05/10/2022 - The festival kicks off its 55th edition on 6th October, with a host of national and international genre films, including the latest from Jaume Balagueró and Carlos Vermut

For its 55th edition, the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia presents a complete and varied lineup of 283 films, which can be enjoyed from 6th to 16th October. Among these almost three hundred titles, the latest Spanish productions will come to Sitges, both by established directors like Jaume Balagueró (with Venus [+see also:
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interview: Carlos Vermut
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In the festival’s Official Section, the latest film by Spanish director Sadrac González will compete, Amazing Elisa [+see also:
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film profile] by Eduardo Casanova, winner of an award at Karlovy Vary, The Elderly [+see also:
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film profile] by Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez, presented at the Canadian festival Fantasia, and Irati [+see also:
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film profile] by Paul Urkijo. The Official Fantàstic In-Competition Section will also feature important titles in the genre on a global level, including the latest films by French directors Quentin Dupieux (Smoking Causes Coughing [+see also:
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interview: Michel Hazanavicius
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The festival will once again boast significant female directors, making their importance known in current genre cinema. Also in the Official Section are the latest film by French director Léa Mysius, The Five Devils [+see also:
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interview: Tereza Nvotová
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interview: Hanna Bergholm
film profile], by Hanna Bergholm; and the interesting Emily [+see also:
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This year's Sitges Film Festival will also be showing more eagerly awaited world horror titles like Pearl, the slasher sequel to the impressive X, directed by Ti West, and, out of competition, Halloween Ends, the final instalment of the celebrated new Halloween trilogy, directed by David Gordon Green. Festival regulars like director Paco Plaza and actor Javier Botet will also attend the event, with the screening of the documentary Rec Terror sin pausa (as part of Sitges Documenta Special Sessions), directed by Diego López-Fernández, which will also be attended by Jaume Balagueró and actress Manuela Velasco.

This year as part of the Sitges Clàssics-Focus Macros Ocultas section, the festival will also be reviving genre masterpieces like Peter Weir's extraordinary Picnic at Hanging Rock and Masaki Kobayashi's legendary The Afterlife (Kaidan).

(Translated from Spanish by Vicky York)