STANLEY FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES FIRST WAVE OF PROGRAM
 
- Horror Icon Eli Roth To Accept Inaugural Visionary Award at Closing Night Film Aftershock -
 
- NBC Universal’s Horror Network Chiller to Present the Festival -

 
The Stanley Film Festival (SFF), now presented by NBC Universal’s Chiller, announced today its feature films for the inaugural event that will run May 2 – 5, 2013 in Estes Park, Colo. Celebrating the best in independent horror cinema, SFF will showcase a full slate of features, shorts, panels, student competitions and special events – with Festival headquarters set at The Stanley Hotel. The haunted landmark opened in 1909 and was the inspiration for Stephen King’s Overlook Hotel in The Shining.

The Stanley Film Festival is honored to welcome actor, director, writer and producer Eli Roth to accept the Visionary Award for his contribution to independent film. Roth will also present his most recent work, Aftershock, on Closing Night followed by a Q&A discussion.

“Since his debut on the film festival scene with Cabin Fever in 2002, Eli Roth has become a leading force in the horror genre. Whether acting, producing, directing or writing – his many talents are what made titles like Hostel and Inglorious Bastards shine,” says Festival Director Jenny Bloom. “His body of work will set the Stanley Film Festival Visionary Award precedent high for years to come.”

The 2013 Stanley Film Festival film selection was curated by Programming Director Landon Zakheim and Programmer Michael Lerman. The program, as it stands now, includes feature films from 13 different countries, including two US Premieres and 13 Colorado Premieres.

“We are beyond excited to be able to showcase all the new work being done in the horror genre,” says Zakheim. “Our hand-picked lineup is packed with scares from the world's best festivals, and what better place to watch a horror film than in a haunted mansion like The Stanley Hotel!”

FEATURE PRESENTATIONS:

• 100 Bloody Acres – Australia – (Directors/Screenwriters: Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Cast: Damon Herriman, Angus Sampson, Anna McGahan) – A trio of fun-loving tourists on their way to a music festival fall into the hands of two crazed brothers with sinister plans in this madcap comedy about trying to survive. (Narrative) US Premiere

• Aftershock – USA – (Director: Nicolás López, Screenwriters: Guillermo Amoedo, Nicolás López, Eli Roth, Cast: Eli Roth, Andrea Osvárt, Ariel Levy, Nicolás Martínez, Lorenza Izzo, Natasha Yarovenko, Selena Gomez) – Modern horror maestro Eli Roth co-wrote, produces and stars as a mopey tourist whose wild vacation in Chile turns gruesome. Ravaged by a vicious earthquake, he and his friends desperately struggle to survive a living nightmare. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere/Closing Night

