Sitges Film Festival 2019 – Day 6: Exhibitions and Sitges Experience

If the myth is true, I am supposed to die soon. Probably this week. Because today I saw Antrum (2018), called to be “The Deadliest Film Ever Made”. The screening of the movie is introduced by a 15 minutes documentary where they explain the story of a so-called cursed horror film from 1979 called Antrum, and everyone who has seen it dies. Very soon, and in horrible accidents. Burning theaters due to spontaneous combustion of the audience, deceased festival programmers, all sorts of –ahem– documented cases with testimonies and documents certifying there is something bad going on with this film. But, after all the bogus mockumentary, what about the Antrum film itself? Well, it’s a well done The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)-type flick, enjoyable enough. The movie wouldn’t be so disappointing if there was only the supposed-to-be original footage, but all the fake mythology of damnation surrounding the screening was just lame.

And from one extreme to the other, Harpoon (2019) is a little survival film about rivalries, dark secrets, and sexual happening between three best friends stranded on a yacht in the middle of the ocean. For a little longer than one hour, starvation and thirst are not the only dangers the youngsters will have to deal with. Dosed with some comedic moments, the film is smart enough to evolve with several surprising plot twists right when the action is getting too tedious. Not a bad film.

The Antenna (2019), called Bina in original Turkish language, is a surrealistic movie with influences of David Cronenberg and David Lynch about a dystopian Turkey with a mind-controlling government. The social criticism is only the excuse for a dark film, heavy, boring and tedious, with a very excessive running time of 2 hours. Visually is very talented, and the acting is more than decent, but the story and narrative are just annoying.

Leaving the movies aside, what is this so-called “Sitges Experience”? Sitges Film Festival is not only a film festival. And the small village of Sitges takes big part in that. The whole town is decorated with horror and science-fiction motives, all the inhabitants befriend monsters for 10 days, the main avenue on the seaside is filled with small tents of all kinds of horror merchandise, and exhibitions take place in museums and galleries. Alongside the official exhibitions centering the universe of Mad Max, the theme of this year’s festival, one exhibition outstands from the rest. “Art of Comic and Movies” congregates 120 art pieces from 32 artists from around the world giving their own personal vision of the Disney universe. The exhibition is already open for the public, but on Thursday the 10th a special opening party will take place at L’Art i Cafè gallery, 10 – 12 Carrer de Joan Tarrida, Sitges. The event starts at 7 pm and it’s free entry.