04/10/2023 - Spanish names of the likes of Paco Plaza, Aritz Moreno, Carlota Pereda and F Javier Gutiérrez will premiere their latest fantastical flicks alongside other filmmakers from the continent

The 56th edition of the Sitges Film Festival kicks off on Thursday 5 October and will continue unspooling until Sunday the 15th, offering a plethora of movies in the fantastical and horror genres. Kicking things off, Valencian helmer Paco Plaza will fire the starting pistol with Sister Death, which could be considered the prequel to his smash hit Verónica [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Paco Plaza
film profile], while the much-loved Nicolas Cage will bring things to a close with the US production Dream Scenario, with a screenplay and direction duties entrusted to Norway’s Kristoffer Borgli (Sick of Myself [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Kristine Kujath Thorp
interview: Kristoffer Borgli
film profile]).

Other Spaniards set to pass through the Catalonian city are Bilbao’s Pablo Berger, who will present the Spanish-French co-production Robot Dreams [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], an animation that screened at Cannes and Annecy, where it picked up the Award for Best Film in the Contrechamp section; Carlota Pereda (the woman behind Piggy [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Carlota Pereda
film profile]), who has directed The Chapel [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile], a supernatural drama starring Belén Rueda; F Javier Gutiérrez (Before the Fall), who will be present to introduce the dusty, twisted plot of The Wait [+see also:
film review
interview: F Javier Gutiérrez
film profile]; Juan Antonio Bayona, who continues to promote Society of the Snow [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: JA Bayona
film profile], the Spanish candidate for the upcoming Oscars; Daniel Benmayor (Bruc: El desafío [+see also:
trailer
film profile]), who will present Awareness, a science-fiction flick co-produced by the USA; and Aritz Moreno (Advantages of Travelling by Train [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile]), who is returning to the festival for the world premiere of Moscas [+see also:
film review
interview: Aritz Moreno
film profile] (Spain/Argentina), an intense thriller starring Ernesto Alterio.

Sitges will also serve as the perfect opportunity to take stock of the rude health of French fantastical film, with titles such as Acide [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Just Philippot, in which Mother Nature exacts her revenge; The Animal Kingdom [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Thomas Cailley
film profile] by Thomas Cailley, starring Romain Duris and Adèle Exarchopoulos, which unfolds in an equally disconcerting setting; She Is Conann [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Bertrand Mandico
film profile] by Bertrand Mandico, a very loose adaptation of the well-known character; Vermin [+see also:
film review
interview: Sébastien Vaniček
film profile], in which Sébastien Vaniček will most likely trigger collective arachnophobia; and Vincent Must Die [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Stéphan Castang
film profile], an agonising drama directed with aplomb by Stéphan Castang.

France is also presenting other films in the official section (both in and out of competition): Bitten [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Romain de Saint-Blanquat
film profile] by Romain de Saint-Blanquat, a supernatural drama about a girl who is convinced that today is the last day of her life; Salem [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] by Jean-Bernard Marlin, a thriller set in the slums of Marseille, which uses fantasy as a vehicle for social criticism; and Wake Up by Quebecois trio RKSS (François Simard, Annouk Whissel and Yoann-Karl Whissel), a teen horror interspersed with twisted humour.

The extensive official section is also made up of the Malaysian movie Tiger Stripes [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Amanda Nell Eu
film profile] by Amanda Nell Eu, winner of the Critics’ Week Grand Prize at the most recent Cannes Film Festival; Omen [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Baloji
film profile], another award winner from this year’s Cannes (having snagged the New Voice Prize in Un Certain Regard), in which Belgian artist Baloji travels back to his roots in the Congo; Club Zero [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Jessica Hausner
film profile], the new work by Austria’s Jessica Hausner, one of the most well-established talents in European cinema; The Universal Theory [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Timm Kröger
film profile] by Germany’s Timm Kröger, a slick black-and-white thriller with Hitchcockian flourishes; There's Something in the Barn, in which Norway’s Magnus Martens takes a US family to a remote hut in the mountains; White Plastic Sky [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Tibor Bánóczki, Sarolta Szabó
film profile], the animated flick by Hungary’s Tibor Bánóczki and Sarolta Szabó, set in a post-apocalyptic Budapest; and Sorcery [+see also:
trailer
film profile] by Chile’s Christopher Murray, a story of witchcraft and revenge that whisks us away to the island of Chiloé. Lastly, serving as the centrepiece is Poor Things [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Suzy Bemba
Q&A: Yorgos Lanthimos
film profile], the film of the year, courtesy of Greece’s Yorgos Lanthimos, which won the top prize at the most recent Venice Film Festival. Sitges will host the movie’s Spanish premiere.

(Translated from Spanish)