Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce its complete slate of 2021 programming comprising 39 features, including 8 world premieres, 4 US premieres, and 17 West Coast Premieres. Following a sold-out residency at the Mission Tiki Drive-In in 2020, Beyond Fest returns to theaters for 10 days of cinematic excess from Wednesday, September 29th – Monday, October 11th. Built in partnership with the American Cinematheque, Beyond Fest will screen at the Legion Theatre, Aero Theatre, and Los Feliz 3 with all ticket sales going to the 501c3 non-profit film institution. Attendance to all screenings require physical proof of vaccination and guests must follow mandatory mask mandates.
With a diverse slate celebrating the most transgressive cinema, Beyond Fest is proud to open with the West Coast Premiere of Julia Ducornau’s Palme d’Or Winner TITANE at the historic Hollywood Legion Theater with the director in attendance. This screening also represents two world-firsts with TITANE playing in-theater for the first time on a never-before-seen 35mm print, while a drive-in screening simultaneously takes place outside.
Horror heroes Blumhouse return to Beyond Fest with two of the year’s most-anticipated features: HALLOWEEN KILLS and THE BLACK PHONE. Director David Gordon Green and producer Jason Blum will join in-person for the US Premiere of HALLOWEEN KILLS and participate in a post-screening Q&A that will be livestreamed globally as the culmination of the super-producers’ annual Blumfest. The latest shocker from power duo Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, THE BLACK PHONE, delivers the scares in their adaptation of Joe Hill’s beloved ghost story. Director Scott Derrikson will be attending the films’ West Coast Premiere.
Following it’s electrifying Cannes debut, jaw-drop cinema LAMB, will receive its West Coast Premiere with director Valdimar Jóhannsson and star Noomi Rapace joining in person, and agent provocateur Gaspar Noé is once-again championed with the West Coast bow of his devastating VORTEX featuring an astonishing performance from the maestro, Dario Argento. Lucile Hadžihalilović promises to shake the audience to its core with the US Premiere of her hallucinatory and mesmerising EARWIG, and acclaimed director Bernard Rose will be in attendance with his cast and crew for the world premiere of his latest film, TRAVELLING LIGHT. We descend into the frighteningly brilliant world of V/H/S with the West Coast Premiere of the brand new V/H/S 94 with talent in attendance, and an incredibly rare 35mm screening of the franchise’s original shockfest, V/H/S.
“Despite all of the adversity of the last 18 months, we’re incredibly thankful to have built a program that is as diverse and progrogressive as anything we’ve accomplished in our past nine years,” said Beyond Fest Head of Programming, Evrim Ersoy. “Recognizing this adversity, the generous support of filmmakers, studios, distributors, and our partners has also given us the opportunity to make over half of the program free to the film community of Los Angeles. It’s so good to be back in theaters where we belong.”
Icons of Cinema will be honored via a series of screenings over the course of the festival with the first being a celebration of four-time Academy Award® nominee Michael Mann with screenings of COLLATERAL and the 40th anniversary of THIEF with the director in attendance. VFX master Phil Tippett is joining us for a career-spanning Q&A between the West Coast debut of his highly-anticipated, magnum opus MAD GOD and his sci-fi-chef’s-kiss, STARSHIP TROOPERS. Also screening is the West Coast Premiere of the 4K restoration of Stanley Kubrick’s A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, and the legendary Udo Kier will discuss one of his most audacious roles with the theatrical World Premiere of the newly restored BLOOD FOR DRACULA. For the duration of the festival the Aero Theatre will be rebranded as the ‘MUBI Theatre’ in-keeping with the streamers’ mission to help cinema-lovers discover and watch beautiful, interesting, incredible films
Celebrating repertory classics from the beloved to the newly-discovered with a series of screenings, Beyond Fest will be home to the West Coast Premiere of the new 4K Restoration of Andrzej Żuławski seminal work, POSSESSION, the World Premiere of the newly-discovered, never-finished until now(!) 80’s Kung-fu-ploitation NEW YORK NINJA from the brilliant minds at Vinegar Syndrome with cast members Leon Isaac, Cynthia Rothrock, and original cast member Adrienne Meltzer in attendance, and the World Premiere of the new 4K Restoration of ‘ALISON’S BIRTHDAY’ as part of a folk horror double-bill, and a very special screening of 2020’s cult sensation THE EMPTY MAN with the director David Prior on-stage for an extended Q&A.
As a give-back to the film community of Los Angeles, all Beyond Fest programming at the Los Feliz 3 Theatre will be 100% free to all guests courtesy of our friends at ‘Shudder’,the premium streaming service for horror, thriller and supernatural films and series. Rebranded as the ‘Shudder Theatre,’ we will be screening a series of hotly anticipated titles spanning the World Premieres of Aharon Keshales tough-as-nails neo-noir SOUTH OF HEAVEN starring Jason Sudekis and Evangeline Lilly and Sam Walker’s eye-popping midnight sci-fi chiller THE SEED, to the highly anticipated West Coast Premieres of SXSW sensation THE FEAST, Ruth Paxton’s bone-chilling THE BANQUET, Dasha Nekrasova’s hallucinatory Berlin winnerTHE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST (on brand-new 35mm with the director in attendance), extreme horror THE SADNESS, Kier-La Janisse’s definitive folk-horror doc WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED, the Midnight Madness breakout SALOUM, in addition to three shorts blocks celebrating up-and-coming filmmakers. The Los Feliz 3 will also be home to a very special secret screening of XXXXXXXXX from the legendary director XXXX XXXXXXXXX.
