By WILLIAM J. WRIGHT
The internationally renowned Festival de Cannes opens for its 76th year on May 16, and, as reported recently by RUE MORGUE, genre film is set to have a bigger presence than ever thanks to the newly minted Fantastic Pavilion. Sure to be an integral part of the Marché du Film, one of the world’s largest and best-known film markets, the Fantastic Pavilion presents an opportunity for genre filmmakers from around the world to come together to forge connections in the film industry, network and secure distribution. With such companies as Manticore, MPI, Raven Banner and Screenbound in attendance this year, opportunities abound for filmmakers and industry professionals alike.
“The reason for the Pavilion is that we needed space to do better business and help newcomers integrate more easily, and faster, into this constantly growing industry,” Fantastic Pavilion executive director Pablo Guisa Koestinger tells Variety’s Marta Balaga. “Genre needs to take the place it deserves and it’s Fantastic Pavilion’s mission to help to achieve this.”
A highlight of the inaugural Fantastic Pavilion will be the highly anticipated gala screenings featuring a diverse variety of genre cinema from around the world. Here are the films set to screen during the market’s seven days:
Boogeyman: The Origin of the Myth (El Hombre del Saco)
Directed by Ángel Gómez Hernández, this horror film from Spain is described as “a new take” on the universally frightening childhood myth of the “boogeyman.”
The Bystanders
Sean Walsh and Scott Haran star as invisible immortal beings who watch over and guide the lives of humans. Their actions, however, can have unexpected consequences for their unwitting subjects – directed by Gabriel Foster Prior with a script from Prior and Jack Hughes.
Departing Seniors
Filmmaker Clare Cooney pays homage to classic teen slasher films in this razor-sharp black comedy.
Failure!
A joint U.S./Mexico production, the thriller Failure! stars genre fave Ted Raimi. Directed by Alex Kahuam, the film was shot in a single take from an 87-page script.
Sign Here (Firma aqui)
From Mexican filmmaker Enrique Vázquez, this bittersweet sci-fi film stars Regina Blandón and Leonardo Ortízgris as a couple fighting the “tyranny of the algorithm.”
Trigger (Topakk)
Directed by Richard V. Somes, Trigger is an actioner from the Philippines. A soldier discharged because of severe PTSD takes a job as a security guard. He soon finds he has another war on his hands when a young woman seeks his protection from a corrupt police death squad.
While the Masters Sleep
A pair of married domestic servants care for their master, Victor, an ancient vampire, in this Spanish production directed by Santiago Alvarado Ilarri.
The Fantastic Pavilion gala screenings run from May 16 to 21.