• All the Boys Love Mandy Lane – USA –  (Director: Jonathan Levine, Screenwriter: Jacob Forman, Cast: Amber Heard, Michael Welch, Whitney Able, Anson Mount) – Resurrected after a several year hiatus, this legendary splatter-fest is finally making its way back to the big screen. When the most sought after girl in school is invited to a weekend outing with friends on a secluded farm, a mysterious suitor begins to pick off the other boys one by one. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Berberian Sound Studio – United Kingdom – (Director/Screenwriter: Peter Strickland, Cast: Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Susanna Cappellaro) – Winner of five British Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Actor, this creepy love letter to the classic "Giallo" period details the complications befalling a motion picture sound designer as he quietly descends into madness. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Big Bad Wolves – Israel – (Directors/Screenwriters: Aharon Keshales, Navot Papushado, Cast: Lior Ashkenazi, Dvir Benedek, Dov Glickman, Tzachi Grad, Rotem Keinan, Menashe Noy) – An obsessed cop, and the father of a victim take justice into their own hands when they capture a suspected killer of children. In their genre-bending follow-up to Israel's first horror film Rabies, Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado explore an unimaginable terror. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Black Rock – USA – (Director: Katie Aselton, Screenwriter: Mark Duplass, Cast: Katie Aselton, Lake Bell, Kate Bosworth) – Three childhood friends have their weekend getaway on a secluded island transformed into a brutal game of cat-and-mouse with a trio of trained predators. Katie Aselton (The Freebie, star of "The League") directs from a script by husband Mark Duplass. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Frankenstein’s Army – Netherlands/USA – (Director: Richard Raaphorst, Screenwriters: Chris W. Mitchell, Miguel Tejada-Flores, Cast: Karel Roden, Joshua Sasse, Robert Gwilym, Alexander Mercury) – Near the end of World War II, a platoon of Russian soldiers are given a secret mission that leads them into the lair of a Nazi mad scientist and his frightening creations in this cinematically inventive take on the monster movie. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Henge – Japan –  (Director/Screenwriter: Hajime Ohata, Cast: Kazunari Aizawa, Aki Morita, Teruhiko Nobukuni) – Following treatment for violent spells, a young man returns home to his loving wife. But as his seizures intensify, it becomes clear something inside him is trying to get out. Part domestic drama, part sci-fi thriller, this ambitious micro-budget tragedy heralds the arrival of a bright new talent. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Here Comes the Devil – Mexico –  (Director/Screenwriter: Adrián García Bogliano, Cast: Francisco Barreiro, Laura Caro, Alan Martinez) – Argentine director Adrían García Bogliano (Cold Sweat, Penumbra) returns with a shockingly gory erotic horror film about a couple whose children mysteriously disappear while on vacation in Mexico. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Maniac – France/USA – (Director: Frank Khalfoun, Screenwriter: Alexandre Aja, Grégory Levasseur, C.A. Rosenberg, Cast: Elijah Wood, Nora Amezedar) – Elijah Wood shines in this remake of the horror classic about a psychotic stalker with a habit of scalping his objects of desire. Reimagined in mostly point-of-view shots, this revolutionary horror hit from Cannes is part camp, part art and all fear. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• The Rambler – USA – (Director/Screenwriter: Calvin Lee Reeder, Cast: Dermot Mulroney, Lindsay Pulsipher, Natahsa Lyonne, James Cady) – ‪Director Calvin Lee Reeder (The Oregonian) utilizes his unique style of psychological horror and surrealism to adapt his acclaimed short about the man known only as "The Rambler" and his bizarre journey through the back roads of America. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Room 237 – USA – (Director: Rodney Ascher, Featured: Bill Blakemore, Geoffrey Cocks, Juli Kearns, John Fell Ryan, Jay Weidner) – ‪In 1980 Stanley Kubrick released his classic horror film, The Shining. Over 30 years later, viewers are still struggling to understand its hidden meanings. A wild exploration into the heart of obsession, this cinematic essay is one that you will want to see at The Stanley Hotel. (Documentary)

• Tower Block – United Kingdom – (Directors: James Nunn, Ronnie Thompson, Screenwriter: James Moran, Cast: Sheridan Smith, Jack O'Connell, Ralph Brown, Russell Tovey) – When bullets start flying into an isolated tenement building, no one is safe from the faceless shooter who has trapped the residents there for reasons unknown. The traditional slasher film is taken to its extreme in this taut psychological thriller. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• V/H/S/2 – Canada/Indonesia/USA – (Directors: Adam Wingard, Gareth Evans, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, Gareth Evans, Jamie Nash, Jason Eisener, John Davies, Cast: Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L. C. Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes) – The latest installment to last year's successful found-footage short anthology series aims higher, bigger and scarier with new visions from the deranged minds behind some of independent genre's finest offerings (The Blair Witch Project, The Raid, Hobo with a Shotgun, You’re Next). (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Vanishing Waves – Belgium/France/Lithuania – (Director: Kristina Buozyte, Screenwriters: Kristina Buozyte, Bruno Samper, Cast: Jurga Jutaite, Marius Jampolskis, Brice Fournier, Sharunas Bartas) – A hypnotic, erotic, and wildly thought-provoking cinematic odyssey into the unknown realms of the mind, this operatic sci-fi vision highlights the development of a strong psychic link between two patients in an experiment gone awry. (Narrative) Colorado Premiere

• Wither – Sweden – (Directors: Sonny Laguna, Tommy Wiklund, Screenwriters: Sonny Laguna, David Lilieblad, Tommy Wiklund, Cast: Patrik Almkvist, Jessica Blomkvist, Johannes Brost) –  In the grand tradition of Evil Dead and it's progeny, this tale of a group of vacationing friends who encounter an infectious creature from the unknown delivers on the gore in this impressively made low-budget screamfest. (Narrative) US Premiere

Individual Festival passes and packages that include lodging at The Stanley Hotel are  available online. The official Stanley Film Festival app is available for download on iOS via the App Store.

