The VI Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Ciudad de La Laguna, Isla Calavera, to be held between November 18 and 26 at Multicines Tenerife, the Teatro Leal, the ex-convent of Santo Domingo, the University of La Laguna, among other venues, is an event for fans of genre cinema in the Canary Islands and has positioned La Laguna in the circuit of major fantastic film festivals. Isla Calavera is sponsored this year by the City Council of La Laguna through the Department of Culture, the Cabildo of Tenerife, the Canary Islands Institute of Cultural Development, Canary Islands Film and Tenerife Film Commission.
The opening press conference, which took place in the chamber room of the City Hall of La Laguna, was attended by American filmmaker John Landis, costume designer Deborah Nadoolman, conceptual artist Jonay Bacallado, as well as the Councilor of Culture of the City of La Laguna, Yaiza López, and the co-directors of the Festival, Daniel Fumero and Ramón González Trujillo.
This year's program of screenings includes fifteen feature films in the Official Competition Section, among which are the most original and daring proposals from Spain ('La piedad', 'Irati', 'Venus', 'Viejos', 'La paradoja de Antares' and 'Stoyan', 'La paradoja de Antares' and 'Stoyan') and international (the Belgian productions 'Megalomaniac' and 'Vesper', the British 'The Lair', the Korean 'Project Wolf Hunting' and 'Hunt', the French 'Smoking causes caughing', the Mexican 'Huesera' and 'Mal de ojo', and the United States-Mexico-Argentina co-production 'Satanic Hispanics').
The Official Short Film Competition, another of the highlights of the Festival Isla Calavera, includes in this sixth edition a total of 19 works, which stand out for their quality and variety of styles, and that can be seen grouped in two two-hour sessions. The first session consists of: '(N)os miran' (Kiko Prada), 'La nueva' (Iván Villamel), '665' (Juan de Dios Garduño), 'Angler' (Ángel Hernández Suárez), 'Sólo hay una' (Mik. J. López), 'Zombie Meteor' (Alfonso Fulgencio and José Luis Farias), 'Operación Frankenstein' (José María Fernández de Vega), 'La Masía' (Víctor Catalá) and 'Fría' (David Sainz).
The second session contains: 'El semblante' (Raúl Cerezo and Carlos Moriana), 'Influencer' (Nerea Torrijos), 'The Sprayer' (Farnoosh Abedi), 'Face not recognized. Try again' (The Also Sisters), 'Superjodidos' (Gastòn Haag), 'La inquilina' (Lucas Paulino and Ángel Torres), 'El umbral' (Javier Carneros Lorenzo), 'Dativa' (Daniel Calavera), 'Mermaid Killer' (Israel González and Joel Codina) and 'Paralelos' (Sam Ortí).
Isla Calavera 2022 Honor Awards
The Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival Ciudad de La Laguna, Isla Calavera, will receive in its sixth edition the visit of great names of fantastic cinema, who will be recognized with the highest award, the Honorary Isla Calavera Award in recognition of a whole career: John Landis, Deboran Nadoolman, Sarah Douglas and Lamberto Bava.
John Landis, who will receive the Honorary Skull Island Award at the Opening Gala in recognition of his career as a master of fantastic cinema, with titles such as 'An American Werewolf in London' (1981), 'The Prince of Zamunda' (1988) and Michael Jackson's legendary music video 'Thriller' (1983). Oscar-nominated costume designer Deborah Nadoolman, to whom we owe the memorable costumes of Indiana Jones, will also be recognized with an honorary award at the opening ceremony. The honorees will be featured this Saturday at a special event with live music and a screening of 'The Blues Brothers', directed by Landis with Deborah Nadoolman's collaboration on the film's costume design.
Known for her interpretation of the villain Ursa in the films 'Superman' (1978) and its sequel, and other legendary roles as the evil queen Taramis in 'Conan, the Destroyer' (1984) or Pamela in the TV series 'V: The Final Battle' (1984), Sarah Douglas was in the Canary Islands filming in the mid-seventies on the island of La Palma, the adventure film with dinosaurs 'Journey to the Lost World'. The artist will receive the Honorary Skull Island Award for these and other unforgettable characters she has brought to life on the screen and will participate in a meeting with the public after the screening of 'Superman II' (1980).
On the other hand, Isla Calavera will pay tribute to screenwriter, director and producer Lamberto Bava, author of essential titles of fantastic, horror and gore cinema, including 'Demons' (1985), the story of a young student who attends the premiere of a film at the Metropol cinema, where terror will transcend fiction. This title, key in his filmography, will be screened in the Classics section of Isla Calavera. Son of the legendary director Mario Bava and grandson of Eugenio Bava, director of photography and sculptor, Lamberto Bava began his career as an assistant director and screenwriter to later work under the orders of Dario Argento in films such as 'Tenebre' and 'Inferno'.
S.S. Venture Award to Canary Islands talent for Jonay Bacallado
The S.S. Venture Award, an award that seeks to recognize the trajectory of those Canary Islanders who have taken their talent from the Archipelago to the whole world within the framework of genre cinema, this year will go to Jonay Bacallado, an illustrator born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife who began his career in the industry as a conceptual artist with the film 'Apocalypto' (2006), by Mel Gibson. After this work, he has participated in James Cameron's 'Avatar', 'John Carter', 'Warcraft: The Origin', 'The Great Wall' or 'Thor: Ragnarok'. His most recent work includes the series 'Wandavision', winner of the Emmy Award for best costume fantasy and science fiction; 'Thor: Love and Thunder'; the Marvel Halloween special feature 'Curse of the Werewolf' and the films currently in production 'Blue Beetle' and 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes'.
Isla Calavera Award for the diffusion of the Fantastic for Jesús Palacios
On the other hand, the writer and film critic Jesús Palacios from Madrid will receive the Isla Calavera 2022 Award for the dissemination of the fantastic. Author of more than twenty books on cinema, literature, esotericism and popular culture, he has become a benchmark in the genre.
Documentary Section
As part of the out-of-competition program of the Isla Calavera Festival, the following documentaries will be shown at Multicines Tenerife: 'Lynch / Oz', by Alexandre O Philippe, '[REC] Terror sin pausa', directed by Diego López-Fernández, and 'El valle de Concavenator', by Víctor Matellano, the latter two with the presence of their directors.
A festival that transcends the big screen thanks to its program of screenings and parallel activities, which include meetings with the public, talks and round tables, exhibitions and festive events at its various venues, bringing together every year in Tenerife a large number of fans of the fantastic.
The sixth edition of Isla Calavera, Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Ciudad de La Laguna is sponsored by the City Council of La Laguna through the Department of Culture, the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Canary Islands Institute of Cultural Development, Canary Islands Film and Tenerife Film Commission; and the collaboration of the University of La Laguna, "la Caixa" Foundation, Fly Luxury, Reel One Entertainment, Juan Antonio Ribas Subtítulos y Ediciones Digitales, Cinedfest, Playmedusa, Cáncamo & Company, Mercado Nuestra Señora de África, Iro Pictures, McDonald's, Audi Canarias, canal Dark, Coca-Cola, Teatro Leal, José Acosta Style, Planta 0: Digital Consulting and Chrysallis Canarias. Fundación Diario de Avisos and Televisión Canaria participate as media partners.
