The Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Isla Calavera presents the complete program of screenings for its third edition, which will take place from November 23 to 30 at Multicines Tenerife (C. C. Alcampo, La Laguna), sponsored by the Cabildo de Tenerife, the Government of the Canary Islands, the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife and the City Council of San Cristóbal de La Laguna, among other public and private entities.
The Official Competition Section of Feature Films will consist of thirteen productions, four of Spanish nationality. In addition, seven films will be screened out of competition, 15 short films in competition, 6 short films out of competition and two documentaries.
Official Competition Feature Films Section
Saturday, November 23rd will be the opening film presentation of the adaptation of H. P. Lovecraft's story 'Color out of Space', directed by Richard Stanley and starring Nicolas Cage, with the presence of producer Daniel Noah, founder along with Elijah Wood and Josh C. Waller of the company specializing in horror SpectreVision. After its screening at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival offers this colorful and hallucinogenic proposal that narrates the events that occur when a meteorite falls to Earth, releasing an indescribable extraterrestrial organism.
Also part of the program is 'Vivarium', an international science fiction co-production written and directed by Irishman Lorcan Finnegan that had its world premiere at the last Cannes Film Festival. Starring Imogen Poots (Best Female Performance Award at the Sitges Film Festival for her role in 'Vivarium') and Jesse Eisenberg, who play a young newlywed couple searching for the perfect home, becoming trapped in a labyrinthine and mysterious neighborhood of identical houses.
The Italian horror film 'In the Trap', with Tenerife actress Paola Bontempi in the main cast, arrives at Isla Calavera directly after its international premiere at the Molins de Rei Festival. From director Alessio Liguori, it tells the story of Philip, a compulsive reader, lonely and tortured, who has been held prisoner in his own apartment for years by an evil entity.
The Isla Calavera Festival includes in its selection of feature films in competition an adventure title for all audiences based on a novel by Michael Ende, 'Jim Button and Luke the engine driver', on the 90th anniversary of the birth of the famous German writer of children's and fantasy literature. In the film, an orphan boy who grew up on the small island of Lummerland, population 4, and a sullen but endearing train driver set out to find a new place to live. But first, they decide to save a kidnapped princess in Dragon City, a fantasy world where anything can happen. In addition, the Skull Island Festival recovers for the big screen, on the occasion of Michael Ende's anniversary, the film 'The Neverending Story', directed by Wolfgang Petersen in 1984.
The Isla Calavera Festival also presents, right after its world premiere at Nocturna Madrid, the anthology film 'A Night of Horror: Nightmare Radio', an innovative proposal by Argentine filmmakers Nicolás and Luciano Onetti, which was presented as a project in the "Upcoming Fantastic Films" section of the Cannes Festival. A compilation of nine horror stories made by ten directors of different nationalities, among them Spaniards Sergio Morcillo and Pablo Sánchez Pastor, whose common thread is a radio program dedicated to horror to which listeners call in telling their own stories.
The living dead will also be part of the program through the gore comedy 'Little Monsters', starring Oscar winner Lupita Nyong'o. Australian screenwriter and director Abe Forsythe, after the political satire 'Down Under', signs this proposal about a zombie invasion in which the actress of Kenyan roots gets into the skin of a child educator who will do the impossible to save her students from the attack of the horde.
The feature directorial debut of musician and filmmaker A.T. White, a member of the band Ghostlight and host of podcast channel We Are Geeks, 'Starfish' will offer an intimate portrait of a young woman, trapped in the town of a recently deceased friend, when a mysterious sign announces the end of the world and she is apparently the sole survivor. Actress Virginia Gardner ('Halloween Night', 2018) takes the reins of the film starring in almost the entire footage.
Four first works of national production
The selection of feature films in competition this year also includes four first works of Spanish production, demonstrating the pulse of genre creation in our country and confirming the Isla Calavera Festival's commitment to new authors. They are 'Amigo', by Óscar Martín, 'Cuerdas' by José Luis Montesinos, 'Urubú' by Alejandro Ibáñez Nauta and 'Fuel' by Israel González.
'Amigo', Óscar Martín's feature debut starring David Pareja and Javier Botet, has been on an unstoppable run since it saw the light of day at the last Sitges Film Festival. Awarded at Nocturna Madrid with the awards for best film, best director and best actor (David Pareja), it recently picked up the awards for best director and best actor (Javier Botet) at TerrorMolins 2019. Its screening at the Isla Calavera Festival will feature a special screening on Sunday, November 24 with the presence of Óscar Martín, David Pareja and producer Elena Muñoz, who will offer a talk about the film at the end of the screening.
After its premiere in the Official Competition Section at the Sitges Film Festival, Isla Calavera presents the harrowing thriller about survival and overcoming obstacles 'Cuerdas', the first feature film by José Luis Montesinos, one of the most acclaimed Spanish short filmmakers in recent years and winner of the Goya Award in 2016 with 'El corredor'. With a clear authorial vocation, without leaving aside the keys of the genre, it tells the story of Elena (Paula del Río), a young quadriplegic, who is left incommunicado in a farmhouse in the countryside, with the only help of her dog Athos.
Also part of the competition selection is the film 'Urubú', Alejandro Ibáñez Nauta's first feature film, made as a tribute to his father, Narciso "Chicho" Ibáñez Serrador, who passed away last June. Starring Carlos Urrutia and Brazilian actress Clarice Alves, it tells the story of Tomás, a photographer and ornithologist who tries to relaunch his career and drags his family to the Amazon jungle in search of the albino urubú, a rare bird of which there is no record in the wild. However, the disappearance of his daughter turns the trip into a terrible nightmare.
On the other hand, director Israel González presents 'Fuel', written by Juan de Dios Garduño, a survival thriller shot in the desert of Almería and featuring Gran Canarian actor David M. Santana in its cast. In the film, a food critic wakes up in the Mojave, attacked with a chain to an old Plymouth Barracuda, with no possibility of escape and no one who can help him.
Anime Day
The program will dedicate one day to Japanese-produced animated films with the screening on Thursday evening, November 28, of the romantic fantasy comedy 'Ride your wave' and the futuristic action drama 'Human Lost'.
Award for Best Animated Feature at Sitges 2019, director Maasaki Yuasa presents in 'Ride your wave' the story of Hinako, a young woman who feels totally fulfilled when she surfs. When a fire breaks out affecting the building where she lives, Hinako meets Minato, a young firefighter. The two share time, hobbies and even something supernatural. In 'Human Lost', set in Tokyo, year 2036, humanity faces life in a world torn between the restoration of civilization or its self-destruction.
The jury of the Official Section of Feature Films in competition is composed of professor and vice-dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Communication of the University of La Laguna (ULL) Vanessa Rodríguez Breijo (as president), film critic Fran Domínguez, producer Luis Adern, professor of Psychology at the ULL Esteban Torres and professor of Theory and History of Cinema at the ULL Fernando de Iturrate Cárdenes.
