Talking Film Style With Directors From Horrible Imaginings Film Festival
Welcome back to the KPBS cinema junkie podcast, I’m Beth Accomando. I just survived three gloriously horrific days at the Horrible Imaginings Horror Film Festival and I have a few things to share. First of all, let me congratulate Miguel Rodriguez on a great festival that truly pushes the envelope on how we define the horror genre. Films ran the gamut from splatter gore comedy to reflective personal narratives about real world horrors. And kudos to the audience for being open to such a diverse range of films, and there was a decent size core audience who stayed for everything. I had a chance to speak with two young filmmakers whose work shows exciting promise and wildly different approaches to filmmaking. Erick oom-su-man-jee is a UCSD student filmmaker who comes from Tanzania and Gigi Saul Guerrero hails from Mexico but now lives in Canada. Both had films screening at Horrible Imaginings. Erick’s film, My Mother’s Songs, challenges viewers with a slow pace and poetic, non linear narrative that leaves lots of time for reflection as he reveals stories of personal horror from his home country of Tanzania. Gigi on the other hand, is enamoured with extreme horror and splatter gore and for her short El Gigante she delivered what she calls Texas Chainsaw massacre, but luchador style. Her production company is aptly named Luchagore. I spoke with both filmmakers during the very brief breaks at the horror packed festival that screened at MoPA. This is the first year at MoPA and it is a gorgeous theater but a real challenge to watch 12 hours of film with no food and only water allowed in the theater. Thanks for listening to the Cinema Junkie Podcast. I will post audio from the Sunday evening panel about Edgar Ulmer’s 1944 film Bluebeard. The panel featured his daughter Ariane Ulmer Cipes and biographer Noah Isenberg. And coming up in October I will have a month of horror podcasts including one about the first film that people remembering scaring them. Till our next film fix, I’m Beth Accomando your resident cinema junkie. Remember to subscribe to my podcast on iTunes so you don’t miss anything, and check for reviews on Thursdays and interviews on Friday. And if you haven’t already taken a listen to my interview with Miguel Rodriguez about Horrible Imaginings, I suggest you do so now. Thanks again!
