AUSTRALIA’S MONSTER FEST ANNOUNCES SUBMISSIONS OPEN FOR MONSTER FEST 2017

www.monsterfest.com.au

Monster Fest, Australia’s premier genre film festival celebrating cult, horror and the fantastic, returns for its seventh edition November 22-26, 2017 at the Lido Cinemas in Melbourne, mounted with the support of Screen Australia. These dates include the festival’s industry component, The Swinburne University Media and Communication Monster Academy, which will kick off the festival November 22 and 23.

Submissions are now open for Features, Short Films and Expanded Cinema Projects, with an Early Bird Deadline of April 21, a Regular Deadline of June 16 and a final, Extended Deadline of August 4, 2017.

Founded in 2011, Monster Fest is a genre film festival that showcases films and events that fall into the broadly-defined categories of horror, science fiction, action, crime, noir, animation, dark drama, black comedy, gothic western, erotica and more. Its programming is a mix of Premieres, international festival favourites, challenging new discoveries and curated repertory sidebars alongside industry-focused events such as panels and masterclasses with renowned international guests, and a special emphasis on supporting emerging Australian genre film talent through the festival and beyond.

“We had a huge increase in submissions in 2016,” says Festival Director Kier-La Janisse. “And it really diversified our approach to programming. In addition to horror, which is always a staple at Monster Fest, we brought in more crime films, westerns, documentary and animation than ever before, and our audience really went with it - we ended up having our most successful year to date.”

Submissions for Monster Fest 2017 can be processed via Film Freeway or Without a Box. Details and submission guidelines are available at www.monsterfest.com.au/submit

AUSTRALIA’S MONSTER FEST ANNOUNCES TRAVELLING SIDESHOW

Sydney-based genre fans will get a taste of Monster Pictures’ annual Melbourne-based festival this March, thanks to a unique partnership with Australia’s largest cinema chain Event Cinemas to present The Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow, beginning at the prestigious George Street Cinema in Sydney March 9-11, 2017 with subsequent dates in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

The Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow will be a mix of horror-centric highlights from Monster Fest 2016 (see the archive of 2016 films and events HERE) and select premieres, including the Australian Premieres of Jordan Peele’s acclaimed racial horror GET OUT and the highly-anticipated all-female horror anthology XX (which is distributed in ANZ by Monster Fest parent company Monster Pictures), as well as the World Premiere of Nik Kacevski’s Sydney-made SKINFORD, with cast and crew in person for a hometown red carpet debut.

The 10-film touring satellite event will open on March 9th with the Sydney Premiere of Julia Ducournau’s controversial “Golden Monster”-winning feature debut RAW, about a young vegetarian whose dark urges are awakened after she is forced to undergo a carnivorous college hazing ritual. The fright-filled weekend will also include the hometown premiere of Sydney-made KILLING GROUND (fresh off raves at Sundance), Ben Wheatley’s explosively funny shootout actioner FREE FIRE, a new 4K restoration of Italo-horror maestro Dario Argento’s 1977 masterpiece SUSPIRIA, Sydney director Jai Love’s moving and morbid documentary DEAD HANDS DIG DEEP about the traumatized frontman of extreme metal band Kettle Cadaver, Nicholas Pesce’s gothic Sundance midnighter THE EYES OF MY MOTHER (which Rolling Stone called “curdled Americana at its most gruesome and brilliant”) and André Øvredal’s award-winning THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, recently praised by none other than Stephen King himself, who called it “visceral horror to rival ALIEN and early Cronenberg” and warned: “Watch it, but not alone.”

Monster Fest Director Kier-La Janisse says the Sydney weekender will be just the first of many ‘Monster Fest Presents’ events to be mounted by Monster Pictures over the coming year. “This touring sidebar is an incredibly exciting initiative for us,” she says. “It’s always been Monster Pictures’ goal to bring the most pioneering and challenging new genre cinema to fans all over the country, and to create a wider platform for its appreciation.”

