SCHEDULE & BLOCK INFORMATION TBD (LIKELY SPRING 2021)
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CHANGELING (UK)
SYNOPSIS: A new mother becomes increasingly mesmerised and appalled by the strange transformations happening around her baby. She instinctively hides them, unaware they are building towards a final metamorphosis – her own.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Faye Jackson
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Scottish writer/director Faye Jackson specialises in horror and fantasy, drawing much of her inspiration from folklore and fairy tales. Faye’s breakthrough body horror short LUMP featured in New York magazine as one of the top 5 shorts of the 44th New York Film Festival, where it screened on the closing night, twinned with PAN’S LABYRINTH. She shot her debut feature STRIGOI about the “real” Romanian vampires in rural Romania with an entirely Romanian cast. STRIGOI won over 15 festival awards including. It was distributed internationally on VOD and DVD. Faye’s feature projects in development include period fantasy THE FISHERWOMAN AND THE SEA and sci-fi satire SNOWFLAKES. Her most recent short THE OLD WOMAN WHO HID HER FEAR UNDER THE STAIRS played numerous festivals including: Florida, Fantasia, Underwire and the London Short Film Festival.
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CHILL (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A bachelorette party at a remote cabin takes some dark turns as the usually polished bride becomes increasingly erratic.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Joseph Ranghelli is a Brooklyn-based filmmaker whose previous work includes the short film “Fitz.” He’s worked in the New York film industry for 15 years and manages Brooklyn’s public media television studio.
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CIRCLE OF STONE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When rural cops respond to a call for help from one of their own, their search through the woods reveals what happened to a young girl stolen away sixty years before. They find themselves stuck in a supernatural world with their only escape to fight their way out.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Mark Andrews
GENRE: Fantasy, Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Mark directed Pixar’s “Brave” and the short “One Man Band”. Head of Story for “Incredibles”, “Ratatouille”. Co-wrote and co-directed “John Carter of Mars”. Worked on: “Iron Giant”, “Star Wars: Clone Wars”, “Samurai Jack” among others.
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COMMON DECENY (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Beth wants an apology.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Stefan Dezil & Courtney Hope Thérond
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Stefan Dezil is a Haitian American filmmaker based in Los Angeles, California. He has worked with Netflix, VICE, Noisey, and Soundcloud, Oscar winners and companies such as Confluential Films, TV Land, Scott Rudin Productions, and Caliber Media Co. For his film The Treadmill, he was nominated for the prestigious international Lumen Prize in the moving image category. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s Fine Arts program, he studied theater, painting and film. His work has been produced in New York, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles and the Dominican Republic.
Courtney Hope Thérond is an award-winning director who has screen films at several major festivals, including BFI London, Outfest, Nashville, New Orleans and Palm Springs International Shortsfest. Her film The Dress You Have On won multiple awards including two jury prizes and is distributed by Revry TV and Seed & Spark. The screenplay for Courtney’s digital series Between Us Girls was a finalist at the Austin Film Festival and won Cinestory web series category. Courtney is a graduated of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and was a Cinereach Film Fellow. She directs narrative and branded content in Los Angeles.
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CONCEALER (USA)
SYNOPSIS: When Ivy agrees to let her old friend Bless treat her to a spa day, she soon learns that Bless has joined a cosmetics pyramid scheme.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Language
DIRECTOR: Kristine Gerolaga
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Kristine Gerolaga is a Filipina American actor and filmmaker. Her work has been featured on Amazon Fire TV, Prime, ATTN:, Vulture, The Hollywood Reporter, Inc., The Future of Film is Female, Directed by Women, and TIFFxInstagram. To see more of her projects, head to kristinegerolaga.com.
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CRAWLER (SWEDEN)
SYNOPSIS: A young woman finds her mother in a state worse than death and in an autopsy room, two lab technicians makes a discovery beyond their darkest fears.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Ivan Radovic
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Ivan Radovic is a filmmaker based in Stockholm, Sweden. He works as a director/producer at Ritualen a production company, where he is also one of the owners. Last couple of years he has been producing and directing various commercials, game trailers and in-game cinematics.
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CULPA (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A printshop worker finds out that, if you let it, Guilt can kill you.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Miguel Ferrer
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’SBIO: Fresh off his feature directorial debut FFC for LionsGate, MIGUEL FERRER has directed Super Bowl and national campaigns in both the North American and Hispanic markets, for clients such as NBC UNIVERSAL, PEPSICO, FORD, and CADILLAC. A former National Geographic cameraman and Warner Bros. TV Post Supervisor, Miguel has also written, produced, and directed over 50 music videos for Sony Music, Universal Music, Warners Music Group, and independent artists. His videos have been nominated for VIDEO OF THE YEAR and have reached the top of the Billboard charts and have garnered millions of hits on YouTube. Miguel’s unique experience has helped him achieve a signature cinematic aesthetic considered to be a “game changer” in the Hispanic music industry. This has made him one the most sought after directors in the Latin-American market.
