The Circuit

by Jette Kernion
World "air sex" championships. Choosing between Japanese soft-core porn and Swedish vampire films. A glossary of icons used to denote content in films from "anarchy" and "backne," "workman's crack" and "zombies." Filmmakers chugging beer out of their beer-stein awards in front of a chanting audience. A whole roasted pig served before a movie to bring the film good luck. Boat parties and cave parties and and outdoor screenings and movie-trivia game shows.

The fourth annual Fantastic Fest, Austin's genre film festival, is underway. Festival founder Tim League (pictured with Kevin Smith) donned a kimono and struck a gong Thursday night to start the festival with the words, "With a stroke of this gong, I am about to declare this festival ... awesome!"

"Zack and Miri Make a Porno," was the festival's opening-night draw, with writer-director Kevin Smith attending. In previous years, Fantastic Fest was a single-venue festival at Alamo Drafthouse South, where the largest theaters seat no more than 250. For 2008, Tim League (who also owns Alamo Drafthouse) decided to expand the increasingly popular festival, holding the official opening-night film and party at the 1200-seat Paramount Theater, which was filled to capacity for the event.

The subsequent party featured the World Air Sex Championships, in which contestants simulated sexual activities while dressed as vampires and sexy teachers... and the McCain/Palin ticket.

Fantastic Fest's offerings this year were heavily international -- subtitles were the norm rather than the exception. The genre festival lineup included horror (often with lots of gore), science fiction, fantasy, animated films and documentaries about genre films and filmmakers. Some of the festival's more popular selections have been "JCVD," in which Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as himself; the Swedish horror film "Let the Right One In," J.T. Petty's Western thriller "The Burrowers," the Thai action film "Chocolate," directed by Prachya Pinkaew (Ong Bak), and the Chilean superhero comedy "Santos," produced by Elizabeth Avellan of Austin's Troublemaker Studios.

Despite its increased size, Fantastic Fest still manages to retain a casual and friendly feeling, with many filmmakers attending the festival and mingling with festgoers at screenings or on the patio next to Alamo Drafthouse. Actor Bill Pullman arrived at the festival on Thursday for the opening-night films, then participated in Q&A sessions on Friday night for a double-feature of films in which he starred: Jennifer Lynch's thriller "Surveillance," and the surreal comedy "Your Name Here," in which Pullman's character is based on science-fiction author Philip K. Dick.

In addition, Fantastic Fest included a retrospective series on Australian exploitation ("ozploitation") films, including an outdoor screening of "The Road Warrior" (preceded by a Vegemite-eating contest), and a series called "Behind the Pink Curtain," which featured a selection of Japanese "pink" films, such as "Blue Film Woman" and "S&M Hunter."

Awards for the festival were announced on Monday night. "Tokyo Gore Police," a Japanese action film directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura, took home the AMD Next Wave award for up-and-coming filmmakers. The Korean film "The Good, the Bad and the Weird" won the festival's audience award. "South of Heaven," a horror-noir movie starring the Nee brothers ("The Last Romantic") won the Fantastic Fest Online award, in which online audiences could watch selected features from the festival and vote on the best ones. The Danish satire "How to Get Rid of the Others" led the Fantastic Features category, and "Let the Right One In" took home the Horror Features award.

The festival continues through Thursday, with three of its trademark "secret screenings" planned. In previous years, these screenings have included early showings of "Apocalypto," "Southland Tales" and "There Will Be Blood," with the film's directors in attendance. The closing-night festivities will take place at Longhorn Cavern State Park, a cave in Burnet, Texas that served as a speakeasy during Prohibition.