Tickets for The Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow are on sale now at:

Event Cinemas George Street
505-525 George St, Sydney Australia
+61 (0)2 9273 7300

https://www.eventcinemas.com.au/Cinema/George-Street/EventsFestivals/MonsterfestTravellingSideshow#cinemas=15

http://www.monsterfest.com.au/events/monster-fest-travelling-sideshow

Single Session Tickets: Adult $21 / Concession $17.50
5 Film Multi-Pass: Adult $82.50 / Concession $71.50
10 Film VIP Pass: Adult $132 / Concession $110

NEWS: MONSTER FEST ANNOUNCES OPENING FILM ‘RAW’ AND ‘FREQUENCIES’ SIDEBAR CELEBRATING GENRE ON THE SMALL SCREEN

Returning this year from November 24-27, Australia’s premier genre film festival Monster Fest is thrilled to announce the Australian premiere of controversial new French horror film RAW as its Official 2016 Opening Night Film.

RAW made its World Premiere in Critics Week at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year where it was awarded the coveted FIPRESCI Award, and was lauded by critics and fans alike as the genre sensation of the festival.

RAW is the debut feature of French director Julia Ducournau, and tells the story of a young vegetarian who discovers her dark side when she is forced to participate in a carnivorous hazing ritual on her first day at Veterinary school. It’s a coming-of-age tale with a cannibal theme that’ll appeal to genre buffs and cinephiles alike, provided they have strong stomachs!

Earlier this week RAW held its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival and created headlines around the globe when paramedics were called to the cinema to treat three audience members who fainted during its ‘Midnight Madness’ screening.

Monster Pictures is the Australian license holder of RAW and has its release set for March 2017.

Neil Foley, Monster Pictures’ Head of Acquisitions and Executive Producer of Monster Fest, says of RAW “This is absolutely one of the greatest genre films I’ve seen in my time at Monster, it references many of the masters, from Argento to Carpenter to Cronenberg, but remains a completely unique and fresh take on the genre. It’s simultaneously harrowing and beautiful, and is probably our most exciting acquisition to date.”

The critical response to the film thus far has been full of praise, and includes the following:

“…the assured storytelling and direction, including some of the goriest makeup effects this side of Rob Zombie, turn Raw into the kind of crossover film that takes the horror genre into another domain” - Hollywood Reporter

““Raw” is a deliciously fevered stew of nightmare fuel that hangs together with a breezily confident sense of superior craft.” - Variety

“Genre buffs and fests will gobble it up, and this prime cut should be the plat du jour on cult theatrical menus worldwide... All in all, a classily savorous fright tartare.” - Screen Daily

RAW will Open Monster Fest on November 24 and will be followed by the Opening Night Gala. Tickets will go on sale over the coming weeks and will be announced via the Monster Fest website and associated social media.

Monster Fest is also pleased to announce its second themed sidebar, ‘Frequencies’, which is focused on genre narratives made for or about the small screen. The Frequencies section will be headlined by the World Premiere launch of the new Headpress book, ARE YOU IN THE HOUSE ALONE? A TV MOVIE COMPENDIUM 1964-1999, edited by American television scholar Amanda Reyes who will appear at the festival on a clip-and-tell panel about the history of television movies, with the book’s contributors Lee Gambin, John Harrison and stuntwoman Marneen Fields, followed by a screening of Buzz Kulik’s 1974 telefright, BAD RONALD and co-presented by Melbourne film society Cinemaniacs.

The section will also include the Australian Premiere of Jackson Stewart’s BEYOND THE GATES starring Graham Skipper (THE MIND’S EYE) and Chase Williamson (JOHN DIES AT THE END) as two brothers who find that their father’s disappearance may be connected to a sinister VHS board game. The premiere is presented by Umbrella Entertainment and will be accompanied by a NIGHTMARE VHS Board Game Party in association with Toronto’s Black Museum.

