The
list of guests who will attend the 11th edition of MOTELX –
International Horror Film Festival of Lisbon has been revealed. As announced in
July,
Roger Corman and
Alejandro Jodorowsky will be the
Festival’s guests of honour. Both directors will be awarded the MOTELX – Masters
of Horror distinction and will give masterclasses and autograph sessions
(Corman on the 6th and Jodorowsky on the 9th of
September).
The
judging panel of the MOTELX – Best Portuguese Short Film 2017/Méliès d’Argent
is composed by the actress
Maria João
Bastos, the Turkish director
Can Evrenol and
Carlão, a musician also known as “Pacman” from Da Weasel. The
MOTELX – Best European Horror Feature Film Award 2017/Méliès d’Argent will be
handed out by the actors
Rogério Samora
and
Iris Cayatte, as well as
Kim Newman. Writer, critic and broadcaster,
Newman is considered one of the great horror genre specialists. He is the
author of the “Anno Dracula” series and acts as a contributing editor of Sight
& Sound and Empire magazines. In addition to his jury duties, Newman will moderate
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s masterclass.
Several
international film directors will be present at the Festival, starting with
Stefan Ruzowitzky, winner of the
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2007 with “The Counterfeiters”.
The Austrian director is coming to MOTELX to present “Cold Hell” with the young
German actress
Violetta Schurawlow,
who plays a role in this film that alludes to Lisbeth Salander in “The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo” and Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver”. The most famous name
of Dutch horror, author of “De Lift” (1983) and “Amsterdamned” (1988), is also
confirmed.
Dick Maas is coming to
Lisbon to present “Prey”, a variation of “Jaws” with lions and a distinct style
of dark humour.
In addition to his jury duties in the Best Portuguese Horror Short Film competition, Can Evrenol returns to
MOTELX with his first feature film in English, “Housewife”. The Basque
Roberto San Sebástian presents “The
Night of the Virgin”, a film that subverts conventions as if a character from
“American Pie” was suddenly trapped in the universe of Sam Raimi or Rob Zombie.
Erlingur Óttar Thoroddsen comes from
Iceland to present “Rift”, a LGBT horror film that has the beautiful and dark
landscapes of the island as a background. From Northern Europe also comes
Taneli Mustonen with “Lake Bodom”, a
Finnish slasher movie that breathes new life into the genre. From the United
Kingdom,
Rupert Jones brings us
“Kaleidoscope”, a thriller starred by his brother Toby Jones that echoes
Hitchcock’s “Psycho” and Polansky’s “The Tenant”.
Ryan Prows completes the list of international directors present at
the Festival. Along with the actress
Nicki
Micheaux, Prows will be presenting his debut feature film “Lowlife”,
described as a “variation of Tarantino for the Trump era”.
We
also highlight the presence of
Birgit
Minichmayr, who after roles in films like “Downfall” or “The White Ribbon”
comes to Portugal to present “Animals” by Greg Zglinski.
MOTELX
also gathers many well-known Portuguese guests. In addition to Maria João Bastos,
Rogério Samora, Carlão and Iris Cayatte in the judging panel, the actors
Rita Blanco,
Pêpê Rapazote,
José Raposo,
Soraia Chaves e
Ricardo Carriço will be attending the Festival for the live reading
of the script of “Linhas de Sangue”, a short film by Manuel Pureza screened at
MOTELX in 2011 that he is now developing into a feature film. The reading will
take place at Cinema São Jorge’s Sala 2 on 10 September (17:30).
In the
parallel events of the Festival, highlight to literature.
Kier-La Janisse and
Daniel
Bird will discuss their books on Jean Rollin and Walerian Borowczyk at the
Blood and Roses session, and
Filipe Melo
will be presenting “Edgar Allan Poe's Best Tales”, a collection published by
Saída de Emergência. MOTELX will also organise an After Hours Writing Marathon
(It’s Alive!): to complete the challenge of writing a horror tale in one night,
participants will be mentored by Kim Newman,
Rui Cardoso Martins and
Filipe
Homem Fonseca, whom they will be able to talk to in Speed Meeting sessions.
Tickets
to MOTELX are already on sale on
ticketline.pt and associated outlets, as well as in Cinema São Jorge and Teatro Tivoli BBVA.
It is
worth remembering that MOTELX’s
Warm-Up
starts on the 31st of August with a concert by Acid Acid and an open-air
screening of “Jodorowsky’s Dune” at Beco do Bar Lounge (Rua da Moeda, Cais do
Sodré). The events will continue on the following day at FNAC Chiado, with the
live commentary of John Carpenter’s “They Live” by Manuel João Vieira, and
Latin horror classics at Cinemateca Portuguesa (also on the 4th of
September). Saturday is the day of “Dawn of the Dead” at Largo de São Carlos,
complete with a zombie meet-up in tribute to George A. Romero. The night
finishes at Sabotage with a concert by Portuguese rock band Glockenwise.
The complete programme
of MOTELX is available at
www.motelx.org.