FANTASTIC FEST and IFC hook up and make VOD babies

Are you getting sick of hearing about Fantastic Fest yet?  No? Good.  Look, I know not all of you can make it to Austin next week for this awesome festival, so IFC Midnight & Fantastic Fest are throwing a pity party for you.  Read More to hear about four films that you can watch at home while they also play the festival.

From the Press Release:

New York, NY (September 14, 2010) – IFC Midnight, the new genre label of IFC Films, today announced its first
partnership with Austin’s Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S. which was voted “one of 10 film
festivals we love” by Variety. Four brand new IFC Midnight acquisitions will screen at Fantastic Fest (Sept 23-30)
and will simultaneously be available nationwide via the movies-on-demand platform of major national cable systems,
including Cablevision, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable and Bright House, and will be available in
approximately 40 million homes. The films include: Philip Ridley’s demonic thriller HEARTLESS (making its US debut);
Abel Ferry’s mountain climbing nightmare HIGH LANE (making its US debut); Josh Reed’s Ozploitation horror flick
PRIMAL (making its US debut); and Simon Rumley’s hard-core RED WHITE & BLUE.

IFC Midnight will also make three acclaimed films from Fantastic Fest 2009 available on demand as part of this initiative
including: Tom Six’s THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, Kim Ji-Woon’s THE GOOD THE BAD THE WEIRD, and Jake West’s
DOGHOUSE. PRIMAL director Josh Reed and RED WHITE & BLUE director Simon Rumley will be in attendance
at Fantastic Fest screenings. RED WHITE & BLUE and HEARTLESS will also have select theatrical engagements
nationwide in the fall.

Jonathan Sehring, President of IFC Entertainment, said, “Following our successful day-and-date on demand partnerships
with SXSW and Sundance, which have included several genre films, a partnership with Fantastic Fest is the next logical
step. Tim League has cultivated some of the genre’s most enthusiastic fans, and Fantastic Fest is an ideal festival with
which to launch these four amazing films nationwide.”

Tim League, CEO of Alamo Drafthouse and Co-Founder of Fantastic Fest said, “We’re very excited to be a part of this
new on demand partnership with IFC Midnight. As a long term friend of Fantastic Fest, IFC Films has an excellent eye
for acquiring the very best of genre entertainment and distributing them to viewers in unique and innovative ways. Their
new IFC Midnight label is the perfect partner for Fantastic Fest.

Said Simon Rumley, “IFC Films has constantly proved themselves to be innovators in an ever-changing distribution
marketplace and has never shied away from working on some of the most interesting and ground-breaking films of our
time. Similarly, in a very short period of time, Fantastic Fest has shown itself to be a leader in the world of daring but
quality movie programming. To have IFC Films and Fantastic Fest back RED WHITE & BLUE is a natural fit and it’s with
much excitement that I anticipate their collective championing and distribution of it.”

IFC Midnight was launched in May as IFC Films’ new home for the very best in international genre cinema, including
horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more.

ABOUT THE FILMS IN ‘Direct from FantasticFest’:

RED WHITE & BLUE (directed by Simon Rumley)

Erica (BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER’s Amanda Fuller) is a tough, troubled nymphomaniac with wounds across her
soul. For Erica, sleeping with multiple men forms the core of her life, until she meets the mysterious Iraq vet Nate (THE
PROPOSITION
’s Noah Taylor). Despite his quiet air of danger, Nate’s the only guy who doesn’t immediately want to
sleep with her, and the two form a hesitant bond. But in a shocking twist, one of Erica’s earlier sexual encounters, with
wannabe rock star Franki (Mark Senter), will have unexpected – and devastating – consequences on both of their lives.
Hard-edged and uncompromising, RED WHITE & BLUE, from director Simon Rumley (THE LIVING AND THE DEAD),
has already been compared to the works of such disparate filmmakers as Larry Clark and Sam Peckinpah. The film had
its US premiere at SXSW, and was produced by Rumley and Bob Portal, and executive produced by Tim League, Judy
Lipsey, Doug Abbott, and Adam Goldworm. It is the first film from Celluloid Nightmares, a new partnership between Paris-
based Celluloid Dreams and Los Angeles-based XYZ Films, with the shared goal of bringing commercial, elevated genre
films to audiences around the world. The film will have several theatrical screenings throughout the US and Canada this
fall.

