2023-10-10 10:13:41
Focusing on the female presence in film production is one of the great objectives of the International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, Sitgesstrengthened since 2021 with the strategic program WomanInFanwhich in this edition has brought out all the artillery with a special program, with expected premieres such as Club Zeroof Jessica Hausnerand notable guests, with the filmmaker Mary Lambert heading the poster. In addition, among the members of the official Jury, there are signatures such as the critic and writer Alexandra Heller-Nicholasauthor of Rape and Revenge Films o 1000 Women in Horror.
Through the day Fantastic Geogenre, dedicated to exploration and learning in the world of fantasy cinema, the festival has given even greater visibility to the role of women in different areas of the genre. Six fascinating round tables that have brought together some of the most creative minds in the European film industry to share their knowledge and experiences.
‘Leadership and references in the fantasy genre: the creation of a narrative by women filmmakers’ has been one of the great topics addressed, through a panel led by Silvia Pérez de Pablos, institutional director of Audiovisual at the SGAE Foundation. A meeting that included the participation of Angeles Huertadirector of the feature film with supernatural components The Open Body (2022); Agnieszka SmoczynskaPolish director responsible for titles such as The Lure (2015); y Milena Cocozzaone of the few Italian fantasy directors and responsible for the film Bed Number 6 (2019).
Pérez de Pablos introduced topics such as the support that these three filmmakers have received from the industry in their respective countries. Huerta spoke about the “difficulty of making films in Galicia, a very small territory in which we are all like family, and the use of the Galician language, our own, is a barrier in distribution”. “However“, he added, “In Galicia, the fantastic is deeply rooted and present in oral tradition. And that belongs more to women. Telling stories for centuries puts us Galician women in a good place.”. For its part, Smoczynska y Cocozza accentuated the difficulties in obtaining the money to carry out their productions “because there is no horror genre industry that is mainstream”.
Regarding the view of the fantasy genre created by women, Smoczynska commented that ““We film creators look for more complex characters, that’s what interests us the most.”. Huerta He pointed out “to the word, orality and narrative and how we express ourselves with more sensoriality.” Cocozza made reference to “the individual vision” and pointed out that “there is still no clear female narrative”.
The conference addressed the female subgenres of horror and the traditional use of the female body in the fantasy genre and the testimonies of Angeles Huerta, Agnieszka Smoczynska y Milena Cocozza They serve as evidence of how European fantasy directed by women increasingly contributes to the creation of new narratives and monsters.
Optimistically, Silvia Pérez de Pablos emphasized, by way of summary, that “yes there are new perspectives from directors; perspectives that go beyond the patriarchal side. We hope there are more and that there are more genres and subgenres with a female perspective.”.
Mary Lambert, Time Machine Award 2023
Mary Lambert, as one of the pioneers who have contributed to the history of fantastic cinema, receives the Màquina del Temps Award this year in Sitges. Born in Arkansas, she stood out in the 80s directing iconic music videos such as ‘Material Girl’ o ‘Like a prayer’ of Madonna. He later developed his career as a filmmaker and directed the terrifying 1989 The living cemetery, considered the first great success of the genre directed by a woman. Her brilliant adaptation of the novel by Stephen King It is an important horror classic that could be seen again in this edition of the Sitges Festival with the presence of its creator.
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