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Exclusive early access: My selections for Best Horror Festivals for an upcoming article in a top publication
🕑 Added 2020-12-07 23:42:08 +0000 UTCI'm sharing the private info below with you only, my patrons, please don't make it public till it goes public later this month.
I've had the honour to be invited as a panelist for Dread Central's upcoming article of Best Horror Film Festivals! The list is going to be put together by the former MovieMaker editor Max Weinstein, with the help of an international panel of experts, and I'm happy I was invited as well among those experts. I won't be paid for this, ha ha, but still, it feels good to be recognised this way after all the work I did with my own list of Top 100 Genre Film Festivals + Submission Tips.
I was asked to give my top 5 to 10 genre festivals and my reviews, but I ended up giving 25! Here's what I had to say:
Top 7:
- Sitges Film Festival / Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya – Sitges, Catalonia, Spain, 53 years - If Cannes is the king/queen of festivals, then Sitges is the king/queen of genre festivals! The 53 years-old festival premieres numerous features and shorts from both indie/first-time and established filmmakers in various categories, with lots of industry attending, networking opportunities and a high chance of finding distribution and/or international sales. Sitges is an affiliate member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation) and the only genre fest listed by the Academy Awards as a short film qualifying festival.
- Fantasia International Film Festival – Montreal, Canada, 24 years – Fantasia is only rivalled by Fantastic Fest as North America's greatest genre festival! With 11 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), lots of industry attending and a passionate audience, you get a good chance of finding distribution and/or sales for your film. Fantasia is a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Fantastic Fest – Austin, Texas, US, 16 years – The biggest genre festival in the US, with 18 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), Fantastic Fest is a powerful launching pad for both bigger productions by established filmmakers and new voices. Fantastic Fest is a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival: BIFFF – Brussels, Belgium, 38 years – The second most important European genre festival after Sitges, BIFFF is a good launching pad for lots of indie productions and some bigger films as well. The festival announced 8 feature world premieres for 2020 (excluding gala/special premieres), but the edition got canceled due to COVID-19. BIFFF is an affiliated member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival: BiFan (formerly Puchon/PiFan) – Bucheon, South Korea, 24 years - With 20 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres) and mostly Asian films, BiFan is the most important genre film event in Asia, with distributors and sales agents all over the world looking to discover the next Asian horror hit. BiFan is a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- FrightFest – London, UK, 21 years – The biggest and most important genre festival in the UK, with 10 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), FrightFest can easily rival Fantastic Fest in the US or BIFFF in continental Europe.
- Fantasporto: Oporto International Film Festival – Porto, Portugal, 40 years - selected/attended - This 40 years old festival in Portugal premiered the works of some of the most iconic filmmakers over the years. It may not be as strong as it used to be years ago, when only Sitges could rival it, the website looks ancient, has no presence on submission platforms (although no problem since it's free to submit via email), but its founding director Mario Dorminsky takes a lot of risks premiering a very diverse slate of on-the-edge indie films. Some prove to be masterpieces and others crap, but this approach is essential for discovering indie gems which otherwise wouldn't be given a change by more commercial festivals not willing to take such risks. Fantasporto had 6 feature world premieres in 2020 (excluding gala/special premieres), just days before COVID-19 took over the world and closed most festivals.
In alphabetical order from 8 to 25:
- A Night of Horror International Film Festival – Sydney, Australia, 13 years - selected/attended - Australia's top genre festival, ANOH returned in 2020 with 2 feature world premieres (excluding gala/special premieres) after a 2 years hiatus, and with a new (and hopefully equally passionate) leadership after the founding director, Dean Bertram, moved to the US (where he started a new festival - MidWest WeirdFest). Dean takes pride in the fact that ANOH mostly selected films from blind submissions as opposed to sourcing from other festivals and/or distributors/sales agents.
- Beyond Fest – Los Angeles, California, US, 8 years - This top festival in Los Angeles has lots of top industry connections, but accepts submissions for short films only, features are invitation based.
