Australia’s original and longest-running genre film festival is excited to reveal the launch date of its spectacular program, returning to Dendy Cinemas Newtown for its 14th annual edition, 17 – 23 October.
Keep your eyes peeled on Tuesday, September 20 (AEST) when the A Night of Horror International Film Festival 2022 program goes live online.
For those wanting an exclusive first peek, A Night of Horror crew will be upstairs at Newtown’s Kelly’s-on-King, Monday, September 19, from 7pm, with collectible print programs hot off the press, plus a few giveaways to hand out.
“It’s really great to be back at Dendy Newtown,” says festival director Bryn Tilly, “Back on our original haunting ground, after two years of restrictions. And we’re back with a vengeance!”
It’s been a record year for submissions and it’s one of the festival’s strongest programs ever, with 65 films! Seventeen features and forty-eight shorts from down under and around the globe.
There are two World Premieres: YOUR LOVE IS MINE from Melbourne’s Luke Wijayasinha-Gray & Luke J.S. and BEATEN TO DEATH from Tasmania’s Sam Curtain, and a third Aussie feature, AFTER SHE DIED, from Sydney’s Jack Dignan, has its Australian Premiere.
Two festival alumni make A Night of Horror history, with Sam Curtain becoming the first Australian director to have three features premiere at the festival, and Mexico’s new Guillermo Del Toro, Isaac Ezban, becoming the first international director to also have three features premiere with the festival, with his hotly-anticipated EVIL EYE.
There’s the glorious return of the festival’s legendary, signature selection of homegrown talent, the AUSTRALIAN SHORTS GALA, there are two blood-curdling INTERNATIONAL SHORTS SHOWCASES, and a further thirteen bone-rattling new features from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States, all making their Australian Premieres.
“Not surprisingly,” says Bryn, “given the last couple of years of pandemic grief and trauma on a global scale, much of this year’s program reflects themes of mental illness, psychosis, possession, delusion, betrayal, and revenge. Quite a bit of witchery too. Filmmakers are keen to purge, and it makes for really wild storytelling and dynamic cinema.”
For those eager to get the trick-or-treatin’ rolling early, a special “Halloween” costume occasion – with prizes courtesy of Umbrella Entertainment for the most spookily-dressed – will accompany the Australian Premiere of TWO WITCHES, from the US, a most terrifying ride.
The festival is bookended by two wicked, rib-tickling psycho-thrillers, not to be missed; Opening Night sees the Australian Premiere of FOLLOW HER from Emmy Award-winning Sylvia Caminer, and Closing Night has the Australian Premiere of ZEBRA GIRL from the UK’s Stephanie Zari.
The jury for the 14th edition features a swag of luminaries, Kat Ellinger, Carlo Ledesma, Amelia Foxton, Heidi Honeycutt, Michael Helms, Briony Kidd, Catherine Smyth-McMullen, Joshua Long, and Anna Dadic.
Back for their third year, Panavision Australia and Chicken & Chips Casting sponsor the Australian Short Film Audience Award and Best Performance in an Australian Short Film award, respectively, back for a second year, Sydney’s Inkii Originals has designed the key art, and continuing support comes from film culture stalwart, FilmInk.
Last, but not least, rising stars on the Sydney scene, Ester Spirits, have come on board as new sponsors to lubricate the festival with their distinct independent spirit on select sessions.
A Night of Horror International Film Festival screens at Dendy Cinemas Newtown, from Monday, October 17 until Sunday, October 23, 2022.
Full program and tickets will be available online at www.dendy.com.au/cinemas/newtown from Tuesday, September 20.
For more festival information visit www.anightofhorror.com
