2018 VORTEX FILM FESTIVAL

FLICKERS’ VORTEX SCI-FI, FANTASY, AND HORROR FILM FESTIVAL LAUNCHES ITS 19^TH GENRE-FILLED YEAR

61 Films, 16 Countries, 8 Running Days, 9 World/North American Premieres, 15 Statewide Locations, Free High School and Library Screenings, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Animation Programming, doubleFEATURE showcase on RI PBS, Expanded College Connection Screenings, and the Popular H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour Times Three

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A phantasmagoric symphony of international films blasts its way across the big screen as the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival launches its 19^th Annual Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival (VORTEX), October 20-27^th. In addition to its traditional spooky film fare, Vortex will showcase a wide-array of Sci-Fi and Fantasy cinema. This year's Festival includes a return of its popular H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour over a three-day period presented in collaboration with the RI Historical Society and the Brown University Film Forum (BUFF), free in-school programs, an expanded Campus Connections program that brings free Festival programming to area Colleges and Universities, four free Forums that look behind-the-scenes at creating genre films in the Ocean State, special programming in the RI PBS series, “doubleFEATURE,” and a closing night “Dead Celebrities” Halloween party on the Rooftop of the Providence G. All screenings are free except those at the RISD Museum Metcalf Auditorium, on Saturday, October 27^th.

The full schedule for this year’s Festival can be found here: http://www.rifilmfest.org and  http://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/19/date/all

The 2018 festival will include screenings in Providence at the RISD Museum Metcalf Auditorium, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University, Brown University, Roger Williams University in Bristol, RI, the Rhode Island Historical Society, the Museum of Work and Culture, the Tiverton Public Library, the North Kingstown Free Public Library, the Warwick Public Library Special and the Rooftop of the Providence G. A special episode of the Flickers’ series “doubleFEATURE” will air on RI PBS.

Special screenings, not open to the general public, will take place at the Beacon Charter School in Woonsocket, Westerly High School, and the Jacqueline M. Walsh School for the Performing Arts in Pawtucket.

This year’s programming has been curated by Shawn Drywa, who created the Vortex Festival 19 years ago while a student at Rhode Island College and a Flickers’ intern. He has partnered with Shawn Quirk, RIIFF’s Program Director for the main Festival in August in creating this year’s event.

"We have a wonderfully diverse list of entries and events for this year's festival. Everything from traditional horror and horror comedy to thought provoking science fiction and animation. Plus, we have some great panelists and a very fun closing night party. We truly have something for everyone," noted Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director.

The Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival celebrates and showcases imagination and creativity in filmmaking and will include a bevy of World and U.S. Premieres. In all, 61 films have been selected from over 3,000 genre submissions. They represent 16 countries including the United Kingdom, Australia, Ireland, Canada, Germany, China, Spain, France, Chile, Norway, Switzerland, Singapore, Georgia, and the United States. Many of the filmmakers will be in attendance, so audience members will have a chance to meet, ask questions, and even network with the next generation of genre filmmakers.

All events are free to the general public except the HP Lovecraft Walking Tour and screenings, and the programming on Saturday at the RISD Museum Metcalf Auditorium. General Admission for each of the three screenings at the Museum is $10.00 per person

Festival 5-packs available at $40 (good year round and at any RIIFF film event) can be purchased online: http://www.film-festival.org/FivePack17.php.

Group Discounts can be arranged in advance by calling the Festival office at 401.861.4445.

VORTEX SPECIAL PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:

Saturday, October 20, 2018; Sunday, October 21, 2018; and Saturday, October 27, 2018

H.P. Lovecraft Literary Walking Tour

For the past 11 years, Providence native and cult horror writer H.P. Lovecraft has been the subject of a popular annual walking tour and film series conducted by the RI Historical Society presented as part of the Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy Horror Film Festival (Vortex). 

The life and work of Providence's best-known fantasy and horror author, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, will provide the backdrop for the tour, which will be led by the Rhode Island Historical Society. Lovecraft's "Providence stories" (written between 1924 and 1935) are the inspiration behind the walk. Lovecraft wrote eloquently, and in great detail, about such landmarks as Prospect Terrace, the First Baptist Church, and Benefit Street houses.  Participants will see the site of his former home, as well as locales mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunter of the Dark, The Shunned House, and The Call of Cthulhu.

