Sitges 56th edition is all set-up. And what a set up. The edition promises ten intense days of horror, blood and fantasy 24 hours a day. With such a line-up it’s clear that Sitges had something for literally everyone, so get ready for it!
To start, Sitges has announced the five honorary award winners for 2023. The award Maquina del Temps will go to j-horror director Hideo Nakata, who already won for the best film with the classic The Ring. Jan Harlan will receive the second award for his long collaboration with Stanley Kubrick as a producer from The Clockwork Orange to Eyes Wide Shut. Along with the award The Shining will be screened to celebrate his career.
There will also be room for some of the festival’s usual suspects, as J. A. Bayona will be awarded with the Maquina del Temps while presenting his last work Society of the Snow. Lee Unkrich, responsible for hits such as Toy Story or Coco will also receive the Maquina del Temps and offer a masterclass about his experience as an animator. Last but not least, Phil Tipet, creator of massive production Mad God who already won two Oscars for his work as visual effects supervisor in Jurassic Park and The Return of the Jedi, will receive the Great Honorific Award.
2023 Official Section
Along with Bayona’s Society of the Snow, the festival’s Official Section offers some well-expected gems out of the contest, such as Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, winner of the Golden Lion at Venice. With Lanthimos usual humor and a phantasy touch, Poor Things tells a story of female empowerment starring Emma Stone. Another highlight will be the screening of The Boy and the Heron. Expectations around it have been big, after director Hayao Miyazaki rejected any kind of promotion, including trailers.
Other names included in these sessions are Daniel Benmayor, premiering his sci-fi thriller Awareness and portuguese Gabriel Abrantes with thriller Amelia’s children. Back in science-fiction, Swedish filmmaker’s collective Crazy Pictures will present UFO Sweden and Jake Van Wagoner and will bring the touch of humor with Aliens abducted my parents and now I feel kinda left out. Usa will be more present in the section with director Macon Blair and his 1984 classic The Toxic Avenger, pretty much in the horror comedy line, as well as with Brad Anderson with Blood.
The Midnight Special will delight the hungriest audience with two screenings: Nick Cassavetes’ action thriller God is a Bullet and The Deep Dark, a goosebumping showcase of monster movies by Mathieu Turi.
Asian goosebumps in Orbita Section
Considering the importance of thrillers in the section (reserved for those genres bordering on the fantastic), it is not surprising that South Korea emerges as the Orbita queen this year. Five Korean titles participate in this section: Lee Sang-yong’s well announced The Round-up: No way out, along with Um Taw-hwa’s Concrete Utopia, a box-office hit and Cannes lauded disaster-thriller. On the other side, two heavyweights of Korean cinema, Ryoo Seung-wan and Park Hoon-jung bring Smugglers and The Childe respectively. While the first one is a police thriller set in the 70s, The Childe offers a neo-noir thriller following a boxer and his own familiar drama. Last but not least, Ahn Tae-Jon’s thriller The Owl follows a bling acupuncturist, last witness of a murder.
For its part, beloved Takashi Miike will premiere his last masterpiece Lumberjack the Monster. To finish the asian line-up, Philip Yung presents Where the wind blows along with Soi Cheeang’s Mad Fate. From the other side of the globe, brazilian Daniel Bandeira brings claustrophobic tale Propiedade. Argentinian Martino Zaidelis presents The Extortion, a clever thriller about a pilot forced to collaborate with national intelligence services.
On the other side, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire presents Black Flies, a film starring Tye Sheridan and Sean Penn, along with Francis Galluppi’s Last stop in Yuma Country. Lastly, three European thrillers awaiting us are Jamie Childs’ Jackdaw, which will be premiered at the festival, Will Gibey’s Jericho Ridge and The Night of the Hunted by French director Franck Khalfoun. Closing the section, Antonio and Marco Mannetti will close the section the sequel of Diabolik: Ginko All’Attacco, whose first part also premiered years ago in Sitges.
Contemporary terror in Panorama Section
Along with the screening of Nakata’s The forbidden play, the Panorama section offers premieres of some of the most interesting horror titles of the year. To start off, American Anna Zlokovic brings Appendage, dark horror with a humorous touch, Larry Fessenden offers a new sample of lycanthropic horror with Blackout. Alan Scott Neal directs Last straw, a multiperspective horror movie, and finally Jenn Wexler follows the story of two young students struggling to survive in a dangerous college down with The sacrifice game. More lycanthropy comes by the hand of Jorge Michel Grau, this time from Mexico, with Rabia.
