Filmfestival: 'Scream for Offscreen'

Screaming, trembling, gaping eyes, burning ears, stumbling upon unexpected gems and/or utter trash: it could happen to you at any film festival, but only Offscreen can guarantee it.

The festival with a deep affection for non-conformist cinema is this year delving into folk horror from Great Britain and Ireland. The Mona Lisa of the genre is Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man, but naturally, there are many other “wyrd” delights to savour. From the 18th-century devil worshippers in The Blood on Satan’s Claw and the psychiatric patient who can kill with a scream in The Shout, to the long-lost cult film The Appointment.

A second focus is on unorthodox films from Greece. Think of the Greek Weird Wave that emerged around 2009, with Dogtooth by Yorgos Lanthimos as its beacon. But Offscreen has also been digging through B-movies and exploitation flicks from the 1960s and 1970s, such as the softcore classic The Wild Pussycat, or Island of Death, which combines the beauty of Mykonos with horror.

All these delightful rarities from the past almost make you forget that compelling films are still being made today. Offscreen presents around fifteen of them, including an anti-capitalist techno thriller by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, an anarchic anti-romcom by Alice Lowe, and Reflet dans un diamant mort by the Brussels directing duo Bruno Forzani and Hélène Cattet. It’s going to be a feast.