A Night of Horror International Film Festival is a horror genre film festival that is based in Sydney, Australia. There seems to be some consensus that the event is Australia's premiere, and possibly only, horror film festival. In his monthly column in ''Encore Magazine'', columnist

Harvey Shore Harvey Shore (born 14 February 1947) is an Australian film and television writer-producer. Shore was the producer of the children's TV show, ''Simon Townsend's Wonder World'' from 1980 to 1986, which won five Logie Awards during his tenure. E ...

referred to the festival as "Australia's first horror film festival trecognises the past and gives the horror genre a platform for the future." In an article in Sydney's ''Drum Media'' magazine, journalist Liz Guiffre refers to the horror festival as "a one of a kind in our parts".''Drum Media'', 1 April, no. 899, p. 71

Festival history

The festival was founded in 2006, by Dean Bertram, Lisa Mitchell, and Grant Bertram. It was originally a short film festival, but has since expanded to include feature films and horror themed music videos. Indeed, now that the festival runs for a longer duration, the festival's name, "A Night of Horror", is actually something of a misnomer (the 2008 festival actually ran for ten days and nights). The principal screening venue for the 2008 festival was the Dendy Newtown Cinema. Additional special events included a horror filmmaking forum, a

zombie walk A zombie walk is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Participants usually meet in an urban center and make their way around the city streets and public spaces (or a series of taverns in the case of a zombie ...

, and a number of horror-themed parties. In addition to the principal annual event in Sydney, a "best of" program of films from the festival tours within Australia and internationally. Some of these screenings take place at other festivals under the "A Night of Horror" banner, and have included programs at: It Came From Lake Michigan Film Festival, Weekend de la Peur, and Revelation Perth International Film Festival. In 2007, A Night of Horror International Film Festival also programmed a special selection of Canadian produced horror films for Possible Worlds: Sydney's Canadian Film Festival (which took place at the Chauvel Cinema, Paddington).

Festival Judges and Winning Films

The festival is competitive and films compete for several awards and prizes. A panel of judges decide these winners. 2009 judges included: Antony I. Ginnane (IFM World Releasing, SPAA), Jon Dalgaard (International Coordinator, Lionsgate), Jason Di Rosso (ABC Radio National Movietime), Lewis Alsamari (actor UNITED 93, GREEN ZONE and writer). Previous year's judges have included film author and curator Jack Sargeant, ''People'' magazine editor Martin Vine, television and radio personalities

Jaimie Leonarder Jaimie Leonarder (born 1958, Sydney) also known as Jay Katz is an Australian musician, archivist, social worker, film critic, radio announcer, and DJ. Biography Born and raised in Sydney, Leonarder attended Artarmon Public School and Crows-Nest B ...

and Aspasia Leonarder, and

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presenter and journalist Chris Ruhle. 2007 Winning films Best of Fest: ''

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'' (AUS) Best Film: '' Happy Birthday 2 You'' (ESP) Best Animation: ''The Tell Tale Heart'' (LUX/ESP/USA) Best Lovecraft Film: ''From Beyond'' (USA) Best Zombie Film: '' Love is a Shotgun'' (AUS) Best Director: Paul Campion, '' Night of the Hell Hamsters'' (UK/NZ) Best Performance:

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, ''

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'' (USA) Best Scream Queen:

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, '' The New Life'' (AUS) Best Special Effects: Stuart Rowsell, ''

'' (AUS) Best Score: Milan Rusko, ''Nazdravicko!'' (SVK) 2008 Winning Films Best Film: ''

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'' (USA) Best Foreign Film: ''

La Antena ''The Aerial'' ( es, La Antena) is a 2007 Argentine fantasy drama film written and directed by Esteban Sapir. The film stars Valeria Bertuccelli, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Julieta Cardinali, with Rafael Ferro and Florencia Raggi in supporting roles ...

