Shockproof Film Festival at TIFF 2018
One of the most eccentric film events in the world, Prague’s Shockproof Film Festival received carte blanche from the organizers of the 17th edition of the Transilvania International Film Festival.
The result is a section that promises to be deliciously interactive, slightly uncomfortable, and, doubtlessly, a must-see. Carte Blanche Shockproof Film Festival includes hilarious performances and screenings of underground horror films or productions of dubious taste which would probably horrify the more puritanical film-goers. Irreverent live interventions by the Czech festival team add a fourth dimension to the program. Without giving away too many of surprises in this special TIFF program, we can just promise that the show will be not only on screen, but also in the screening room.
José María Forqué’s Nexus (1994), which tells the story of an extraterrestrial dictator who receives orders from a talking crystal, will surely appeal to the fans of sci-fi. William Castle’s The Tingler (1959) rekindles our nostalgia for the horror movies of the 1950s, and features the legendary Vincent Price as a pathologist who discovers that fear stimulates the growth of a parasite in the human body—a parasite that can be neutralized only by screams. This was the first film that represented an LSD trip on screen—and will feature its own special trip in the screening room.
Trash Humpers, Harmony Korine’s bizarre and cynical 2009 experiment is an extreme challenge even for the most courageous of cinephiles. All we can say by way of warning is that four trash containers will have much to suffer during this vintage VHS screening. But the most exquisite entry in this section is provided by Maia Morgenstern’s turn in Anthony Hickox’s Exodus to Shanghai (2015), an unorthodox combo of Schindler’s List and Inglorious Basterds, partly filmed in Romania.
A selection of Czech shorts from the same cinematic register (as exemplified by one of the titles, Vaginator: Dawn of the Bitches) completes this program in which the shocks on screen compete with the shocks in the screening hall. Specially designed sets in a former industrial space now turned into the H33 hub in Cluj will encourage audiences to enter at their own risk and to freely express themselves. Let the show begin!
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The Transilvania International Film Festival is organized by the Association for the Promotion of Romanian Film and the Association for the Transilvania Film Festival.
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Support from: Ministry of Culture and National Identity, National Center for Cinematography, Cluj City Hall and Local Council, Romanian Cultural Institute, Cluj County Council, Creative Europe-MEDIA program of the European Union
Presented by: Staropramen
Principal sponsor: Banca Transilvania
Principal partner: Mastercard
Official car: Mercedes-Benz
Sponsors: Orange, HBO, MOL România, Lidl, Nespresso, Tenaris Silcotub, Avon
Official coffee: Nespresso
Official logistical partner: DHL
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Media partners: TV5, Europa FM, Adevărul, Dilema Veche, OK! Magazine, Historia, Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, Business Review, Zile și Nopți, Cinemap, Radio România Cultural, Observator Cultural, Scena 9, Life.ro, Cinemagia, BIZ, News.ro, A List Magazine, LiterNet, Urban.ro, AaRC.ro, Sinteza.
Local media partners: Erdèly Naplò, Făclia, Filmtett, Krónika, Monitorul de Cluj, Radio Cluj, Transilvania Reporter
Monitoring partner: mediaTRUST
