By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The fest devoted to first-person, mock-doc and found-footage genre cinema has some creepy-looking features in store.
The seventh edition of the Unnamed Footage Festival will be held March 28-31 at the ATA, Balboa Theatre and 4 Star in San Francisco, CA. It focuses on in-camera films with an emphasis on the scary side, and the first lineup of titles announced for the 2024 event are:
#BLUE_WHALE (pictured; 2022, dir. Anna Zaytseva): Rebellious schoolgirl Dana grieves for her younger sister, a once-happy kid who suddenly stepped in front of a train. Desperate to learn what happened, she explores her sister’s on-line history, discovering a sinister social-media game known as #BLUE_WHALE. This Screenlife story from Russian filmmaker Anna Zaytseva delves into global truths about loneliness and insecurity, how young people experience these feelings and seek community on-line–and what happens when bad actors enter these communities to prey on them. Fans of death games and MTV teen dramas will love this psychological thriller, paced like a rapid doomscroll into insanity. #BLUE_WHALE is a wild ride, often funny, and sometimes a little bit sweet.
DO NOT WATCH (2023, dir. Justin Janowitz): A cautionary tale of madness told through the lens of an unseen Editor who has constructed a film depicting the events surrounding the disappearance of a postproduction crew and the growing darkness that drove them insane. A decades-spanning mystery is interwoven across three timelines: a present-day documentary; several missing person cases; and scientific research footage from old VHS tapes. At UFF, we always say found footage horror is truly made in the editing room, and DO NOT WATCH highlights and twists that idea into a supernatural psyop of darkness–this footage worms into your psyche. Mixing media, perspectives and timelines into a mind-melting smorgasbord of techniques unique to the found-footage horror genre, DO NOT WATCH is as entertaining as it is impressive.
FLESH GAMES (2023, dir. David Dawson): This film explores a rarely visited realm of found footage that many dismiss: Reality Stunt Comedy. FLESH GAMES follows a group of no-name “stuntmen” in their ill-begotten attempt to create a stunt comedy á la 2002’s JACKASS: THE MOVIE. While the JACKASS crew birthed massive success, FLESH GAMES’ titular stuntmen fail spectacularly. Watching FLESH GAMES is like finding an unlabeled VHS tape at a thrift store, hitting play and feeling a building sense of dread as this group of scarred and tattooed rural backyard skateboarders keep upping the ante and their stunts become increasingly dangerous and bizarre.
FROGMAN (2023, dir. Anthony Cousins): On a family vacation, a young boy named Dallas captures footage of a cryptid known as the Loveland Frogman with his video camera. Mocked and accused of faking the sighting, he is haunted by the footage he captured. Years later, Dallas (Nathan Tymoshuk) has grown up to be a filmmaker, and he is determined to film the Frogman once again. FROGMAN isn’t your dad’s faux doc. FROGMAN is YouTube-era Patterson/Gimlin footage shot on TOAD ROAD. FROGMAN vibrates like THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT if Heather and the boys were after THE X FILES’ Flukeman. FROGMAN’s merch reads FROGMAN FUCKS. And you know what? He does. Catch FROGMAN on the big screen at UFF followed by a Q&A.
HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT 3: FIREWATCH (2024, dir. Dutch Marich): UFF is proud to present the first theatrical screening of Dutch Marich’s HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT 3: FIREWATCH. The much-anticipated third entry in the HORROR IN THE HIGH DESERT series has been cloaked in mystery thus far. UFF has discovered that FIREWATCH will explore [REDACTED] in the desert of [REDACTED] and this time [REDACTED] . [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. [REDACTED] [REDACTED]. Always remember that just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they can’t see you.
LOOKY-LOO (2024, dir. Jason Zink): An aspiring filmmaker obsessively captures footage everywhere he goes, but his hobby takes a dark turn. As he hones his craft and his crimes begin to escalate, the viewer is trapped watching everything he sees and does through his camera lens. Exploring themes of voyeurism, obsession, and the power of images, LOOKY-LOO is reminiscent of ANGST (1983) and PEEPING TOM (1960) with a chilling atmosphere and gritty, disturbing imagery. Juxtaposing a horror audience’s enthusiasm for the black-glove-killer imagery of giallo film with the cold reality of recorded home invasions, LOOKY-LOO distorts that black glove into a grimy rubber kitchen glove. It is a true meditation on the paralysis and helplessness incited by watching awful acts.
MIND BODY SPIRIT (2023, dir. Alex Henes, Matthew Merenda): Following the death of her mysterious estranged grandmother, aspiring yoga influencer Anya begins to research her family history for the first time. But delving into her past is bringing something to life in the present… Now, Anya’s yoga videos are starting to take on a new tone and her already fractured relationships are straining, sending Anya into a terrifying downward (dog) spiral that may have permanent consequences. MIND BODY SPIRIT employs frightening camera movement and incredibly strong performances that, when paired with a sharp, smart script, elevate the film into a piece that can stand alongside the most authentic, polished and downright scary films the format has to offer.
In addition, there will be a pre-fest 10th-anniversary screening of the Dowdle Brothers’ AS ABOVE, SO BELOW at the Alamo Drafthouse’s New Mission location, and a badgeholder-only pre-festival event and mixer at the Artists’ Television Access in the Mission district. For more info and updates, keep your eyes on the Unnamed Footage Festival website.
