News

Has Hollywood reached peak AI paranoia? This awards season, before Karla Sofía Gascón’s posts on X (formerly Twitter) about George Floyd and Islam became the focus of consternation, the Oscar uproar was centered on the use of artificial intelligence in the tweaking of voice performances in Emilia Pérez — for Gascón’s singing — and in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist, to improve the pronunciation of Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones’ Hungarian-language dialog.

The virulence of the backlash against such minor and technical applications of AI — used, in both cases, with the full participation and approval of the artists involved — illustrates the widespread perception, inside the film industry and among the general public, that AI is a threat to jobs and to artistic integrity. An AI zero-tolerance policy has become fashionable for celebrities, with the likes of Robert Downey Jr., Glenn Close and Hank Azaria raising the alarm. Distributors have taken...

Argentine filmmaker Fabián Forte has a directing career that stretches back more than twenty years, with his credits including Mala carne, La corporación, Socios por accidente, Socios por accidente 2, Dead Man Tells His Own Tale, Cantantes en Guerra, Legions, which was described as being “an unabashed love letter to Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead series,” and segments of the anthology films Retratos del Apocalipsis and Cursed Bastards. His most recent feature is The Witch Game, a horror film that drew inspiration from the Harry Potter franchise – and Variety reports that the film is securing distribution deals around the world.

Miracle Media will be releasing The Witch Game in North America and the U.K. sometime in the first quarter of 2025. The film has also landed distribution deals in Latin America (Encripta), Germany and Austria (Lighthouse Entertainment), Spain (Wild Duck), Portugal (Cinema Novo), Serbia (Fox Vision), and Cambodia (Westec).

The movie...

A chilling new horror is set to blur the boundaries between reality and virtual nightmares this Halloween. The Witch Game, an Argentinian horror directed by Fabián Forte, is coming to UK digital platforms on 14 October 2024, courtesy of Miracle Media. Drawing on rich Argentine folklore, the film plunges its audience into a terrifying world where dark magic and twisted virtual realities collide in a race against time.

The story centres on Mara, played by Lourdes Mansilla, a teenager who is more interested in video games and the occult than spending time with her family. When she receives a mysterious virtual reality game on her birthday, she eagerly dives into it. The game promises to teach her real witchcraft, offering a thrilling escape from her mundane life. But as Mara soon discovers, this is no ordinary game.

Things take a darker turn when her younger sister Sofia, played by Denise Bárbara, disappears without a trace.

Exclusive: Fabian Forte’s Argenitian horror Legions (aka Legiones) has found buyers at the EFM.

The feature is headed AMC Networks’ Shudder in Spain, where distributor FilmSharks has struck a pay-tv and SVOD deal. AMC has also taken Eastern Europe rights.

In Latin America, FilmSharks struck a multi-territory theatrical release deal with Aman Kapur’s CineStar. This comprises Peru, Bolivia, Colombia and Central America.

The deals follow a North American deal struck with XYZ Films at Montreal’s Fantasia Fest following its premiere, as we reported first in July last year. Donau has also picked up several German-speaking territories.

Billed as ‘The Evil Dead meets Latin America,’ Legions follows a powerful sorcerer, who is locked away in an asylum as evil, demonic forces take control of Argentina. If he can escape and find his daughter, their combined strength could save the country,...

The 2011 South African HorrorFest has come to an end (it ran 26 October through 4 November), and we have the full list of feature film and short film winners. In addition, the HorrorFest Team has informed us that this year's new additions of the Alternative Market and link-up with the Cape Town Zombie Walk will definitely return in 2012.

2011 South African Horrorfest Feature Film Categories:

Best Feature Film: Malditos Sean! (Cursed Bastards!)

Best Male Lead: Patrick Breen in The Bleeding House

Best Female Lead: Marianne Porter in True Nature

Best Director(s): Fabián Forte and Demián Rugna for Malditos Sean! (Cursed Bastards!)

Best Screenplay: Patrick Steele for True Nature

Best Cinematography: Trevor Calverley for Night Drive

Best Documentary: I Am Nancy

Indie Spirit Award: Skew

Audience Choice - Best Feature Film: Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (with Makabra Ensemble live soundtrack)

2011 South African Horrorfest/Shadow Realm Short Film Categories:

Best International Short Film...

The 26th Mar del Plata International Film Festival (site), the only festival in Latin America with 'A' status, opened yesterday and runs through November 13. We're partnering with the festival to present a selection of films from South America, ranging from Demián Rugna and Fabián Forte's feature Cursed Bastards, "leading the charge for the next volley of extreme Argentine cinema" (Todd Brown at Twitch, where he's got the trailer; that's an image from the film above, by the way) to a slew of shorts including Matías Canony's Alias, Alexander Katzowicz and David Katzowicz's Versus and Tetsuo Lumière's irresistibly titled Take My Hand! Sticky Bloody Love. Check out the program and enjoy — it's free!...

One film festival I'm bound and determined to make it to one of these years is the South African HorrorFest, but for now I'll just have to live vicariously through those of you who live close enough to attend. And after taking a look at this year's lineup, I'm pretty sure that if you are in the area, you won't want to miss it!

Growing into the country's ultimate Halloween event covering indie, new and classic movies, short films, music, literature and a range of Halloween festivities, 2011 marks the annual South African HorrorFest's lucky 7th year! It runs 26 October through 4 November.

Almost each of the exciting feature films and short films make their South African theatrical premieres. The Makabra Ensemble will also debut their Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde movie soundtrack performance, live to the screening of this 1920 silent classic.

In addition to the colourful audience Halloween dress-up event linked up with the live soundtrack show,...