May | 2011 | Idea Fix

Bloodfest Fantastique Director’s Statement

May 23, 2011

“I know you alone understand the people I use to help me in these things, understand that they are only elements undergoing change to fuel the radiance of what I am Becoming. Just as the source of light is burning.”
– Francis Dollarhyde – Michael Mann Manhunter / Thomas Harris Red Dragon.

Transformation and metamorphosis. Change and evolution. The transcendence. These themes are at the heart of most horror and science fiction films. We are all just elements undergoing change to fuel the radiance of what we are becoming. And what we are becoming at present is Bloodfest Fantastique!

Welcome to Bloodfest Fantastique, an event we hope will become Australia’s first national festival of horror and science fiction cinema.

After the success of MUFF 11 I decided it would be a kick to start a new spin off festival that specifically dealt with two of my favorite cinema genres, horror and sci-fi. Bloodfest will be focused purely on these two wonderful genres and avoid the local film politics and other issues we deal with at MUFF. It will be a conduit of cinematic wonder and terror aimed at genre fans, cinephiles and movie geeks everywhere.

We will have a theme at Bloodfest as we do at MUFF. Why? Because that kind of thing is not done at Australia’s so-called “quality” film festivals. Most totally lack any personality and curatorial direction and distinction and we like to buck that trend. The theme of Bloodfest is futurism and barbarism. As we move further in to the 21st Century we see a lot of disharmony, discord and violence all around the world. The horror and dystopian science fiction film totally examines this situation and prepares us for what could be a bleak future. Harlan from Videodrome described it thus, “The West is getting soft, patrón, and the rest of the world is getting tough. Very, very tough. We’re entering savage new times and we’re going to have to be pure and direct… and strong… if we’re going to survive them.” It is in the spirit of these words from horror master David Cronenberg that we thematise our first festival.

We have an amazing program of films that speaks for itself. 21 sessions, over 9 days, at one venue. Streamlining is the name of the game. Just check them out here in our smorgasbord of cinematic mayhem and trouble making to whet even the most depraved genre fan’s appetite.

Enjoy the festival. I look forward to discussing cinema and existence with any of you during the festival. Just come up and say “hi”.

Best Regards

Richard Wolstencroft