Film festival brings scares to Columbus

Sophia Palumbo
Tue, 22 Oct 2019 01:43:31 +0000
Arts & Life, Entertainment, Events, Movies, News, absurd, art, dark horse, dread, festival, film, film center, gateway, gateway film center, genre, genre film, halloween, haunted, horror, horror movie, indie, indie film, indie horror, indie movie, midnight, movie, movies, nff, night mare, nightmare, nightmare film festival, suspense [and 1 more]

The Nightmares Film Fest will take place on Oct. 24-27 at Gateway Film Center. Credit: Courtesy of Nightmare Film Festival

Horror movie fanatics will find blood, gore and more with four nights of cutting-edge horror at the annual Nightmares Film Festival this week.

The festival, held at Gateway Film Center, is a four-day event packed with screenings of carefully curated horror films. Attendees can watch a variety of feature-length and short films by filmmakers from all over the country. According to a press release, the lineup will include films from new directors and veterans of the genre.

Some of these films are premiering for the first time at Nightmares,? Jason Tostevin, co-founder and programmer for Nightmares and an Ohio State alumnus, said.

“We have about two dozen films making their world premiere at Nightmares and a lineup of genre films people have been waiting to see that have never been on our side of the country before,” Tostevin said.

“A Nun’s Curse,” “The Obsessed” and “29 Needles” are among the films making their world premiere at the festival, according to the festival’s website.

A number of screenwriters have also submitted screenplays to be evaluated. From the finalists, a winner will be announced at the festival, who will receive the coveted Night Mare trophy, according to the press release.

Rachel Thomas-Medwid, a writer whose screenplay “The Squirrels in the Attic” is a finalist in the short screenplay category,? said one of the main reasons to submit a screenplay to a film festival is to attract the attention of producers.

“My ultimate goal in submitting is to get something produced,” Thomas-Medwid said. “There’s a table read planned in New York City next week, along with a meeting with a production company. So I’m really excited about this screenplay and the interest it’s creating.”

The festival has attracted national attention, making it an ideal place for writers and producers to collaborate, Thomas-Medwid said.

Along with the short screenplay category, there is a category for full-length feature films. The feature screenplay winner will also be announced at the festival, according to the press release.

Attendees can also expect several subgenres of horror at the festival. While many of the films fall into the horror genre, you don’t have to be a horror film expert to attend, Tostevin said.

“We play three general categories of genre film,” Tostevin said. “Horror, which is generally speaking about dread; thriller, which is about suspense; and midnight, which is about the absurd.”

Thomas-Medwid’s screenplay falls under thriller. Tostevin said many of the other films being presented at the festival also fall into alternative genres.

“Movies you see with us explore all sorts of nooks and crannies in genre,” Tostevin said. “Nightmares is a terrific place to discover new, surprising films that represent all sorts of genre work and many that are redefining it.”

Nightmares will also feature a block of short films produced by Ohio filmmakers, which are all produced within the state, according to the press release.

The Nightmares Film Festival will take place Oct. 24-27 at Gateway Film Center. Tickets can be purchased from the Gateway website at $12 for individual screenings or $99 for a full festival pass.