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CURSES LLC (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A regular fellow stumbles into a shop that sells curses and must decide if he wants to buy one.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Language
DIRECTOR: Thomas R. Wood
GENRE: Fantasy, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Thomas R. Wood is a working director, working father, and aspiring writer. He splits his time in Los Angeles between fathering, writing, and wishing he was surfing. He bakes his own sourdough and sometimes writes to very loud hip hop.
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DAR-DAR (SPAIN)
SYNOPSIS: Dar Dar is a demon from a basque myth that eats fingers and he says: “Dar, dar, dar, bring your finger for dinner. If you decline, I will return at night time, and your soul will be mine”
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Paul Urkijo Alijo
GENRE: Horror, Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: USA Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: N/A
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DARLING, DARLING, WENDY (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Fifteen years after her trip to Neverland, Wendy Darling is determined to go back for good. But Peter Pan has other ideas.
RATINGS GUIDE: Adult Content
DIRECTOR: Elise Robertson
GENRE: Fantasy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born in Pittsburgh, PA, Elise Robertson graduated from Northwestern University’s theatre department. She is known for her dramatic adaptations of literary works for PBS, including Cine-Golden Eagle winner Ralph Ellison’s King of the Bingo Game and dramatic scenes from Invisible Man for the American Masters documentary on Ellison.
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DAY BREAK (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: The razor’s edge between awake and asleep is where dark fantasy becomes reality.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Louisa Phung
GENRE: Horro
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Louisa Phung is a filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. She is thrilled be back at FilmQuest with her micro short “Day Break” after having her Utah premiere of “Stealth&Silence: DC Comic Fan Film” in 2017. Louisa is a huge fan of genre films and is incredibly thankful to be part of FilmQuest 2020. May Cthulhu rise again!
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DEATH WALKS ON NITRATE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Rose, an icy photographer, encounters a mysterious old woman who plunges her headfirst into a psychedelic nightmare.
RATINGS GUIDE: Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Kevin Fermini
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’SBIO: Hello, I’m Kevin! I’m a director, DP & editor based in Atlanta. I believe in approaching film with an old school mentality and modern know how, and having a whole lot of fun along the way.
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DEMON COOLER (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A father who struggles to accept differences has difficulty connecting with his son. A son who struggles to stand up for himself has difficulty connecting with his father. Before they can start moving forward together, the demons must be dealt with.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence
DIRECTOR: Christopher Ryan Laughter
GENRE: Fantasy, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Christopher Ryan Laughter grew up during the late 80’s and early 90’s as “a prisoner of suburban sprawl” in Houston, TX. He discovered his infatuation with cinema at the neighborhood dollar theater where he spent his weekends watching every movie he could sneak into with a single movie ticket. After two and a half decades of suburban captivity, he weaseled out of the south’s grasps and sprinted west intent on pursuing a career in film, or music, whichever worked out first. Finding his footing in Los Angeles as an editor for commercials and marketing content, Laughter started his own commercial production company in 2012 and in 2017 launched a short film collective called Assorted Kinds, where he and his filmmaking friends could practice bringing their short film ideas to life, monthly.
Both of his films in FilmQuest this year are products of the Assorted Kinds collective. A self described “compulsive what if-er”, Laughter’s stories are often an exploration of “This American Life” and attempt unpack the absurdity of it all through equally absurd metaphors. When it comes to genre he isn’t afraid to work from the hip, often dancing between many, and with his third short film “Demon Cooler” he’s starting to feel like maybe he finally understands what the hell he is trying to say through his filmmaking.
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DENT (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Dent is a man haunted by demons and his therapist Ralph is there to help. But, Dent’s demons are real and they are right there in the room with them. It becomes very clear that Ralph is in over his head and Dent is not going to let the Patriarchy to go down without a fight. It might not end well.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Strong Language, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Fred Dekker
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: World Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Fred Dekker wrote and directed his first feature, Night of the Creeps (1986), and followed it with The Monster Squad (1987; co-written with Shane Black), an affectionate tribute to the Universal monster movies he loved as a kid. Along with several screenplays, Fred wrote or directed for “Tales From The Crypt” (1989-1996), and also directed RoboCop 3 (1993), co-written with Frank Miller. As Consulting Producer, he wrote three episodes of the television series “Star Trek: Enterprise”. 2018 brought the reboot/sequel The Predator, which Dekker co-wrote with Shane Black, who also directed.
