Chattanooga Film Festival is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year! Understanding the need for accessibility, in addition to great in-person offerings and events, they have brought back their virtual festival for the 4th year in a row! Born out of COVID, this is a welcome return as other festivals, studios, and distributors are pulling back on virtual offerings. I’ve been a loud advocate of virtual festivals and will continue to financially support them. However, let’s get to why we’re here, the films I’m looking forward to seeing!
There are so many films playing that it’s hard to narrow down what I’m most excited to see but for brevity’s sake here are my top 6!
- Trim Season– Jobless and searching for purpose, Emma and a group of twenty-somethings from Los Angeles head up the coast to make quick cash trimming marijuana on a secluded farm in Northern California. Cut off from the rest of the world, they soon realize that the estate is harboring darker secrets than any of them could imagine, and it becomes a race against time for Emma and her friends to escape the dense woods with their lives. I adore the output of Paper Street Pictures, I am the Scare Package Fan Club President after all. So imagine my excitement when they released a movie with weed and witches!
- King on Screen– 1976, Brian de Palma directs Carrie, the first novel by Stephen King. Since then, more than 50 directors have adapted the master of horror’s books, in more than 80 films and series, making him the most adapted author still alive in the world. King On Screen reunites filmmakers that have adapted Stephen King’s books for cinema and TV. I love a good horror doc and after last year’s Pennywise: The Story of IT, I want all of the docs on the film adaptations of Stephen King.
- Invoking Yell– Set in 1997 South of Chile, a trio of metalhead twenty-something girls venture into the woods to shoot their demo tape for their black metal band, Invoking Yell, while also documenting the eerie and unsettling process of recording psicofonias in the woods for the final track. Found footage is enough of a reason for me to be excited for this one. I’ve missed seeing it during 2 other festivals so now is my chance!
- The Haunting of Hype House– With his brother visiting for the weekend, social-media star Jared Zenith attempts to contact the ghost haunting his home, but instead finds himself possessed by it. Another one of my favorite horror sub-genres is “influencer horror”. I can’t wait to see how this one gets handled.
- Summoning the Spirit– When Carla and Dean decide to escape the hustle of the big city and buy a nice quiet house out in the woods, they bring some big plans with them: start a family, grow a garden, write the next great American novel. Now their nearest neighbor is nearly a mile down the road, but a mile doesn’t seem so far when they find out that he’s the leader of a cult who claims to telepathically communicate with Sasquatch. Danger threatens their new home as the cult leader tries to get Carla and Dean to join his followers on ‘The Farm.’ Cults and Bigfoot? Count me in!
- Hell Hath No Fury– A husband and wife separately and unknowingly plot to murder each other on the same fateful night. A horror comedy about a couple trying to kill each other? This sounds like a ton of fun!
If you’re interested in seeing any of the films mentioned above, you can still pick up one of the handful of virtual badges left! The Virtual VIP Badge includes all access to the Chattanooga Film Festival 2023 Festivee Virtual Festival platform and an invite to their Fans & Filmmakers Discord Server. This provides access to every one of the virtual screenings, virtual special events, filmmaker chats, and even the INFAMOUS SECRET SCREENINGS, which are exclusive to the virtual platform this year! Additionally, there are some individual virtual tickets left for select movies so be sure to take a look at that option as well! In any case, come join the fun! It’s always a blast and you’re sure to see some great films!
It’s worth noting that if you can’t attend the festival, you can still support Chattanooga Film Festival by joining their Patreon! 2 of the 3 tiers offer access to the festival Discord server along with monthly screenings!