Celebrating a commitment to the most transgressive cinema we have curated the ultimate late night sidebar with IFC Midnight to commemorate their 10-year anniversary. Reflecting their endlessly provocative slate, six free screenings, courtesy of IFC Midnight, will begin at the stroke of midnight: the brand-new restoration of Lars von Trier’s ANTICHRIST, THE BABADOOK, KILL LIST, MANIAC, THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE, and BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO.
Another significant 20-year anniversary is that of the world’s leading genre website, BLOODY DISGUSTING, who have joined us to program a day dedicated to three of the most important films in their celebrated history hosted by Bloody Disgusting’s The Boo Crew Podcast. Opening the day is the battle between the king of the monsters, FREDDY VS. JASON with writers Damian Shannon and Mark Swift in-person, genre superheroes Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett will be on hand to discuss YOU’RE NEXT after a rare 35mm screening, and closing out the event will be Fede Álvarez with world’s first theatrical screening of his uncut EVIL DEAD in all its glory.
“As an institution that values and champions the communal theatrical experience above all, it’s a joy to bring Beyond Fest back to our theaters,” said American Cinematheque Creative Director, Grant Moninger. “With the Aero Theatre, the Los Feliz 3, and our partnership with the Hollywood Legion Theater, film lovers across LA can experience Beyond Fest‘s incredible immersion of cinema together and on the big screen.”
In the digital space, Beyond Fest is presenting with Amazon Studios and Blumhouse Television the virtual panel ‘Women In Horror: The Female Perspective.’ Featuring an all-female roster of filmmakers including Gigi Saul Guerrero (Writer/Director, BINGO HELL), Axelle Carolyn (Writer/Director, THE MANOR), Maritte Lee Go (Director, BLACK AS NIGHT), Marcella Ochoa (Writer, MADRES), and Lisa Bruce (Blumhouse Television), ‘Women In Horror’ delves deep into the process, challenges, and cause for celebration experienced by female genre filmmakers. The panel will be available to watch for free online from 1st October on beyondfest.com and americancinematheque.com
Beyond Fest will continue to support the filmmaking community with the help of Final Draft who will be presenting three dedicated short blocks and supplying the selected films with a copy of Final Draft 12 as well as giving free entry for each of the selected budding screenwriters into Final Draft’s Big Break Screenwriting Contest.
See below for the full lineup of newly announced feature film titles for Beyond Fest 2021. Tickets will be on sale via americancinematheque.com on September 17th at 10AM PST. Visit beyondfest.com and the American Cinematheque for details.
Attendees will need to present both proof of vaccination and a valid ID at the theatre to be admitted into the event. (Last vaccination must be recorded as 2 weeks prior to the event). Reasonable accommodations will be provided to those needing it for religious or medical reasons with proof of a negative COVID-19 PCR test, taken within 72 hours of the screening. For more information regarding requirements, visit americancinematheque.com.
BEYOND FEST 2021 PROGRAM
LEGION THEATRE
TITANE
West Coast Premiere
Director: Julia Ducournau
Country: France, Belgium
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Julia Ducournau in person
HALLOWEEN KILLS
US Premiere
Director: David Gordon Green
Country: USA
Runtime: 106 Minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director David Gordon Green and producer Jason Blum in person
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MUBI THEATRE at the Aero Theatre
LAMB
West Coast Premiere
Director: Valdimar Jóhannsson
Country: Iceland, Sweden, Poland
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Valdimar Jóhannsson and actor Noomi Rapace in person
NEW YORK NINJA
World Premiere
Director: John Liu
Country: USA
Runtime:
Year: 1984
GUESTS: Actors Cynthia Rothrock, Leon Isaac and Adrienne Meltzer, Producer Kurtis Spieler and Brad Henderson in person
FREDDY VS. JASON
Repertory Screening
Director: Ronny Yu
Country: USA
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 2003
GUESTS: Writers Mark Swift and Damian Shannon in person
YOU’RE NEXT
Repertory Screening
Director: Adam Wingard
Country: USA
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 2011
GUESTS: Director Adam Wingard and Writer Simon Barrett in person
EVIL DEAD
Repertory Screening
Director: Fede Álvarez
Country: USA
Runtime: 96 minutes
Year: 2013
GUESTS: Director/Co-Writer Fede Álvarez in person
V/H/S/94
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jennifer Reeder, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows
Country: USA
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Simon Barrett, Chloe Okuno, Ryan Prows, Producers Brad Miska, Josh Goldbloom and composer Greg Anderson in person
V/H/S
Repertory Screening
