I had an absolute blast covering Fantastic Fest 2022. I’m writing this post-mortem to get the final stats on the record and to mention the standouts I saw that I haven’t proselytized yet.
By the numbers:
I saw 17 short films at the fest and 28 features, for a total of 45 titles over 7.5 days.
Here’s the breakdown by day:
Day 1: 2 features, 9 shorts
Day 2: 3 features, 1 short
Day 3: 3 features
Day 4: 4 features
Day 5: 4 features, 1 short
Day 6: 5 features, 1 short
Day 7: 3 features, 2 shorts
Day 8: 4 features, 3 shorts
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Me, upon waking up Saturday morning: “I could use a light entry into the screenings today. I hope the choice I made yesterday is kind of tame.”
Checks phone; sees first screening is titled Flesheater.
Also me: “Well, shit.”
Day three was the first day I didn’t leave the theater for the entire day, apart from stepping outside to get some fresh air between screenings. I arrived at 11am and didn’t leave until almost twelve hours later. One of the great things about a film festival at Alamo Drafthouse is access to a full menu for every screening, meaning you never have to leave to get food.
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I felt the lack of sleep I got after day one of the fest in my bones every single minute of day two. Because of it, I made a decision that will cause me to break the promise I made to you only 72 hours ago. I’m out on the midnight (or near midnight) screenings going forward. Threeish hours of sleep a night is simply not enough for me to function. Abandoning any plan or part of a plan always makes me feel a bit like a failure, but then I remembered something. This is supposed to be fun, damn it! Plus, no one is paying me to do this, hence no one is telling me what to do, hence I can make this experience anything I want it to be.
I saw five movies – three features and two shorts – on day two. After writing and publishing the post for day one, grabbing a shower, and heading back to Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, I was immediately treated to my favorite film of the fest so far.
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Here’s how much of a creature of habit I am. The filmmaker Q&A for the last screening I attended last night at day 1 of Fantastic Fest ended a few minutes after 1:45am. By the time I got back to my host’s house – major thanks to the amazing Melody Smith, who has graciously opened her home to me during the fest – and had unwound enough to drop off to sleep, 2:30 was rearing its ugly head. Yet, right on schedule, my eyes popped open at 5:30, as they do most mornings. I was able to catnap for another 45 minutes before accepting the inevitable and starting my day.
After arriving in Austin mid-afternoon yesterday and securing my press badge, I settled in to my temporary home base with a little over four hours to kill before the first round of screenings. The good people of Fantastic Fest must have sensed I had a few free hours, because they sent me an email telling me six new films were available for me to watch via streaming as part of the Fantastic Fest @ Home option.
Might as well get an early start!
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I have some exciting news that I’ve been sitting on until now. A few months ago, I was approved for credentials to cover this year’s Fantastic Fest Film Festival as a member of the press! This will be the first film festival I’ve ever attended from start to finish while also screening as many movies as physically (and, it should be noted, psychologically) possible.
The closest I’ve ever come to completing this Mecca-like pilgrimage for cineastes is working as a volunteer for the Oak Cliff Film Festival in my own back yard almost a decade ago. Since I was working as a volunteer, though, I was only able to attend a few screenings. My coverage of Fantastic Fest will be a completely different experience.
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