The 56th edition of the SITGES – International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia has finally taken flight. Eleven days of soaring through the skies of today’s best genre films are in store for us. Eleven days of breathing in cinema, quenching our thirst for (cinematic) blood, enjoying all sorts of different activities, listening to leading figures in contemporary moviemaking… In addition, the Festival kicked off in style with ‘Sister Death’, directed by Paco Plaza, a Festival regular, as its opening film.
Link to Sitges Film Festival 2023 PHOTO gallery
The first day of the Festival got underway with the now traditional Schools screening, an opportunity for the youngest Sitgetans to enjoy the Festival experience and discover the magic of film from a very early age. This year, the movie that was screened was ‘TONY, SHELLY AND THE MAGIC LIGHT’, a stop motion animation gem about friendship directed by Czech filmmaker Filip Posivac, which will be competing in the Anima’t section that, as every year, brings some of the most interesting works that can be seen at the Festival. This is the case of ‘PHOENIX: REMINISCENCE OF FLOWER’, the latest work by Shojiro Nishimi (director of ‘Mutafukaz’ and animator in classics like ‘Akira’ or ‘Mind Game’) that could be seen at the Prado this afternoon in a double bill together with the medium-length film ‘FEAST OF AMRITA’, directed by Saku Sakamoto.
The highlight of the day came in the afternoon at the Auditori, when stars including Paco Plaza, Almudena Amor, Belén Cuesta, Jorge Guerricaechevarría and Mary Lambert (this year’s Time Machine Award Winner) began to parade down the red carpet, as well as most of the members of our illustrious Official Selection jury: Jérôme Paillard, David C. Fein, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
After this first red-carpet appearance, the opening gala ceremony took place, hosted by Ángel Sala and Mònica Garcia i Massagué, with interventions by Melina Matthews and Dafnis Balduz. In addition, the ceremony was attended by a number of distinguished institutional guests: Mr. Miquel Octavi Iceta, Minister of Culture and Sports, the Hon. Ms. Aurora Carbonell i Abella, Mayor of Sitges, the Hon. Mrs. Natàlia Garriga, Minister of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Mr. Ignasi Camós, General Director of the Institute of Cinematography and Audiovisual Arts (ICAA), Mr. Edgar Garcia, Director of the Catalan Institute of Cultural Enterprises of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Mr. Albert Oliver-Rodés, Councilor of Culture, Social Rights and Education of the Sitges Town Hall and Mr. Olivier Ramadour, Consul of France in Barcelona.
The protagonist of the gala was ‘SISTER DEATH’, a Netflix production directed by Paco Plaza that has set the bar extremely high right from day one. A prequel to ‘Veronica’, SISTER DEATH’ is set in post-war Spain, offering us a terrifying religious horror film with a fast pace and a deluxe female cast headed by Aria Bedmar (known, primarily, for her roles on television), who is accompanied by Almudena Amor, Consuelo Trujillo, Chelo Vivares and the very young Daniela Casas.
Before the film’s gala screening (and following the first screening at noon), Paco Plaza appeared at a press conference along with Aria Bedmar, the film’s leading lady, and Enrique López Lavigne, the film’s producer. Among many other things, the Spanish director commented on his evolution as a filmmaker:
‘Veronica’ was like my debut film. At that moment, I felt that I was beginning to understand the expressive possibilities of horror filmmaking. ‘The Grandmother’ continued along that path and ‘SISTER DEATH’ represents, in a certain sense, a logical evolution, trying to go beyond the narrative and the dramatic and exploring the expressive force of the image.” Regarding a possible follow-up or expansion of the universe initiated by ‘Veronica’, it’s something that isn’t envisioned, but that Paco Plaza doesn’t dare to rule out: “When we made REC we could have never imagined that we would end up making four parts, so you shouldn’t take my word for it”.
Regarding the parallel sections, the kick-off also went off with a bang. THE CHILDE’ kicked off the Òrbita section at the Auditori, which this year arrives with a strong Korean accent. The new film by Park Hoon-jung (director of highly acclaimed films including ‘New World’ and ‘Night in Paradise’) is a perfect example of the impressive technical quality offered by Korean action films. Meanwhile, Noves Visions opened with ‘For Night Will Come’, including a presentation by its director Céline Rouzet. In this case, the film also serves to give us an idea of what awaits us in this section: some lesser-known gems, emerging filmmakers, brave films and vampires, plenty of vampires.
At the Retiro Theater the protagonist was Panorama and up to four films from this section could be seen throughout the day: ‘SUITABLE FLESH’, an H.P. Lovecraft adaptation started by Stuart Gordon (director of ‘Re-Animator’) and finally finished by Joe Lynch following his death; ‘BLACKOUT’, a lycanthropic horror production by Larry Fessenden; LET IT GHOST’, a zany, very Generation Z Hong Kong comedy and horror film, and the two parts of ‘TOKYO REVENGERS 2’, the live-action version of one of today’s most popular anime and manga sagas.
Added to all these films that were screened today is the start of the parallel activities that are so characteristic of this Festival. As of today, FOODTASTIC is already up and running, an area where you can enjoy the very best cuisine at any time, quickly (ideal when you have little free time between films) and of great quality, and the FANSHOP, where you can buy all kinds of merchandise related to horror films. Starting today you can also enjoy a unique experience called “Rodaje maldito” (Cursed Film Shoot), a terror tunnel located in the MIRAMAR CULTURAL CENTER which will be open every day of the Festival. Finally, it is also worth mentioning that starting tomorrow it will be possible to visit the Festival’s two main exhibitions: “Animation! From The Enchanted Sword to Robot Dreams”, an SGAE exhibition that examines the history of animation in Spain and ‘Creators of Monsters: “George A. Romero Among Creatures and Ghouls”, where Elsa Neri and Lady Laudano recreate with their own hands those scenes and characters that have fascinated them the most from the 1980s genre classics. The first will be held at the MIRAMAR CULTURAL CENTER and the second at ESTUDI VIDAL.
Regarding Sitges Industry, a large number of activities will be getting underway tomorrow. Among them, we would like to highlight the start of the “Fantastic Geogenre” sessions that tomorrow will be offering four round table discussions with guests including Céline Rouzet, Alan Jones and Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, “Match Cut”, a round table where Paco Plaza, Martí Roca and Guillermo de la Cal will be talking about the editing process of ‘SISTER DEATH’ or the recording of the “Marea Nocturna” (Night Tide) podcast with Desirée de Fez, Jordi Sánchez-Navarro, Xavi Sánchez Pons and Ángel Sala.