THE NEW BLOOD REANIMATING SYDNEY'S ORIGINAL HORROR PARTY

There is something darkly ironic surrounding the resurrection of Sydney’s iconic A Night of Horror International Film Festival (ANOH). After a dormant two years, the brand re-emerges zombie-like into a barren festival landscape, amidst a global pandemic; when it’s 12th iteration launches on September 24, it will be one of the first physical film festivals in a post-COVID Australia. Taking charge in 2020 is longtime festival associate Bryn Tilly, who brings to the Festival Director’s role, in his words, “a taste for the dark stuff, films undeniably nightmarish, yet thrilling.” SCREEN-SPACE spoke with our longtime friend about what it takes to scare au-diences in 2020…

SCREEN-SPACE: The once-strong brand has been stagnant for a couple of years. What were your objectives in relaunching A Night of Horror?

TILLY: The festival’s co-founder Dr. Dean Bertram has been living in the U.S. guiding his festival, Midwest Weird Fest from strength to strength. If A Night of Horror [was] to be resurrected, who better to helm the reboot than a clutch of the festival’s long-standing champions, which included myself and Enzo Tedeschi from Deadhouse Films? We brainstormed a plan of attack during spring of last year. It took awhile to build momentum, and we lost a couple of team members along the way, which prompted us to solidify a new vision for the festival. I feel confident we have shaped the best version we could, all things considered. 

SCREEN-SPACE: ANOH, like every other major Sydney event, was beaten down by COVID-19. Recall for us the emotions and the practicalities you faced as pandemic conditions took hold...  

TILLY: I began viewing the festival’s cold submissions back in October [while] keeping an eye on the international festival circuit. By January, I had a roster of short films and features from Australia and around the world sufficient for a four-day festival. But the event’s traditional home, Dendy Newtown, was no longer available, and subsequent venue options fell through. Then, that pesky pandemic reared its ugly head. We postponed, went into a limbo period, but never [considered] cancellation. Then, Anthony Kierann at Actors Centre Australia reached out to us, a beacon in the darkness. The reality was, due to COVID-19 restrictions, it simply wasn’t viable to hold the festival in the way we had originally intended. It killed me to have to re-structure the program [and] reduce the number of screenings, but we are nightmare warriors, determined to showcase in a festival environment works that capture the atmospheric essence of horror. (Pictured, above; The Other Lambs) 

SCREEN-SPACE: What are we learning about 'Bryn Tilly, Program Director' from this collection of films?

TILLY: I was very keen on pushing the boundaries with the content, spreading the nightmare tendrils a little further afield. The festival has always championed new talent; our awards herald short film and feature screenplays from emerging writers. This is my first year as Head of Programming and it’s been a huge challenge, one that allowed me to fully indulge my nightmare movie palette, while thoughtfully compiling a program that will appeal to both horrorphiles and those that aren’t necessarily horror buffs. I love monsters, the supernatural, and I love special effects; I’ve been a fan of gore gags and creature features since I was a young teen, but I’m also a huge fan of the creeping unknown, and reality-based terror. 

SCREEN-SPACE: The Devil will be in the detail. Get us excited about the 2020 line-up…

TILLY: There’s the supernatural indigenous mystery Diablo Rojo (pictured, above), from Panamanian filmmaker Sol Moreno; shocks and twists in Jeremy Karsten’s American high school hell, The Dead Ones; a disturbing portrait of a serial killer and his young son in Tom Botchii’s Artik; and, the disquieting turmoil, violation, and vengeance of The Other Lamb from Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska. We are opening the festival with Dean Yurke’s nail-biting subterranean thriller Stay Out Stay Alive, and debuting two World Premieres, both proudly Aussie - festival alumni Sam Curtain’s The Slaughterhouse Killer (pictured, below), detailing the dastardly deeds of an obese psychopath and hapless young parolee, and the confronting, heightened reality of Josh Reed’s suburban Sydney snake pit, We’re Not Here To Fuck Spiders. And the local and international shorts, once segregated into their own mini-programs, have been combined this year, showcasing a universally high caliber of horror short-form storytelling.

SCREEN-SPACE: How do you think horror filmmakers will react to the year that has been 2020? Pandemic panic, democracy in tatters, western society divided - do we need horror films anymore?

TILLY: We will never not need horror movies. Humans have an innate need to confront their fears, and the horror movie is the perfect platform to do that. In many respects, the more heightened the insanity in the outside world, the more hungry the audience becomes for escape. Audiences will seek out horror movies as a way of processing the nightmare scenario that exists outside their door, or within their home. Horror movies are often oneiric, dreamlike, surreal, even the ones that look and feel ultra-realistic. This is the most expressionistic of all film genres, allowing the viewer to absorb many elements, using them as psychological tools to better deal with the real world. Next year’s cold submissions will be riddled with themes of isolation, insanity, desolation, and disease. The apocalypse will be nigh. 

SCREEN-SPACE: It's the Closing Night party and you say to yourself, "Well, I think that was a success." What will have happened that readies you to do it again in 2021?

TILLY: I hope people hang around after the Awards Ceremony for a drink or three, to chat and rave about the films; the parallels, the contrasts, the shocks, the connections. Actors Centre is laid out in such a way that festival goers will be able to socialize and still be COVID-safe. We need to push through that pandemic psychological barrier, to come out and watch a movie with a bunch of other people. Trust in your nightmare warriors! I feel confident that this year’s A Night of Horror will bring back that community vibe. As for the future, Enzo and I share a vision of what we want the festival to evolve into; post-September, we will debrief and make new, devious, diabolical plans. Keep your eyes peeled!

A NIGHT OF HORROR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL will run September 24-26 at the Actors Centre Australia, Leichhardt. Full session and ticketing details can be found at the event’s official website.