The Popcorn Frights Film Festival is back with its eleventh this year, both in-person and virtually, from August 7-17. The Southeast’s largest genre celebration announces its second wave of programming this morning, from new premieres to repertory screening classics.
The final wave is a short film showcase, featuring seventy-four world premiere shorts. Look for notable entries including Andrew Bowser’s “Frankenbabes from Beyond the Grave” and Academy Award-winner Joel Harlow’s “The Specter of Christmas” featuring Paul Giamatti.
Catch up on the first and second waves here for a full rundown of the lineup.
Read on for the third wave:
SHORT FILM LINEUP
Animation Domination
The endless possibilities of genre animation are on dazzling display in this retina-reeling, round-the-world showcase of some of the medium’s most innovative, boundary-pushing, and mind-enhancing short films:
As I Was a Tree, dir. Jalal Maghout (Germany-Syrian Arab Republic); Bullet Time, dir. Eddie Alcazar (USA, U.S. Premiere); Burned Cans for Aluminum Children, dir. Rob Kleinschmidt (USA); Cosmic Crash, dir. James Smith (Germany); Diaboli, dir. Shaddy Safadi (USA); Dolores, dir. Cecilia Andalón Delgadillo (Mexico); Flatastic, dir. Alice Saey (France-Netherlands); La Voix des Sirenes, dir. Gianluigi Toccafondo (Italy); Luz Diabla, dirs. Gervasio Canda, Paula Boffo & Patricio Plaza (Argentina-Canada); Next Show in 90 Minutes, dir. John T. Hill (USA); Worm, dirs. Mattis Dovier & Yoann Dovier (France)
“Want” directed by Zalman Zuckerbraun
Homegrown: 100% Pure Fresh Squeezed Florida Horror
Celebrating the cream of Florida’s homegrown crop:
Alpaca, dir. Sylvia Caminer (USA, World Premiere); Brick Boy, dir. Scott Vasey (USA); Dark Water Rising, dir. Jessica Bachman (USA, World Premiere); It Loves Me So, dir. Colin Dean Treneff (USA); Mimic, dir. Thomas Edward Hindy (USA); Neuropsychosis, dir. Michael Wright (USA, World Premiere); Phantom Pain, dir. Kansas McWhirter (USA, World Premiere); Shift, dir. Lucca Vieira (USA, World Premiere); Shore Gore, dir. Valentino Dors (USA); Swallows, dir. Queenie Zhang (USA, U.S. Premiere); That Ass, dir. Andrew Kiaroscuro (USA, World Premiere); Want, dir. Zalman Zuckerbraun (USA)
“As Pale As Death” directed by Ryan Kukec
International Midnighters
A celebration of some of the year’s most fantastic international short films from new emerging voices and established filmmakers:
As Pale As Death, dir. Ryan Kukec (Canada, World Premiere); Defile, dir. Brian Sepanzyk (Canada); Femme, dir. Nina Noël Raaijmakers (Netherlands); Help, I’m Alien Pregnant, dir. Thunderlips (New Zealand); Mirror, dir. Kathy Hu (China); Nervous Ellie, dir. David Yorke (United Kingdom); Pumpkin Guts, dir. Bryan M. Ferguson (United Kingdom); Reflections, dir. Julia Cassini (Brazil, U.S. Premiere); Snare, dir. Sam Blakeney-Edwards (United Kingdom); Terror Night, dir. Jakob Arevärn (Sweden); Undertone, dir. Shaun Munro (United Kingdom); The Visitor, dir. Tony Morales (Spain)
“Frankenbabes from Beyond the Grave” directed by Andrew Bowser
Midnighters
A celebration of new works from cinematic scaremongers that bring nightmares into waking hours with thrills, chills, and spills:
I
Baby Blues – Going Dark, dir. James P. Gleason (USA); Cruelty, dir. Sam Das (USA); Devil’s Prism, dir. Kika Magalhães (USA); Masks, dir. Andre LeBlanc (USA); Obey!, dir. Jordan Wippell (USA, World Premiere); Slow, dir. Rebecca Berrih (USA); Stereo-Vision, dir. Jackson Stewart (USA); There’s Something in My Eye, dir. Richard Louprasong (USA); Tokyo Isn’t Home, dir. M.R. Ellis (USA, World Premiere); Vowels, dir. Rafael De Leon (USA, World Premiere); Will Helm, dir. Bobby Roe (USA)
II
Buzzkill, dir. Amanda Griswold (USA); Crawl Space, dir. Randy Scott Slavin (USA); Princeton’s in the Mix, dir. Jonathan DiMaio (USA); Rabbit, dir. Nathan Catucci (USA); Rebrand, dir. Edoardo Ranaboldo (USA); Red Flag, dirs. Malin Barr & Cleo Handler (USA); REM, dir. Blair Bathory (USA); Up Close, dir. Lukas Hassel (USA); Virgin, dir. Ramone Menon (USA); The Widower, dir. Michael Buran (USA)
III
Endzgiving, dir. Tina Carbone (USA); Frankenbabes from Beyond the Grave, dir. Andrew Bowser (USA); The Last Thing She Saw, dirs. Anthony Cousins & Rebecca Daugherty (USA); Séance for the ‘Gram, dir. Sam Schlenker (USA, World Premiere); Skeeter, dir. Chris McInroy (USA); The Specter of Christmas, dir. Joel Harlow (USA); They Came Home to Die, dir. Zeke Farrow (USA); Whitch, dir. Hoku Uchiyama (USA); Wild Animals, dir. David B. Jacobs (USA)
IV
Did You Remember the Cat, dir. Daniel Foster (USA); don’t.4get2smile, dir. Stefano Alessandro Pennisi (USA); Kilter, dir. Bartley Taylor (USA); Look Closer, dir. Tyson Edwards (USA, U.S. Premiere); Never Let You Go, dir. Alex Domenici (USA); Pandora, Inc., dir. Joel Lueben (USA); Sewing Machine, dir. Tyler Hagen (USA); Turn It Off, dir. Senda Maud Bonnet (USA); You Have Her Eyes, dirs. Jordan Sommerlad & Cory Stonebrook (USA)