This year’s Monster Symposium series of multimedia lectures also expands on this broadcasting theme with presentations including Jodi McAlister’s DIERDRE HALL IS THE DEVIL about occultism on daytime soaps, Andrew Nette on the long-unavailable Australian horror anthology show THE EVIL TOUCH, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas on Stephen Volk’s influential and hysteria-inducing pseudo-doc GHOSTWATCH, Kier-La Janisse on Nigel Kneale’s prescient 1968 teleplay THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS and Andrew Nette and Dean Brandum on the beloved Crawford crime show HOMICIDE, preceding a special screening of the 1964 episode “Witch Hunt”.

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All-access Passes to Monster Fest 2016 are on sale now here: https://www.lidocinemas.com.au/Promotion/Monster-Fest-2016-At-Lido

Tickets for the recently announced Ted Kotcheff masterclass at the Swinburne University Media and Communication Monster Academy are available here: http://www.monsterfest.com.au/events/ted-kotcheff-masterclass/

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Founded in 2011, Monster Fest is a mix of Premieres, international festival favourites, challenging new discoveries and curated repertory sidebars alongside industry-focused events such as panels and masterclasses with renowned international guests, and a special emphasis on supporting emerging Australian genre film talent through the festival and beyond. Monster Fest is mounted with the support of Screen Australia and Film Victoria.

NEWS: MONSTER FEST 2016 ANNOUNCES KEYNOTE SPEAKER TED KOTCHEFF, CLOSING FILM ‘THE GREASY STRANGLER’, PASSES AND ACCREDITATION OPEN

www.monsterfest.com.au

Monster Fest, Australia’s premier genre festival, returns to the Lido Cinema in Melbourne from Nov 24-27, 2016, for four days of premieres, special guests, repertory sidebars, short films, presentations and more.

In conjunction with the festival, Monster also announces the return of the Monster Academy -  now dubbed The Swinburne University Media and Communication Monster Academy – a two-day industry conference that takes place Nov 23 and 24^th, running up to the festival itself.

We are pleased to announce that veteran director Ted Kotcheff will appear in person to present the film that many critics regard as the greatest Australian film ever made, his 1971 outback classic WAKE IN FRIGHT, as well as screenings of FIRST BLOOD (1982), WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989) and SPLIT IMAGE (1982), the latter as part of our previously announced all-night Cult of Monster marathon.

Kotcheff will also be the keynote speaker at the Swinburne University Media and Communication Monster Academy with a three-hour masterclass on Thursday Nov 24^th. A limited number of tickets are now on sale for the masterclass HERE: >> https://www.trybooking.com/227339

We’re also excited to announce that Sundance WTF sensation THE GREASY STRANGLER will be our Closing Film followed by a GREASY GALA with the two stars of the film, special guests Sky Elobar (Big Brayden) and Michael St. Michaels (Big Ronnie – the Greasy Strangler himself) in person! The premiere of the film The Guardian called "a playful oasis of filth and depravity" and Empire called “one of the best movies of 2016” will be accompanied by a nationwide tour with the stars in attendance for special event screenings, “Greasy Disco”, themed drinks, “Hootie Tootie Disco Cutie” contests and various oily hijinx.  Grease is the word!

Weekend passes to Monster Fest are on sale now for $199 AUD. This includes access to all screenings and events at Lido Cinemas from Nov 24-27, including the Opening and Closing Parties and the all-night Cult of Monster Marathon. Individual Day Passes are also available for $65 AUD. Passes are available now on the Lido website HERE: https://www.lidocinemas.com.au/Promotion/Monster-Fest-2016-At-Lido

Please note Monster Academy Passes and tickets are sold separately and will go on sale when the full Academy lineup is announced in the coming month.

Press and Industry Accreditation is also now open – we invite funders, sales agents, distributors and film programmers to apply for accreditation to this year’s Monster Fest. Full details and eligibility requirements are listed on the Monster Fest website HERE: http://www.monsterfest.com.au/press-industry/