Beyond Fest Becomes Cronenberg Fest!

Since its inception a few years ago, Los Angeles' own Beyond Fest has been an essential source of repertory programming, fresh festival fare, and the occasional high profile premiere. But each incarnation of the festival hasn't had much of a unifying theme beyond "AWESOME FUCKING MOVIES" - until now, as this year's edition will focus on one particular filmmaker's awesome fucking movies, one by the name of David Cronenberg. Beyond Fest will be showing thirteen of his films, cherry picked from his 40+ year career, and the icing on the cake? He'll be in attendance for many of the screenings!

The crown jewel of the celebration will undoubtedly be "The Shaping of Rage", which will be an all day marathon of his older work (including my personal favorite The Brood). The five film marathon will finish up with Dead Ringers, which will then be followed by a Q&A with Cronenberg and Howard Shore, moderated by Mick Garris. For those who can't do day-long affairs, the other eight films will show as double features (including one of The Fly and Naked Lunch with Cronenberg and Shore, plus Geena Davis and moderated by Leigh Whannell, who knows a thing or two about body horror himself). The fest is even spreading down to the Aero theater in Santa Monica, which will be presenting double features of History of Violence/Eastern Promises and Spider/Crash. 

But what if you're some kind of horrible monster person who doesn't like Cronenberg? Fear not! The festival runs from Sept 26th to October 9th, and these events only take up five of those fourteen nights, so there'll be plenty of other opportunities to melt your face, as they've never let us down before and there's no reason to believe they will start now. The full lineup will be announced on September 4th, so keep an eye out on Beyond Fest's social media pages - or ours - for updates! Tickets for the Cronenberg stuff goes on sale this Saturday, Sept 1st, and I suspect it will sell out quickly, so get your ass up early. It's a long weekend, so no complaints! Long live the new flesh!

Here's the press release...

BEYOND FEST ANNOUNCES ‘CRONENBERG WITH CRONENBERG: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE NEW FLESH’ WITH LEGENDARY AUTEUR, DAVID CRONENBERG, IN ATTENDANCE

Career-spanning, 13-film retrospective includes event screenings including guests Debbie Harry, Geena Davis, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Howard Shore.

Los Angeles, CA – Wednesday, August 28, 2018 – Beyond Fest, the highest-attended genre film festival in the US, is excited to announce Cronenberg with Cronenberg: A Retrospective of the New Flesh, an exhaustive,13-film celebration of the legendary auteur’s career. Returning to Los Angeles for the first time in a decade, David Cronenberg will be in attendance for three, special event screenings at the legendary Egyptian Theatre where he will be joined by actors, collaborators, and guest moderators.

Co-presented by Telefilm Canada and Canada Now with the support of the Consulate General of Canada, Cronenberg on Cronenberg opens on Saturday, September 29th with The Shaping of Rage, an all-day marathon of David Cronenberg’s early films, SHIVERS, RABID, THE BROOD and SCANNERS, presented sequentially and on 35mm. That evening, Cronenberg will be joined by long-time collaborator Howard Shore for a 30 th anniversary screening of DEAD RINGERS with director Mick Garris moderating a post screening Q&A.

A spotlight shines on giant bugs on Sunday, September 30th with a double bill of THE FLY and NAKED LUNCH where Cronenberg will be joined with THE FLY’s Geena Davis, and the composer of both films, Howard Shore.

Cronenberg’s groundbreaking approach to the distorted world of virtual reality is examined on Monday, October 1st with a double bill of VIDEODROME and EXISTENZ. Cronenberg will be joined in person by composer Howard Shore and his two lead actresses, Debbie Harry and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Director Leigh Whannell will moderate the Q&A between films.

“David Cronenberg has been a visionary master of the art of cinema for over four decades. Screening these iconic films here in LA with his collaborators and partners is an absolute dream. Unless Kubrick is in hiding we will probably quit after this.” said Beyond Fest Co-Founder, Christian Parkes.

In addition to the screening events at the Egyptian Theatre, there are two double bills at the Aero Theatre: A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE & EASTERN PROMISES and CRASH & SPIDER. All 13 films screened during Cronenberg with Cronenberg: A Retrospective of the New Flesh will be on 35mm film.

To commemorate Cronenberg’s presence at Beyond Fest, renowned artist Alan Hynes has created an exclusive print and industry-leading collectibles brand, Mondo, have created a series of Cronenberg-related products that will be exclusively available at the festival.

Tickets for Cronenberg with Cronenberg: A Retrospective of the New Flesh will be made available for purchase through Fandango and the American Cinematheque at 10AM Saturday, September 1st.

The remaining slate for Beyond Fest 2018 will be announced shortly.

 

CRONENBERG WITH CRONENBERG: A RETROSPECTIVE OF THE NEW FLESH PROGRAM
EGYPTIAN THEATRE

SHIVERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 1976

RABID
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / USA
Runtime: 91 min.
Year: 1977

THE BROOD
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 92 min.
Year: 1979

SCANNERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 103 min.
Year: 1981

DEAD RINGERS
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA
Runtime: 102 min.
Year: 2017
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore

THE FLY
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA / UK / Canada
Runtime: 96 min.
Year: 1986
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Geena Davis

NAKED LUNCH
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK / Japan
Runtime: 115 min.
Year: 1991
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, (Geena Davis)

VIDEODROME
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada
Runtime: 87 min.
Year: 1983
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Debbie Harry (Jennifer Jason Leigh)

EXISTENZ
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK / France
Runtime: 97 min.
Year: 1999
GUESTS: David Cronenberg, Howard Shore, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Debbie Harry)

AERO THEATRE

A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: USA / Germany / Canada
Runtime: 96 min.
Year: 2005

EASTERN PROMISES
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: UK / Canada / USA
Runtime: 101 min.
Year: 2007

SPIDER
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK / France
Runtime: 98 min.
Year: 2002

CRASH
Director: David Cronenberg
Country: Canada / UK
Runtime: 100 min.
Year: 1996

Attend Beyond Fest:
Tickets for Beyond Fest 2018 are will be made available for purchase through Fandango and the American Cinematheque.

For the latest developments, visit the Beyond Fest official site www.beyondfest.com

Well, what do you folks think? Gonna head out to Beyond Fest this year to wallow in the Cronenbergian greatness? Sound off in the comments below!