'' (ARG) Best Short Film: ''

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'' (USA) Best Australian Film: ''

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'' (AUS) Best Lovecraft Film: ''

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'' (USA) Best Animation: ''

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'' (KOR/USA) Best Music Video: ''Torture Device'', featuring Dawn of Ashes (USA) Best Director: Paco Limon, (''

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'') (ESP) Best Performance:

Sammi Davis Samantha "Sammi" Davis (born 21 June 1964) is an English actress. She gained considerable praise for her performances in ''Mona Lisa'' (1986), as a teenage prostitute, and Ken Russell's '' The Rainbow'' (1989). She also had significant roles ...

, ''

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'' (USA) Best Scream Queen: Tess McVicker, ''

'' (USA) Best Special Make-Up Effects: ''

'' (USA) Best Special Visual Effects: ''

Eel Girl ''Eel Girl'' is a 2008 horror science fiction short film written and directed by Paul Campion, in which what appears to be a sort of human- eel hybrid woman, being studied by scientists in a Naval research facility, takes revenge on one of the ...

'' (NZ/UK) Directors' Choice Award (Best Feature Film): '' Murder Loves Killers Too'' (USA) Directors' Choice Award (Best Short Film): '' Kirksdale'' (USA) 2009 Winning Films Best Film: ''

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'' (USA) Best Foreign Language Film: '' No Morire Sola'' (I'll Never Die Alone) (ARG) Best Australian Film: ''

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'' (AUS) Best Director: Adrián García Bogliano ('' I'll Never Die Alone'') (ARG) Best Australian Director: Ursula Dabrowsky ('' Family Demons'') (AUS) Best Female Performance: Olga Fedori ('' Mum & Dad'') (UK) Best Male Performance: Shea Whigham (''

'') (USA) Best Special Effects: ''

'' (USA) Best Special Effects (Short Film): ''

Treevenge ''Treevenge'' is a 2008 List of Christmas films, Christmas Horror film, horror short film written and directed by Jason Eisener, and produced by Yer Dead Productions. Shooting started in November 2007, and ended in February 2008. Post-production w ...

'' (CAN) Best Short Film: Una Storia Di Lupi ('' A Wolf's Tale'') (ITA) Best Short Animation: ''

The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow ''The Facts In the Case of Mister Hollow'' is a 2008 Short horror film that was directed by Rodrigo Gudiño and Vincent Marcone, based upon a story written by Gudiño. The short was first released on July 17, 2008, at the Fantasia Film Festival an ...

'' (CAN) Best Lovecraft Film: '' AM 1200'' (USA) Best Short Australian Film: '' A Break in the Monotony'' (AUS) Best Music Video: More Control - '' The Heist and the Accomplice'' (Dir: Steve Daniels) (USA) Directors' Choice (BEST FEATURE): '' Reel Zombies'' (CAN) Directors' Choice (BEST SHORT): ''Allure'' (USA) Independent Spirit Award (FEATURE FILM): '' Finale'' (USA) Independent Spirit Award (SHORT): '' The Red Hours'' (CAN) Independent Spirit Award (AUSTRALIA): '' Taber Corn'' (AUS)

2009 Festival

The 2009 Sydney festival is scheduled for 25 March to 3 April 2009. On 2 June 2008, the festival announced its call for entries for the 2009 festival. The festival accepts films in several different categories, including: feature films, short films, animations, films inspired by the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and horror-themed music videos. It has also introduced a screenplay competition to take place in conjunction with the 2009 festival, and is calling for unproduced feature length and short horror scripts. 2009 Feature Screenplay Winners: 1st - Terminal - (Paul Campion & Elisabeth Pinto) 2nd - Children of the Night - (

Harry Basil Harry Basil is a stand-up comedian and comedy club operator, known for his impressions of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Superman. As an actor, Basil appeared in the film ''Peggy Sue Got Married''. His film credits include ''Meet Wally Sparks'', whi ...

) 3rd - Footage - (Duncan Samarasinghe) 2009 Short Screenplay Winners: 1st - Brother Moose's Broken Shorts - (A.J. Mitchler) 2nd - Fragments of Normal - (Gwyn Duffy) 3rd - Mr. Roach - (Franck Zuanic)

References

External links

A Night of Horror International Film Festival
website
A Night of Horror at Revelation Perth International Film Festival
{{DEFAULTSORT:Night Of Horror International Film Festival Fantasy and horror film festivals in Australia Film festivals in Sydney