Razor Reel Fantastic Film Festival is the only genre festival in Flanders devoted to fantasy, horror and science fiction. RRFFF started in 2008 and is being held in Bruges. This town in the northwest of the country is the ideal place for the tourist, who is interested in mediaeval towns. The city centre is a World Heritage Site following the UNESCO. Some of you might have seen ‘In Bruges’. ‘In Bruges’ is a thriller written and directed by Martin McDonagh with Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as two hitmen, set in Bruges. You can see the film as a long commercial by the tourist office!
Meanwhile, RRFFF has grown up. There were 20 films screened at the first edition. Now there are 50 films selected in all the different sections. Note that all films are shown in their original version, sometimes with English subtitles. The festival became a member of the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation. That means that Razor Reel may organize a Méliès d’Argent European short film competition. The winner at Bruges is nominated for a Méliès d’Or for best European fantastic short film. This award will be handed out in 2013 at the Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival in Spain.
The fifth edition of RRFFF opens on the 25th of October with the comedy ‘Safety Not Guaranteed’ (2012, Colin Trevorrow) and ends on the 3rd of November with the thriller ‘The Seasoning House’ (2011, Paul Hyett). A lot of horror, thrillers, action and some sci-fi films are scheduled. The films are grouped into five sections. In ‘Fantastic Scope’ there are the Belgian premieres of thrillers, horror, bizarre comedies and cult films as ‘Branded’ (2012, Jamie Bradshaw and Aleksandr Dulerayn), ‘Unter Nachbarn’ (2011, Stephan Rick). In the section ‘Young Blood’ you will watch first and second films by directors such as ‘Tower Block’ (2011, James Nunn and Ronnie Thompson), ‘Citadel’ (2012, Ciaran Foy), ‘Errors of the Human Body’ (2012, Eron Sheean). Watch out for ‘Razor’s Edge’. This section contains more extreme films as ‘Dead Sushi’ (2012, Noboru Iguchi). Section ‘Brainsploitation’ shows documentaries, classic films and there is even time for learning something about the fantastic genre through lectures and a symposium. This section includes the Belgian premiere of the documentary ‘Ray Harryhausen: Special Effects Titan’ (2012, Gilles Penso). The Dutch Breda film festival BUT (B Movie, Underground and Trash) has chosen the three films in section ‘BUTTRR’: ‘Breakdown Reward’ (2012, Elias Georgopoulos), ‘Zlo’ (2012, Peter Bebjak) and ‘Hell’ (2011, Tim Fehlbaum).
I’d like to mention some side events. I look forward to the symposium ‘The End of the World’. You know, the Mayas and their calendar, isn’t this the year 2012? The symposium ends with a compilation of fragments and three shorts: ‘Midnight Wind’ (2012, Nicholas Fidala), ‘The End Of The World’ (2012, Christopher Downs) and ‘Outliers’ (2010, Lucas Krost). Rediscover some classics as ‘The Day the Earth Caught Fire’ (1961, Val Guest) and ‘Miracle Mile’ (1988, Steve De Jarnatt). Furthermore, there is a dealer’s room with books and films, an art show that focuses on fantastic film posters and a one-day workshop ‘The Young Filmmaker’. All these extra activities are free!
RAZOR REEL FILM FESTIVAL
25 October – 3 November 2012
Cinema Liberty, Cultuurcentrum Biekorf, Kinepolis, Bruges, Belgium
