FANCINE WILL OPEN ITS 31st EDITION WITH ‘SILENT NIGHT’

The festival has announced its opening film, as well as the competing shorts and other sneak peaks of the program

Fancine finally has an opening film. The fantastic film festival from the University of Málaga has revealed the film with which it will begin its new cinephile experiment, dedicated in this 31st edition to science, on the gala celebrated the 10th of November in the Albéniz theatre. It will be ‘Silent Night’, a Christmas movie with a catastrophic twist which, as opposed to the last two years, will not be part of the Official Section of the competition. After years in the industry and directing short films, director Camille Griffin debuts with this feature film that stars Keira Knightley (‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘Pride & Predjudice’), Lily-Rose Depp (‘Yoga Hosers’) and Roman Griffin Davis (‘Jojo Rabbit’), among others.

The film had its premiere in TIFF. It follows a group of friends and family who meet to celebrate the festivities, unaware that a terrible event will bring the end of the world. The filmmaker explores the dark and hidden sides of maternal instinct, as well as the lengths we would go to protect our loved ones. 

Fancine has also released three other titles that join the program. First of which is ‘In the Earth’, the new film by Ben Wheatley (‘Free Fire’, ‘High-Rise’), about a scientist who ventures into a forest where myth and reality combine in a tumultuous journey through the darkness. Joining it is ‘Censor’, a horror film from first-time director Prano Bailey-Bond, who introduces us to a film censor whose work watching gory and violent films begins to alter the way she remembers her past. Lastly, Fancine will be the Spanish premier of psychothriller ‘John and the Hole’, Spanish director Pascual Sisto’s film debut about a troubled child who keeps his family hostage in a hole. ‘Dexter’ alum Michael C. Hall plays one of the main roles. 

This trio of genre films joins the list of previously announced titles from the university festival: ‘Prisoners of the Ghostland’, ‘Mayday’, ‘Tides’, ‘Son’ and ‘The Spine of Night’.

Competing short films

The list of competing short films has also been released, divided into live action and animation categories. The Young Jury, composed of students from different public universities in Andalucía, will be in charge of evaluating and awarding these works, bestowing the prize of 3.000 euros to the best short film in each category, as well as selecting the European project that will represent Fancine in the Méliès International Festivals Federation award ceremony.

The animated short films are the following: surrealist Hungarian short ‘Bye Little Block!’, British stopmotion shorts ‘Divination Dave’ and ‘Other Half!, grotesque Czech short ‘Love is Just a Death Away’, poetic Belgian short ‘Hold Me Tight’, adventurous ‘Forgot Your Password?’ and the heartwarming ‘My Friend Who Shines in the Night’ (both French), Lithuanian childlike short ‘Matilda and the Spare Head’, and the only non-european one: Chinese ‘Gold Is Eating People’.

As for the live action category, there are five Spanish works: ‘La chica de los cigarrillos’, ‘Solución para la tristeza’, and three horror-themed shorts: ‘Dar-Dar’, ‘La inquilina’ and ‘La luz’. They are joined by Australian thriller ‘Inferno’; the Swiss ‘Kingdom’, set in a post-apocalyptic world; the Finnish ‘See You in an Hour’, exploring timelines, and ‘Verdict 30001: The Cookies’, about decisionmaking; and an Irish parody of the slasher genre ‘Something Doesn't Feel Right’.