Grimmfest, Manchester UK’s International Festival of Fantastic Film, joins Méliès International Festivals Federation.
Regular attendees that look forward to catching up with the annual selection of short film premieres at Grimmfest, will be pleased to hear that this year, Grimmfest will be hosting three short film programmes across the festival period (6th-8th October 2023), in celebration of their new membership of the Méliès International Festivals Federation.
The Federation (which includes key European genre festivals such as Sitges in Spain, Neuchâtel in Switzerland, and Imagine in the Netherlands), recently held their annual general assembly at Cannes film festival, and the 26 member festivals voted for Grimmfest to join, and thus become the only English festival of fantastic film in the Federation.
Each year member festivals vote for their best ‘Fantastic’ feature film and short film, with an award for each, presented at Sitges. Previous winners have included Alex Garland’s MEN, Prano Baily-Bond’s CENSOR, Anders Thomas Jensen’s RIDERS OF JUSTICE, Peter Strickland’s IN FABRIC, Lars Von Trier’s THE HOUSE THAT JACK BUILT and Julia Ducournau’s RAW.
Grimmfest feature film selections that have won Méliès awards in the past, include PIGGY, MARTYRS, WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE, I’M NOT A SERIAL KILLER, AMER, THE DIVIDE, THE HALLOW, LET US PREY, KIDNAPPED, SLEEP TIGHT, SAUNA, STRIGOI, DER SAMURAI, STALLED, and COCKNEYS VS ZOMBIES.
Grimmfest-selected shorts that have won Méliès awards in the past, include YOU’RE DEAD HELEN, MEMENTO MORI, THE RECYCLING MAN, HUNGRY JOE, THE BODY, UNDER THE APPLE TREE, PEARLIES, THE STOMACH, LIMBO and AUTUMN HARVEST.
As a competitive member, Grimmfest, now in its fifteenth year, will select at least six European short films in 2023 and a specially selected jury will vote and award the coveted Méliès d’argent (Silver Méliès) to the best short film. That film will then go on to compete for the Méliès d’or (Golden Méliès) prize, awarded each year at Sitges film festival in October.
Grimmfest can also announce that the 2023 Méliès d’argent short film jury will include, Caroline Couret-Delegue (French sales agent at Film Seekers), Sean Wheelan (Producer at Filmgate Films in Gothenburg), Ben Parker (UK Director of feature films, THE CHAMBER and BURIAL) and Mary Beth McAndrews (Editor in Chief at Dread Central website), all of whom will have the tricky task of selecting a Grimmfest Méliès d’argent (Silver Méliès) winner.
Grimmfest festival director Simeon Halligan said: ‘We are honoured and excited to join the Méliès Federation which works tirelessly to promote and nurture genre cinema. Grimmfest has always made it our priority to exhibit exciting new voices in fantastic cinema, and as part of the federation, we will be able to further our support of burgeoning film talent through awarding a prestigious Méliès d’argent award each year’.
If you have a European-made short film (Check all eligible countries here: https://echr.coe.int/Pages/home.aspx?p=press/country&c=, that you would like to submit to Grimmfest 2023, with a chance of winning a Méliès award, there is still time to submit via the festival’s Film freeway page, right here: https://filmfreeway.com/Grimmfest
All selected short films from other countries will be eligible for the Grimmfest best short film award.
Grimmfest 2023 will take place in Manchester UK from the 6th October 2023. More info here: www.grimmfest.com
MELIES: Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), established in 1983 (Originally called the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation), is a network of 26 genre film festivals from 19 countries dedicated to promoting and supporting European cinema, particularly films in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres.
Ernest Mathijs and Jamie Sexton describe it as “the biggest fan-based cult-network on the continent“, comparable in scope to San Diego Comic-Con International.
The MIFF annually awards the Méliès d’or and Méliès d’argent awards to the best European fantastic feature and short film.
GRIMMFEST: International Festival of Fantastic Film and UK Exhibitor. Grimmfest brings the very best in new independent genre cinema and classic genre films to Manchester UK and beyond. With regular screenings throughout the year and the main festival in early October. Grimmfest is now in its 15th year and was recently voted one of the Best Genre Festivals in the World by Movie Maker magazine and Dread Central website.
