 2015-2017 HIFF venue Museum of Photographic Arts | |
| Location | San Diego and Santa Ana, California |
|---|---|
| Established | 2009 |
| Founded by | Miguel Rodriguez |
| Most recent | 2021 |
| Festival date | Annually in September |
| Language | English |
| Website | hifilmfest |
The Horrible Imaginings Film Festival (HIFF) is an annual film festival originally based in San Diego until 2018, when it moved to Santa Ana. It was established in 2009 by Miguel Rodriguez.
Director Miguel Rodriguez is the curator for the festival founded in 2009. [1] [2] In 2015, the festival was held at the Museum of Photographic Arts in San Diego. [3] In a 2015 interview with MovieMaker , Rodriguez spoke about making "the films the most important part of the festival". [4] In 2018, the festival relocated to the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California. [5] MovieMaker listed the festival on their 30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World in 2019. [6] The festival received over seven hundred submissions for its tenth anniversary. [7] It was held annually for three consecutive days in September before running seven days virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. [8] In 2021, the festival returned with a "hybrid model" allowing for in-person and virtual options to audiences. [9]
In 2014, The Case of Evil premiered. [10]
Brentwood Strangler was nominated Best Actress for Jordan Ladd in 2016. [11] The Phantom Hour by Brian Butler screened the same year. [12]
Red Christmas by Craig Anderson, [13] Blood and Black Lace by Mario Bava , and Happy Hunting by Joe Dietsch and Louie Gibson [14] screened in 2017. That same year, Hush won Best San Diego Film [15] and Midnighters won Best Actress for Alex Essoe, Best Feature for Julius Ramsay [16] and Best Screenplay for Alston Ramsay. [17]
Snowflake won Best Film and Best Director for Adolfo J. Kolmerer in 2018. [18]
Reborn, Antrum, Porno and What Daphne Saw won awards in 2019. [19]
In 2020, Luz: The Flower of Evil won multiple awards. [20]
We're All Going to the World's Fair by Jane Schoenbrun screened in 2021. [21]
Notable attendees include Barbara Magnolfi [22] and Dee Wallace. [23]
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996. It focuses on niche, low budget movies in various genres, from horror to sci-fi. Regularly held in July/August, by 2016 its annual audience had already surpassed 100,000 viewers and outgrown even the Montreal World Film Festival.
William Neal Hallford is an American game designer, book author, screenwriter, and independent film director. He is best known for his work on the fantasy role-playing games Betrayal at Krondor, Dungeon Siege, and Champions of Norrath.
The Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) is an annual event held in the Boston area that specializes in alternative film and video. BUFF is the largest underground film festival in New England, spotlighting short films and feature-length films that would not otherwise find an audience. It was the only film festival in the world to give an award for "Most Effectively Offensive" films, an accolade it awarded from its inception until 2017; on the festival's twentieth anniversary, the award was retired and replaced with "Best First Feature Film," marking a shifting focus towards celebrating new voices in filmmaking.
Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast networking, entertainment, and streaming media.
The San Diego International Film Festival is an independent film festival held in San Diego, California, produced by the nonprofit San Diego Film Foundation. The main event has traditionally been held annually in autumn at venues in the Gaslamp Quarter, La Jolla, and Balboa Park.
Grady Hendrix is an American author, journalist, public speaker, and screenwriter known for his best-selling 2014 novel Horrorstör. Hendrix lives in Manhattan and was one of the founders of the New York Asian Film Festival.
Terrifier is a 2016 American slasher film written, edited, co-produced, and directed by Damien Leone. The film stars Jenna Kanell, Samantha Scaffidi, Catherine Corcoran, and David Howard Thornton. The plot centers on partygoer Tara Heyes (Kanell) and her sister Victoria (Scaffidi), who become targets of the enigmatic serial killer known only as Art the Clown (Thornton) on Halloween night.
Luz also known as Luz: The Flower of Evil or Luz, la flor del mal is a 2019 fantasy-western horror film written and directed by Juan Diego Escobar Alzate, featuring Yuri Vargas in the lead role. In October 2019, it was a contender in the Official Fantastic Competition at the SITGES Fantastic Film Festival in Spain. The film gained international recognition as it was part of numerous international film festivals, including the Glasgow Film Festival, Indiecork, Nocturna Madrid, Almería Western Film Festival, Horrible Imaginings, Fantaspoa, Insólito and Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre, among others. It garnered accolades for Best Iberoamerican Film, Best Photography, Best Editing, and Best Acting at various festivals. 'Luz: The Flower of Evil' also clinched the prestigious Silver Skull Award at Mórbido Fest in Mexico, marking its Latin American Premiere.
Antrum is a 2018 Canadian horror film written and directed by David Amito and Michael Laicini. The film is divided into two parts: an opening and closing frame narrative in the form of a mockumentary and a feature film. The documentary purports to tell the story of Antrum, a movie released in 1979 that supposedly has deleterious effects on those who watch it; the bulk of the movie is allegedly the only known print of the film, which has itself been altered by an unknown third party.
Masking Threshold is a 2021 English-language Austrian horror film directed by Johannes Grenzfurthner, and produced by art group monochrom.
Brian Patrick Butler is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is known for writing and directing the film Friend of the World (2020), writing and performing in the film Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea (2023), and appearing in the films South of 8 (2016), Thane of East County (2015) and We All Die Alone (2021).
Ray Gallardo is an American film director and cinematographer who directed the films At the Frontera (2018) and Callejero (2015) and was the cinematographer for the films Friend of the World (2020),The Fifth of November (2018) and Touch (2022).
Jonathan Hammond is an American film director, film editor, screenwriter and film producer who directed the films Expect A Miracle: Finding Light in the Darkness of a Pandemic (2020), Isabel (2018), Kathy (2018) and We All Die Alone (2021). Hammond won the Copper Wing Award for short film directing at the Phoenix Film Festival and received multiple nominations for a Pacific Southwest Emmy Award at National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Hush is a 2016 horror drama short film written and directed by Michael Lewis Foster. The film stars Rachel Barker, Luke Bedsole, Eric Casalini and Ghadir Mounib. It screened at San Diego International Film Festival and Catalina Film Festival and won awards at Oceanside International Film Festival and Horrible Imaginings Film Festival. The film was distributed by Seed&Spark and Bloody Disgusting.
Daisy Belle is a 2018 science fiction short film written and directed by William Wall. The film stars Lily Elsie, qualified for an Oscar at Bermuda International Film Festival, won five Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards at National Academy of Televisions Arts and Sciences, was distributed by Dust and shot in San Diego.
The Case of Evil is a 2014 horror drama short film written and directed by Jana and Neal Hallford. The film stars Merrick McCartha and Rebecca Sausedo. It premiered at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival on October 12, 2014.
Michael Lewis Foster is an American filmmaker who directed the film To Fall in Love (2023) and wrote and directed the short film Hush (2016). He has won awards at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival and Oceanside International Film Festival.
What Daphne Saw is a 2019 American science fiction short film written and directed by Lizz Marshall. The film stars Sélynne Silver, George Griffith, Lia Barnett, Matthew Rhodes, and Michael Estridge. It won Best Actor and Best Score at Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in 2019.