishiguro, Dai Watanabe, Asami Mizukawa

MONSTERS (UK)
(World Premiere)

Director and Screenwriter: Gareth Edwards


Six years after a NASA probe crashes, bringing alien life forms to Earth, a journalist agrees
to escort a shaken tourist through an infected zone in Mexico to the safety of the US border.


Cast: Scoot McNairym, Whitney Able


OUTCAST (Ireland)

(World Premiere)

Director Colm McCarthy.
Screenwriters: Colm McCarthy and Tom McCarthy

Mary and Fergal live their lives on the run, using an ancient form of magic to hide from
a terrifying hunter.

Cast: James Nesbitt, Kate Dickie, Niall Bruton, Hannah Stanbridge

SERBIAN FILM / SRPSKI FILM (Serbia)
(World Premiere)

Director: Srdjan Spasojevic.
Screenwriters: Aleksandar Radivojevic and Srdjan Spasojevic


Facing financial difficulties, a retired porn star is lured back for one final film by a wealthy, eccentric producer. This experience, however, will be vastly more taxing than his previous shoots.


Cast: Sergei Trifunovic, Srdjan Todorovic, Katarina Zutic, Ana Sakic

SUPER SECRET TBA
(World Premiere)

Stay tuned to sxsw.com for more information and trailers about all of these films as well as details on the super secret TBA film!


Check out the full SXSW lineup here at sxsw.com/film/screenings/films

Fantastic FestFantastic Fest was founded in 2005 by festival director Tim League (founder of Alamo Drafthouse Cinema) and Harry Knowles (founder of Ain’t It Cool News).  The Alamo Drafthouse was named “Best Theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and Ain’t It Cool News is one of the most popular internet movie sites in the world.  Now in its fifth year,
Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., and has
hosted a large number of world premieres over the years, including THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, HOSTEL, CITY OF EMBER and many more.
Fantastic Fest was named by Variety president Charlie Koones as “one of the 10 festivals we love,” alongside industry heavy-hitters Cannes, Telluride and Toronto. We were also named by MovieMaker Magazine this year as “one of the 25 coolest film festivals.” Fantastic Fest is programmed in part by Tim League, Harry Knowles, Todd Brown, Rodney Perkins, Karrie League, Michael Lerman, Zack Carlson, Lars Nilsen, Henri Mazza and Eric Vespe.  Special thanks to Colin Geddes and Marc Walkow for their programming guidance and support as well as festival co-founders Tim McCanlies and Paul Alvarado-Dykstra.
Fantastic Fest 2009 was sponsored in part by
RealD
RealD
Dark Sky

Best Buy

RealD

Jeremiah Weed

Interested in our integrated sponsorship opportunities? Contact matt@fantasticfest.com

Need Fantastic Fest Press Credentials?
If you are a member of the press and would like to attend Fantastic Fest in 2010, please email us with all of your details, the name of your outlet and links to your past film festival coverage.
Bside
Sign up for your free BSide account and experience the full functionality of the 2009 Fantastic Fest community.  Schedule movies, rate and review films, get festival buzz and stay in touch with the Fantastic Fest community.
Looking for a hotel at Fantastic Fest?
Radisson

The Radisson is the official hotel of Fantastic Fest and is offering special rates for badgeholders.  Click here for info on the Radisson and all nearby hotels.
Fantastic Fest in Texas Monthly
Chaos Reigns

Check out the amazing coverage of Fantastic Fest in this month’s issue of Texas Monthly.

Winners announced for the free advance screening of DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM!

districtb13uThanks to all the Fantastic Fest 2010 badge holders who wrote in for a reserved seat to see the free advance screening of Fantastic Fest fav DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM this coming Monday @ the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar!

We actually still have a few seats left for you guys, so if you’re a Fantastic Fest badge holder and haven’t written in yet and still want to see the show, email brad@originalalamo.com with “PARKOUR FOR THE COURSE” in the subject line.  We’ll contact you directly if we can fit you in!

Everyone else, there’s still some “Admit 2″ passes floating around town!  Most of the theater will be filled by those, first come, first seated, so find one and come on down on Monday.  In addition, if you didn’t get one, but REALLY can’t wait to see this eye-bursting action explosion, we always have a stand-by line and are always able to get some very excited die-hards in the door!

Here’s the list, if you’re on it you must claim your ticket no later than 7pm on Monday, February 1 @ The Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar to guarantee your seats.  The show starts at 7:30p.