- Brooklyn Horror Film Festival – New York City, NY, US, 5 years - One of the two most important genre festivals in New York City, but just as NYC Horror Film Festival, had only 1 feature world premiere in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres).
- Cinepocalypse (formerly Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Fest) – Chicago, Illinois, US, 7 years – With 5 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), Cinepocalypse (formerly Bruce Campbell’s Horror Film Fest) was growing fast as the next big sensation in genre festivals until a leadership conflict threw it a bit into uncertainty this year. Hopefully it will get back on tracks.
- Fantaspoa – Porto Alegre, Brazil, 16 years – The most important genre festival in South America, Fantaspoa had 5 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres) and is a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- FilmQuest – Provo, Utah, US, 7 years – with 2 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), the 7 years old FilmQuest run by Jonathan Martin quickly became one of the most important genre fests in the US circuit.
- Imagine Film Festival – Amsterdam, Netherlands, 36 years – A top European genre festival, the 36 years old Imagine FF is unfortunately less focused on discovery and mostly screens top films from other festivals, having announced only 1 feature world premiere in 2020. Imagine is an affiliate member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Morbido Film Fest – Mexico City, Mexico, 13 years – Mexico's biggest genre event, Morbido is also a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- MOTELx: Lisbon International Horror Film Festival – Lisbon, Portugal, 14 years – MOTELx began to rival Fantasporto as Portugal's top genre event, but has work to do on its discovery potential, since it only had one feature world premiere in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres). MOTELx is an affiliate member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Neuchatel International Fantastic Film Festival – Neuchatel, Switzerland, 20 years – A top European genre festival, with 3 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), Neuchatel is also an affiliate member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- New York City Horror Film Festival – New York City, NY, US, 18 years – One of the two most important genre festivals in New York City, but just as Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, had only 1 feature world premiere in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres).
- Nightmares Film Festival – Columbus, Ohio, US, 5 years – selected - With 5 feature world premieres in its 5th edition in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), Nightmares continues to grow in popularity, partly due to director Jason Tostevin's relentless social media activity.
- On Vous Ment! Mockumentary Film Festival (for fake documentaries & found footage films) – Lyon, France, 5 years - selected - On Vous Ment in France is one of the only 2 festivals in the world dedicated to found footage and mockumentary films (the other one being Unknown Footage Festival in the US). Director Nicolas Sébastien Landais carefully looks for the best found footage/mockumentary films all year long, and the award winners are decided by an international jury made of established filmmakers, actors, critics and academics.
- The Overlook Film Festival (formerly Stanley Film Festival) – New Orleans, Louisiana, US, 7 years - Founded 7 years ago by the leadership behind the defunct Stanley Film Festival, Overlook quickly stepped on the same successful path in becoming one of the top genre fests in the US. It had two feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres).
- Screamfest Horror Film Festival – Los Angeles, California, US, 20 years – Screamfest had its years of glory as a leading genre festival rivalling Fantastic Fest in the US, but lately became less relevant, with only 1 feature world premiere in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres). Screamfest is a supporting member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation).
- Shriekfest: The Indie Horror/Sci-Fi Film Festival – Los Angeles, California / Orlando, Florida, US, 20 years – With 3 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres), Shriekfest rivals Screamfest as Los Angeles' top genre festival with open submissions for features.
- Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival – Strasbourg, France, 13 years – With 3 world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres) and its affiliation to the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly known as the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation), Strasbourg European FFF is, just like its name suggests, a top European destination for genre films.
- Toronto After Dark Film Festival – Toronto, Canada, 15 years – Canada's biggest genre celebration after Fantasia, with 3 feature world premieres in 2019 (excluding gala/special premieres).
And here's a thumbs down list of festivals appreciated by industry professionals which I did not include in my top 25 after I did a research and found that they selected zero feature world premieres in 2019 before the pandemic, which means they only took movies from other festivals and had no interest for discovery: Dead by Dawn, Horrible Imaginings, Lund, Telluride Horror Show. I've heard that Telluride is a top experience for attending filmmakers, but in my opinion discovering new talents and films should be an integral part of any festival.
