jump into fantastic cinema It is an experience as rewarding, or terrifying, as jumping into the void in a fairground attraction: the vertigo of free fall, the entrance into an unexplored universe, the rupture of reality, the fascination with remote and different. The fantastic genre cinema, understood through horror, psychological thriller, mystery, crime or science fiction, brings together all possible universes, real and imaginary, and, therefore, entering it requires of a certain audacity, to the extent that transcends the limits of everyday life.
In other words: you have to lose your fear of fantastic cinema and, by extension, of that fascinating world where the imagination knows no limits. East Thursday, October 6, the curtain rises on the 55th edition of the Sitges Festivalsurely the best world showcase of fantastic cinema in all its variants, which is a new and magnificent opportunity to enjoy the genre that it has been offering for years the most restless, intrepid and challenging movies and series of our time. Because, what audiovisual phenomenon, today, is not impregnated, in some way, with the fantastic genre?
After two editions weighed down by the pandemic, with forced restrictions on the public, guests and winners, Sitges seems to recover the pulse of the best times. There is a desire for the festival among its flock, to the point that the forecast is to reach the stratospheric numbers of attendees of the historic record edition of 2018, that of the fiftieth anniversary. With everything yet to be discovered, let us review, in the form of seven keys, what will this Sitges-2022 bring us.
The main competitive section of the contest abounds in titles (more than thirty lengths), which does not mean that there are too many left over. There is real anticipation around ‘Pearl’, the prequel to Ti West’s hit ‘X’, code name of American independent terror, one of the authors recognized this year with a Màquina del Temps. But many other works aim for prizes, from ‘The five devils’by Léa Mysius, another example of a French auteur cinema no stranger to extreme sensations, to ‘Speak no evil’by Danish Christian Tafdrup, and ‘hatching’, by the Finnish Hanna Bergholm, two of the horror revelations of the last Sundance festival. From another important festival, Tribeca, Michelle Garza Cervera, Mexican director of ‘Huesera’, like ‘Hatching’, a disturbing fable about motherhood. And separate mention deserves the large national battalion.
For a good handful of years, there was an unwritten rule in Sitges according to which the opening of the festival was carried out by a local production. The habit ceased to be in 2017, but this year it is recovered with ‘Venus’, by Jaume Balagueró. In addition to the specific weight of a Spanish fantastic classic like the director of ‘Els sense nom’, it couldn’t be otherwise in an edition marked by the large presence of promising genre productions made hereYo. Not surprisingly, up to five films will compete for the award in the official competition section: ‘Asombrosa Elisa’, by Sadrac González-Perellón, ‘Irati’, by Paul Urkijo, ‘Viejos’, by Raúl Cerezo & Fernando González, ‘Unicorn wars’, by Alberto Vázquez, and ‘La piedad’, by Eduardo Casanovas.
Also in the official section, but out of competition, you can see ‘Mantícora’, by Carlos Vermut, ‘Cerdita’, by Carlota Pereda and ‘La Niña de la communion’, by Víctor García; and in Noves Visions, ‘La paradoja de Antares’, by Luis Tinoco. And as the closing of Òrbita, it will be screened ‘As beasts’, by Rodrigo Sorogoyen, in a super extra range party weekend.
The Sitges 2022 program certifies the clear turn of events in recent years: there are more and more women directing genre films and thus diversifying points of view, the tones and sensibilities that we will find at the festival. In addition to the aforementioned Hanna Bergholm, Michelle Garza Cervera and Carlota Pereda, this year the Norwegian Kjersti Helen Rasmussen is also competing with ‘Nightmare’ (direct prize for the best poster, if any) or the best known actresses Frances O’Connor and Tereza Nvotová with, respectively, ‘Emily’, a unique biopic by Emily Brontë, and ‘Nightsiren’, an anti-patriarchal tale that earned its author the Golden Leopard for Filmmakers of the Present at Locarno.
already in Noves Visions vWe will see two titles that won awards at Sundance for their authors: ‘Nanny’, by Nikyatu Jusu, the second black director to win the festival’s top award, and ‘Leonor will never die’, by Martika Escobar, a young Filipino filmmaker who became with the special jury prize for innovative spirit in the World Cinema section.
