Everyone at Imagine Fantastic Film Festival is mad about genre (right?). For our new interview series Faces of Imagine, our special guests, crew members and volunteers tell us all about the fantastic fiction they love.
This time: our very own Head of Marketing & Communications, Rabia Sitabi-Stigter. She started as a volunteer at Imagine 18 years ago (!) and has been working in the core festival team for the past three years.
Hi Rabia! What’s your favourite Imagine memory?
‘My favourite Imagine memory is the big opening in Tushinski, with Tim Burton. I got to meet a lot of famous people and got some of my books signed. That year was extra special for me.’
What’s your Staff Pick for Imagine 2024?
‘That would be either Kizumonogatari or Bramayugam. Bramayugam is a folkloric South Indian tale, with the legendary Mammootty. It’s gorgeous, it feels like The Lighthouse by David Eggers, which is a film I love. Kizumonogatari I’m just a really big fan of, I have all 21 books at home and it’s cool to see the anime version.’
Why do you love fantastic fiction?
‘Because to me it’s the most interesting of all the genre groups out there. It encapsulates horror, sci-fi, fantasy, cult, suspense, and it’s in the name: it’s the most imaginative, and it also has the most suspension of disbelief. You can do the craziest things in fantastic film.’
What’s your favourite fantastic genre?
‘Definitely horror. I specialise in international horror, so horror from South America, Asia, Africa… I love everything that’s non-conventional, non-mainstream. I like looking for really old, niche titles that no one here has been subjected to.’
What’s your favourite scary movie?
‘Probably a sci-fi film, Alien, and Aliens. However, asking me that question is a Sophie’s Choice for me, because I have different favourites for each subgenre. I also love Bulbbul, which is an Indian folk horror movie, and if we’re talking about slashers I love Scream, because I grew up with it. When it comes to zombie movies I’d probably say something different again, so, depending on the day and the mood you’ll get a different answer from me.’
What’s your favourite movie character?
‘Definitely the main character from Survive Style 5+ [Masahiro Ishigaki, played by Tadanobu Asano, red.]. That film has several genres in one. He’s constantly killing his wife, and every time he gets home she’s still there. They get into these epic fights, and he’s just so stoic about it. I won’t spoil the rest, but once the storylines come together he has a pretty awesome ending.’
In which fantasy world would you like to live?
‘I’d love to live in the late and great Wes Craven’s world. He had the best ways of bringing his nightmares to life. It’s weird to say you’d want to live in a fantasy world that’s built on nightmares, but at the same time it would be interesting. Fairies freak me out and I don’t like butterflies or anything that’s too colourful, so it would befit me to live in something by Wes Craven. Or Tim Burton! I love The Addams Family.’
Which fantastic gadget would you like to own, and what would you do with it?
‘There’s this Jim Carrey movie, Bruce Almighty, where he has godlike powers and I think some kind of remote control? Yeah, I think I’d like that remote control. I wouldn’t want people to know about my omnipotent powers, but I would like to pause things every now and then, and fix stuff in either my own life or other people’s lives. With great power comes great responsibility, though.’
Would you rather be a super hero or a master villain?
‘Definitely a master villain, haha. I think super heroes have this incredible burden of always having to be good, or nice. And I do see myself as a person who is kind, but I’m not always nice. So I’d rather just plot to take over the world and maybe even make it a better place, just not for everyone. I’d would be a villain to some, and a hero to others.’
Foto: Jamie Korbee
