The 2017 Ithaca Fantastik (IF) film festival returns to Ithaca, New York, November 3 to 12, 2017; and with less than a month and a half to go, IF is revealing, its first wave of titles, and an inspired retrospective.
Returning audiences will notice an expanded schedule as the festival grows from half a week to a full nine days. The festival’s two weekends will be dedicated to the best in current genre and festival cinema, with the week between featuring classic retrospective selections.
The first weekend begins with the return of the CINEMA PUR miniseries, from Finnish action comedy SAMURAI RAUNI (Mika Ratto, Finland) to the hyper-real dark fairy tale TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (Issa Lopez, Mexico). Turkey and Canada are well-represented again this year, with the SXSW award-winner INFLAME (Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik, Turkey), and the TIFF midnight madness selection THE CRESCENT (Seth A. Smith, Canada).
The lineup wouldn’t be complete without a little witchcraft – HAGAZUSSA: A Heathen’s Curse (Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany) will haunt viewers long after the screening. Rounding out CINEMA PUR, the documentary BIGHT OF THE TWIN (Hazel McCarthy, US), about the personal journey of avant-garde performance artist Genesis Breyer P-Oridge, interlaces belief and grief in a beautiful and unexpected way.
The 40th Anniversary of the Giallo masterpiece SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento, 1977) provides an excellent occasion to revisit Italian exploitation classics with fresh eyes. The festival retrospective, ITALIANO PSICHEDELICO, will focus on the amazing visuals these inspired directors put on-screen. Selections include late 60s to mid 70s Italian films SUSPIRIA (Dario Argento, 1977), AUTOPSY (Armando Crispino, 1975), LE ORME (Luigi Bazzoni, Mario Fanelli, 1975), BABA YAGA (Corrado Farina, 1973), DEADLY SWEET (Tinto Brass, 1967), as well as more titles to be announced in wave two!
Continuing the weekend lineup, the festival will feature slasher comedy TRAGEDY GIRLS (Tyler McIntyre, UK), Tribeca award winner THE ENDLESS (Benson and Moorhead, USA), Graham Skipper’s directorial debut SEQUENCE BREAK (USA), Nordic ghost tale I REMEMBER YOU (Oskar Thor Axelsson, Iceland), and a twisted take on the timeloop trope A DAY (Sun-Ho Cho, South Korea).
Ithaca Fantastik would not be complete without its midnight series, featuring the riveting zombie comedy ZOMBIOLOGY (Alan Lo, Japan) and the surprising BRAVE STORM (Junya Okabe, Japan), which can be best described as an inventive and improbable mix between Terminator and Evangelion.
2017 Ithaca Fantastik First Wave of Films
BIGHT OF THE TWIN (Ithaca Premiere)
Hazel Hill McCarthy III, US
BRAVE STORM (North American premiere)
Junya Okabe, Japan
THE CRESCENT (Ithaca Premiere)
Seth A. Smith, Canada
A DAY (East Coast Premiere)
Sun-Ho Cho, South Korea
THE ENDLESS (Ithaca Premiere)
Benson and Moorhead, USA
HAGAZUSSA (Ithaca Premiere)
Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany
INFLAME (East Coast Premiere)
Ceylan Ozgun Ozcelik, Turkey
I REMEMBER YOU (Ithaca Premiere)
Oskar Thor Axelsson, Iceland
SAMURAI RAUNI (North American Premiere)
Mika Ratto, Finland
SEQUENCE BREAK (Ithaca Premiere)
Graham Skipper, USA
TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID (East Coast Premiere)
Issa Lopez, Mexico
TRAGEDY GIRLS (Ithaca Premiere)
Tyler McIntyre, UK
ZOMBIOLOGY: ENJOY YOURSELF TONIGHT (Ithaca Premiere)
Alan Lo, Hong Kong
Retrospective ITALIANO PSICHEDELIKO
AUTOPSY
Armando Crispino, 1975
BABA YAGA
Corrado Farina, 1973
DEADLY SWEET
Tinto Brass, 1967
LE ORME
Luigi Bazzoni, Mario Fanelli, 1975
SUSPIRIA
Dario Argento, 1977