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In addition to the bevy of films screening at this year's Fantaspoa, the festival has some really rad events planned, including an Alice in Wonderland-themed costume party. Also in today's Horror Highlights: production and release details for Hell House LLC III: Lake of Fire and a trailer for Acid Pit Stop.

Fantaspoa Announces Final Wave of Films: "Brazil's Fantaspoa, the largest genre film festival in Latin America, is proud to unveil its final wave of films selected for their upcoming fifteenth edition, running from May 16th through June 2nd. This announcement completes the fest's full 2019 line-up, consisting of more than 100 films.

The festival's live events will kick-off with an Alice in Wonderland-themed costume party, followed by a concert featuring, among others, Demian Rugna's band, Pasco 637. As they did last year, the festival will celebrate its closing night party, a masquerade ball, aboard a boat on the Guaiba River,...

The third annual Ajyal Youth Film Festival presented by the Doha Film Institute (November 29 to December 5) showcases feature films from 20 countries and a series of short film programs in Katara, Qatar.

Fatma Al Remaihi, Festival Director and CEO of the Doha Film Institute, says: “By providing young people with access to international cinema, filmmakers from around the world, and the space to discuss their ideas and develop critical thinking, Ajyal empowers the youngest members of our community and develops their understanding of the world around them.”

Academy Award nominated director, Hany Abu-Assad and Arab Idol champion Mohammed Assaf, whose life story "The Idol" is based on, will attend the Opening Night and will participate in a special ‘In Conversation’ session about bringing Assaf’s life story to the big screen and highlight the power of combining music and cinema and the challenges facing Arab artists today.

Read more about "The Idol" and an interview with Hany Abu-Assad at its debut at Tiff 2015.

Aside from the daily public screenings of local and international films other events are the popular "Made in Qatar"; Sony Cinema Under the Stars; Family Weekend; the Doha Giffoni Youth Media Summit ; special events and exhibitions; the Sandbox interactive digital playground; school screenings; and the Ajyal Competition, where hundreds of young jurors between the ages of 8 and 21 will watch and discuss shorts and features and decide on the winning films. competition line-up.

The popular "Made in Qatar" section features 17 films -- nine narrative shorts and eight documentaries by local talent.

More than 500 young people from the ages of 8 to 21 make up the Ajyal Competition Jury which will watch and analyze a dynamic program of films in three competitive sections followed by discussions and events including panels, workshops and Q&A sessions with filmmakers.

Each of the three Ajyal Juries are made of 24 international jurors from 12 countries including Australia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Italy, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Serbia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The jury awards a Best Film prize to their favorite short and feature-length film, for a total of six awards. The directors of the winning films are awarded funding toward their next film, so jurors are empowered to support and promote future content that is relevant and important to them in a proactive way.

Mohaq means ‘New Moon’ in Arabic, and these are Ajyal’s youngest jurors, aged 8 to 12. These jurors will watch one program of short films and four feature-length films, marking the first year that competitive feature films are included in this category. They are: "Celestial Camel" (Russia) by Yury Feting about a young sheepherder living in the desolate Kalmyk Steppe, who sets off on an epic journey after his father is forced to sell the family’s beloved camel calf; "The Greatest House in the World" (Guatemala, Mexico) by Ana V. Bojórquez and Lucía Carreras - a film about the never-ending circle of life told through the story of a young girl in the isolated highlands of Guatemala; "Paper Planes"(Australia) by Robert Connolly - a tale of friendship, creativity and the bonds of family which centers around an 11-year-old boy with an exceptional talent for creating paper airplanes; and "Phantom Boy" by Jean-Loup Felicioli, Alain Gagnol (France, Belgium) an animated film about an 11-year-old boy whose illness allows him to have out-of-body experiences and mysterious powers.

