The iconic Chattanooga Film Festival is back with a bang for its eleventh edition, taking over the historically haunted hotel The Read House from June 21-28 – and trust us, you do not wanna miss this first wave lineup.
Alongside all the amazing new features on offer (more on those in just a moment), this year, CFF are paying tribute to the legendary sci-fi horror anthology series The Twilight Zone with a special panel and screenings, as well as creator Rod Serling’s daughter, author Anne Serling, in attendance.
CFF will also be celebrating the legendary Russ Meyer, with a special 60th-anniversary screening of the exploitation classic Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! There’s also a secret screening by none other than Clown in a Cornfield creator/author Adam Cesare – so bring your copies and he’ll graciously sign ’em!
New features screening include an eclectic mix of Irish folk horror, sadistic child killers and a supernatural VCR, as well as Jason Yu’s South Korean psychological horror Sleep (which you can read more about in the upcoming issue of FANGORIA) and the latest from The Stylist‘s Jill Gevargizian, Ghost Game!
Until March 18 film fans can take advantage of the festival’s generous Early Bird discounts by visiting the festival’s site at chattfilmfest.org or via the following link: https://chattfilmfest.eventive.org/welcome
Here is the full features lineup, via Chattanooga’s official press release:
A Guide to Becoming an Elm Tree
Directors Adam Mann, Skye Mann | Canada 2023
Padraig embarks on a journey to turn a living tree into a coffin for his already dead and buried wife. He bargains his way into an eccentric carpenter’s shop. What starts out as an act to help alleviate grief and guilt slowly descends into a harrowing selfish game of discovery; as John pulls Padraig deeper into the world of Irish folklore and ancient magic.
*Hybrid
Flipside
Director Christopher Wilcha | United States 2023
When filmmaker Chris Wilcha revisits the record store he worked at as a teenager in New Jersey, he finds the once-thriving bastion of music and weirdness from his youth slowly falling apart and out of touch with the times. FLIPSIDE documents his tragicomic attempt to revive the store while revisiting other documentary projects he has abandoned over the years. In the process, Wilcha captures This American Life icon Ira Glass in the midst of a creative rebirth, discovers the origin story of David Bowie’s ode to a local New Jersey cable television hero, and uncovers the unlikely connection between jazz photographer Herman Leonard and TV writer David Milch. This disparate collection of stories coheres into something strange and expansive—a moving meditation on music, work, and the sacrifices and satisfaction of trying to live a creative life.
*In-Person Only
Ganymede
Directors Coby Holt, Sam Probst | United States 2023
When the son of a small town politician develops a crush on his openly gay classmate, he finds himself stalked by a grotesque creature that increasingly inhabits his thoughts and threatens physical harm.
*Hybrid
Ghost Game
Director Jill Gevargizian | United States 2024
Presented by DREAD – Participating in an internet challenge that requires breaking into homes and living undetected alongside the residents, a thrill-seeking couple target an infamous haunted house and endure a series of chilling incidents as they witness a family descending into madness.
*In-Person Only
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person
Director Ariane Louis-Seize | Australia 2024
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill. When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she meets Paul, a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest to fulfill Paul’s last wishes before day breaks.
*In-Person Only
Sleep
Director Jason Yu | South Korea 2023
A young, expectant wife must figure out how to stop her husband’s nightmarish sleepwalking habits before he harms himself or his family.
*In-Person Only
Someone Dies!
Director Justin Petty | United States 2023
*North American Premiere
A deadbeat detective investigates a cryptic note that leads to the discovery of an incomprehensible kitchen sink.
*Hybrid
Sweet Relief
Director Nick Verdi | United States 2023
Presented by ART BRUT FILMS – A woman’s dangerous inclinations, a sadistic child killer, and a panic surrounding an online murder challenge reveal the insidious violence of a small New England town.
*Hybrid
The Vourdalak
Director Adrien Beau | France 2023
Lost in a hostile forest, the Marquis d’Urfé, a noble emissary of the King of France, finds refuge in the home of a strange family.
*In-Person Only
Video Vision
*World Premiere
Director Michael Turney | United States 2023
When an old VCR mysteriously shows up at digitizing facility Video Vision it starts affecting employee Kibby (Andrea Figliomeni) in strange ways. Meanwhile an unlikely romance with a trans man (Chrystal Peterson) has Kibby’s head in the clouds until she’s brought to her knees by the supernatural force that’s slowly taking control of her body and mind. When Kibby and Gator investigate the VCR’s origins they discover she has unwittingly unlocked the dark dimension of Dr. Analog.
*Hybrid
The Wheel of Heaven
Director Joseph Badon | United States 2024
In this genre-hopping “cinematic mixtape” a woman caught up in predatory relationships is thrown into a multi-layered world of choices after she discovers a mystical book in a thrift store.
*Hybrid
