Gore galore at Sitges Film Festival

Darkness descends on the sunny seaside town of Sitges for another year as the 56th annual Sitges Film Festival gets underway on Thursday. 

Fantasy, horror and gore galore are the order of the day from October 5 to 15. 

Sitges – 40km south along the coast from Barcelona – will welcome filmmakers such as J.A. Bayona, Hideo Nakata, Brad Anderson, Lee Unkrich and Jan Harlan over the course of the festival. 

Screenings of 'Society of the Snow,' from Bayona; 'The Boy and the Heron,' by Hayao Miyazaki; 'Poor Things,' by Yorgos Lanthimos, 'Blood,' by Brad Anderson, and 'Kubi,' by Takeshi Kitano are among the highlights movie fans can look forward to. 

The festival kicked off with early morning screenings of 'Tokyo Revengers 2: Parts I and II,' 'Embryo Larva Butterfly', and 'In My Mother's Skin'. 

The official opening gala takes place on Thursday evening, with screenings of the short film 'Ahora vuelvo' from Lucas Paulino and Gabe Ibáñez, and Paco Plaza's feature length film 'Sister Death,' a prequel to his 2017 horror hit 'Verónica'. 

Record-breaking edition

Organizers have said this year's festival will be a "record-breaking edition in every sense of the word: ticket sales, number of films, activities, guests." Almost 60,000 tickets were sold during the first week of sales. 

American director, Brad Anderson, will receive the Time Machine Award, joining Hideo Nakata, Lee Unkrich, J.A. Bayona, Mary Lambert and Lamberto Bava as this year's award winners.  

Anderson's 2004 film 'The Machinist', starring Christian Bale, premiered at the Sitges Film Festival, winning two awards (Best Actor and Best Cinematography).  

He will be presenting his latest project, 'Blood,' a horror film about a boy who, after being bitten by a dog, begins to suffer from a disease that causes him to develop an unquenchable thirst for blood.  

Horror comedy 'Dream Scenario' starring Nicolas Cage, will bring the festival to a close. Cage plays Paul Matthews, a teacher and family man with a seemingly normal life. Things change when, out of the blue, millions of people start seeing him in their dreams. 

Asian cinema  

Asian cinema will once again be in the spotlight at Sitges 2023, with a large number of films, and top guests such as Takashi Miike, who will present 'Lumberjack the Monster'. Fellow Japanese filmmaker Keiichi Hara will bring 'Lonely Castle in the Mirror'.  

South Korean films include Jason Yu's 'Sleep', Lee Sang-Yong's 'The Roundup: No Way Out,' and Ryoo Seung-Wan's 'Smugglers'.  

Closer to home, Catalan director J. A. Bayona will be presenting 'Society of the Snow,' which has been nominated for the European Film Awards and chosen to represent Spain in the Oscars race.  

Parallel events  

As well as the movies, visitors can enjoy parallel events in the King Kong Area, from food to exhibitions to shopping.  

And, of course, there is the annual Zombie Walk, where the undead will invade the streets of Sitges in one of the most eagerly anticipated events for festival fans.