Ajyal’s jurors aged 13 to 17 are the Hilal jury – the term means ‘Crescent Moon’ in Arabic. Five feature films and a program of shorts make up this jury’s film selection. The feature films competing in this section are: "Lamb" (France, Ethiopia, Germany, Norway, Qatar) by Yared Zeleke, a portrait of a young Ethiopian boy trying to find his way in the world; "Landfill Harmonic" (U.S.) directed by Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley and recent audience award winning documentary at Napa Valley Film Festival, that tracks the astounding rise of a Paraguayan youth orchestra whose members live next to one of South America's largest landfills and make their instruments from recycled materials; "Mina Walking" (Canada, Afghanistan), a multiple award winning documentary by Yosef Baraki, a powerful tale of a 12-year-old girl in war-torn Afghanistan struggling to make ends meet for her family; "Scarecrow " (The Philippines) by Zig Madamba Dulay which explores the complicated relationship of social injustice and familial expectations through the story of a young mother in a rural town; and " Wolf Totem" (China, France) by Jean-Jacques Annaud. Set against the backdrop of the Chinese Cultural Revolution 1967, it is the story of a two young Chinese students who are sent on a research assignment with the nomadic herdsmen of Inner Mongolia and become fascinated by the wolves that roam the plains.

The most mature of Ajyal’s juries, Bader (Arabic for ‘Full Moon’) jurors are aged 18 to 21 and will select their favorite films from five features and two programs of short films. The feature films vying for top honors in this section are: "An" (Japan, France, Germany) by Naomi Kawase is a drama about a lonely baker whose life is reinvigorated when he hires an elderly woman with a special culinary skill; "The Second Mother " (Brazil's submission for Oscar nomination) by Anna Muylaert which is an exploration of the bond between mothers and their children told through the story of a housekeeper in Sao Paulo (Read review and interview with director Anna Muylaert here); "Taxi" (Iran), winner of Fipresci and Golden Bear Awards in Berlin 2015, by Jafar Panahi in which the celebrated Iranian director places himself in the driver’s seat of a cab, taking fares to their destinations in a wonderful portrait of contemporary Iran; "Very Big Shot" (Lebanon, Qatar), a bold and insightful dark comedy by Mir-Jean Bou Chaaya that skewers political corruption and the media circus that goes with it; and "Walls" (Spain) - a documentary by Pablo Iraburu and Migueltxo Molina that follows several subjects on both sides of three contemporary international borders, demonstrating that the people on each side of the barriers are not as different as they may believe.

In addition to the three competitive sections, the Festival’s youngest audiences under the age of 8 years will also vote for their favorite film with the help of their parents who will determine the Parents’ Choice Award in the Bariq program. Bariq films are selected to satisfy the excitement and curiosity of young children and are suitable for the whole family. This year’s program features a collection of eight short films and will also include a special outdoor cine-concert on the Katara esplanade by the Festival Tout-Petits Cinéma from Paris, with four films accompanied by live music by pianist Anthony Boulc’h and saxophonist Fanch Minous.

A senior jury of three eminent figures from the local and regional industry will determine the winners of the competitive section comprising feature films from 20 countries and a series of short film program with two awards being presented for Best Short Narrative Film and Best Short Documentary Film. The 2015 jury members are film producer Bassam Al Ibrahim (Qatar), who is the CEO of Innovation Films and co-founder of ILoveQatar.net; film actress, director and producer, Ahd (Saudi Arabia), internationally renowned for her performance in Haifaa al-Mansour’s " Wadjda;" and respected veteran journalist and media personality, Marcel Ghanem (Lebanon).

Fatma Al Remaihi said: “It has been another productive and inspiring year for filmmaking in Qatar and this year’s Made in Qatar selection indicates the rapid growth and diversity that we are witnessing in the Qatari film industry."

The films in the 2015 Ajyal Youth Film Festival Made in Qatar section are:

