SIFFs midnight screenings comprise some of my favorite experiences in a movie theater (usually The Egyptian) over the last two decades. That made looking at the 2021 Fests crop of WTF (Weird! Terrifying! Fantastic!) entries a bit of a bittersweet experience.
But glass half full, the WTF selections for SIFF 2021 offered an abject lesson in how much savvy and deep love SIFFs Curatorial Staff puts into their cult and midnight movie screenings. And all the strange upsides of a virtual festivalexercising complete control of your viewing environment, freedom to pause if needed, being able to watch festival films more than once without having to wait for the second screeningapply, in spades.
Censor (2021 | United Kingdom | 84 minutes| Prano Bailey-Bond)
One movie Im sure as hell going to watch more than once if possible is Censor, British director Prano Bailey-Bonds feature film debut. It isnt just that it cannily mines the 1980s Video Nasties witch hunt, one of the strangest, scariest chapters in British film and censorship history. Bailey-Bonds arresting cinematic eye and confident directorial hand incorporate elements of Argento, Cronenberg, and Polanski into something that pulses with its own strange life. It also indulges a pinch of noted Italian degenerate Ruggero Deodatos pointed snuff-film aesthetic, to chilling effect. If you need easy exposition and answers in your horror, stay away. Me, I kinda loved it.
Phantasmagorias (2021| Various Countries | 106 minutes | Various Directors)
The chills, and the WTF moments, came in bursts and slow burns alike in Phantasmagorias, SIFF 2021s WTF Short Film Program. This formats especially well-suited for home viewing, of course, with most of the shorts clocking in at about 10-15 minutes each. Couple this with the fact that the overall quality was good-to-amazing, and it genuinely felt like an embarrassment of riches.
Amidst an already strong package overall, three Phantasmagorias selections really stood out: Look What You Have Done!, a genuinely unnerving and nightmarish French-language psychological chiller; a gloppy, gory, unabashedly odd bit of body horror out of China called Bubble; Dar-Dar, a visually mesmerizing dark fairy tale from Errementari director Paul Urkijo Alijo; and The Haunted Swordsman, American filmmaker Kevin McTurks remarkable Japanese fable dramatized by a cast of detailed marionette puppets.
Get the Hell Out! (2021 | Taiwan | 96 minutes | I-Fan Wang)
The closest thing to a disappointment among the WTF entries was Get the Hell Out!, which played like a jittery sorta-spoof of Train to Busan. This Taiwanese rom-zom-com buzzes along with an infectious sense of fun and a slew of cant-miss ingredientssome great laughs and throwaway gags, a fun and likable cast, and some hilariously excessive gore and gut-munching. Alas, director I-Fan Wang navigates the shenanigans with the hyperactivity of a sugar-stoked grade schooler, an approach that exhausted the hell out of me, even as it undercut the character development.
Too Late (2021 | USA | 80 minutes | D.W. Thomas)
Theres just something about the metaphoric richness of Faust and its symbolic progeny that endures, and Too Late served up a genuinely funny variation on the oft-told story. Ron Lynch of Bobs Burgers fame plays Ron Devore, a legendary standup comic/comedy show host who periodically transforms into a grotesque, carnivorous monster. His assistant Violet (Alyssa Limperis) fills in for Faust here, waiting on Devore hand and foot and procuring him the odd standup comic snack in the hopes of furthering her career. Too Late doesnt bring anything revelatory to the table, but its a sometimes hysterical and surprisingly sweet horror-comedy thanks to Limperiss winning presence and an ensemble brimming with comedy talent (Fred Armisen, SNL alum Brooks Whelan, standup Barbara Gray, etc.).
Strawberry Mansion (2021 | USA | 91 minutes | Albert Birney, Kentucker Audley )
Last but most definitely not least, Strawberry Mansion offered a fanciful, odd, and unashamedly romantic contrast to the gore, darkness, and scares that dominated most of SIFFs 2021 WTF iteration. Kentucker Audley (who also co-directed with Albert Birney) plays James Preble, a government auditor charged with surveying, and taxing, the dreams of elderly Isabella (Penny Fuller). True to its subject matter, its a dreamlike little fable that draws from bits of Kurt Vonnegut, Charlie Kaufman, and Philip K. Dick, with visual style and vivid imagination that transcend its modest indie budget. Films that wear their quirkiness and heart-on-sleeve sentiment with this kind of affecting ease have a way of acquiring fervent cults. Sign me up as a member hereand yes, Im kinda aching to see it again.
Keep up with us during the festival on Twitter (@thesunbreak) and follow all of our ongoing coverage via our SIFF 2021 page.
