Amidst the sun-bleached fields of southern Italy, a farming family’s isolated existence becomes besieged by a sinister destiny in Sara Summa’s quietly devastating The Last To See Them, which has joined Cinepocalype’s massive lineup.
“In a powerful rejoinder to typical home-invasion thrillers, The Last To See Them memorializes an Italian family by depicting a seemingly normal day in their lives, as they prepare for a family wedding with no idea of the gruesome and shocking turn fate has in store for them.”
The annual Cinepocalypse event returns to the Music Box Theatre in Chicago this Thursday, June 13th and runs until June 20th.
Tickets for Cinepocalypse 2019 are now available.
From the press release regarding Cinepocalypse's slate of short films:
“Sponsored by Gunpowder & Sky’s Alter, this announcement comes with the unveiling of two exciting short film programs, as well as a lineup of shorts paired with previously announced Cinepocalypse features. First is a collection of haunting, surrealist psychological horror films—with brief detours into post-apocalyptic drama and absurdist comedy—we’re calling Shadows Within. Films featured in this program include The Follower, Stephanie Szerlip’s stylish contemporary reimagining of Joyce Carol Oates’ classic short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”; Muffin, a cutting horror-satire from Greek director Daniel Bolda that fans of Bolda’s countryman Yorgos Lanthimos will love; Sybil, Joanne Mitchell’s elegant, disturbing portrait of a necrophiliac mortician that made its world premiere at FrightFest in London; and nearly a dozen more, including two films from Chicago-based filmmakers.
Our second shorts lineup, to paraphrase Monty Python, is something completely different: A gory, sexy, druggy collection of wild crowd-pleasers programmed around the theme of Sex, Blood, And Heavy Metal. Featured in this program are Budfoot, a psychedelic horror-comedy starring Last Podcast On The Left’s Henry Zebrowski and Bay Area legend Skinner, and featuring special effects from Shane Morton, the mastermind behind Mandy’s Cheddar Goblin; Deep Tissue, Meredith Alloway’s kinky body-horror short that was a favorite at this year’s SXSW; and Switch, an NC-17 ode to queer desire and gender fluidity from Belgian director Marion Renard, along with eight other filmmakers from across Europe and the U.S.
Also featured at this year’s Cinepocalypse will be eight shorts hand-selected to pair with Cinepocalypse features, including Re-Home, a new work from festival veteran Izzy Lee starring Culture Shock director Gigi Saul Guerrero; When Larry Met Stanley, a documentary short featuring an unreleased interview with late genre legend Larry Cohen; and Brutal Realty, Inc., a black metal comedy short featuring Samhain’s London May (who will be in attendance).
In keeping with Cinepocalypse’s commitment to spotlighting women in genre filmmaking, 14 of the 29 shorts selected for this year’s festival were directed or-co directed by women. “With so many talented filmmakers submitting to Cinepocalypse this year, narrowing our selections down to even two short film programs was painful,” Cinepocalypse shorts programmer Katie Rife says. “But as difficult as it was at times, it’s also an immense privilege to get to introduce these up-and-coming talents to our incredible and enthusiastic audience.”
Shorts Program 1: Shadows Within
Deliria, Dr. Tomas Stark
Deliver, Dir. Ricardo Farias
The Follower, Dir. Stephanie Szerlip
Go To Sleep: A Lao Ghost Story, dir. Phet Mahathongdy
H’ilol, Dir. Julian Scalia
Muffin, Dir. Daniel Bolda
The Orchestra, Dir. Curtis Matzke
Short Leash, Dir. Lara Unnerstall
Sybil, Dir. Joanne Mitchell
Water Horse, Dir. Sean Temple and Sarah Wisner
Who You Are, Dir. Joel Jay Blacker
Shorts Program 2: Sex, Blood, And Heavy Metal
Budfoot, Dir. Tim Reis and James Sizemore
Critical Hit!, Dir. Briac Ragot
Deep Tissue, Dir. Meredith Alloway
Killer Of Killers, Dir. Don Swaynos
Road Trash, Dir Natasha Pascetta
Starlets, Dir. Marten Carlson
Switch, Dir, Marion Renard
Teacher’s Lounge, Dir. Josh Cruz
The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing, Dir. Sydney Clara Brafman
The Third Hand, Dir. Yoni Weisberg
WOMXN, Dir. Adrien Gystere Peskine and Eden Tinto Collins
Paired Shorts:
Bliss: Plays with Brutal Realty, Inc., Dir. Erik Boccio
The Lurker: Plays with Go Back, Dir. Matthew Barber
Ghost Killers Vs Bloody Mary: Plays with One In Two People, Dir. Ali Mashayekhi
Culture Shock: Plays with Re-Home, Dir. Izzy Lee
Punta Muerto (Dead End): Plays with Snaggletooth, Dir. Colin Bishopp
Satanic Panic: Plays with The Party, Dir. Julianna Robinson
Attack Of The Demons: Plays with Toe, Dir, Neal O’Bryan and Chad Thurman
Flatliners: Plays with When Larry Met Stanley, Dir. Katy Jensen and Mike Lewis