Cinema: Fantasporto

The Fantasporto 2007 film festival will be hold between the 19th February and the 4th March in Oporto, Portugal, mostly at the Rivoli Theatre (check website). The Sá da Bandeira Theatre will be the perfect setting for the Vampires’s Ball, in the closing night…

Founded 27 years ago by a group of film fans and critics, Fantasporto is the best and best-known international film festival in Portugal. It started as a haven for sci-fi and fantasy films, genres which were not so well-seen then, but after a huge success in the first two years, the festival broadened its horizons with thrillers and seven years later with a New Directors competition. Nevertheless, fantasy is still its trade mark, especially with the Portuguese press. As is indicated in the site, “the basic idea behind the Oporto Film Festival is to promote films that seek new forms and methods of film making.”

The films on display come mostly from majors such as Warner, Columbia, UIP or Fox, producers as Miramax, New Line or Summit and from other companies all over the world. The festival is and has been a fertile ground for the discovery of new cinematographies, for "sneak previews" or for launching "difficult" films like "Bullworth" or "Scream 3" (European premières). Fantasporto ‘discovered’ David Cronenberg’s "Shivers" and Brian de Palma’s "Carrie" in 1981, David Lynch’s "Eraserhead" in 1982, Ridley Scott’s "Blade Runner" in 1983, Joel & Ethan Cohen’s "Blood Simple" in 1986, Quentin Tarantino’s "Reservoir Dogs" in 1993 and Alejandro. G. Iñaturri’s "Amores Perros" in 2001, among many others.

This year’s fantasy official and competitive section includes, EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO by Guillermo del Toro (Mex – Spain – USA), HISTORIAS DEL DESENCANTO by Alejandro Valle (Mex), ISOLATION by Billy O’Brien (UK – Ire), JADE WARRIOR by Antti-Jussi Annila (Fin – Neth – Est – Chi), LA HORA FRIA by Elio Quiroga (Spain), PAPRIKA by Satoshi Kon (Jap), RE-CYCLE by Danny & Oxide Pang (Thai – Hong Kong – Chi), SEVERANCE by Christopher Smith (UK), SILENT HILL by Christophe Gans (Can – Jap – USA – Fra), SLITHER by James Gunn (Can – USA), TAXIDERMIA by Gyorgy Pálfi (Hun – Aus – Fra) (technically brilliant!), THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST by Karim Hussain (Can), THE HORROR BUS by Pieter Kuipjers (Neth), THE HOST by Bong Joon-Ho (South Kor), THE LIVING AND THE DEAD by Simon Rumley (UK), THE PROMISE by Chen Kaigé (Chi – HK – Jap – South Kor) and THE WOODS by Lucky McKee (USA).