Made in Qatar Program 1, Wednesday 2nd December

"To My Mother" by Amina Al Bloshi

"Light Sounds" by Karem Kamel

"Her Majlis" by Najla Al Khulaifi, Dana Al Mesnad and Nayla Al Thani

"The Palm Tree" by Jassim Al-Rumaihi

"Yellow Nights" by Abdulla al Mulla

"If They Only Knew" by Sana Al-Ansari

"Heart of the House" by Gabrielle Sol

"The Notebook" by Amna Albinali

Made in Qatar Program 2, Friday 4th December

"Charlie" by Ali Ali

"Immortalizing Memories" by Mostafa Sheshtawy

"Asfoora" by Mayar Hamdan

"Good as New" by Jaser Alagha

"I Choose Islam" by Noor Al-Tamimi, Silma Suba and Zac J. Hollo

"Mariam" by Zainab Ayon

"Time" by Yassine Ouahrani

"Man of the House" by Khalifa AlMarri

"Veganize It!" by Khalid Salim

Closing night will be the world premiere of animated feature film "Bilal" (UAE/2015), a new animated feature film made with funding from the Doha Film Institute and produced by Dubai-based Barajoun Studios. Involving creative talents from 22 countries, "Bilal " by Directors Ayman Jamal and Khurram Alavi is an inspiring adventure story of faith, hope and self-discovery. Inspired by the real-life story of Bilal Bin Rabah, the film's cutting edge animation technology, impeccable research and high production values will resonate with audiences across generations. The cast and crew of the film will be in attendance for the premiere including the directors of the film and cast members Andre Robinson ("Despicable Me 2") and Adewale Akinnuoye Agbaje ("Lost", "The Bourne Identity", "Game of Thrones") who voice the young and adult Bilal respectively.

The Ajyal Family Weekend will feature the regional premiere of Marking the Un International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Ajyal 2015 will present in a regional first, an inclusive cinema experience specially ‘transadapted’ to suit audiences with different abilities, a special screening of Al Rayyan Productions animated short "Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012). Guests will be able to view the film through sound alone, with special subtitles for people who have difficulty understanding speech. This inclusive version of the film has been developed with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and is the result of a collaboration between the Doha Film Institute and the Translation and Interpreting Institute at Hamad Bin Khalifa University who are spearheading the development of transadapted content in the Gulf region.

Fatma Al Remaihi, “Since our first edition, animated films have formed a core part of the Ajyal program and I am delighted that this year, we will premiere three incredibly diverse examples of the artform... from three corners of the globe.”

"Bilal" (UAE/2015) In a dreamlike vision, mysterious dark riders mounted on demonic black horses bear down upon a village. Nearby, little Bilal dreams of being a great warrior as he gallops along on his hobbyhorse. The riders come closer – are they real? Or are they just a figment of the youngster’s extraordinary imagination? Suddenly, Bilal’s dream becomes a nightmare. The men on horseback kill his mother and take him captive along with Ghufaira, his sister, and they are soon sold as slaves to Umayya, the wealthiest merchant in all of Arabia. Bilal never forgets this terrible day, which haunts his sleep for years to come. But the echoes of his mother’s gentle voice stay with him, a constant reminder that to break free of the chains that enslave him, he must forge his own destiny.

"The Good Dinosaur" (USA/2015), the latest feature from the award-winning Pixar Animation Studios and the team behind beloved Pixar classics "Finding Nemo" and "Inside Out" and will feature a special ‘kids red carpet’ for all families and young people from the community to participate and to be transported to a world where dinosaurs walk the Earth. Directed by Peter Sohn, the film screens on December 4th and presents an alternate history where the asteroids that wiped out these ancient reptiles never hit our planet.

"Hero and the Message" (Qatar/2012) tells the fantastic tale of a Qatari brother and sister who travel back in time to witness the founding events of the State of Qatar. Produced by Al Rayyan Productions, the top-notch animated short directed by Pawel Borowski was created to celebrate Qatar’s National Day in 2012, and screens on December 3rd.

"When Marnie Was There" (Japan/2014), screening on December 4 is one of the final anime sensations from Ghibli Studios and is based on the novel When Marnie Was There by Joan G. Robinson. Directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi, the film is about a young girl Anna who explores a long- abandoned villa and meets a mysterious blonde girl only she can see.

It's surprising that this is the first time Polish producers have participated in the Cannes Producers Network considering Poland is one of the upcoming young filmmaking hotspots. Their T-Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, their American Film Festival and Us in Progress, Warsaw Film Festival and Krakow Film Festival are all promoting cross-cultural collaboration in new ways and this new generation of filmmakers is so educated and talented. Keep your eyes on Poland!

An exclusive program of meet-and-greets!