See more here:
SIFF 2021, WTF Division: Censor, Strawberry Mansion, Too Late, Get the Hell Out!, and the Horror Shorts program - The SunBreak
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- Elon Musk calls X number one source of news in the worldand also a hardcore, player versus player platform - Fortune - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Asking is not censorship: No First Amendment bar for government to talk to publishers - New York Daily News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- X-Men: The Animated Series was defined by its censors - Polygon - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Justice Jackson lambasted for 'concern' 1st Amendment could 'hamstring government' in COVID censorship hearing - Fox News - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- The Beginning of the End for the Censorship-Industrial Complex? - National Review - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
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- Self-Pollinating Narrator of 'Wishtree' Called 'Indoctrination,' Virginia District Group Read Canceled | Censorship News - News Letter Journal - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- This Country Can't Afford A SCOTUS Weak On Internet Censorship - The Federalist - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Banning TikTok is just the first step to censorship - Point Park Globe - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- SCOTUS Ponders Whether Biden Administration Coerced Social Media Platforms To Censor Speech - Reason - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- In Virginia, Censors Attempt to Axe 'Wishtree' - Publishers Weekly - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Elon Musk Says Moderation Is a Propaganda Word for Censorship About Offensive X Posts - Rolling Stone - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- Supreme Court Makes A Mockery Of Free Speech - The Federalist - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- No matter how you view TikTok, banning the platform would be censorship - The Daily Orange - March 24th, 2024 [March 24th, 2024]
- China must look beyond censorship and economic power to win hearts and minds - South China Morning Post - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- 'The View' Producers Forced To Censor Ana Navarro's Expletive As She Talks About Biden - Daily Caller - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- How China Censors Critics of the Economy - The New York Times - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- A Startup Allegedly 'Hacked the World.' Then Came the Censorshipand Now the Backlash - WIRED - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
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- Let The Government Censor Away Through Agents It Controls, Say Cabal Of A.G.s To U.S. Supreme Court Wirepoints - Wirepoints - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
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- Censorship? That's just obscene! | Opinion | register-herald.com - Beckley Register-Herald - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Censorship in the West is the same as Mao's China, says Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei - Sky News - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
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- NYC teachers will exchange notes on how to get around censorship to teach kids about the genocide in Gaza - New York Post - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- The GOP Has a Plan for Online Safety. It Involves Censoring LGBTQ Content. - The New Republic - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
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- 'Gateway to Censorship': Journalist Bodies Express Concern Over Proposed Broadcasting Services Bill - The Wire - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- The Dangerous Pursuit of Journalism in Russia: A Harrowing Reality - Medriva - February 5th, 2024 [February 5th, 2024]
- Global censorship campaign raises alarms - Freedom of the Press Foundation - January 21st, 2024 [January 21st, 2024]
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- South Sudan's Battle with Censorship: Removing Hateful News Articles - The Organization for World Peace - January 21st, 2024 [January 21st, 2024]
- Intimidation leading to censorship in Wisconsin school libraries - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - January 21st, 2024 [January 21st, 2024]
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- Data Overwhelmingly Supports Libraries and Library Workers: Book Censorship News, January 5, 2024 - Book Riot - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Blame adults these days for censorship - Times Higher Education - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- CNN admits it runs all Gaza coverage through bureau monitored by Israeli military censor - Salon - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
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- Report highlights censorship and repression of Palestine solidarity across Europe - Morning Star Online - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- 2024, the year that four billion go the polls - Index on Censorship - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Government Internet censorship was imposed 196 times last year - 9to5Mac - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- In the shadows of self-censorship: The impact of the Cyber Security Act on Bangladeshs LGBTQ+ movement - Global Voices - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Jeffrey Wright Says Studio Hired a Replacement Actor to Dub Him After He Refused to Censor the N-Word in a Film: Nah. Thats Not Happening - Variety - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Comedian and musician Tom Smothers dies at 86: A victim of government and corporate censorship in the late 1960s - WSWS - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Polish pavilion selection at Venice Biennale gets political as rejected artist cries censorship - Art Newspaper - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Wartime censorship is necessary, but must be responsible - editorial - The Jerusalem Post - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Jeffrey Wright Says a Replacement Actor Dubbed His Lines When He Refused to Censor the N-Word - PEOPLE - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Judicial Watch Sues Biden Censorship Agency for Records Targeting Judicial Watch and Its President Tom Fitton - Judicial Watch - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Jeffrey Wright Says He Refused To Censor The N-Word In Ride With The Devil & Walked Away From Dubbing Film - Deadline - January 5th, 2024 [January 5th, 2024]
- Academic Bias and Censorship Are Huge Problems, and We Can Prove It - National Review - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Laws banning semi-automatic weapons and library censorship to take effect in Illinois - Toronto Star - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Here Are The States Urging SCOTUS To Allow Biden Admin To Coordinate With Big Tech To Censor Online Speech - Daily Caller - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- China Tries To Censor Data About Nearly 1 Billion People in Poverty - Newsweek - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Laws banning semi-automatic weapons and library censorship to take effect in Illinois - Firstpost - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Iowa School District removes over 70 books without following proper review procedures - Blogging Censorship - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Chinese election interference tests Taiwans capability to defend freedom of speech - Index on Censorship - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Laws banning semi-automatic weapons and library censorship to take effect in Illinois - Index-Journal - January 4th, 2024 [January 4th, 2024]
- Censorship and the case for institutional literacy - The Hill - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
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- Gary Simmons on Censorship, Minstrelsy, and the Scourge of Art Fairs - Interview - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
- Jeff Crouere: Censorship is un-American; free speech is the answer - The Franklin Sun - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
- Mother Russia. Who is the face of Russian online censorship, scourge of Russian rappers and Gen-Z icon - . - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
- Why Middle East scholars are self-censoring in the wake of the Israel-Hamas war - NPR - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
- "Keeping Your Mouth Shut: Spiraling Self-Censorship in the United States" - Reason - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]
- EU TARGETS Elon Musk's Twitter for MORE CENSORSHIP Over 'HAMAS PROPAGANDA': Rising Reacts - The Hill - December 20th, 2023 [December 20th, 2023]