San Cristóbal de La Laguna, September 9, 2025 - TheIX Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Ciudad de La Laguna Isla Calavera, which will take place from November 7 to 16 in Tenerife, will receive the visit of legendary director and producer Randal Kleiser, responsible for such iconic titles as Grease (1979), one of the highest-grossing musical films of all time, The Blue Lake (1980), a social phenomenon, or the youth science fiction adventure Flight of the Navigator (1986), which has a legion of fans all over the world. Kleiser is also the author of other acclaimed titles such as White Fang (1991), based on the novel by Jack London, the thriller Shadows of Suspicion (1998), starring Tom Berenger and Melanie Griffith, or the sequels The Great Pee-Wee (1988) and Honey, I've Enlarged the Kid (1992).
The filmmaker will receive the Honorary Isla Calavera Award at the festival's opening gala, in recognition of a career in which he has managed to combine artistic sensitivity and narrative talent in different genres, making legendary feature films that have marked several generations and left a great mark on popular culture. His filmography reflects the versatility of a director capable of moving from musical comedy to fantasy and adventure films. It is also worth mentioning Randal Kleiser's commitment to technology, with milestones such as the medium-length film Honey, I shrunk the audience! (1994), created for Disney parks, where he experimented with virtual reality, combining 4D technology with 70 mm format, 3D and physical effects. In 2004 he used the virtual set in Little Red Riding Hood: a classic tale with a touch of magic, a musical version of the famous children's story. Between 2015 and 2017, Randal Kleiser wrote and directed the Defrost series filmed in 360-degree stereoscopic 3D. In this technological trajectory, the filmmaker also directed the Grease XR project, a 2019 augmented reality short film with 20 volumetrically captured dancers performing four scenes inspired by Grease.
As a tribute to the filmmaker, the Isla Calavera Festival's program of classics will include screenings of Grease and El vuelo del navegante, as well as the documentary Life After the Navigator (2020), directed by Lisa Downs, which explores the life of child actor Joey Cramer, star of the Randal Kleiser film produced by Disney.
Randal Kleiser's name joins those of Jenette Goldstein and William Hope, the unforgettable soldier Vasquez and lieutenant Scott Gorman from Aliens, the return, already announced, and very soon new additions to the line-up of guests of the Isla Calavera 2025 Festival will be announced, which will make this event an important meeting between great talents of the fantastic genre and its followers.
About the Festival de Cine Fantástico de Canarias Isla Calavera (Skull Island Fantastic Film Festival of the Canary Islands)
Organized by the Charlas de Cine Cultural Association, the Isla Calavera Cultural Association, Multicines Tenerife and the specialized publication TumbaAbierta.com, the ninth edition of the Isla Calavera Festival is sponsored by the City Council of La Laguna, through the Department of Culture, the Government of the Canary Islands, Promotur, Canary Islands Tourism, Canary Islands Latitud de Vida, Cabildo de Tenerife, Canary Islands Institute of Cultural Development and Canary Islands Film; and the collaboration of the University of La Laguna, La Laguna Zona Comercial, Alda Producciones, Zulay Panaderías, Grupo Fly Luxury, Juan Antonio Ribas Subtítulos y Ediciones Digitales, Consejo Regulador de la Denominación de Origen Tacoronte-Acentejo, Mercado Nuestra Señora de África, Culturamanía, CinemaNext, Flaming Frames, Fundación SGAE, Teatro Leal, Tenerife Film Commission, José Acosta Style, Audi Canarias, Coca-Cola and Royal Bliss.
Isla Calavera was born in 2017 and in its first eight years of trajectory has achieved a significant impact and is considered one of the most relevant fantastic film meetings in the country, member of Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), which brings together 32 members from 22 countries in four continents, with a worldwide audience of more than 900,000 spectators each year.
Internationally, it has become one of the events to take into account, thanks to the participation of figures as relevant as Ron Perlman, Henry Thomas, Adrienne Barbeau, John Landis, Joe Dante, Lou Ferrigno, Sam J. Jones, Deborah Nadoolman, Sarah Douglas, Rick Baker, Caroline Munro, David Naughton, Enzo G. Castellari, Mick Garris, Neil Marshall, Charlotte Kirk, Nicholas Rowe, Colin Arthur, Jack Taylor, Amber Heard or Eduardo Noriega. Other guests who have visited Tenerife as part of the Canary Islands Fantastic Film Festival and who have put the event on the map of film meetings are Belén Rueda, Álex de la Iglesia, Manuela Velasco, F. Javier Gutiérrez, Víctor Clavijo, Silvia Tortosa, Paco Plaza, Carolina Bang, Paco Cabezas, Víctor Matellano, Juanma Bajo Ulloa, Eugenio Mira and Lola Dueñas, among others.