Launched in 2004, the Producers Network hosts 550 producers from around the world in a series of meetings and events. Created to stimulate international coproduction and project financing, this event is specially designed for producers. Every day an individually tailored program will be giving the opportunity to meet the various partners the projects require, be it a co-producer, distributor, sales agent or financier.

5 leading Polish Producers in the Program.

Poland will be represented by the top highly successful 5 Producers of young generation the Polish Film Institute is proud to present:

Agnieszka Kurzydło

MD4

Agnieszka was born in 1974 in Kraków. She studied archeology at the Jagiellonian University. She is involved in film industry since 1992. In 2009 became involved with Zentropa International Poland as a managing director. Since the beginning Zentropa International Poland made international co-production films, such as: Antichrist directed by Lars von Trier (2009), The Woman who dreamt of a Man directed by Per Fly (2010), Elles directed by Małgośka Szumowska (2012). In 2011 she established her own company: Mental Disorder 4 (MD4) and she works as the CEO. She produced such films as: BabyBlues directed by Katarzyna Rosłaniec (2012) - world premiere at the Tiff 2012, CrystalBear for the Best Film at the Berlinale 2013 Generation 14plus and Special Mention fromInternational Jury, In the name of directed by Małgośka Szumowska (2013) - world premiere at Berlinale 2013 Competition and Teddy Award. Among MD4 forthcoming projects are:RedSpider directed by Marcin Koszałka (planed premiere 2014) and Kebab & Horoscopedirected by Grzegorz Jaroszuk (planned premiere 2014).

Małgorzata Jurczak

Scorpion Arte

Graduated from Warsaw University, The Law Department, Lodz Film and TV School, The Production Management and Leeds Metropolitan University, The Northern School of Film and Television. Co-founder of Skorpion Arte Film & TV Production, the independent production company established in Warsaw, 2008.Filmography (producer): The Photographer dir. Waldemar Krzystek (2013), Manhunt dir. Marcin Krzysztalowicz (The Silver Lions Gdynia Flilm Festival 2012, Montreal World Competition 2012) , My name is Ki dir. Leszek Dawid (The Venice Days 2011, Cottbus 2011, Off Camera 2012), The Heritage dir. Andrzej Baranski (The Karlovy Vary 2011), Being like Deyna dir. Anna Wieczur - Bluszcz (2012).

Marta Laryssa Plucińska

Federico Film

Federico Film was founded in February 1997. Its founder, co-owner, and producer is Marta Laryssa Plucińska. In 2005 her brother, Pawel Pluciński has joined the company. Federico Film is an active producer on the audiovisual market. They take part in national as well as international co-productions. They cooperate with Polish and foreign filmmakers of documentaries, advertisements, video clips and TV series. Present feature productions: Przeklęta Zorica (Crna Zorica) (2012), directed by Radosław Pavkovic, international coproduction Serbian-Polish-Greek, supported by: Polish Film Institute. Mój Rower (My father’s bike) (2012), directed by Piotr Trzaskalski, cinema feature film. Shooting: August 2011. Cast: Michał Urbaniak, Artur Żmijewski, Krzysztof Chodorowski, Witold Dębski, Anna Nehrebecka; Co-producer – Television Tvn S.A., Supported by: Pisf, Lodz Film Commission.

Mikołaj Pokromski

Pokromski Studio

Educated in business, holds a Mba, a degree in Logistics and Intercultural Management, as a Film Production Master Classin Film Academy Ludwigsburg / La Fémis Paris. Coming from a family working in film, he joined the industry very early starting work in a film services company and eventually worked his way up the role of Film Producer. He currently works both in feature and documentary films, with a number of them being internationally awarded productions. In 2009 started Pokromski Studio, which he heads and produces films. Pokromski Studio acts as independent producer and service provider for international productions in Poland.Since 2012 is a member of the European and the German Film Academies.

