Annnd we’re off! Imagine Fantastic Film Festival 2024 has begun. Starting today, we will keep you updated on yesterday’s news and today’s highlights through this daily blog. Want tips in your inbox? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter at the bottom of our homepage.
Quote of the day
‘Animation is cinema. Animation is not a genre.’ – Phil Tippett
Yesterday’s news (Thursday 24 October)
With three rooms full of guests watching Tallulah H. Schwab’s Mr. K, last night’s opening night was one of the more spectacular and busiest in Imagine history. Artistic director Chris Oosterom introduced the festival programme and thanked our sponsors, crew and, of course, our volunteers. Honorary guest and cult hero Crispin Glover, who was also in the audience, stars in Mr. K as an illusionist who gets trapped in a spooky hotel. A Kafkaesque premise which evolves into something more Lovecraftian, right up Imagine’s alley. A large round of applause erupted when the credits rolled, after which we went for drinks at the Kanariebar around the corner.
Imagine’s Career Achievement Award was presented to our Guest of Honour yesterday evening: special effects and stop motion magician Phil Tippett. After two Oscars Tippett is now the proud owner of an Imagine Sea Devil Award. The statue obviously puzzled the artist who created so many magical creatures himself. It’s a sea devil, Chris explained. Apparently Tippett thought it was a ‘heart with a dick coming out of it’ (which would have also been a great festival mascotte) – he didn’t bring his glasses. But he was more than honoured with the award and held a heartfelt speech in which he told us all to never forget about our inner child.
Today’s tips (Friday 25 October)
Phil Tippett Career Talk | 19:30 in LAB111 |Guest of Honour and stop motion ‘mad god’ Phil Tippett is coming to Imagine. Since the very first Star Wars Tippett has been the guy to go to for magical creature design. Examples? The Imperial Walkers from The Empire Strikes Back and ED-209 from Robocop. Tippett moved to digital since then, but his magnum opus Mad God (Club Imagine, 2021) proved he hadn’t lost his old analogue ways. Dan Hassler-Forest will engage in a conversation with Tippett about his work, inspirations and legacy. And there’s much more of Phil Tippett to be seen during the rest of the festival. Check out the programme!
Expanded: Uncanny Alley: A New Day | 17:00 & 18:00 in Galerie Beeldend Gesproken | This interactive live (!) VR show fits our festival theme 1984 Re:Imagined perfectly. This particular Big Brother is called ‘Adaptive-Learning Industries’, just as Orwell’s newspeak would have liked it. You will be one out of five prisoners forced to flee or fight. Fight the power twice a day over the next four festival days, in Galerie Beeldend Gesproken.
Infinite Summer | 16:40 in Filmhallen with a Q&A | This should have been a slasher, Miguel Llanso has said, focused on a bunch of friends in a summery cabin in the woods. But Infinite Summer became an entirely different beast: a coming-of-age film mixed with horror and sci-fi. Morals are murky, but that’s not to say the new high-tech dating app in this story comes without risk; quite the opposite. Lllanso will be joining us for a Q&A after the screening, answering all our questions.
Three | 19:10 in Filmhallen with introduction | From futuristic fantasy to ancient myth: has the main character from Three been possessed by a Djinn? Director Nayla Al Khaja, the first female filmmaker from the United Arab Emirates, leaves it up to us to decide. This Friday, the film will be accompanied by an introduction from Mezrab storyteller Sarah Montazeri.
Play: Exhibition and games in LAB111
Don’t Look in the Basement! Solid advice, but if you avoid the LAB111 basement during Imagine you will miss out on a creepy installation from Video Boy and Roel Weerdenburg, inspired by 1984, which sees ancient surveillance camera’s awakening after a 100-year sleep. Also in LAB: our interactive exhibition Interfaces of Reality, aka heaven for oldschool game nerds. You’ll find early Apple’s, Nintendo’s, Commodore’s en Atari’s on which you can play classics like Tetris, Mario Bros III and Prince of Persia! Booking ahead isn’t possible, so just drop by. Find more information here.