Following the tour, which lasts for approximately 90 minutes, participants will be treated to a ticket to see premiere films inspired by Lovecraft.

Time: 12:00 p.m.

Location: John Brown House, 52 Power Street, Providence, RI 02906

Screening Location: Friedman Hall, Brown University in partnership with the Brown University Film Forum.

Admission: Tickets for the walking tour are $19 per person, can be purchased online at http://www.film-festival.org/HPLovecraft18.php, and includes a ticket to the film screenings. The Walking Tour can also be purchased in advance by calling the RIIFF offices at 401.861.4445 or the RI Historical Society at 401.331.8575.

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

VORTEX LECTURE SERIES - 1

BEHIND THE CAMERA LENS: A CONVERSATION WITH…

DUNCAN PUTNEY, actor/writer/director

Duncan Putney is an accomplished actor, as well as an award winning screenwriter and producer. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst where he studied both business and theatre, Duncan works as a professional actor in film, television, stage, and television commercials and can be seen in such films as "The Judge," “Mystic River,” “R.I.P.D.,” “The Town,” and “Brilliant Mistakes,” as well as TV commercials for Papa Gino's, Budweiser, and others.

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Location: Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI

Global Heritage Hall, Room 01

THIS IS A FREE EVENT

VORTEX LECTURE SERIES - 2

BEHIND THE CAMERA LENS: A CONVERSATION WITH…

ROBERT CAPRON, actor

Robert Capron began his acting career when he was eight years old by enrolling in an after school drama program sponsored by Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, RI. Later that year he landed a role as Turkey Boy in Trinity's production of “A Christmas Carol.” Since that time Robert has performed a variety of roles on stage and film. Robert's first principal role was in “Bride Wars.” Robert's role as Rowley in Fox's three-movie franchise “Diary of A Wimpy Kid” (2010, 2011) helped solidify his career. In 2015, Robert played Jake alongside Bailey Madison in the Indie feature “Annabelle Hooper and The Ghosts of Nantucket.” In 2016, Robert landed the role of Jack Black's son Dave in the feature film “The Polka King.” In addition to theater, and film, Robert currently is a returning guest star on CBS's “Elementary,” where he plays the role of one of Sherlock's "irregulars" known as Mason. He has also appeared on television as a guest star on ABC's “The Middle,” and as the lead on two episodes of The Hub Network's “The Haunting Hour.”

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Location: Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI

Global Heritage Hall, Room 01

THIS IS A FREE EVENT

Thursday, October 25, 2018

doubleFEATURE (weekly TV anthology series)

This week on doubleFEATURE, celebrate world of the fantastical and the macabre as told through three short films that include “The Body” directed by Paul Davis from the United Kingdom; “ON/Off” by French director, Thierry Lorenzi; and from Austria and Chile, Dominik Hartl's, “Vienna Waits For You,” a cautionary tale that reminds you there is no such thing as a free lunch, unless, of course, you are the lunch.

doubleFEATURE on WSBE - RI PBS, Broadcast: Channel 36
• Cox 08 / 1008HD
• Verizon FiOS (RI) 08 / 508HD / (MA) 18 / 518 HD
• Full Channel 08 Comcast in Southern MA *Various / 819 HD,
• DirecTV 36 | DISH Network 36

Each week, “doubleFEATURE,” the 60-minutes series on RI PBS, presents award-winning short films that have premiered at the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF) over the past 20 years along with topical industry interviews.

Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is also a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Documentary and Animation Short Film Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. It is also a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and Canadian Screen Awards (Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television)-qualifying Festival. There are only 10 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction.    

Executive Produced by Flickers, the program is co-produced with the Rhode Island Film and Television Office and RI PBS. George T. Marshall, Executive Director of Flickers is the host of the program. Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the Film Office, and an accomplished writer/director, interviews filmmakers who work in front of and behind the camera lens.