Important dates: 
•   April 5: Press accreditation closes. For details on how to apply, visit:
    www.stanleyfilmfest.com/press/press-accreditation.
 
•   April 8: Individual tickets on sale to the public; Opening Night film, shorts program
    and special presentations announced. 
 
•   May 2: Festival begins.
 
To keep up to date with the Stanley Film Festival, visit stanleyfilmfest.com, “Like” SFF on Facebook (Facebook.com/StanleyFilmFest), “Follow” SFF on Twitter and Instagram (@StanleyFilmFest) and join the conversation using the hashtag #YeahItsCreepy.

2013 Stanley Film Festival Sponsors:
PRESENTING: Chiller; HOST VENUES: The Stanley Hotel, Reel Mountain Theater; GOVERNMENT: Colorado Office of Film, Television and Media, Town of Estes Park, Visit Estes Park; MEDIA: 5280 Magazine, Boulder Daily Camera, Denver Post, Indiewire, Mile High Cinema, Yelp; COMMUNITY: Art Institute of Colorado, Colorado Film School, Denver Film Society, Estes Valley Library, Estes Park Shuttle, University of Colorado Denver; FESTIVAL FRIEND: Banditos, Grit., Hi-Ball, Indyink, Stack Wines, Trinity Absinthe, Zerosun Pictures.
 


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Stanley Film Festival: The Stanley Film Festival showcases classic and contemporary independent horror
cinema all set at the haunted and historic Stanley Hotel in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado. The Festival presets emerging and established filmmakers, enabling the industry and general public to experience the power of storytelling through genre cinema. Founded in 2013 by the Stanley Hotel to celebrate the property’s iconic Hollywood heritage, the four-day event showcases filmmakers latest works, Q&A discussions, industry panels, the “Stanley Dean’s Cup” student film competition and special events for cinema insiders, enthusiasts and fellow artists. To learn more, visit: www.stanleyfilmfest.com.

Chiller: Chiller is the only cable channel devoted to delivering viewers round-the-clock scares. Chiller’s eclectic slate of adrenaline-fueled, soul-stirring entertainment includes a broad offering of original movies and specials, genre films, documentary and reality shows (Fear Factor) and some of the most thought-provoking and suspenseful series ever on television (Dead Like Me, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Tales from the Darkside, Outer Limits).  Chiller is currently available in over 42 million homes. Chiller. Scary Good. To learn more, visit: www.chillertv.com.
 
The Stanley Hotel: Famous for its old world charm, The Stanley Hotel boasts spectacular views in every direction and is less than six miles from Rocky Mountain National Park.  Multi-million dollar renovations have restored this 155-guestroom hotel to its original grandeur.  Listed on the National Register of Historic Places and member of Historic Hotels of America; only an hour away from Denver, it is ideal destination for a Colorado getaway. To learn more, visit: www.stanleyhotel.com.

Grand Heritage Hotel Group: Founded in 1989 by John Cullen, Grand Heritage Hotel Group is one of the nation’s premier owner operators of independent luxury hotels and resorts. Its properties are sought-after destinations that offer consistent luxury, quality and exceptional surroundings. Several Grand Heritage properties enjoy prestigious distinction as designated Historic Hotels of America. The company prides itself on the vision and strategic expertise of its leadership. Highly innovative and experienced professionals collectively boast more than 50 years of hands-on experience in all aspects of the hotel and hospitality business and are recognized for imaginative and entrepreneurial style. Grand Heritage owns and operates hotels in North America; it also operates Grand Heritage Hotels International Brand, which has a number of properties in Europe, The Middle East, India and North Africa. To learn more, visit: www.grandheritage.com.