Wes Craven To Host WideScreen Film Festival
Horror filmmaker Wes Craven will host this year’s WideScreen film festvial at Cal State Long Beach, according to this article by Susan King in the Los Angeles Times. The festival runs from Wednesday throught Sunday (Halloween).
Typically, the festival’s purpose in past year’s has been to honor films shot in a widescreen format (the kind that have to be letterboxed when presented on DVD), but recently there has been a turn toward inviting filmmakers to select ten films that influenced their own work.
Craven’s selections include James Whale’s FRANKENSTEIN, Jean Cocteau’s wonderful live-action version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Roman Polanski’s psycho thrilelr REPULSION, Nicolas Roeg’s arty psychic murder-mystery DON’T LOOK NOW, Antonioni’s hip 1960s thriller BLOW UP, Ingmar Bergman’s THE VIRGIN SPRING (often cited as the source material for Craven’s debut film LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT), WAR OF THE WORLDS, NOSFERATU, DIABOLIQUE, and THE BAD SEED.Also screening will be several of Craven’s own films, including NEW NIGHTMARE and SCREAM.
The festival kicks off on Wednesday at 1:00pm with a directing workshop given by Craven. Then at 8:00pm, there will be a screening of Craven’s original A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984).
Individual tickets are $10 for adults, $6 for seniors and students; $15 for NOSFERATU (which features a musical score performed live). The festival package costs $60 for adults, $40 for students. For $150, you get the “master class,” which includes all screenings, lectures, and workshops.
