In today's horror highlights: Fantaspoa announces an online filmmaking contest and new streaming titles, filmmaker Ted Geoghegan launches the second episode of his new online radio program that dives into the history of cinema, and we have the international trailer for German horror film Hager, that just was released to Amazon Prime:

Fantaspoa at Home Online Filmmaking Contest + New Streaming Titles Available:

Porto Alegre, Brazil - 10 April 2019 - Weeks after launching its free worldwide movie streaming platform at www.fantaspoaathome.com, which will be available until the end of May, Brazil's Fantaspoa Film Festival is proud to announce the Fantaspoa at Home Online Filmmaking Contest. Being aware of the importance of quarantine to contain the spread of COVID-19, this film competition aims to encourage film production at home during these difficult times.

Submissions should be short films in the fantastic genre, and touch upon topics or themes related to the current pandemic. The contest will accept animation, horror, thriller, science fiction, fantasy, documentary, performance, or experimental short films. The project must be made between April 4th and April 18th and shot in the filmmaker's own home, respecting the need for quarantine and social distancing.

The Fantaspoa Programmers will select the best short films, making them available online for audience voting.

The audience will then choose the contest winner by popular voting, who will receive film-related services worth over $10,000 USD - kindly offered by industry professionals concerned with Fantaspoa's future. Prizes include amazing personal consultancies for future projects offered by names like Andy Muschietti (“It”, “It - Chapter 2”), Pedro Rivero (“The Platform”, “Birdboy: The Forgotten Children”), and Rodrigo Teixeira (“Call me By Your Name”, “The Witch”). The winner's next feature will also receive an original poster design by acclaimed British artist Elizabeth Schuch, an original theme song by Argentinian composer German Suane, a DCP made by Black Lagoon, and Portuguese and Spanish subtitles courtesy of Fantaspoa and Macabro Film Festival.

The deadline for submissions to the Fantaspoa at Home Online Contest is April 18 at 11:59 pm PST. Please submit at www.filmfreeway.com/fantaspoaathome. The entry fee is $15 US for international short films. All proceeds - excluding the Filmfreeway service fee - will go towards the Fantaspoa Crowdfunding campaign.

If, by any chance, others would care to contribute to the festival, anything is welcome to help Fantaspoa carry on after 2020, as, due to executive decisions made by the Brazilian government prior to this unprecedented health crisis, Fantaspoa and countless other organizations dedicated to the arts were stripped of all federal and private sponsorship money. Donors can contribute at the crowdfunding page www.catarse.me/fantaspoa16 until April 28th, or make direct donations via Paypal at fantaspoa@fantaspoa.com.

The Fantaspoa staff sends their unending thanks to their friends and supporters around the world for all they've done these past fifteen years, and implores you and your loved ones to stay inside, wash your hands, and - if you are physically able to - put the health and well-being of the elderly and immuno-compromised before your own. We are all in this together.

Thank you,

The staff of Fantaspoa

Joining previously-announced titles, the following films will be available for free at www.fantaspoaathome.com starting April 15:

Head Hands Heart (d. David Jarab, Czech Republic2010)

Intimate Witness (d. Santiago Fernández Calvete, Argentina/Mexico, 2015)

Lovecraft - Fear of the Unknown (d. Frank H. Woodward, USA, 2008)

Meet the Head of Juan Perez (d. Emilio Portes, Mexico, 2008)

Methadone - An American Way of Killing (d. Jim Klein and Julia Reichert, USA, 1974)

Phase 7 (d. Nicolás Goldart, Argentina, 2011)

Seder-Masochism (d. Nina Paley, USA, 2018)

Joining previously-announced titles, the following films will be available for free at www.fantaspoaathome.com starting April 22:

Dr. Ketel (d. Linus de Paoli, Germany, 2011)

On Evil Grounds (d. Peter Koller, Austria, 2007)

Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead (d. Lloyd Kaufman, USA, 2006)

The Corporation (d. Fabián Forte, Argentina, 2012)

The Devil Dared Me To (d. Chris Stapp, New Zealand, 2007)

The Excursion (d. Mathieu Seiler, Germany/Switzerland, 2012)

Troma's War (d. Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman, USA, 1988)

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This is Not a Story About...
"This is Not a Story About..." is a classically-inspired modern radio program about the history of cinema written and hosted by filmmaker Ted Geoghegan. Each episode of the program begins as the story of someone or something in the world of film that cinephiles know quite well, but transforms into an expertly-researched tale about a new topic: one that can be closely-related or worlds away from where its story began.

"This is Not a Story About..." is edited, mixed, and produced by Adam Stovall.

The series' debut episode, "This is Not a Story About Walt Disney" follows young Walt as he struggles to make his way in the burgeoning world of animation, but transforms into the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, a blockbuster cartoon icon who was stolen out from under Disney and locked away for a half-century before finding redemption in the most unlikely of places.

The second episode, "This is Not a Story About Bruce Lee" begins with the well-known life of martial arts' biggest name, using it as an introduction to the story of kung fu star Alexander Fu Sheng, whose incredible career in Hong Kong cinema was ultimately overshadowed by bigger names - and whose life and art deserve rediscovery.

Episode One - This is Not a Story About Walt Disney (27 minutes)

iTunes / Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-1-walt-disney/id1506800406
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/2UKq3kIVgLSWvuFqprIsKm
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/ted-geoghegan/this-is-not-a-story-about-episode-1-walt-disney
Buzzsprout https://www.buzzsprout.com/991810/3271543

Episode Two - This is Not a Story About Bruce Lee (20 minutes)

iTunes / Apple Podcast - Coming soon
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/episode/0wKZUsnfkW25m9WZdbwH4J
Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/ted-geoghegan/this-is-not-a-story-about-episode-2-bruce-lee
Buzzsprout - https://www.buzzsprout.com/991810/3315376

[Photo Credit: Above photo by Daniel Bergeron via IMDb.]

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Surreal German Horror film HAGER on Amazon Prime: "After his colleague Schweitzer disappears during a raid, undercover cop Till Hager is tasked with investigating a mysterious drug called "Abaddon" - a substance that is supposed to drag it's consumers down into the depths of hell. The film is a modern interpretation of Dante Alighieri's "Divine Comedy"."

Directed by Kevin Kopacka, Written by Kevin Koppacka & H.k. DeWitt

Starring:

  • Philipp Droste
  • Anna Heidegger
  • Nura Habib Omer (The Nightmare, Skylines)
  • Frederik von Lüttichau (Huset)