Horror. Fantasy. Science fiction. The supernatural. The seventh annual Ithaca Fantastik film festival will have it all.
This year the festival will be returning to downtown Ithaca from Oct. 26-Nov.4, and will feature a selection of independent and vintage films screening at Cinemapolis. The community-driven festival started in 2012 as a three-day film festival and has since grown into something larger. In its current iteration, the festival will also feature art shows, live Q&As with filmmakers, virtual reality experiences and special events like a Drunken Cinema night.
Justin Langlois, a panel moderator and programmer for the festival, said festivals like Ithaca Fantastik are appealing because they expose audiences to something new.
“These genre festivals… bring out these true and really fantastic perspectives that you don’t regularly get in the multiplexes,” he said.
Langlois said cult movies hold a special appeal that traditional films don’t always have.
“It’s a unique experience to get a taste of fresh talent, a taste of a cult classic that maybe didn’t get it’s play in its day,” he said. “It’s cool to see it on a big screen instead of on a torrent or something … the communal experience of seeing something in the theater is always fantastic.”
Mike Skvarla, another volunteer for the festival, said genre films reach audiences in ways that traditional films sometimes can’t.
“This genre of film is so extreme, it’s so outlandish, it’s two steps above what other movies sort of settle for,” Skvarla said. “This fantastic genre can go above and beyond and really challenge the audience in terms of what they think about things.”
Langlois has also done volunteer work with the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal. He said his experience working for Ithaca Fantastik has given him the chance to have a louder voice.
“Fantasia is just huge and ever-growing, but Ithaca is great because there’s more breathing room,” he said. “It’s really nice to have a seat on the big boy’s table… and have my two cents go really far. I suggested the Drunken Cinema night, and now we’re doing it.”
Langlois said film had always been a passion of his, but he didn’t used to take it seriously. He used to host zombie movie nights for his friends, and as a high school teacher at Chateauguay Valley Regional High School he started teaching a class on film, which made him realize he could pursue film as an academic field. Langlois pursued a master’s degree in film from Concordia University in Montreal and has continued to study it.
“I’ve just been so drawn to horror and genre cinema that I’ve just consistently written about it,” Langlois said.
Featured films are curated by Langlois and other programmers. Films are grouped into series connected by theme, such as Cinema Pur, international, and throwback thrillers. Nellie Wallace, a writer for the festival, said members of the curation team go to other film festivals and pick films they think the Ithaca audience will gravitate towards. Some movies are followed by a Q&A panel with filmmakers, producers and actors, which Wallace said is part of the festival’s appeal.
“It’s a great way to get some educational information about films and the filmmaking process while you’re enjoying these great films as well,” Wallace said.
Skvarla said the festival is possible in a town like Ithaca because of the open-minded population.
“This town has a lot of creativity, a lot of arts, a lot of people who think differently,” he said. “We just want to show them a wide variety of things and expand their mind and get their creative energy fix.”
Below is my video coverage of Ithaca Underground and Ithaca Fantastik’s Fright Nite at Sacred Root Kava Bar.
Silas White 