Łukasz Dzięcioł

Opus Film

A master's graduate in Film Studies from the University of Lodz, Lukasz Dzieciol also participated in the International Producing Program at Cologne's Ifs Internationale Filmschule and in the Los Angeles Film School Producing Program. For the past 10 years, he has been working at Opus Film, a feature film and commercials company, in which he shares ownership. Lukasz's production credits include Slawomir Fabicki's Retrieval, which premiered in 2006 in Un Certain Regard in Cannes and was Poland's candidate for the Foreign Language Oscar. He also produced Adam Guzinski's A Boy On A Galloping Horse which screened Out of competition in Cannes' official selection the same year.Recently, he produced Zero by Pawel Borowski, My Flesh My Blood by Marcin Wrona and Courage by Greg Zglinski. The films were screened at several international festivals and garnered major film prizes, respectively. Apart from his work in Europe, Lukasz has also produced film projects in the United States and remains actively involved in ongoing co-operations with Us-based production companies. In 2011, he was selected for European Film Promotion’s networking platform, Producers On The Move, at the Cannes International Film Festival. Since 2011 he is a member of The Polish Film Academy and European Film Academy.

New Europe Film Season, Edinburgh

As the EU expands, so too do film festivals that aim to present new European cinema in all its gritty glory. This year's tales of urban survival and cultural and geographical displacement come mainly from central and eastern Europe, with a sneaky entry from the not-quite-in-the-club-but-nearly Croatia, which offers Balkan war drama The Blacks. You can delve into the murky depths of the Warsaw criminal underworld in Snow White And Russian Red, or discover the sweet and surreal stylings of Latvian Signe Baumane's short films. There's also Zero, a brilliantly twisted tale of 24 stories of revenge, jealousy and despair in 24 hours from Polish director Pawel Borowski, and, from Hungary comes the Mike Leigh-esque I Am Not Your Friend, about the dark side of modern Budapest.

Edinburgh Filmhouse, Fri to 28 Apr

Andrea Hubert

Extraordinary Film Festival, London

London used to have cinemas that played nothing but extraordinary films,...

Chicago – The third week of the 13th Annual EU Film Festival at the Siskel Film Center has arrived, and we’re back to give you an idea of what to expect in the second half of arguably the best fest in the Windy City. We profile several of this week’s hottest tickets, including an anticipated screening hosted by Chicago’s own Jonathan Rosenbaum.

The first half of EU 2010 (which you can read about here and here) produced some memorable films including Sweden’s taut thriller “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Italy’s sumptuous romance “I Am Love,” and France’s exhilaratingly off-kilter re-telling of “Bluebeard.” As good as all of those films were, the festival has generally been offering stronger programming each week, and this is the best one yet. Out of the next four highlights, there are at least two that absolutely should not be missed.

It...

The true-life tale of a daring escape from Auschwitz, a classic from controversial director Roman Polanski and Poland's answer to Trainspotting are just some of the films being screened in Belfast as part of Kinoteka on Tour - 4th Polish Film Festival.

The showcase of the best in new and classic Polish cinema will run at the Queen's Film Theatre, Fitzwilliam Street, Belfast, from Friday, March 5, to next Thursday, March 11.

Susan Picken, Head of Qft said: "This year's Kinoteka programme reflects the quality and diversity of both new and classic Polish cinema. We are delighted to host the festival for a fourth year and look forward to a fascinating series of screenings."

The festival opens with Little Moscow, a chronicle of a tragic love between a Russian commander's wife and a Polish officer. The story is based on director Waldemar Krzystek's memories of growing up in Poland's Little Moscow,...

Continuing our new Indie Trailer Sunday tradition, today's new trailer is for a Polish thriller called Zero. It's the latest film from Polish filmmaker Pawel Borowski (of the short I Love You previously). Zero is 24 hours in the lives of a few people in a city and is a complete loop. I don't fully understand the concept, but I have a feeling it might be like an extension of Gaspar Noé's Irreversible, where the film takes the narrative and twists it in a more artistic and weird way. That said, this trailer is absolutely brilliant, and thanks to Twitch, you can check it out below. Although it doesn't have subtitles, it's still really awesome to watch. Watch the trailer for Pawel Borowski's Zero: [flv:http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/zero-polish-trailer-full.flv http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/zero-polish-trailer-full.jpg 598 256] The film's narrative principle follows the character who spoke the last word in the dialogue. It's the story of numerous characters and of whose fate...