Monster Fest
Monster Fest | |
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![]() Official Monster Fest logo | |
Status | Active |
Genre | Film festival |
Location(s) | Melbourne |
Country | Australia |
Website | monsterfest |
Monster Fest is an annual genre film festival held in Melbourne, Australia, dedicated to cult and horror cinema. As of 2017 it is the only genre film festival held in Australia to be supported by the federal screen agency, Screen Australia.
History
Monster Fest was established by Neil Foley and Grant Hardie in 2011 as the exhibition arm of Monster Pictures.
In 2012, the festival was renamed Monster Fest and expanded to an international festival with both premieres and repertory offerings. The 2012 festival took place from 31 October – 9 November 2012 at the Nova Cinema in Carlton. Special guests of the 2012 festival included the
Monster Fest 2013 took place 21 November – 1 December 2013 at the Nova Cinema in Carlton. The festival screened 30 features, many of them Australian premieres.
Monster Fest 2014 marked its first time receiving support from federal funding agency
Monster Fest 2015 took place 26–29 November 2015, moving to the newly re-opened Lido Cinemas in Hawthorn.[23] Special guests included Dee Wallace, Fred Williamson and Butch Patrick. The opening film was the World Premiere of the Melbourne-made Scare Campaign, with directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes and producer Julie Ryan in person. The official selection featured 21 films including Bound to Vengeance, Scare Campaign, Bite, Australiens, Vixen Velvet's Zombie Massacre, Bunny the Killer Thing, Hellions and Howl. The program also featured the world premieres of Queensland horror-western Bullets for the Dead (the final role of Prisoner star Carol “Franky Doyle” Burns), making its debut screening alongside Dave Jackson’s feature version of his 2012 short film, Cat Sick Blues,[24] while guest Fred Williamson presented the world premiere of Nico Sentner’s Atomic Eden alongside retrospective screenings of Black Caesar and The Hammer.[25] The festival also included a special 10th anniversary screening of Australian horror classic Wolf Creek, a rooftop bands-and-burlesque event called "Munsterpalooza"[26] and an all-day acting masterclass with actress Dee Wallace, co-presented with Melbourne-based film exhibition group Cinemaniacs.[27] Butch Patrick presented a rare screening of Munster, Go Home! and a clip-and- tell presentation called "I Was a Pre-Teen Werewolf".[28] The festival key artwork for 2015 was created by Canadian artist Jason Edmiston.
From 2011-2015, the Festival Director was Neil Foley, co-founder of Monster Pictures and Monster Fest and director of the 1999 mockumentary film
The keynote speaker for 2016 was director
In 2016 the festival announced its most successful year to date, noting that it had tripled attendance from the previous year.[43]
In June 2017, Festival Director Kier-La Janisse left her position at Monster Fest.[citation needed] As of 2017 it is the only genre film festival in Australia to be supported by Screen Australia.[citation needed]
Accolades
Beat Magazine called Monster Fest "Australia's foremost celebration of international cult and horror cinema".[44]
2016 Keynote speaker Ted Kotcheff said of Monster Fest: "I loved the creative energy of Monster Fest, the great programming, the enthusiastic audiences. In the course of over half a century of filmmaking, I have attended almost every film festival there is and Monster Fest is one of the most interesting and enjoyable that I’ve experienced."[45]
Monster Academy
Monster Academy is the industry and educational component of Monster Fest. The Academy began in 2014 as the "Monster Academy of Horror & Mayhem" with a Masterclass by
The 2016 Monster Academy was a two-day event held 23 and 24 November 2016 including a masterclass with Ted Kotcheff moderated by Mark Hartley, a Romper Stomper panel with director Geoffrey Wright,[47] producer Daniel Scharf and actors John Brumpton and Frank Magree, a classic Ozploitation panel with producer Antony I. Ginnane and cinematographer Vincent Monton, a producer’s panel with John Jarratt, Lizzette Atkins and Raquelle David, a women in genre panel with Julia Ducournau, Mattie Do, Briony Kidd, Donna McRae, Isabel Peppard, Marisa Brown and Heidi Lee Douglas, and an FX panel with artists Dieter Barry and Nick Kocsis. Monster Academy also featured a screening of Ted Kotcheff’s Wake in Fright and a presentation on the transmedia project The Westbury Faery.