HEARTLESS (directed by Philip Ridley)

Jim Sturgess (21, ACROSS THE UNIVERSE) leads a hugely-talented ensemble cast in this sublime British psychological thriller from cult UK director Philip Ridley (THE REFLECTING SKIN, THE PASSION OF DARKLY NOON), who returns to the screen after a 14-year absence. The film follows Jamie Morgan (Sturgess), born with a disfiguring birthmark across
his face, which leaves him an outcast in rough East London. While wandering abandoned yards taking photographs,
he comes across a gang of thugs and soon discovers that they are something other than human. He then is led into a
Faustian deal that will see him become a party to the terrifying chaos around him. Part DONNIE DARKO, part Guillermo
del Toro, this dark urban tale takes its audience to the darkest and most violent corners of the human heart. The film
also stars Clémence Poésy, Noel Clarke, Joseph Mawle, Eddie Marsan, Luke Treadaway and Timothy Spall, and was
produced by Pippa Cross and Richard Raymond. The film recently won the Best Independent Film Award at the Toronto
After Dark Festival. HEARTLESS will open at the IFC Center in New York on 11/21 followed by select national dates.

PRIMAL (directed by Josh Reed)

Primordial nature runs amuck in this expertly-played slice of neo-Ozploitation from Australian director Josh Reed. The film
follows six friends on a field trip who set up camp in the remote wilderness of Australia. When one person takes a late-
night skinny dip in a nearby waterhole, she becomes incredibly feverish and agitated, and soon regresses to a crazed
predatory state in which her companions suddenly become the hunted. When another begins the same beastly transition,
terror descends on the remainder as they realize it’s now kill or be killed. A frenzied visceral nightmare in the vein of
CABIN FEVER, PRIMAL is a hugely enjoyable rollercoaster ride through primitive panic.

HIGH LANE (directed by Abel Ferry)

Towering heights and beautiful vistas turn into a haunting mindtrip in Abel Ferry’s gripping French scarefest that will
definitely make you think twice about your next mountain climbing trip. In the film, a group of friends on vacation in
Eastern Europe embark on an ambitious mountain expedition along a trail that they discover – way too late – is closed
for repair. The thrill of this foolish challenge quickly turns sour as it becomes clear that not only is the path a lot more
dangerous than they thought, but also that they are not alone. Fear exposes old traumas and brings up hidden emotions
to the surface, and soon, everyone is fighting tooth-and-nail for their survival.

About IFC FILMS:

Established a decade ago, IFC Films – a division of Rainbow Media’s IFC Entertainment – is the leading U.S. distributor of
independent and foreign film. Its unique day and date distribution model makes independent films available to a national
audience by releasing them simultaneously in theaters as well as on cable’s On Demand platform and through Pay-
Per-View, reaching nearly 50 million homes. IFC Films’ “IFC Midnight” label, launched in 2010, offers the very best in
international genre cinema, including horror, sci-fi, thrillers, erotic arthouse, action and more. Some of the company’s
successes over the years have included MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, TOUCHING
THE VOID, ME AND YOU AND EVERYONE WE KNOW, 4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS, GOMORRAH, CHE,
SUMMER HOURS, IN THE LOOP, ANTICHRIST, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, JOAN RIVERS: A PIECE OF WORK, and

Andy Triefenbach is the Editor-in-Chief and owner of DestroytheBrain.com. In addition to his role on the site, he also programs St. Louis' monthly horror & exploitation theatrical midnight program, Late Nite Grindhouse. Coming from a household of a sci-fi father and a horror/supernatural loving mother, Andy's path to loving genre film was clear. He misses VHS and his personal Saturday night 6 tape movie marathons from his youth.

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