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dijous, 18 d'abril de 2024

> 25 Years of 'Blade Runner'

> 100 Years of Fantasy

> Fantasy Films that Followed

dijous, 4 d'octubre de 2007

Today, 4 October, sees the start of the International Film Festival of Catalonia, the world pioneer of fantasty-film festivals and the object of intense media coverage. Otherwise known as the Sitges Film Festival, the event, which was first held in 1968, will this year celebrate its 40th anniversary.

For just under a fortnight (until 14 February) the International Film Festival of Catalonia will bring together cinema enthusiasts eager to discover for themselves the latest cinematic and audiovisual trends and technologies. The programme for the Festival will include fantasy film, science fiction, suspense and horror.

The film 'El Orfanato', a candidate for the best Foreign Language Film at the 2008 Oscars, will be screened at the opening ceremony. While at the closing ceremony the Festival will show '1408', a film adapted from a story by the highly successful horror writer Stephen King.

The Festival will include American Gothic, a retrospective look at US horror films between 1970 and 1980, and a tribute to 'Night of the Living Dead' director George A. Romero. The Festival will also screen the latest releases from Woody Allen ('Cassandra's Dream') and Brian de Palma ('Redacted').

+ Webs relacionades dins Nosaltres.Cat: Cinema.
+ VilaWeb Sitges.
+ Fantasy Film: Wikipedia.

25 Years of 'Blade Runner'

+ 'Blade Runner' is set in Los Angeles in the year 2019.

Another of the focuses of this year's Festival will be the 25th anniversary of 'Blade Runner', considered to be one of the most celebrated and influencial science-fiction films in the history of cinema. Directed by Ridley Scott, and with Harrison Ford playing the main character, 'Blade Runner' is set in Los Angeles in the year 2019. The film offers a pessimistic vision of the future, although there is a note of hope at the end. Based on the novel 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?' the film deals with age-old questions posed by human beings: 'who are we?', 'where do we come from?' and 'where are we going?'

100 Years of Fantasy

+ 'A Trip to the Moon' runs 14 minutes.

The fantasy film genre is about imaginary characters and make-believe. It is often confused with science fiction and horror, although all three are considered distinct genres. Nevertheless, it is true to say that the fantasy films have been around for almost as long as cinema itself. We only have to think of the work of Georges Méliès, one of the fathers of cinematographic art, and we see that it is full of fantasy with films such as 'A Trip to the Moon' (1902) and 'The Impossible Voyage' (1904).

Fantasy Films that Followed

+ 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003).

Since then a number of great names from the seventh art, from F.W. Murnau to Steven Spielberg via Walt Disney, have made fantasy films. To name a few that have become classics (including some from the science-fiction genre): 'Nosferatu' (inspired by the novel 'Dracula'), 'Metropolis', 'King Kong', 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (based on Shakespeare's comedy of the same name), 'The Wizard of Oz', 'It's a Wonderful Life' and '2001: A Space Odyssey'. Then there are the famous film sagas such as 'Star Wars', 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter'.

MATERIALS

Festival Internacional de Cinema de Catalunya Sitges 07
Format:Web
4-14 d'octubre. Seccions, notícies, programació...
European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation
Format:Web
Informació dels festivals afiliats, adherits i de suport.
Fantasy
Format:Web
A l'Internet Movie Datebase.
Films Genre. Fantasy
Format:Web
Aplec de films de temàtica fantàstica. BBC.
XTEC Cinema
Format:Web
Recursos sobre el setè art per a l'aula.

QUE HO SABIES?

This month will see the premieres, in Catalan, of 'Cassandra's Dream' and 'Stardust', a fairytale that blends fantasy, adventure and love.
Before dedicating himself to the cinema, Georges Méliès, the torchbearer of the fantasy film genre, was a magician.
A 2004 poll carried out by the British newspaper The Guardian concluded that scientists favourite science-fiction films were, in order, 'Blade Runner', '2001: a Space Odyssey', and 'Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'.