Indie
‘Hounds of Love’ the Big Winner of Inaugural Overlook Film Festival
As its inaugural run comes to a close, the Overlook Film Festival has the great pleasure of announcing its first year juried and audience awards. Culled from a stellar lineup of 39 films (22 features and 17 short films from 16 countries), the festival’s features and short film juries deliberated over the course of the event, publicly revealing the winning selections at the special closing night secret screening of A24’s It Comes at Night review().
The features jury consisted of Eric Kohn (Indiewire), Alicia Malone (Fandango), and Sam Zimmerman (Shudder). The jurors chose to honor director Ben Young’s Hounds of Love (read my review here) as the Best Feature at the festival stating, “Hounds of Love blew us away with its brilliant combination of gripping horror conventions and kitchen sink realism. Rich with tense performances and complex insight into working class struggles, it’s all the more impressive because it’s a first feature. We’re going to be talking about the movie – and this filmmaker – for a long time.”
Additionally, the jurors highlighted Brandon Christensen’s Still/Born (read Kalyn’s review), giving it the festival’s Scariest Feature Award. They noted that, “Still/Born freaked us all out in the best way possible. As a worthy entry in the classic sub genre of pregnancy horror stretching back to Rosemary’s Baby, it combines visceral chills and a creepy atmosphere into a perfectly terrifying package.”
Filmmaker Rodney Ascher (Room 237), critic Meredith Borders (Birth. Movies. Death.), and Toronto International Film Festival Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky oversaw the jurying duties for the short film selections at this year’s festival. After much deliberation, the jury returned with the following statement:
“Out of a very strong programming lineup, the 2017 Overlook Film Festival shorts jury found it no easy task to choose a best of the fest. But ultimately, we were in agreement about two films in particular. We’re thrilled to award Robin Comisar’s singular and extremely effective “Great Choice” the prize of best short film, with an honorable mention going to Remi Weekes’ “The Tickle Monster” for scariest short.”
The Overlook Film Festival’s audience chose Hounds of Love as the recipient of this year’s Audience Award for Best Feature. Among the short films programmed at the festival, the audience overwhelmingly voted for Damien LeVeck’s “The Cleansing Hour” as the Best Short Film.
Discussing his experience at the very first Overlook Film Festival, Master of Horror honoree Roger Corman said, “not only was the Overlook Film Festival a wonderful experience and my discussion with Mick Garris one of the best I’ve ever been involved in, but I was especially pleased with the axe given to me as a trophy.”
To keep up to date with The Overlook Film Festival, visit http://www.overlookfilmfest.com
Her House of Horrors, the horror division of Independent Production House WOMXNOGRAPHY, has launched its Bite Size Short Grant Program, ahead of its film festival Dollhouse of Horror, which will take place in March 2025 in Los Angeles, CA.
The Bite Size Short Grant Program awards $2,000 film grants to female-identifying and queer horror filmmakers. Shorts must be able to be made for $2,000, with a minimum runtime of 8 minutes. Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway, and are being judged by a panel of horror lovers and content creators.
The 2024 Bite Size Short Grant Program judge lineup is as follows:
“James H. Carter II- A documentary director, film producer, podcaster, marketing specialist, and writer. James is the founder and co-owner of Creepy Kingdom. Creepy Kingdom was founded in 2011 and is a multimedia website, and production studio specializing in creepy content. Their primary focus lies at the intersection of childlike fantasy and the macabre, covering horror films, theme parks, haunts, and much more. Beyond their extensive media coverage, Creepy Kingdom hosts events, offers original merchandise, and engages in film production under the Creepy Kingdom Studios brand producing original films like “Foolish Mortals”, exploring Disney’s “Haunted Mansion” fan culture, and “Georgie”, featuring Tony Dakota from the original “It” miniseries.
“In addition to founding Creepy Kingdom, James has won awards for his documentary work, including the award-winning “Foolish Mortals,” which has earned him recognition. He has been featured on Freeform’s 31 Nights of Halloween special.
“Ashleeta Beauchamp is the editor-in-chief of Peek-A-Boo! Magazine, a cheeky horror magazine created to uplift marginalized writers, artists, models and other creators within the horror community. She also runs The Halloween Coalition, a community group to provide support and marketing for horror and Halloween events around the Southern California area.
“Titeanya Rodríguez is a multi-hyphenate creative, and the founder and owner of HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, home of DOLLHOUSE OF HORROR and the horror division of WOMXNOGRAPHY. As a fellow storyteller and a self-proclaimed artivist, Titeanya’s mission is to create opportunities for women of color and queer women, across film, tv, sports, music, and beyond. She is also the creator of the BITE SIZE SHORT grant program.”
Winners will have a one-night theatrical screening at Regal Cinemas. Submissions Close April 8 at Midnight. Winners will be announced on May 27, 2024. Shorts must be shot and through post-production by June 30, 2024. The screening will take place on July 8, 2024, in Los Angeles, CA.
WOMXNOGRAPHY, HER HOUSE OF HORRORS, and Rodriguez are represented by Azhar PR, Granderson Des Rochers, and Kinsella Holley Iser Kump Steinsapir.
To submit your short to the Bite Size Short Grant Program, go to the FilmFreeway link here.
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