Friday, October 26, 2018

VORTEX LECTURE SERIES - 3

BEHIND THE CAMERA LENS: A CONVERSATION WITH…

TOM DENUCCI, actor/writer/director

Tom DeNucci, Actor/Writer/Director, is the recipient of the 2013 Rhode Island International Film Festival Robert Burgess Aldrich Award, named for the heralded director of the 1967 war masterpiece “The Dirty Dozen.” Like Mr. Aldrich, DeNucci also hails from Cranston, Rhode Island, USA. If DeNucci's career thus far is any indication, the young Director and Actor will be a worthy successor to Mr. Aldrich's legacy and a prominent voice for his own generation. For DeNucci's “Almost Mercy”(2015), Scott Hallam of dreadcentral.com proclaims: "DeNucci holds nothing back on this one. Almost Mercy confronts major social issues and does so in a way that's delicate, but also quite powerful, and deals them into a revenge-thriller that's actually empowering for the viewer." DeNucci plays a member of boxer Vinny Pazienza's entourage in “Bleed for This” (2016), which stars Miles Teller (Whiplash) as Pazienza and Aaron Eckheart (Erin Brokovich) as "Paz's" trainer. Directed by Ben Younger and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. As versatile as he is prolific, DeNucci's resume also includes forays into family films. As Director, his “Arlo the Burping Pig” (2016) tells the story of a lonely, young girl and the adorable teacup pig she adopts as a pet. Tom lends his acting talents to “Christmas All Over Again” (2016) as Francisco, a wild wedding planner. Ringing in 2017 Tommy directed “The Santa Files” (2017) telling the story of a group of kids from Norpole, Maine and their search for Santa Clause. Recently completed in 2018, “Vault,” follows the story of a famous Providence heist in the 1970's.

Time: 2:00 p.m.

Location: Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI

Global Heritage Hall, Room 01

THIS IS A FREE EVENT

VORTEX LECTURE SERIES - 4

BEHIND THE CAMERA LENS: A CONVERSATION WITH…

MICHELLE ABBOTT, producer/artist

Michelle Abbott is a Producer an artist at RI PBS.

Time: 3:30 p.m.

Location: Roger Williams University, One Old Ferry Road, Bristol, RI

Global Heritage Hall, Room 01

THIS IS A FREE EVENT

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Vortex Showcase Time Three

Program One:

“Danger, Will Robinson!”

A program of Sci-Fi/Fantasy Short Films

Time: 2:30 p.m.

Program Two:

“Ascension

Horror has a new meaning with this feature film package.

Time: 4:45 p.m.

Program Three:

“Killer Unicorn”

Official Closing Night Film: A killer wearing a unicorn mask is out for revenge and taking down one drag queen at a time. Members of the cast and crew will be present.

Mature Themes/Adult content.

Time: 7:00 p.m.

Location: RISD Museum Metcalf Auditorium, South Main Street, Providence, RI

Admission: $10

(http://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/19/date/2018-10-27)

official closing night party

Dead Celebrities: Halloween Party

Come dressed as your favorite dead celebrity for this wild Costume Contest with cash prizes and celebrate the wrap of the 19^th Annual Vortex.

Time: 9:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight

Location: Rooftop at the Providence G, Providence,

THIS IS A FREE EVENT, 21+, no cover

The full schedule for this year’s Festival can be found here:  http://www.rifilmfest.org

This year’s Vortex programming is sponsored by the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival

Rhode Island Film & Television Office, The Providence Tourism Council, ACT/Providence, Cox Media, WLNE ABC6, Eurochannel, RISCA, Brown University Film Forum (BUFF), WSBE RI PBS, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University, the Rooftop at the Providence G, the RI Historical Society, the RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development, THE RWU HAWK'S HERALD, The RWU Inter-Residence Hall Association (IRHA) and the RWU American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA).

ABOUT THE RHODE ISLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL:

The Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival (RIIFF), has secured its place in the global community as the portal for the best in international independent cinema, earning the respect of domestic and foreign filmmakers, filmgoers and trend watchers. This confluence of art and commerce brought together world-class celebrities, award-winning filmmakers, new talent and audience members in record numbers last year. Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Animation and Documentary Short Film Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA). There are only 10 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction and RIIFF is the only festival in New England. The Festival takes place every August.

For more information about the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival, running August 6-11 2019 at The Vets (formerly Veterans Memorial Auditorium), please visit our website at www.RIFilmFest.org or call 401.861.4445.

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