BEYOND FEST 2021 IS HERE!
It is time once again for the People’s Republic of Beyond Fest to assemble. While last year’s festival was held at the Mission Tiki Drive in due to Covid 19 concerns and the fact that regular theatres were not open, the availability of the Covid 19 vaccine has made in-theatre film festival screenings possible for 2021. The cinema gods have smiled upon Los Angeles with an ultra-fantastic line up for this year’s festival: 45 films (some in double and triple bills) and three short film blocks in 12 days. What are you waiting for? Go here to peruse the line up and start flexing your fingers for the on sale tomorrow:
https://americancinematheque.com/series/beyond-fest-2021/
The screenings will be spread out among three different theatres, the Shudder Theatre at the Los Feliz 3, the Mubi Theatre at the Aero in Santa Monica, and, new to the Beyond Fest associate network of cinemas, The Hollywood Legion Theatre, for the motor psycho premiere of TITANE. Yes, the West Coast premiere of Julia Ducournau’s Palme d’Or winner TITANE will be opening Beyond Fest 2021 with a Q&A with the director herself on Wednesday, September 29th at 8:00 PM. This means that I will finally be able to see TITANE, if the Cinema Gods are willing, and I am about to start levitating in sheer bliss at the thought.
But let’s not stop there, Beyond Fest will also be the West Coast Premiere of the following films at the Mubi Theatre at the Aero in Santa Monica:
LAMB, directed and co-written by Valdimar Jóhannsson and Sjon and starring Noomi Rapace and Hilmir Snær Guðnason with a Q&A with the director and star Rapace on Thursday, September 30th at 7:30 PM
HALLOWEEN KILLS, directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Judy Greer with a Q&A with Green and Jason Blum on Friday, October 1st at 8:00 PM.
V/H/S/94, directed by Jennifer Reeder, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Chloe Okuno, and Ryan Prows, Monday, October 4, 7:30 PM followed by a free 35 MM screening (no seriously, they got the 35 print of the movie called V/H/S because they are Beyond Fest) of the original V/H/S at 10:00 PM
MAD GOD, directed by Phil Tippett, October 5, 7:30 PM which is a film has been in the works for about thirty years and then a screening of STARSHIP TROOPERS at 10:00 PM whose VFX come from Tippett Studios with Q&A and introductions from Tippett himself.
VORTEX, directed by Gasper Noé and starring Françoise Lebrun and Dario Argento in Noé’s most humane film yet. Yes, Gasper Noé made a humane film and here’s your chance to watch it with a video introduction by the director on Friday, October 8th at 7:30 PM
POSSESSION, directed by Andrzej Żuławski starring Isabel Adjani and Sam Neill, in a new 4 K restoration on Friday, October 8th at 10:00 p.m.
THE BLACK PHONE, directed by Scott Derrickson and starring Ethan Hawke, Jeremy Davies, James Ransome, and Mason Thames on Saturday, October 9th at 7:30 PM
In addition, there will be repertory screenings of Michael Mann’s THIEF and COLLATERAL with the director in attendance, A CLOCKWORK ORANGE 50th anniversary and 4K restoration screening, FREDDY VS JASON / YOU’RE NEXT / EVIL DEAD Bloody Disgusting triple feature and EVIL DEAD is the world premiere of Fede Alvarez director’s cut with the all directors in attendance, THE EMPTY MAN with director David Prior Q&A, and an Udo Kier double feature of the uncut 4K restoration of BLOOD FOR DRACULA with a TBA second film and Udo Kier in attendance, and NEW YORK NINJA, directed by John Liu and finished by Vinegar Syndrome at the Mubi Theatre.
There are also a number of free screenings of fantastic films, both new films and films celebrating their 10th anniversary of release from IFC Films. This list is every bit as exciting as the featured premieres. You can always count on getting your first chance to watch some of next year’s most amazing films that everyone will be talking about in 2022 at Beyond Fest in October. In particular, I recommend grabbing tickets - the tickets are available starting at 9 a.m. day of show - for THE SADNESS, the completely gore soaked zombie shocker from Taiwan, directed by Rob Jabbaz — which will terrify and touch you in a way that no other film has managed to do yet, Ben Wheatley’s KILL LIST, which is still a mystifying and brutal fairy tale of hit men and folk horror, and THE FEAST, a Welsh stunner that goes places that you do not expect while again treading the hills of folk horror. Then there’s WOODLAND DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED which is a exhaustive and fully comprehensive look at the subgenre of, you guessed it, Folk Horror.
All of these screenings take place at the Shudder Theatre at the Los Feliz 3.
Take a look:
ANTICHRIST, directed by Lars Von Trier, Thursday, September 30th, 11:59 PM
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, directed by André Øvredal, Friday, October 1, 11:59 PM
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED directed by Kier La Janisse and ALISON’S BIRTHDAY, directed by Ian Coughlan and another world premiere restoration co-presented with Cinematic Void, October 2, 1:30 PM
SOUTH OF HEAVEN, directed by Aharon Keshales, Saturday, October 2, 7:00 PM
SPINE OF NIGHT, directed by Phillip Gelatt and Morgan Galen, Saturday October 2, 10:00 PM
KILL LIST, directed by Ben Wheatley, Saturday October 2, 11:59 PM
CODE NAME NAGASAKI, directed by Fredrik Hana, October 3, 5:00 PM
DR. CALIGARI, directed by Stephen Sayadian, Sunday, October 3, 7 PM*
TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD, directed by Amando de Ossorio, Sunday, October 3, 10:00 PM*
THE FEAST, directed by Lee Haven Jones, Monday, October 4, 7:00 PM
SALOUM, directed by Jean Luc Herbulot, Monday, October 4, 10:00 PM
THE SCARY OF SIXTY FIRST, directed by Dasha Nekrasova, Tuesday, October 5, 7:00 PM
THE SEED, directed by Sam Walker, Tuesday, October 5, 10:00 PM
THE BETA TEST, directed by Jim Cummings, Wednesday, October 6, 7:00 PM
THE MEDIUM, directed by Banjong Pisanthanakun, Wednesday, October 6, 10:00 PM
EARWIG, directed by Lucile Hadžihalilović, Thursday, October 7, 7:00 PM
HOMEBOUND, directed by Sebastian Goodwin, Thursday, October 7, 10:00 PM
THE BABADOOK, directed by Jennifer Kent, Thursday, October 7, 11:59 PM
MYSTERY SCREENING, directed by ???, Friday, October 8, 7:00 PM
THE SADNESS, directed by Rob Jabbaz, Friday, October 8, 10:00 PM
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO, directed by Peter Strickland, Friday, October 8, 11:59 PM
A BANQUET, directed by Ruth Paxton, Saturday, October 9, 7:00 PM
AFTER BLUE, directed by Bertrand Mandico, Saturday, October 9, 9:30 PM
MANIAC, directed by Franck Khalfoun, Saturday, October 9, 11:59 PM
TRAVELING LIGHT, directed by Bernard Rose, October 10, 7:00 PM
Yes, there’s more! Do you like short films? Of course you do! Beyond Fest has three short film programs:
Mercy In You: Saturday, October 9 at 1:30 PM
The Mysteries of Love: Saturday, October 9 at 4:00 PM
The Man In the Mirror, Sunday, October at 4:00 PM
These short film blocks are also free and feature such short films as PARE directed by Lauren Sick and KOREATOWN GHOST STORY directed by Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum.
Once again, my brain has been annihilated by the Beyond Fest line-up and I may be typing this from the afterlife, but I will return. You have so many opportunities to see really remarkable films and I really hope you take advantage of the cinema wealth.
*Co-presented with Cinematic Void.