FANTASIA 2020: SPECIAL EVENTS, PANELS, AND ARTIST TALKS PICKS

John Carpenter: Masterclass and Lifetime Achievement Award
August 22 | FREE Event 

Y’all – I KNEEL at the altar of Carpenter. Fantasia’s first recipient of their virtual Cheval Noir award will be legendary master of horror John Carpenter. The online Carpenter master class will take you through his career as a filmmaker and touring musician — and he’s even gonna play his latest single!! As someone who was lucky enough to see him on tour a few years ago and count as one of the BEST concert-going experiences of my life, I’m super stoked for this. 

The United Beat of Sex and Art – Reshaping Cinematic Ecstasy through the Modern Female Gaze on Sexuality
August 25 | FREE Event 

Aieeeeeee! This sounds amazing. MORGANA is on my must-see list, and I freaking LOVED CAM. Join panelists Nicole Bazuin (MODERN WHORE), Josie Hess (MORGANA), Isa Mazzei (CAM), Morgana Muses (MORGANA), Isabel Peppard (MORGANA) for a sex-posistive dicussion with women who are bringing a new meaning to sex on screen — moderated by Stoya. 

Severin Films Presents: Narratives Of Resistance In Folk Horror
August 25 | FREE Event 

In anticipation of Severin Films’ upcoming documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror, this panel shifts away from the traditional view of folk horror as a specifically British phenomena to look at folk horror coming from different perspectives. With panelists Kinitra Brooks (author, Searching for Sycorax: Black Women’s Hauntings of Contemporary Horror), Bernice M. Murphy (author, The Rural Gothic in American Popular Culture), Michelle Latimer (director: The Inconvenient Indian) and Mikel Koven (author, Film, Folklore, and Urban Legends), moderated by Kier-La Janisse (director/producer, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror). 

Score Salvations: The Art of Saving Soundtracks
August 26 | FREE Event 

I’m a collector of movie scores on vinyl and my particular favorites are the scores to horror movies! So I’m here for this discussion on soundtrack restoration and preservation with panelists Matt Verboys, author Jeff Bond, Neil S. Bulk, Dan Goldwasser, composer Joe Kraemer and legendary producer / mixer Mike Matessino. Moderated by Concordia Film professor Randolph Jordan.

A Miskatonic Tribute To Stuart Gordon
August 27 | FREE Event 

Awwww, Stuart Gordon! I love his films so much. This is going to be what I’m sure is an incredibly moving remembrance of Stuart by his closest collaborators: Bruce Abbott, Jeffrey Combs, QUEEN Barbara Crampton, Dennis Paoli, Carolyn Purdy-Gordon and Brian Yuzna — moderated by Graham Skipper.

Film Fatales Presents : Genre Film As Political And Social Commentary
August 30 | FREE Event 

YESSSSS. This is gonna be so cool! Panelists Gigi Saul Guerrero, Elza Kephart, Natasha Kermani and Amelia Moses discuss their bodies of work and the power of genre cinema as a tool for social and political commentary.

Torn From The Page, Bled Into Light: Mike Flanagan On Literary Adaptations And Personal Horror Creation — A Live Post Mortem Event
August 30 | FREE EVENT 

AIIEEEEEE again! I wholeheartedly love Flanagan’s body of work, and I love hearing him talk about it. Plus, Mick Garris’ Post Mortem is amazing! This special artist talk will see Mike Flanagan in conversation with filmmaker and Post Mortem founder Mick Garris — two filmmaker discussing their adaptations of Stephen King’s work? I AM IN. (see also, I had the pleasure of meeting Garris once and he was truly the nicest man ever). 

Shout-out also to Rue Morgue Magazine: Print’s Not Dead on August 23 – a discussion with the Rue Morgue staff about the challenges, merits and overall state of print journalism in an increasingly digital age. Attendance to this is Free as well!