Sitges seems to flex its muscles with each new edition: more titles join the ranks of its various sections, and this year, at the 51st Sitges Fantastic Film Festival, which will unspool between 4 and 14 October, no fewer than 250 movies will be screened. The two biggest highlights among them are the hallucinogenic nightmare Climax [+lire aussi :
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interview : Souheila Yacoub
fiche film], helmed by French-based Argentinian filmmaker Gaspar Noé, and Suspiria [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a remake of the 1977 giallo film by Italy’s Dario Argento, directed by his fellow countryman Luca Guadagnino.

Standing tall among the premieres is Gun City [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], the second feature by Galician filmmaker Dani de la Torre, a co-production with France (Playtime Productions) that saw him team up with his friend Luis Tosar as the topliner of this homage to classic gangster films, but with the action set in a tumultuous Barcelona at the start of the 20^th century (Ernesto Alterio, Paco Tous, Manolo Solo and Michelle Jenner round off the main cast). Other Spanish titles include El año de la plaga [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], the second feature by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño, which is serving as the opening film of the Noves Visions section today, one day ahead of its release in Spanish movie theatres, courtesy of Filmax (it stars Luis Bermejo, Ángela Molina, Liz Lobato and Chacha Huang – see the news).

The other world premieres include Superlópez [+lire aussi :
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interview : Koldo Serra
fiche film] by Koldo Serra (Guernica [+lire aussi :
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fiche film]), with Hugo Silva, Daniel Pérez Prada, Emma Suárez and Natalie Poza heading up the cast.

More European films that audiences will be able to enjoy amidst the frenzy of Sitges 2018 are Ghostland [+lire aussi :
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fiche film], a co-production between France and Canada directed by Pascar Laugier; Arctic [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (USA/Iceland) by Joe Penna, which was presented at the most recent Cannes Film Festival; Keep an Eye Out [+lire aussi :
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fiche film] (France/Belgium) by Quentin Dupieux, toplined by Benoît Poelvoorde; The House That Jack Built [+lire aussi :
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interview : Lars von Trier
fiche film], the latest romp by Denmark’s Lars von Trier; and the Swedish documentary Bergman – A Year in a Life [+lire aussi :
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interview : Jane Magnusson
fiche film].

With the gathering’s poster paying tribute to the monolith in 2001: A Space Odyssey, directors such as Peter Weir and M Night Shyamalan, actors of the likes of Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris, and key figures from the film industry such as Douglas Trumbull and Greg Nicotero, among others, will be the stars of the 18 red carpets and the more than ten talks that the festival has in store. In addition, Sitges 2018 will top off its 51^st edition with a huge variety of parallel activities, such as the Sitges Film Hub (industry meetings), seven exhibitions, master classes, presentations and Q&As, as well as offering a more extensive collection of virtual-reality experiences and series this year.

The Filmarket Hub online platform and the Sitges Film Festival have selected the seven feature-length projects that will be taking part in the Sitges Pitchbox 2018 from among more than 200 candidates: they are 9 pasos by Moisés Romera and Marisa Crespo (Spain), Deus Irae by Pedro Cristiani (Argentina), Eat Me by David Michán (Mexico), The Night of the Crow by Pablo S Pastor and Fernando Polanco (Spain), The Occupant by Philip M Howe (Netherlands), The Second Child by Isabella Aguilar and Davide Orsini (Italy), and They Vanished by Inti Carrizo-Ortiz (Chile). First of all, a pitching session will take place in front of producers, sales agents, distributors and companies from the audiovisual sector. Subsequently, the garden of the Meliá Hotel, the festival headquarters, will host the networking cocktail party and the award ceremony (the top prize consists of €5,000 towards development expenses), where the participants will be able to share opinions and exchange contact information.