FESTIVAL REPORT: 2007 SITGES INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
By Alex Ballard
 

Sitges is a sleepy little town near Barcelona, on the north-eastern coast of Spain. 

It's a resort that, once the summer tourists head home, becomes a very pleasant and tranquil haven - at least until the festival rolls into town!  During every October for last forty years screams have echoed across the bay as the town once again becomes the venue for one of Europe's premier horror and fantasy film festivals.

So Penny Blood headed to the Costa Dorada for the International Fantasy Film Festival of Catalunya 40th anniversary festival, which brought with it a host of guests, fans, premieres and classic cult movies.

During the event, we spent time with the likes of George Romero, Robert Englund, Park Chan-wook and Rutger Hauer to name but a few, as well as undertaking an epic mission to see the very best of what was on offer.  Thankfully this year's two week event was relatively light on press conferences - allowing more time for watching movies - but with a wide and, at times, confusing screening schedule, perhaps the only downside of Sitges is that you always come away having managed to miss something you really want to see.

As with each of the four Sitges festivals that this writer has been fortunate enough to attend, the action takes place in three main venues - The Auditori, Casino Prado and El Retiro.  Amongst the highlights of the movies at the 1,500-seat Auditori theatre were Bladerunner - The Final Cut and George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead, both of which need no introduction.

The latest version of Ridley Scott's masterpiece looked simply incredible on the huge screen of the Auditori - and Romero's Diary is a must-see.

Horror fans should also keep at least one eye open for the release of The Signal, an entertaining black splatter comedy that explores what might be described as the end of the world, when the inhabitants of Mother Earth are turned into psychopaths by a mysterious microwave message distributed via the airwaves.

Across the other side of town is the Casino Prado, a classically designed and beautifully maintained two-tiered theatre where Grindhouse played on the festival's final night.  Two other movies shown in the Prado and worth a mention were American Zombie, a dry and cunningly composed mocku-drama about real undead life in America, and Mister Lonely, the latest film by Harmony Korine (Gummo, 1997). The latter is a strange journey through the world of a Michael Jackson lookalike moving from his Parisian home to a commune of fellow lookalikes in the Scottish Highlands; meanwhile Werner Herzog stars in the film's subplot, which follows the antics of a group of skydiving nuns in South America... and yes, it's as good as it is odd.

Finally we come to El Retiro, this writer’s third favorite venue in Sitges but always one with some quality offerings.

This time Sukiyaki Western Django went down a treat, and whilst the new Andy Lau movie A Battle Of Wits arguably suffered from having its press screening at 8am, it is an absolutely excellent film.  Retiro also showcased my top pick of the Spanish cinema I saw at Sitges this year; the superb Los Cronocrímenes or Time Crimes, written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo - a film well worth checking out.

One extra special aspect of any Sitges festival is the Brigadoon screenings; depending on the theme of the festival, Sitges shows a number of cult classic movies for free in the Retiro Jardin, as well as several other locations. Of course, with the festival sharing its anniversary with arguably the first “modern” horror movie - Night of the Living Dead - there was only one choice for the big screen. Joining the classic on the Brigadoon program were Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, but, disappointingly, a thunderstorm on the first night of the festival made a mess of the following week's programming schedule, meaning that I didn't get to see them.

However there was a host of other movies shown outdoors, including some Fu Manchu double bills.

As always during the festival's closing ceremony, the jury, consisting this year of Zoë Bell, Ruggero Deodato, Mark Palansky, Casimiro Torreiro and Eloy Azorín, chose their favorites and distributed the accolades accordingly.

Winner of the prestigeous Best Film award went to The Fall by Tarsem Singh, an epic fantasy movie centered on a hospitalized little girl and the tale she tells to a bedridden man.  The duo of Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza were handed the Best Director award for REC, a horror/survival film that will keep you on edge throughout. REC's leading lady, Manuela Velasco, walked away with Best Actress whilst Best Actor went to Sam Rockwell for Joshua.  The rest of the awards were dominated by the East, with Chung Seo-kyung and Park Chan-wook winning Best Script for I'm a Cyborg But That's OK, as well as Takashi Miike's Sukiyaki Western Django netting two for Best Cinematography and Best Production Design.