Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. In years past they have presented the world premieres of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, CITY OF EMBER, ZOMBIELAND, and GENTLEMEN BRONCOS, while our guest roster has included such talent as Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Dolph Lundgren, Jemaine Clement, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. They also feature world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films.
They also have the Fantastic Arcade, which has more than 20 independent video games will be on display at this year’s Fantastic Arcade, the second annual showcase of independent games from the organizers of Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the world’s largest genre film festival. Taking place on September 22-25, 2011, Fantastic Arcade is presented by PlayStation Network. As the Presenting Sponsor of the Arcade and the exclusive console partner of the event, PlayStation Network will present special sessions and activities throughout the Arcade event.
At its heart what is Fantastic Fest and what was the inspiration for it?
The heart of the Fantastic Arcade is to celebrate the amazing indie video games of our modern times, and to connect the film and game worlds in interesting and fun ways. Inspiration is growing up in the 1980s and our love for the creative side of games - whether its existential art, political satire or grossout fun.
How did it expand into the video game area? Was it an organic growth or were you approached by a game company?
The Arcade was completely organic. In fact, nobody asked us to do it. Tim had always wanted to explore the video game world, especially its connections with film. I had done smaller versions of displaying games at CineVegas and Sundance film festivals, and we finally worked together two years ago to pull the Arcade off.
While it seems that Fantastic Fest is a celebration of the Independents, the arcade is sponsored by the Playstation Network, which is far from being considered independent in any way. How does that all fit together? Is it just because they have a large presence down in Austin?
Sponsors are part of every convention and festival that celebrates independents - not to mention museums and galleries. What is important to us is our game selection celebrates games that were made with smaller crews and are independent-minded. Lots of love put into the art, gameplay and meaning, even if its just for fun. Video games are made for many platforms these days, we try to look at the spirit that went into making the game.