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DIABLA (MEXICO / USA)
SYNOPSIS: After surviving assault, an enigmatic 17-year-old Mexican girl finds retribution through her untapped female power and local witch culture.
RATINGS GUIDE: Mild Violence, Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Ashley George
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
PRODUCER’S BIO: Ashley is a director and producer based in New York. She began making films in 2009 when she joined San Francisco film collective Scary Cow and has worked in casting, directing and producing films, commercials and music videos in SF, LA and NYC. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Cinema and The New School (NYC) with a Master of Arts in Media Studies. Recent films directed by Ashley include female revenge horror short DIABLA, which premiered at Morbido Film Fest November 2019, in addition to 2017’s queer coming-of-age 90s darling SOMETIMES FOREVER. She is currently writing her first feature screenplay about a young woman’s attempt to reconnect with a distant father living with Alzheimer’s. As producer, she’s recently wrapped production on several short films and web series including ALL HAIL BETH premiering this Fall on BRIC TV, short film MOUTHPIECE starring Jason Sudeikis, Alle Hsu’s Asian-American drama OUR WAY HOME, Emily Cheeger’s magical surrealism short TZADEIKIS set in Hasidic Brooklyn, and Emmy-nominated director Molly Gandour’s short film GAZEBO. She’s currently producing many projects with friends in New York. Her work has screened at festivals such as Morbido Film Fest in Mexico City, Outfest in LA, HBO’s NewFest, Soho Film Festival, SeriesFest & Nashville Film Festival among others.
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DINNER FOR ONE (USA)
SYNOPSIS: A dutiful housewife prepares dinner for her ungrateful husband… but tonight, the menu may not agree with him!
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences / Family Friendly
DIRECTOR: Brad Jacques
GENRE: Horror, Comedy
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Brad Jacques was born and raised in Topsfield, Massachusetts. Upon seeing “STAR WARS”, Brad realized he wanted to pursue filmmaking. After attending New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Brad began working as a Production Assistant in the Boston area. Eventually, Brad moved to Los Angeles and became an Editor, working on dozens of independent films and television shows. Over the years, Brad has directed several feature-length & short films. He currently lives in North Hollywood, CA.
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DISCO GRAVEYARD (USA)
SYNOPSIS: Don’t be dead. The dead are dumb. Be weird.
RATINGS GUIDE: All Audiences / Family Friendly
DIRECTOR: Izzy Lee
GENRE: Fantastic, Other
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Named as one of A.V. Club’s 10 female filmmakers Blumhouse should hire, Izzy Lee is a two-time Rondo Award-nominated director. She’s also produced and written several award-winning shorts
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DON’T SNEEZE (CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: Brian, a guy enjoying some “alone time”, sneezes at an inopportune moment and is shocked by the consequences.
RATINGS GUIDE: Language, Adult Content, Sensuality
DIRECTOR: Ryan LaPlante
GENRE: Horror, Comedy, The Beyond
PREMIERE STATUS: Regional Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’SBIO: Ryan LaPlante is a multi-award winning writer and director. He’s helmed the feature film “Holy Hell” and the short films “Mom Jail” and “The Devil’s Due”, as well as the upcoming “You Did This To Me!”.
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DUERMETE NINO (MEXICO / CANADA)
SYNOPSIS: A religious mother of newborn twins is constantly awakened by the disturbing sound of her crying babies. Using a radio monitor to check on them at night, she encounters a series of unsettling events that might jeopardize even her own beliefs.
RATINGS GUIDE: Intense Imagery
DIRECTOR: Freddy Chavez Olmos
GENRE: Horror
PREMIERE STATUS: Utah Premiere
AWARDS NOMINATIONS: TBD
DIRECTOR’S BIO: Born in Puebla, Mexico. Graduated in Special Effects Makeup in Los Angeles and mentored by the legendary Dick Smith (The Exorcist, The Godfather, Taxi Driver). Freddy moved to Canada to enroll in Film Production and Visual Effects in Vancouver, BC. He has participated in productions directed by Guillermo del Toro, Neill Blomkamp, Robert Rodriguez, Tim Burton and Christopher Nolan. His short films as director have been selected in multiple international film festivals. His first short film entitled “Shhh”, won several international awards and debuted online through ALTER with more than 400,000 views. Guillermo del Toro himself praised the short film for having strong visuals. More recently, Freddy completed his new horror project “Duérmete Niño”, produced by Victoria Burkhart (Chappie, Elysium) in collaboration with Creative BC and Bell Media in Canada.
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