First Sunday of the festival, and today we are closing the first week. Yes, it has been a short week, the festival just started last Thursday, but it has been an intensive one. Many things happened and lots of movies have already been screened. But let’s leave this aside for a little bit and let’s focus on one thing almost as important as the fans and their experience: The guests.
Who has been this weekend in Sitges might have had the chance to meet face to face, bumping into them on the streets or waiting for them at the Red Carpet, some of the most renown personas in the horror business we adore so much. Guests like Santiago Segura, Javier Botet, Ana Lily Amirpour or Barbara Crampton pleased us with their presence in order to attend to greet the fands and attend to some events organized by the festival. Filmmakers like Guillermo del Toro, Jaume Balagueró, Franka Potente, Johnnie To or Coralie Fargeat presenting their new works. Robert Englund being the guest of honor in this Saturday’s Zombie Walk. Classic directors like Dario Argento and William Friedkin attending to special screenings for some of their most important films like Suspiria (1977), The Exorcist (1973) and Sorcerer (1977).
A special mention for Susan Sarandon, who received the Grand Honorary Award. She was object to a Q&A session that became one of the most inspiring moments of the festival so far. She affirmed she would like to see and even direct some porn done more from the women point of view, and she shared with the assistants of her chat some of her experienced knowledge. She also shared some personal thoughts like the statement that “the bravest thing in a relationship is to be vulnerable, to allow to see themselves as nobody else does. Believable connections, open to another person in a way that is true”. She also admitted she is a sucker for love stories, but it is very hard to find good ones highlighting the recent titles The Shape of Water (2017) and Her (2013).
She also stood out for the magic of cinema to connect with the audience. “I wanna see people connect when I go to the cinema, take that tiny step towards each other. It is up to individual filmmakers, not Hollywood, to get humanity. In Hollywood they have banker minds, not artists, it is not their business to innovate, they are mostly dinosaurs, a bit confused about how to spend their money, making movies about the guys they want to be and the women they want to fuck. All the faith is in independent filmmakers”.
At some point, someone from the audience asked her if she would like to go back to the stage, and she compared Theater and Cinema to making love and masturbating. “With the first you have a relationship, with all the scary it can get, having an audience; and with the other, you’re just with yourself getting that little moment right”.
On how she prepares a role that is far away from herself, a difficult role, she stated “acting has taught me we are more similar than we think. Everybody is afraid of the same things, everybody wants the same things. Opening your heart and jumping in. We are not that different, we’re capable of doing things we never thought in certain circumstances we didn’t expect”, adding “this profession, it’s something you do because you want. Something if you don’t do, it hurts”.
And to finish the session, Susan Sarandon left two very wise thoughts. “As the world is falling apart around us, stories are much more important. You (actors, directors, scriptwriters) are the keepers of the dreams”. “Imagination is the enemy of fascism”.
Movies of the day:
- Wind River (2017) 8/10 – A sublime thriller in the snowed meadows of Wyoming. Great performances and a delicious direction all wrapped up with the music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. [Read full review here]
- Thelma (2017) 6,5/10 – A story about an adolescent girl with special powers, that will have to confront herself and her fears in order to become an adult. An interesting departure point that gets a bit lost in the way. [Read full review here]
- Darkland (2017) 6/10 – An interesting thriller from Denmark, with revenge, fights and the values of friendship.
- Revenge (2017) 7/10 – When a situation is taken to an extreme, when the prey becomes the hunter, violence is the only result. And this film outstands from leaving aside logic to focus on vengeful pure bloody violent entertainment. [Read full review here]
- A Ghost Story (2017) 6,5/10 – An original, completely different from what you’ve seen, ghost story. Very much from a ghost point of view. Where the time expands. And you get that universal feeling that everything is relative and unimportant. Yet, with a lot of humanity. A project that takes risks and should be valued for that. [Read full review here]