Glass, Geoffrey +1

DeLeón-Serratos, Jesús +1

Archip, Dana +1

Bailey, Robin +1

Bate, William +1

Dailey, Matthew +1

De Leon, JC +1

Gargano, Michelle +1

Gleason, Jeff +1

Harkins Eakins, Lecia +1

Hidalgo, James +1

Jeffress, Jamie +1

Johnson, Sven +1

Lambert, Robert +1

Locklear, Nathan +1

Mackey, Kristopher +1

Mackey, Tisha +1

McInroy, Chris +1

Miller, Jonathan +1

Mills, Austin  +1

Osmon, John  +1

Ramirez, Nick +1

Rath, Robert +1

Reese, Dshanya +1

Romero, Celia C +1

Strait, Eddie +1

Taylor, Kent +1

Tindle, Jeffrey +1

Wages, John +1

Williams, Kevin +1

For more info about Fantastic Fest, please visit www.fantasticfest.com

FF Badge Holders, check out this Free Advance screening of DISTRICT 13: ULTIMATUM!

D13Ublog

Monday, February 1, 7:30p, Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar

This one blew all our heads right off our shoulders at last year’s Fantastic Fest- only to then leap from the top of a 15 story building just in time to catch our heads before hitting the ground, then kicking them right back on. Like it’s now cult-legendary predecessor DISTRICT B13, this reunion of writer Luc Besson (THE PROFESSIONAL, FIFTH ELEMENT) and on-screen ass-kickers Leito (David Belle) and Damien (Cyril Raffaelli), DISTRICT 13 ULTIMATUM serves up an endless display of some of the most righteous parkour action ever committed to film. A jaw-dropping spectacle that will have you finding new, potentially deadly ways to go about your daily routine.

How to get in:
Many of the seats will be filled by those “Admit 2″ passes you see for other advance screenings around town, but since this a Fantastic Fest jam, we were able to hold aside a small chunk of seats specifically for our Fantastic Fest badge-holders! If you are a Fantastic Fest 2010 badge-holder and you want to attend this screening, send an email to brad@originalalamo.com with your name (please include the name used to purchase the actual badge) and the type of badge(s) purchased in the body of the email, and make sure to put “PARKOUR FOR THE COURSE” in the subject line. We will randomly pick (authenticated) badge-holders until our seat allotment is full, then post the list of winners on the Alamo Blog and the Fantastic Fest Blog on Friday, January 29 @ 3pm. Each name on the list is good for 2 seats, which will be held at will call until 7pm on the night of the show.

Special note: In the event we still have a few “reserved” seats left past 3pm on 1/29, go ahead and still send in an email.  We’ll contact you directly if we can fit you in!

From Todd Brown’s Fantastic Fest 2009 write-up:
District 13 is once again in trouble. The gangs are restless, promised changes have not come to pass, poverty and crime are as rampant as ever. And, just in case things weren’t difficult and complex enough in the anarchic district, it appears as though it has a new enemy, a powerful and well financed enemy determined to bring the wrath of the establishment down upon the people and willing to kill to do so. In the face of lawlessness and rising violence there can be only one response: by-the-book supercop Damien and free roaming — free running, I should say — vigilante Leto must once again join forces to bring peace to District 13.

When Pierre Morel’s District B13 burst on to the scene in 2004, prescient timing and clever marketing allowed the film to tap into the bubbling awareness of a new extreme sport, parkour. By casting parkour’s co-creator David Belle as Leto and then building the film around his unique skills the film delivered something people had never before seen on screen, a dazzling combination of speed, strength, grace and fearlessness. Largely on Belle’s back the film became a huge international hit and so producer Luc Besson did what smart producers always do in cases like these: he took his original formula, shifted the focus slightly and made a sequel.

While the original District B13 was very much Belle’s coming out party this second installment casts its eye largely on his partner, French martial artist Cyril Raffaelli. Though you may not think of France as a hotbed for martial arts, Raffaelli is so good that he has been hired to choreograph fight films in Hong Kong and his performance as Damien is loaded with raw energy and charisma, his flying fists and feet dazzling to watch on screen. If the first B13 provided a taste of what Raffaelli was capable of, this second provides a full course meal. Fill out the cast with charismatic characters heading the competing gangs — Black’s MC Jean Gab’1 plays a key role — and District B13 Ultimatum proves that sometimes you really can go back again.
(Todd Brown, Twitch Film)

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