It’s been a few weeks since we left Fantastic Fest and, as it always happens, the films and experiences tend to stick with us like chewing gum. The festival is great for young filmmakers. For some, this is their first feature. But even if you’ve been doing this a while, one thing is certain: if you can shock, impress or surprise this group of battle-hardened cinema fans, then you have likely found your foothold in the industry.
Having said that, not everything at this wild and crazy film fest is about psychopaths and vampires. FF is renowned as a place where those kinds of terrifying personalizes are welcomed and, often times, debuted. But there are plenty of films with messages and themes more affecting than an unstoppable slasher or creepy crawly. You honestly don’t have to look too hard to find stories about loss and grief, family tragedy and drama, loneliness and acceptance.
It’s these kind of stories that can hit harder. They won’t make you sleep with the lights on, but you’ll sit with the events of the story. And if you wrestle with the issues the main character(s) faced, well, point to the filmmaker.
As such, we were thrilled to sit with two such storytellers and dive into the elements that make their films resonate. I personally haven’t dealt with the kind of grief that Emily (Zola Grimmer) carries. Nor do I know what its like for Willow (Decker Sadowski) to join a theater troupe carrying somewhat similar baggage. But I can relate to their mental isolation being a fish out of water in their respective new settings.
Avalon Fast and Katherine Dudas give us stories that have a great deal in common, and the message in CAMP and Theater Is Dead is close enough that it seemed perfect to have them on the show together. Once you find your tribe and get over whatever is holding you back, you can have more than one shot at redemption and/or can conquer almost anything, be it inner demons or actual ones.
Enjoy our time with Avalon and Katherine on this episode of The GoSeeTalk Podcast Experience.
CAMP is having its International Premiere at Sitges Film Festival with two screenings:
10/13 @ 10:45 at Sala Tramuntana Meliá
10/14 @ Cinema Escorxador (with Avalon Fast, Zola Grimmer, Eily Sprungman in attendance)
THEATER IS DEAD is slated for the following events:
Screamfest LA – 10/14 @ 9:30pm at Chinese Theater
Newport Beach Film Festival – 10/17 @ 5:30pm and 10/20 @ 5pm at Triangle Cinemas