The return of the ‘thriller’ (South Korean)
The restored section Òrbita, dedicated to the ‘thriller’, this year brings together a good handful of productions from South Korea, cinematography that is once again in fashion (or discovered by many) after the phenomenon of the series ‘The squid game’. Precisely player 456 of that one, Lee Jung Jaewill present in Sitges in person ‘Hunt’, his directorial debut, a convoluted action and espionage ‘thriller’ in which he himself stars alongside Jung Woo-sung, who is also bringing his directorial debut, ‘A man of reason’.
In addition, they will be able to see ‘The roundup’, by Sang-yong Lee, sequel to the 2017 hit ‘City without law’, or the catastrophic ‘Emergency declaration’, by Han Jae-rim. Beyond Korean productionHighlights include ‘H4Z4RD’, by Belgian Jonas Govaerts, a black action comedy filmed inside a car, or ‘Watcher’, by American Chloe Okuno, a slow-burning paranoid thriller
In the official section, although out of competition, titles as diverse as ‘Halloween: the end’third and final episode of David Gordon Green’s trilogy on Michael Myers, or ‘Firing Yang’sensitive approach to science fiction on artificial intelligence by Kogonada.
Y Orbit It will not be the only parallel section with gems to discover. Or rediscover: the rarities section Seven Chances It will offer, for example, the Hong Kong action classic ‘The heroic trio’, directed by Johnnie To and with a well-warrior Michelle Yeoh almost three decades before ‘Everything at once everywhere’. In Sitges Documenta highlights ‘King on screen’, Daphné Baiwir’s ambitious journey through the adaptations of works by Stephen King. Anima’t’s star title is ‘Dozens of north’, by Japanese master Koji Yamamura. Fantastic panorama It features ‘Satan’s slaves: Communion’, a sequel to the popular ‘Children of Satan’, by the Indonesian Joko Anwar, among many other hooks. After midnight we can see ‘The lair’, a new monster and survival movie by Neil Marshall (‘The descent’), another recipient of a Time Machine in this edition.
The winners and guests
What’s a good festival without its glittering red carpet? Another symptom of the mental revitalization of Sitges after two years of pandemic darkness is the massive presence, once again, of winners and guests. The list of illustrious will be headed by the master of the ‘giallo’ Dario Argentowho will receive the new Golden Honorary Award, and for the genius of special effects and makeup Colin Arthur, awarded the Grand Honorary Award.
the traditional Time Machine will fall on four great directors of the fantastic of the 21st century: Ti West, Edgar Wright, Quentin Dupieux and Neil Marshall, as well as the great Japanese animator Maasaki Yuasa. German actress and filmmaker Astrid Frank will receive, for her part, the Honorary Maria, and the actress brigitte lahaie will be honored with the Premi Nosferatu. Finally, the Italian musician Claudio Simonettifrom the seminal band Goblin, will be awarded the Méliès d’Or.
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Not to mention, of course, the directors and performers who will come to Sitges to present their films: Eva Green, Michel Hazananavicious, Nacho Vigalondo, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead, Velasco Broca and… as we have already said, Lee Jung-jae, the popular 456 from ‘The Squid Game’, who will visit the festival to present his directorial debut, ‘Hunt’. There will not be enough memory on the mobile for so many selfies, although in Sitges there still survives a certain fondness for the old autograph.
The series are also cinema
Although it is hard for the most stretched cinephile to believe, some directors make series not because of the demands of the industry, but for love of long-distance narrative. The great horror writer mike flanagan he has found in them his true creative vein. And after milestones like ‘The Curse of Hill House’ or ‘Midnight Mass’, he now brings us ‘The Midnight Club’a youth series (or rather, with young protagonists) of which this Thursday, one day before its premiere on Netflix, two episodes will be seen in Sitges. It is not the only important series with a presence at the festival: there will also be a double episode of ‘Garcia!’ (HBOMax)the adaptation of the comic by Santiago García and Luis Bustos about a super-soldier from the Franco era.