Netflix brings the US Premiere of the much-laudedI Lost My BodytoFantastic Festafter an award winning debut at Cannes Critics Week. From director Jérémy Clapin, this singular tale of a severed hand trying to reunite with its owner is told in a striking hand-drawn animation style and won the Cristal award at the prestigious Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
“This has been a phenomenal year in terms of filmmaking, and we are proud to be hosting so many of the year’s best filmmakers in Austin,” says Evrim Ersoy, Fantastic Fest Creative Director. “Whether first-timers or alumni, we hope to share their work with our unique audience and to help elevate their voices within the festival world and with audiences at large.”
The festival will be honoring the career of Japanese maestroTakashi Miikewith a lifetime achievement award and a special screening ofThe Happiness of Katakuris. With over 100 films under his belt, Takashi Miike’s work has been regularly featured as part of the festival.
This year, Fantastic Fest alumni are bringing exceptional new projects to the festival.Alleluiafilmmaker Fabrice du Welz returns to Austin with the North American Premiere ofAdoration, telling a story of young love gone wrong. Drafthouse Films alum Katrin Gebbe follows up her striking debut featureNothing Bad Can HappenwithPelican Blood, where a mother realizes something may be very wrong with her adopted daughter. Finally, shorts filmmaker Ryan Spindell makes the jump to features with the World Premiere of his fast-paced anthology,The Mortuary Collection.
One of the thrills of Fantastic Fest is the opportunity to see the beginning of a filmmaker’s career, and this year’s fest will feature a trio of stunning directorial debuts. InSaint Maud, a live-in nurse is determined to save the soul of her dying patient at any given cost. InHomewrecker, polite friendship forces a young woman into a battle to the death with the growing insanity of her newly-made friend. Finally, in AMIGO, lifelong friends find their relationship turning toxic following a tragic and crippling accident.
The sea is the inspiration for a trio of films that inspire very different emotions. InSweetheart, a shipwrecked young woman discovers she might not be as alone as she thought. InSea Fever, the crew of a small shipping boat discovers their craft infected by an unknown organism. Lastly, inRide Your Wave, a surf-obsessed young woman discovers that death might not be the final stop in her burgeoning romance with a handsome firefighter.
Fantastic Fest is known for its dedication to the horror genre, and this year’s lineup is especially strong with an array of fantastic premieres. In the World Premiere ofRandom Acts of Violence, a comic book artist finds himself the inspiration for the grisly work of a serial killer. In the World Premiere ofWe Summon the Darkness, an after-party becomes deadly grounds for survival for a group of heavy metal fans. And in the North American Premiere ofKeep Me Company, a romantic weekend getaway turns sinister with unusual occurrences at a rented house.
Cinephiles with a taste for the unusual will be delighted with a trio of titles that bend styles and genres to create something wholly unique. InLittle Joe, a scientific discovery threatens the entire future of mankind. WYRM concerns an alternative future where a shy, dinosaur-obsessed high-schooler struggles with a unique and unusual school requirement. And finally inNight Drivea driver finds his boring evening becoming anything but when he picks up a young woman through a ride-share app in a glorious comedy of errors.
Alongside the usual vibrant and exciting shorts programming, Fantastic Fest 2019 brings a special focus to up-and-coming genre filmmakers from Mexico in a shorts block supported by Austin’s Consulate of Mexico titledMexico Fantastico. The program opens with the disquieting thriller 9:40 starring Kristyan Ferrer (Sin Nombre), and proceeds with a selection of fantastic shorts that run the gamut in both genre and style, including the eerie folk-horror ofThe Wandering Witchand disturbing sci-fi drama ofThe Originalby Fantastic Fest alums Sofia Carrillo and Michelle Garza Cervera respectively.
Finally, live podcast recordings are back on The Highball stage at Fantastic Fest this year, with the return of Leonard Maltin’s Maltin on Movies, Doug Benson’s Doug Loves Movies, and April Wolfe’s Switchblade Sisters. This year brings new additions that include Horror Queers, The Horror and 5BY5 At The Movies.
