As part of the 51st edition of the Catalonia Fantastic Film Festival - Sitges 2018, the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival - Isla Calavera unveils a new program preview of its second edition, to be held from November 19 to 25 with the sponsorship of the Tenerife 2030 Area of the Island Council, the Development Society of the Santa Cruz de Tenerife City Council and the University of La Laguna. The Festival adds to its cast of guests the American producer, director and screenwriter Mick Garris, known for his collaborations with writer Stephen King, whose work he has brought to the cinema on numerous occasions.
The Festival will award the filmmaker, director of the TV miniseries 'The Shining' (1997) and 'Apocalypse' (1994) and the anthology series 'Masters of Horror', one of this year's Isla Calavera de Honor awards, in recognition of his dedication to the fantastic genre. Garris will also present the screening of his most recent work, 'Nightmare Cinema', a horror anthology in which he shares directing credits with Joe Dante, David Slade, Alejandro Brugués and Ryuhei Kitamura. The film will be screened at the Festival's official venue, Multicines Tenerife (C.C. Alcampo, La Laguna), as part of the Official Competition Section.
Garris thus joins the first guest announced by the Festival, Enzo G. Castellari, one of the most important directors of the spaghetti western and a benchmark of the Italian fantastic genre with titles framed in the giallo, such as 'The Cold Eyes of Fear' (1971); the horror film 'L'ultimo squalo' (1981), known in Spain as 'Jaws 3'; or the action thriller set in a post-apocalyptic future '1990: The Bronx Warriors' (1982), which will be part of the Festival's screening program.
The new Isla Calavera de Honor Award statuette, which will be received by both Mick Garris and Enzo G. Castellari, has been designed by the master of special effects Colin Arthur ('The Neverending Story'), who received the same award in the first edition of the event.
The Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival - Isla Calavera was born in 2017 with a successful edition enjoyed in Tenerife -at the end of November- by more than 3,000 people. Over five days, 15 short films and 15 feature films were screened, and various parallel activities were offered. The second edition of the Festival will last a week and will include not only the official competition section for short films but also feature films.
As a regional initiative, in its aim to spread fantastic cinema throughout the Canary Islands archipelago, the Isla Calavera Festival seeks to offer throughout the year different special editions and pre-festival activities on the different islands. Thus, a two-day program with screenings, talks, master classes and an exhibition recently took place in La Palma, an appetizer of the next annual edition, with competitive sections, which has its official headquarters in Tenerife.
About Mick Garris
Born in Santa Monica (California), Mick Garris is a writer, screenwriter, producer and film director, known mainly for his adaptations of Stephen King stories. Thus, he directed the TV miniseries 'Apocalypse' (1994), 'The Shining' (1997) and 'The Curse of Dark Lake' (2011), and the feature films 'Journey into Darkness' (2004), based on the novel 'Riding the Bullet', and 'Despair' (2006). Years before, he made 'Sleepwalkers' (1992), with an original script written by Stephen King expressly for film. His filmography includes other fantastic and horror genre titles, such as 'Critters 2' (1988) and 'Psycho IV: The Beginning' (1994). He was also the creator of the anthology series 'Masters of Horror' and director of two of its episodes.
His most recent work is 'Nightmare Cinema', also in anthology format, which had its international premiere in Canada at the Fantasia Film Festival. Producer of the film, he has directed one of his stories, the supernatural tale 'Dead'. In 'Nightmare Cinema', five strangers meet in a haunted cinema owned by the Projectionist (Mickey Rourke). Once in the theater, the audience will attend a series of projections that will bring to light their deepest fears and darkest secrets through five tales.
About the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias - Isla Calavera (Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival - Skull Island)
Co-directed by Daniel Fumero and Ramón González Trujillo, the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias - Isla Calavera is an initiative of the Asociación Cultural Isla Calavera, the Asociación Cultural Charlas de Cine, the specialized publication TumbaAbierta and Multicines Tenerife, with the sponsorship of the Tenerife 2030 Area of the Cabildo Insular, the Sociedad de Desarrollo del Ayuntamiento de Santa Cruz de Tenerife, the University of La Laguna, Santander Universities, Factoría de Cohesión Ciudad y Puerto and Puertos de Tenerife. Collaborators: Aula de Cine de la ULL, Tenerife Film Commission, Reel One Entertainment, Grupo Fly Luxury, Fundación Cine+ Cómics, Ksa Mario, Juan Antonio Ribas. Subtítulos y Ediciones digitales, Wehbe, Fundación SGAE, Fundación Diario de Avisos, Sandos Hotels & Resorts, La Recova and Dark channel, the only one in Spain dedicated entirely to horror, as media partner.
