Consistently surprising and eclectic programming has helped to make the Chattanooga Film Festival one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World” (MovieMaker Magazine, 2022), one of the “Best Horror Festivals in the World” (Dread Central, 2022) and one of the “World’s Best Genre Festivals” (MovieMaker, 2020 and 2021).
As if those endorsements weren’t enough to draw fans to the festival like moths to a flickering frame – I mean flame – cinema publication Fangoria recently hailed CFF as “the gold standard on how to run a welcoming, unpretentious, no-bullshit film fest for folks who want to hang out and have a good time.”
These accolades are well and good, but what about 2024? Where will CFF director Chris Dortch II and his coven of avid cineastes take this year’s version during their weeklong bacchanalia of film, which will take place in-person and virtually June 21-28? To paraphrase a movie you should know if you’ve read this far, they’re going to turn it up to 11.
Attendees can look forward to a host of special events during the festival’s in-person dates, June 21-24, at Chattanooga’s historic Read House Hotel. Topping the list of events under my “Wow!” column will be a salute to the classic sci-fi series, “The Twilight Zone,” with creator Rod Serling’s daughter, author Anne Serling, in attendance.
Anne will join author and “Twilight Zone” historian Mark Dawidziak for a screening of her father’s favorite episodes, a panel discussion on the legacy and lasting influence of the “Zone,” and a 100th birthday celebration for Rod Serling at Chattanooga Whiskey Event Hall.
Because CFF likes to lean into the eerie grandeur of its so-called “haunted home” at the Read House, the festival will also host “Poe Things: An Edgar Allan Show,” an event that will explore the death and life of Poe, feature a secret screening of what CFF promotional materials call “one of the greatest film adaptations of the author and poet’s work,” a live performance (cheesily called a “Poe-formance” in the same materials) and an appearance by Poe biographer Mark Dawidziak, who will sign copies of his “A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe.”
Barnes & Noble featured the book as its March nonfiction title of the month.
Every year, CFF kicks off with a free event for the public. This year’s launch party is a tribute to one of the festival’s first champions: the late Jeff Burr, who personified CFF’s mission to bring genre cinema to Chattanooga. Burr accomplished this with not only screenings of his own movies but also as a film historian, educator and mentor to local filmmakers.
Special guests will include some of Burr’s close friends, who will share their memories of the man. As part of its tribute to Burr, CFF will share a workprint of his “Texas Chainsaw Massacre III,” which hews closer to Burr’s original vision than the studio release.
CFF will also be sharing a collection of dailies and behind-the-scenes footage from the shoot.
While the CFF team goes to epic, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” lengths to make the festival’s trimmings a true celebration of film and community (the extended edition of “ROTK” runs for four hours and 23 minutes), CFF is only as good as its movies. Fortunately, this year’s slate has the potential to be the ultimate mike drop for genre film fests.
Two offerings sure to appeal to the eclectic tastes of the festival’s faithful include a 60th-anniversary screening of Russ Meyer’s cult classic “Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” and a secret screening programmed by New York Times bestselling author and screenwriter Adam Cesare.
CFF will open with filmmaker Michael Turney’s retrotech romance “Video Vision,” in which a woman unlocks a dark dimension through an old VCR. The film combines romance, horror and analog tech in unique ways, and as CFF’s opening night film selection, embodies the genre-blending spirit of the festival.
In a coup for CFF, the festival will debut three full-length features. Writer and director Kelsey Egan’s “The Fix” will serve as CFF 2024’s closing night selection. In the film, a young model takes an illicit new drug at a party and suffers a shocking transformation. As she attempts to reverse the effects of the drug, she discovers her mutations might be the key to saving the human race.
Throw in wild special effects, prolific actor Clancy Brown (the villain in the original “Highlander” film) and a jaw-dropping third act, and you have a film tailormade to find its way into the hearts of CFF’s attendees.
Also premiering is the debut feature of a new voice in genre cinema, writer and director Racheal Cain, whose “Somnium” will act as the centerpiece of the CFF’s opening weekend. Starring Chloe Levine, Cain’s beautifully shot mind-bender takes place at an experimental sleep clinic where dreams are made real.
Filmmaker Ariel Vida will return to CFF for a third time to premiere a profoundly personal feature she devoted years of her life to making. “Sleep, Wake, Forget” is an apocalyptic fantasy in which two brothers survive after civilization has fallen and infected roam the world due to the ability to look into the minds of others.
Vida’s persistent efforts to complete her film saw her serving as director of photography, writer, makeup effects artist, production designer and myriad other crew positions. Her journey to make “Sleep, Wake, Forget” is an inspiring story in its own right, and CFF will give her the time to tell it as well as a screen for sharing her labor of love.
These three world premieres will join 21 more carefully-curated features that will include everything from the gorgeous cosmic Czech folk horror of “Falling Stars” to a special screening of the disturbing courtroom thriller, “Red Rooms,” to the psychological drama “Canvas,” to a fascinating film documenting “The UFOS of Soesterberg.”
Continuing its tradition of partnering with companies that are curating and releasing some of the world’s best genre cinema, CFF is once again working with Art Brut Films, which will present a screening of a unique take on the slasher genre: filmmaker Nick Verdi’s “Sweet Relief,” a film that feels infused with the DNA of early Richard Linklater films while delivering a story that should resonate with genre fans.
Also, early in her new film’s festival run is CFF alum Alice Maio Mackay, who takes holiday set horror to twisted places with “Carnage for Christmas.” Then there will be the haunting and beautiful “The Lonely Man and the Ghost Machine,” the latest work of a filmmaker who has long been a part of the festival’s extended family, Graham Skipper.
If these films weren’t enough, CFF has announced the return of the Red Eye block, a seven-night series of secret screenings that are exclusive to the festival’s virtual platform. Guests can expect forgotten gems, anniversary screenings of cult classics and indie rarities not available on any streaming service.
Short-form cinema is another yearly staple of the festival, and the CFF’s annual shorts showcases – CFF Salutes Your Shorts, Dangerous Visions and WTF (Watch These Films) – will be joined by two blocks of Fun Size Epics, which will exhibit short films with longer runtimes. Short film fans can look forward to a world premiere from author, screenwriter and director Benjamin Percy (“Ghost Rider” and “Wolverine”), whose “13th Night” will debut in the festival’s Dangerous Visions block.
Between screenings, an army of vendors will be armed with everything from rare VHS tapes and books to artwork and boutique Blu-rays. CFF will also host a book fair stacked with authors and live readings called the Physical Media Rodeo.
Additionally, live podcasts, more parties and panels, and a screenplay pitch competition should please longtime fans and newcomers alike.
View the complete CFF 2024 schedule at www.chattfilmfest.org/2024-lineup. The program contains everything from a midlife crisis in documentary form, to funny and artfully inventive new takes on vampire stories and modern fairytales, to a film best described as a teleportery, witchcrafty comedy with time travel elements.
In other words, all the hallmarks the fans who have turned CFF into a summer camp for cinephiles adore.
Purchase passes and tickets at chattfilmfest.eventive.org/passes/buy.