Two proposals for canonical terror come from Australia with The Eastfield Exorcist and You’ll never find me by Nick Kozakis, and Josia Allen with Indiana Bell respectively. On the other side, Kazuyoshi Kumakiri presents #Manhole along with korean Kim Tae-gon’s Project Silence premiered in Cannes and terror comedy Let it ghost by Hoi Wong. As for the European representatives, a total of four films will be in competition: Italian Nina dei Lupi by Antonio Pisu; Restore Point by the czech director Robert Hloz; danish Karoline Lyngbye’s Superposition; and French Hood Witch by Saïd Belktibia.
Other five titles will be screened out of the competition: Takashi Shimizu’s Immersion, two parts of the live-action Tokyo Revengers, directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa; Spanish horror comedy While the masters sleep by Santiago Alvarado Ilarri; as well as The Primevals, David Allen’s dreamed project, realized 20 years after his death.
20 years of Noves Visions
On the less commercial side, Noves Visions section celebrates its 20th anniversary with a special screening of Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt in 4k. In the competition we will find the most diverse offer. Two French movies will participate in the contest with The Vourdalak by Adrien Beau (awarded in Venice Critics Week) and En attendant la nuit by Celine Rouzet. Belgian directors Jessica Woodworth and Loïc Tanson participate with Luka and The last ashes respectively. As some of the highlights of this section Junta Yamaguchi comes back to the festival with River, after the comedy Beyond the infinite two minutes premiered in 2021 and Ryo Takebashi offers another Japanese comedy with Mondays: see you this week.
On the other side, Humanist vampire seeking consenting suicidal person promises a delicious comedy about moral vampirism by the hand of lauded Ariane Louise-Seize, and Jacqueline Castel presents My animal. Spanish director Borja de la Vega also presents The last night of Sandra M, freely inspired by the life of the actress Sandra Mozarowsky. Brando de Sicca, as grandson of Vittorio de Sica follows his grandfather’s legacy with noir horror Mimi: Prince of darkness.
More titles participating on the Nove Visions section are Embryo larva butterfly by Greek director Kyros Papavassiliou, Halfway Home by Hungarian Isti Madarász, and The Funeral by Turkish director Orçun Behram.
The USA is also present in the section with Mike Cheslik’s epic adventure film Hundreds of beavers. Mike Wiluan and Billy Christian present an Indonesian-Singapurean co-production with Motel Melati and British Paris Zarcilla brings Raging Grace.
Finally Estonian director Rainer Sarnet will present The invisible Fight, a Soviet comedy following the guard of the Russian-Chinese border that decides to become a monk. Closing the section, Korean director Kim Jee-woon will present Cobweb.
Horror classics and Panic City retrospective
Along with The Shining screening on the occasion of Jan Harlan’s award, other classics will be screened including William Friedkin’s The Exorcist. Some of the most notable are Robin Hardy’s 70’s cult film The Wicker Man, but also King Kong, as well as the Director’s cut of Star Trek – The Motion Picture (last version of the first saga film).
As part of the retrospective Panic City, there will be seven screenings of movies turning cities a catalyst for horror: David Cronenberg’s The Naked Lunch, Don’t look now by Nicolas Roeg, God told me to by Larry Cohen and Christina Hornisher’s Hollywood 90028, the last three in 4k. Three Spanish movies will be also screened: Pedro Olea’s A House Without Boundaries, Alex and David Pastor’s The Last Days and Jose María Sánchez Álvaro’s Birds of the City closing the retrospective.
Despite not being strictly a classic, Gareth Evans’ The Raid will be screened in this context, because of the impact caused by its premiere in 2011. Other less known movies are Mary Lambert’s debut Siesta, Lake Michigan Monster by Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Psychic Vision: Jaganrei and by Japanese director Teruyoshi Ishii. Giallo master Lucio Fulci’s Door to silence will be part of the retrospective, along with The Mask of Satan, by Lamberto Bava, who also received an honorific award. A third Italian piece comes by the hand of Ruggero Deodato and the first part of its cannibal trilogy. The new extraterrestrials by Juan Piquer Simón will be screened in 4k and to close the section a double program of bruceploitation with Enter the Game by Tso Nam Lee and Dragon Lives Again by Chi Chih Lo.
Midnight X-Treme
To finish some bloody screenings to get you to bed, if you survive the day: All you need is blood by Cooper Roberts, Kill by Indian director Nikhil Nagesh Bhat; Mad Cats, by Reiko Tsuno; Kike Narcea’s boxing story Os reviento and The Well by Federico Zampaglione.
Afterwards The Wrath of Becky by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, Triggered, by Richard V. Somes, We are Zombies by the Canadian trio François Simard, Annouk Whissel and Yohan-Karl Whissel and, finally, Winnie the Pooh: Honey and Blood by British director Rhys Frake-Waterfield.
And, to warm up the motors, here you can watch the trailer for the Sitges Film Festival 2023.
