TORONTO, Canada – Get ready to confront your deepest, darkest fears this summer, completely exposed in the outdoor cinema of Toronto’s haunted Distillery District, while watching some of the most terrifying new horror, dark fantasy and thriller films from around the world. The Lavazza IncluCity Festival, presented by ICFF, has returned with its chilling movie program, “The Dark Side”. On six different nights, from June 27th to July 21st, the iconic cobblestone streets of the Distillery District will lead you straight into the heart of terror, as the otherwise festive film atmosphere transforms into a heart-pounding fear fest.
After last year’s successful inaugural “The Dark Side” program (which featured three new international horror films and a special award presentation to INFINITY POOL director Brandon Cronenberg), the festival is excited to screen even more edgy, eerie and challenging new movies after dark, with six features, several premieres and unique, star-studded panels.
Andrea Niada, director of the mesmerizing and macabre new Italian chiller Home Education, and Italian actress Claudia Gerini (The Well) will participate in “Industry Days”, a panel discussion on the horror genre. Miles Dale, producer of Guillermo del Toro’s Oscar-winning dark fantasy film The Shape of Water along with Paul Austerberry, the Oscar-winning production designer for the film, will discuss the movie, offering in-depth behind-the-scenes insights, before presenting a special screening of the film on June 28.
“The Lavazza IncluCity Festival is one of the most exciting, unique and progressive film festivals in the world”, says author, filmmaker, journalist, world renowned horror film expert – and ‘The Dark Side’ series curator – Chris Alexander.
“This year, we’ve selected a series of films that are as elegant and beautiful as they are hideous and horrific. Six spine-tingling, elevated genre films from all over the globe that will take you to the brink of terror and beyond, all unspooling beneath the stars in our inimitable outdoor screening environment. Nightmares are guaranteed…”
On July 5th, prepare to enter the world of Cuckoo, an American/German film that follows 17-year-old-Gretchen, played by Hunter Schafer (TV’s Euphoria), as she moves to the German Alps with her father (Abigail’s Dan Stevens). There, she is forced to confront the secrets her family is trying to bury, and the presence of paranormal activity. The film will be presented in Special Advanced Screening.
Mark your calendars on July 6th for the Special Advanced Screening of Breathing In, a deeply unsettling film by South African director, Jaco Bouwer. A wounded general seeks refuge in a stranger’s home: he will soon discover that his host’s intentions are far from innocent.
Brace yourselves for the Canadian Premiere of Spirit in the Blood, screening on July 12. After a young girl is found dead in a secluded religious mountain community, a tight-knit group of teenage girls are driven to uncover the girl’s murderer. The group, however, is not prepared for the evil spirits lurking among them.
On July 13, you won’t want to miss the Ontario Premiere of director Adrien Beau’s The Vourdalak, a French film filled with sacrifice, murder, and blood…and puppets. Inspired by the classic Tolstoy horror story (previously adapted in Mario Bava’s landmark horror film Black Sabbath), The Vourdalak tells a vampire story like no other, daringly navigating between traditional folklore and innovative horror filmmaking.
On July 18, maverick Italian director Federico Zampaglione (Tulpa) returns with the Canadian Premiere of The Well, a grueling, gory shocker co-starring Terrifier 2’s Lauren LaVera. In it, a budding art restorer travels to a small Italian village to bring a medieval painting back to its former glory. Little does she know she is placing her life in danger from an evil curse and a monster born of myth and brutal pain.
Directed by the visionary Italian filmmaker Andrea Niada, Home Education follows Rachel and her cult-leading parents. After her father’s death, Rachel is forced by her mother (French actress Julia Ormond, in a commanding performance) to perform gruesome revival rituals on her father. On July 19, don’t miss the Canadian Premiere of this surreal, shocking film that details the terrifying extremes that love can push people to.
“The Dark Side” program is indeed the dark side of the Lavazza IncluCity Festival, offering more adventurous filmgoers movies that broaden societal boundaries and ignore the requirements of what we regard as “acceptable” cinema. These six films offer the best in not only sophisticated horror cinema, but first-rate world cinema, full stop. This summer, join the Lavazza IncluCity Festival on its journey into “The Dark Side” and embrace all that is unsettling and fantastical…and of course, terrifying!