Satellite events
In addition to its annual festival in Melbourne, Monster Pictures has mounted screenings year round under the banner "Monster Fest Presents". These have included compacted satellite versions of the festival in Perth (2012, 2014), Auckland (2013)[48] and Hobart (2016)[49] as well as screenings at the Lido Cinema and the New Farm Cinema in Brisbane as part of a series called "Friday Fright Nights." Friday Fright Nights screenings have included The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence) with star Laurence R. Harvey in person[50] The Green Inferno, The Pack, Cat Sick Blues, I Am Not a Serial Killer (with Skype Q+A with director Billy O’Brien),[51] Aaaaaaaah! (with actress Lucy Honigman in person and Skype Q+A with director Steve Oram)[52] and The Eyes of My Mother.
In August 2016 Monster Fest presented a tour of the Australian zombie film Bullets for the Dead at the Dendy Cinema in Sydney, the New Farm in Brisbane and the State Cinema in Hobart, with select cast and crew in attendance at each event.[53] December 2016 also saw a tour of The Greasy Strangler (dubbed the #GREASYDOWNUNDER Tour)[54] with stars Sky Elobar and Elizabeth De Razzo accompanying the film to Ballarat, Hobart, Brisbane and Sydney.
In January 2017, Monster Pictures announced that it would be presenting "The Monster Fest Travelling Sideshow," a weekend-long event featuring highlights from Monster Fest 2016 alongside the Australian premieres of horror anthology XX, Sydney-made crime film Skinford and a new 4K of Dario Argento’s Suspiria, in partnership with Australian cinema chain, Event Cinemas, 9–12 March 2017 at Sydney’s George Street Cinemas.[55]
Monster Fest also announced Horror for the Homeless, an all night marathon screening event held on 11 March 2017[56] at the Burswood Parklands in the city of Perth in conjunction with Telethon Community Cinemas and Perth based homeless agency, Youth Futures WA[57]
List of awards
![]() | It has been suggested that this article should be split into a new article titled List of Monster Fest awards. (discuss) (March 2024) |
Since 2014, Monster Fest has held a juried competition as well as an audience award called the "Monster’s Choice." Past jurors have included Barbara Creed (author, The Monstrous-Feminine), Evrim Ersoy (Director of Programming, Fantastic Fest), Heidi Lee Douglas (Director, Little Lamb), Amanda Reyes (Editor, Are You in the House Alone? A TV Movie Compendium 1964-1999), film critic Simon Foster, Donna McRae (Director, Johnny Ghost), Isabel Peppard (Director, Butterflies), Michael Helms (editor of Australian fanzine Fatal Visions), Chris Brown (Producer, The Proposition) and more.
2014
Features
Crystal Monster: STARRY EYES (Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmyer, USA)
Crystal Monster 2013 (retroactive): CHOCOLATE STRAWBERRY VANILLA (Stuart Simpson, Australia)
Best Australian Feature: UNDER A KALEIDOSCOPE (Addison Heath, USA)
Best Director: HONEYMOON (Leigh Janiak, USA)
Best Female Lead:
Best Male Lead: Adam Brooks,
Best Screenplay: Onur Tukel, SUMMER OF BLOOD (Onur Tukel, USA)
Best Special Effects: CHARLIE’S FARM (Chris Sun, Australia)
Best Sound:
Monster Special Jury Award:
Monster Spirit Award: THE SEARCH FOR WENG WENG (Andrew Leavold, Australia)
Short films
Best International Short Film: DEAD HEARTS (Stephen W. Martin, Canada)
Best Australian Short Film: WATERBORNE (Ryan Coonan, Australia)
Best Victorian Short Film: 2043 (Eugenie Muggleton, Australia)
Best Director: Shaun McCarthy, THE BOY WHO HAD NO THUMBS (Shaun McCarthy, Australia)
Best Screenplay: Claire D’Este, THE JELLY WRESTLER (Rebecca Thomson, Australia)
“Monster’s Choice” Audience Award
Best Film: PLAGUE (Nick Kozakis and Kosta Ouzas, Australia)
2015
Feature films
Crystal Monster: SCARE CAMPAIGN (Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Australia)
Best Australian Film: CAT SICK BLUES (David Jackson, Australia)
Monster Innovation Award: VELVET VIXEN’S ZOMBIE MASSACRE (Stefan Popescu, Australia)
