Fantastic Fest Update: Trailer Contest, Latest Titles

You know how much I love Fantastic Fest -- I bought a VIP badge earlier this year so I wouldn't be dependent on press creds to attend, and so I won't miss a single film I want to see during the festival this September (although really the only one I couldn't get into last year with a non-VIP badge was Apocalypto, and in retrospect that was no great loss). Also, I wanted priority access to tickets for events like Hot Fuzztival. Anyway, you know that no matter where else I am writing about Fantastic Fest this year, Slackerwood will have lots of coverage, just like last year.

And why not start now with some news? First of all, Fantastic Fest is holding a trailer contest, to see who can provide the best in-house trailer for the festival. Unlike aGLIFF's trailer contest, however, it's open only to young people -- age 16 and under. I can't find the details on the Fantastic Fest website itself right now, but you can read more about the contest at Austinist. (More news after the jump.)

Fantastic Fest has also just released a new batch of titles. I'll be honest -- I hadn't heard of most of these films, with the exception of Sex and Death 101, which is written and directed by Daniel Waters (the guy who wrote Heathers). However, the great thing about Fantastic Fest for me is that I end up liking all of these films I knew nothing about before seeing them listed in the program. It's a festival where I compile a schedule and then end up seeing an entirely different list of films, with some unexpected pleasures. (And the occasional letdown from a movie I looked forward to seeing, like Tideland, but that is not the festival's fault.)

So the lineup is unfamiliar to me, but fascinating -- a movie about a dead body found in a crate of hair used for hair extensions (Exte); a mock-documentary about a search for Bruce Lee's replacement (Finishing the Game); a film about a doll repairman and a girl without a spine (Ange); and a lot more, including films that were announced earlier this year. Uwe Boll is scheduled to attend with his film Postal, which I have heard may be his best film thus far. (I don't know if I want to watch full-frontal Dave Foley, though.) Another round of films to add to the lineup will be announced on August 15.

One last note: The news is out that Alamo and Fantastic Fest programmer Kier-La Janisse has had to return to Canada and is moving on to other projects. I'm very sorry Austin is losing her -- she's brought some striking and unusual films to town; for example, last year at Fantastic Fest she selected and encouraged us all to watch the strange but compelling Blood Tea and Red String. For those of you who have enjoyed Fantastic Fest or Alamo's Music Mondays but never met Kier-La, here's a photo of her (in the pink shirt) at the closing-night party of last year's Fantastic Fest, when she headed up a round of a movie-trivia board game.

Take care, Kier-La, we'll miss you.