Imagined worlds and realities. Celluloid glimpses of alternate futures, presents and pasts. Fantastic Planet Film Festival returns for its second year to Dendy Newtown from October 29 to November 5, with a mind-blowing line up of films and special events covering all things sci-fi and fantasy.
The 2010 program is set to entice, with festival director Dean Bertram promising a line up that includes “a twist on the Santa legend, machete-wielding vigilantes, an evil genius mad on love and bent on world annihilation, out-of-this-world conspiracies, cyber-Shakespeare, Greek zombies, and more!”
The festival program showcases films from around the globe, with an amazing array of 14 features (including twelve Australian premieres), cutting edge shorts, fantastical animations and special events.
Opening night kicks off with the Australian premiere of RARE EXPORTS: A CHRISTMAS TALE, the highly anticipated dark fantasy film by Finnish director Jalamari Helander. Based on his short films, which are a cult sensation on the internet, RARE EXPORTS arrives at the festival fresh from the Toronto International Film Festival.
The festival will also host the world premiere of RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH, an adaptation of the novel by Philip K. Dick (author of Blade Runner, A Scanner Darkly and Minority Report) that sold over 2 million copies. Directed by John Alan Simon and featuring a strong performance from Alanis Morissette, RADIO FREE ALBEMUTH captures the blend of alternate reality and paranoia embodied in Dick’s original tale.
Home grown Australian talent, Phil Moore directs MORTAL FOOLS, an existentialist sci-fi comedy inspired by William Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”. With the power to get into people’s minds, Danny and Suzanne gate-crash a dinner party and decide to play cupid, toying with jealousy, unrequited love and sexual tension. Following the film is a Q&A with director Phil Moore, producer Tone Egan, plus cast and crew.
Closing the festival is the highly anticipated MACHETE, from Robert Rodriguez, the director of Sin City and Grindhouse. The film centres on Machete, a former Mexican Federal looking for vengeance on the colleagues that betrayed him. MACHETE stars Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez and Danny Trejo in the title role.
Other highlights include: WESTALL ’66: A SUBURBAN UFO MYSTERY a thought provoking documentary with a Q&A to follow, a special 25th anniversary screening of THE RETURN OF THE LIVING DEAD which screens as part of a three-film ZOMBIETHON, a Halloween screening of the cult sensation BIRDEMIC: SHOCK AND TERROR, and I HEART DOOMSDAY, winner of “Best Canadian Feature” at the Canadian International Film Festival.
DATES: October 29 to November 5, 2010
LOCATION: Dendy Newtown, 261-263 King Street, Newtown
FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.fantasticplanetfilmfestival.com
TICKETS: On sale October 7 at www.dendy.com.au
