25/01/2023 - Spine-tinglers and dystopias are on the agenda of the 30th Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival, which will also pay tribute to Jaume Balagueró

Spanish filmmaker Jaume Balagueró will be the main attraction of the 30th Gérardmer International Fantastic Film Festival, which is unspooling 25-29 January. A tribute is set to be paid to the director on Saturday 28th via the screening of Venus [+see also:
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film profile], his latest film to date, with his compatriot Juan Antonio Bayona (awarded the Grand Prize in Gérardmer back in 2008 thanks to The Orphanage [+see also:
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film profile]) also travelling to the festival for the occasion.

Nine feature film are battling it out in competition, all of which are European: Memory of the Water [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Finland’s Saara Saarela, German production Piaffe [+see also:
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interview: Ann Oren
film profile] by Ann Oren (discovered in competition in Locarno), Zeria [+see also:
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film profile] by Belgium’s Harry Cleven, Piety [+see also:
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film profile] by Spain’s Eduardo Casanova (unveiled in Karlovy Vary), The Nocebo Effect [+see also:
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film profile] by Lorcan Finnegan (notably well-received in Sitges), and two French titles in the form of The Mountain [+see also:
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interview: Thomas Salvador
film profile] by Thomas Salvador (rewarded in the Directors’ Fortnight and due for release in France on 1 February) and The Lockdown Tower [+see also:
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film profile] by Guillaume Nicloux (hitting cinemas on 8 February). Rounding off the line-up are two American films by Chloe Okuno (Watcher) and Brad Anderson (Blood) respectively.

12 titles are set to screen out of competition, three of which are Spanish (Irati [+see also:
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film profile] by Paul Urkijo Alijo, The Communion Girl [+see also:
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film profile] by Victor Garcia and The Elderly [+see also:
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interview: Raúl Cerezo, Fernando Gonzá…
film profile] by the duo formed of Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González) and three French (Summer Scars [+see also:
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interview: Simon Rieth
film profile] by Simon Rieth, En plein feu [+see also:
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film profile] by Quentin Reynaud and Tropic [+see also:
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film profile] by Edouard Salier). Likewise scheduled for screenings, among other works, are King on Screen by Belgium’s Daphné Baiwir, and Toby Genkel and Florian Westermann’s British-German animated movie The Amazing Maurice [+see also:
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film profile].

Worth a final mention is the masterclass due to be delivered by South Korean filmmaker Kim Jee-woon, alongside a retrospective revolving around twins and a conference entitled Genre Save the Screen!, which will analyse the current place occupied by and the future prospects of genre films in French cinemas, with Manuel Chiche (The Jokers Films) among the event’s invited speakers.

(Translated from French)