Director: Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, Joe Swanberg, Radio Silence
Country: USA
Runtime: 116 minutes
Year: 2012
GUESTS: Director Simon Barrett in person
MAD GOD
West Coast Premiere
Director: Phil Tippett
Country: USA
Runtime: 83 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Phil Tippett in person
STARSHIP TROOPERS
Repertory Screening
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Country: USA
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 1997
GUESTS: Phil Tippett in person
COLLATERAL
Repertory Screening
Director: Michael Mann
Country: USA
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2004
GUESTS: Director Michael Mann in person
THIEF
Repertory Screening
Director: Michael Mann
Country: USA
Runtime: 122 minutes
Year: 1981
GUESTS: Director Michael Mann in person
VORTEX
West Coast Premiere
Director: Gaspar Noé
Country: France
Runtime: 144 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Gaspar Noé in virtual Q&A
POSSESSION
West Coast Premiere – 4K Restoration
Director: Andrzej Żuławski
Country: France, Germany
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 1981
THE EMPTY MAN
Repertory Screening
Director: David Prior
Country: USA
Runtime: 137 minutes
Year: 2020
GUESTS: Director David Prior in person
THE BLACK PHONE
West Coast Premiere
Director: Scott Derrickson
Country: USA
Runtime: 102 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Scott Derrickson in person
BLOOD FOR DRACULA
Repertory Screening
Director: Paul Morrisey
Country: Italy, France
Runtime: 106 minutes
Year: 1974
GUESTS: Actor Udo Kier in person
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SHUDDER THEATRE athe Los Feliz 3
WOODLANDS DARK AND DAYS BEWITCHED: A HISTORY OF FOLK HORROR
West Coast Premiere
Director: Kier-La Janisse
Country: USA
Runtime: 194 minutes
Year: 2021
ALLISON’S BIRTHDAY
World Premiere – 4K Restoration
Director: Ian Coughlan
Country: Australia
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 1981
SOUTH OF HEAVEN
World Premiere
Director: Aharon Keshales
Country: USA
Runtime: 120 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Aharon Keshales in person
THE SPINE OF NIGHT
West Coast Premiere
Director: Morgan Galen King, Philip Gelatt
Country: USA
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 2021
CODE NAME: NAGASAKI
West Coast Premiere
Director: Fredrik Hana
Country: Norway
Runtime: 70 minutes
Year: 2021
DR. CALIGARI
US Premiere – 4K Restoration
Director: Stephen Sayadian
Country: USA
Runtime: 80 minutes
Year: 1989
GUESTS: Director Stephen Sayadian, Writer Jerry Stahl, Director of Photography Ladi von Jansky
TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD
West Coast Premiere – Uncut Restoration
Director: Amando de Ossorio
Country: France, Portugal
Runtime: 101 minutes
Year: 1972
THE FEAST
West Coast Premiere
Director: Lee Haven Jones
Country: UK
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 2021
SALOUM
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jean Luc Herbulot
Country: Senegal, Congo
Runtime: 84 minutes
Year: 2021
THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST
US Premiere
Director: Dasha Nekrasova
Country: USA
Runtime: 81 minutes
Year: 2021
THE SEED
World Premiere
Director: Sam Walker
Country: UK
Runtime:
Year: 2021
THE BETA TEST
West Coast Premiere
Director: Jim Cummings
Country: USA
Runtime: 93 minutes
Year: 2021
THE MEDIUM
US Premiere
Director: Banjong Pisanthanakun
Country: Thailand, South Korea
Runtime: 131 minutes
Year: 2021
EARWIG
US Premiere
Director: Lucile Hadžihalilović
Country: France, Belgium, UK
Runtime: 114 minutes
Year: 2021
HOMEBOUND
West Coast Premiere
Director: Sebastian Goodwin
Country: UK
Runtime: 75 minutes
Year: 2021
SECRET SCREENING
xxxxxxxx Premiere
Director: xxxx xxxxxxxxx
Country: xx
Runtime: xxxxx minutes
Year: 2021
THE SADNESS
West Coast Premiere
Director: Rob Jabbaz
Country: Taiwan
Runtime: 99 minutes
Year: 2021
A BANQUET
West Coast Premiere
Director: Ruth Paxton
Country: UK
Runtime: 97 minutes
Year: 2021
AFTER BLUE (DIRTY PARADISE)
West Coast Premiere
Director: Bertrand Mandico
Country: France
Runtime: 127 minutes
Year: 2021
TRAVELLING LIGHT
World Premiere
Director: Bernard Rose
Country: USA
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2021
GUESTS: Director Bernard Rose, Actor Danny Houston, Tony Todd, Olivia D’Abo, Stephen Dorf and Matthew Jacob in person
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IFC MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS
ANTICHRIST
Director: Lars Von Trier
Country: Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2009
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE
Director: André Øvredal
Country: USA, UK
Runtime: 86 minutes
Year: 2016
KILL LIST
Director: Ben Wheatley
Country: UK
Runtime: 95 minutes
Year: 2011
BABADOOK
Director: Jennifer Kent
Country: Australia
Runtime: 91 minutes
Year: 2014
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO
Director: Peter Strickland
Country: UK
Runtime: 94 minutes
Year: 2014
MANIAC
Director: Franck Khalfoun
Country: USA
Runtime: 89 minutes
Year: 2012