Best Female Lead: Elma Begovic, BITE (Chad Archibald, Canada)
Best Male Lead: Sterling Knight, LANDMINE GOES CLICK (Levan Bakhia, Georgia)
Best Director: SCARE CAMPAIGN (Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Australia)
Best Screenplay: SCARE CAMPAIGN (Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Australia)
Best Special Effects: BITE (Chad Archibald, Canada)
Best Sound: SCARE CAMPAIGN
Short films
Best International Short: BEYOND FEROX (Thomas Yagodinski, USA)
Best Victorian Short: THE PRIEST (Goran Spoljaric, Australia)
Best Screenplay: INNSMOUTH (Izzy Lee, USA)
Best Director: NIGHT OF THE SLASHER (Shant Hamassian, USA)
2016
Feature films
Golden Monster: RAW (Julia Ducournau, France)
Best International Feature: THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE (André Øvredal, USA)
Best Australian Feature: SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD (Chris Peckover, Australia)
Monster Innovation Award: PREVENGE (Alice Lowe, UK)
Best Performance (Male): Levi Miller, SAFE NEIGHBOURHOOD (Chris Peckover, Australia)
Best Performance (Female): Mackenzie Davis, ALWAYS SHINE (Sophia Takal, USA)
Best Documentary: SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL: THE TRUE STORY OF THE PROCESS CHURCH OF THE FINAL JUDGEMENT (Neil Edwards, UK)
Best Director: PLAYGROUND (Bartosz M. Kowalsi, Poland)
Best Cinematography: A DARK SONG (Liam Gavin, Ireland/UK)
Best Score: A DARK SONG (Liam Gavin, Ireland/UK)
Best FX: RAW (Julia Ducournau, France)
Special Mention: Autohead (Rohit Mittal, India)
Short films
Best International Short: THE TUNNEL (André Øvredal, Norway)
Best Australian Short: INSOMNOLENCE (Kiefer Findlow, Australia)
Best Victorian Short: SECRETIONS (Goran Spoljaric, Australia)
Best Director: WHAT HAPPENED TO HER (Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, USA)
Best Screenplay: THE INCREDIBLE TALE OF THE INCREDIBLE WOMAN-SPIDER (Pablo Guirado, France)
Best Performance: Najarra Townsend, THE STYLIST (Jill Gevargizian, USA)
Best Effects: THE PAST INSIDE THE PRESENT (James Siewert, USA)
Best Cinematography: DISCO INFERNO (Alice Waddington, Spain)
Best Score: IMITATIONS (Fabian Velasco & Milos Mitrovic, Canada)
Trasharama Awards
Trasharama Golden Lomax Award: THE CONTRACT (Chrzu Lindstrom, Finland)
Trasharama Encouragement Award: BLOWN AWAY (Frank Daft, Australia)
“Monster’s Choice” Audience Awards
Best Feature: MONDO YAKUZA (Addison Heath, Australia)
Best Short: Tie: DRAGON FORCE (Stuart Simpson, Australia) / A HELL OF A DAY (Evan Hughes, Australia)
2018
Features
Golden Monster (Best Picture): LORDS OF CHAOS (Jonas Åkerlund, United States)
Best International Feature: FIRST LIGHT (Jason Stone, United States)
Best Australian Feature: PIMPED (David Barker, Australia)
Best Director: LARS VON TRIER, The House That Jack Built (Denmark/United States)
Special Jury Prize: BURNING KISS (Robbie Studsor, Australia)
Short Films
Best Short: HELSINKI MANSPLAINING MASSACRE (Ilja Rautsi, Finland)
Best International Short: MILK (Santiago Menghini, Canada)
Best Australian Short: POST MORTEM MARY (Josh Long, Australia)
Best Victorian Short: FEAST ON THE YOUNG (Katia Mancuso, Australia)
Best Student Short: NEUROPLUG (Caleb Turland, Deakin University)
TRASHARAMA Golden Lomax: BFF GIRLS (Brian Lonano, United States)
2020
Features
Golden Monster: POSSESSOR (Brandon Cronenberg, Canada)
Best Director: POSSESSOR (Brandon Cronenberg, Canada)
Audience Award: PSYCHO GOREMAN (Steven Kostanski, Canada)
Short Films
Best Short Film: SNAKE DICK (David Mahmoudieh, United States)
Best Australian Short Film: CARRIE’S DOING GREAT (Bryce Kraehenbuehl, Alexander Salkicevic, Australia)
2022
Features
Golden Monster: Ribspreader (Dick Dale, Australia) Best Australian Feature: Slant (James Vinson, Australia)
Short Films
Best Victorian Short: Hen (Alice Tovey, Australia) Best Australian Short: Fungus (Ryan Maddox, Australia) Best Short: The Rock of Ages (Eron Sheean, France/Iceland) Best Student Short: Squid in the Oven (Sasha Aubort, Australia)
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