After a hiatus in 2015, Tasmania’s Stranger With My Face International Film Festival (formerly known as Stranger With My Face Horror Film Festival) will return for its fourth edition from April 14-17, 2016.
Named after the dark YA novel by Lois Duncan, Stranger With My Face focuses on female perspectives in genre film, with an emphasis on showcasing the work of women directors. Held over four days in Hobart, Tasmania’s picturesque capital city, the festival hosts screenings, conferences, workshops and exhibits, as well as satellite events year-round.
“There’s a great awareness right now that women are underrepresented in the film industry and audiences are hungry for female-driven stories,” says Festival Director Briony Kidd. “Combine that with the innovation characteristic of the indie horror scene currently, and we’re seeing an explosion of female genre talent that makes Stranger With My Face more relevant than ever.”
With its recently-revamped website and increased international reach, SWMF establishes itself as one of the key platforms for genre film in Australia, and an integral part of the larger women-in-horror movement worldwide.
A new addition to the festival team this year is longtime genre film programmer and writer Kier-La Janisse, author of the film memoir, House of Psychotic Women. Janisse is serving a residency with Stranger With My Face until July 2016. “Stranger With My Face is a brilliantly-curated festival and I wanted to be a part of the enormous potential I saw here,” says Janisse. “With so many gutsy female-centric genre films in recent years, this is a very exciting place to be.”
The call for submissions is now open, with both feature length and short films made after January 1, 2024 eligible for consideration. The festival takes a broad approach to horror, with dark fantasy, Gothic melodrama, horror comedy, dystopian sci-fi, animation, documentary and experimental hybrids all qualifying for the selective festival lineup.
While submissions are open to filmmakers of all genders, only films by those who identify as women are eligible for awards.
Media inquiries:
Stranger With My Face International Film Festival
Email: briony@strangerwithmyface.com
Phone: +61 408 376 045
Website: www.strangerwithmyface.com
Facebook: facebook.com/swmfiff
Twitter: @swmfiff
Hashtag: #SWMFIFF
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About Stranger With My Face International Film Festival
Stranger With My Face International Film Festival is based in Hobart, Tasmania, founded by filmmakers Briony Kidd and Rebecca Thomson. Deriving its name from the young adult novel by Lois Duncan, it explores the idea of ‘the horror within’ and promotes discussion around genre and gender, from ghost stories to gore, from art house to exploitation. SWMF has a focus on female directors working in horror and related genres and aims to highlight bold new work by independent filmmakers. Stranger With My Face is a founding member of the Women’s Alliance of Fantastic Film Festivals (WAFFF), along with Etheria Film Night (Los Angeles), Tokyo Scream Queens Film Festival and Ax Wound Film Festival (Brattleboro). It was voted in the Top 5 Coolest Women’s Film Festivals in the world by Movie Maker Magazine in 2013 and guest filmmaker Jennifer Lynch (Chained, The Walking Dead) described it as follows:
“Nothing short of magical. It was transformative for me. I think what is being done there, and celebrated there and made possible as a result, is the best I have seen at any fest… I want to be there every year.”
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