Hats off to Beyond Fest. Seriously. The massive genre film festival held annually in Los Angeles dropped a bit of a bombshell earlier today. In addition to its regular programing, it will kick things off with a series entitled “Cronenberg Withe Cronenberg: A Retrospective Of The New Flesh”. Yes, you read that right. Even better is the fact that David Cronenberg will be in attendance for several of the showings with some of the talent from the films.
Before we dive into what all this portion of Beyond Fest entails, take a look at this rather fun announcement video that was put together. Fair warning though, this is NSFW, even if everyone knows how the scene ends.
Just watching that short video makes this writer giddy. What a wealth of great films they’re going to be showing. Ok, on to the good stuff.
The retrospective will highlight 13 extraordinary films by David Cronenberg over a three day period. It would seem like a tall order to sift through the directors illustrious career, but the programmers at the festival have really done a stellar job. Possibly the icing on the cake to all this, is that ALL the films shown will be in 35mm.
Saturday, September 29th kicks things off with with “The Shaping of Rage”. An all-day marathon focusing on David Cronenberg’s early films, SHIVERS, RABID, THE BROOD, and SCANNERS, will be screened in sequential order. In the evening, Cronenberg himself will be joined by composer Howard Shore for a special 30thanniversary screening of DEAD RINGERS. Master of horror, and owner of glorious locks of hair, Mick Garris, will moderate a post screening Q&A.
Sunday turns it’s attention to all things gooey and insect related, screening both THE FLY and NAKED LUNCH. The director will again be joined by Howard Shore, but none other than actress Genna Davis will also be in attendance. No Q&A is listed in the press release, for that day. We’ll update though, if new info becomes available.
Things come to a close on Monday, exploring Cronenberg’s views on media and virtual reality with a double feature of VIDEODROME and EXISTENZ. The screenings will feature Cronenberg, as well as Howard Shore and actresses Debbie Harry and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Between the films Upgrade director Leigh Whannell will moderate what is sure to be a great Q&A.
While the above events will be held at The Egyptian, the Aero Theater will be showing double double features simultaneously. Honestly, they’re pretty fantastic too, consisting of A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE & EASTERN PROMISES and CRASH & SPIDER. So, even if you can’t get in to the big show, you’re still guaranteed a good time.
The full slate of films shown is below.
CRONENBERG WITH CRONENBERG: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE NEW FLESH PROGRAM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE
SHIVERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 1976
RABID
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / USA
Runtime: 91 min.
Year: 1977
THE BROOD
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 92 min.
Year: 1979
SCANNERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 103 min.
Year: 1981
DEAD RINGERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA
Runtime: 102 min.
Year: 2017
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore
THE FLY
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA / UK / Canada
Runtime: 96 min.
Year: 1986
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Geena Davis
NAKED LUNCH
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canad / UK / Japan
Runtime: 115 min.
Year: 1991
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, (Geena Davis)
VIDEODROME
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 1983
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Debie Harry (Jennifer Jason Leigh)
EXISTENZ
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK / France
Runtime: 97 min.
Year: 1999
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Debbie Harry)
AERO THEATRE
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA / Germany / Canada
Runtime: 96 min.
Year: 2005
EASTERN PROMISES
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: UK / Canada / USA
Runtime: 101 min.
Year: 2007
SPIDER
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK / France
Runtime: 98 min.
Year: 2002
CRASH
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK
Runtime: 100 min.
Year: 1996
Tickets will be available for sale on Fandango and The American Cinematheque starting at 10am on Saturday, September 1st. A poster featuring artwork by Alan Hynes and select merchandise by MONDO will also be available at the event. The remaining lineup for Beyond Fest will be announced in the next few days. Check out beyondfest.com for all the other pertinent information you could want on the festival.
