Sitges 2015 brings together the most genuine horror from around the world and fantastic emerging cinema from countries that are consolidating

The 48th edition of the International Fantastic Cinema Festival of Catalonia will bring together in Sitges a good representation of the current fantasy scene.

The International Fantastic Cinema Festival of Catalonia, which is held from October 9 to 18 in Sitges, presents a complete sample of the different proposals and trends in genre cinema from around the planet.

Sitges 2015 brings together a mosaic made up of recognized brands with a long history in the genre, with emerging talents.

The Festival, which in this edition adds a new room and expands the number of screens, also becomes, this year, a focus of convergence of the Catalan film industry and opportunities for production proposals proposed by young filmmakers.

The Sitges 2015 program includes the most genuine horror from around the world, represented by the latest North American productions and the emerging fantasy of countries that are establishing themselves as true powers of the genre; presents stimulating and transgressive proposals; shows the latest Asian trends in fantasy and the new North American B-series, in addition to the complete Catalan harvest of the genre.

The multidisciplinary nature of the Festival is completed with a wide range of sections that include a careful selection of documentaries and the best television series of the moment.

On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Sitges 2015 pays tribute to the film Seven, the star of the poster for this 48th edition, David Fincher's psychothriller that created a school by masterfully combining the police genre with the horror genre and which confirmed the talent of its director. For this reason, the Festival has published the book Seven. The sins of David Fincher, with the contribution of various authors and which addresses the influence that this film has had on horror and thrillers in recent years.

The 169 films that make up the Festival sections contain signatures of solid guarantee in genre cinema and the most interesting proposals of current cinema. This is the case of Alex van Warmerdam, Takashi Miike, S. Craig Zahler, Can Evrenol, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Marcin Wrona, Andrzej Zulawski, André Turpin, Robert Carlyle, Patricia Rozema, Cédric Anger, Ryoo Seung-wan, Terry Jones, Paolo Sorrentino, Charlie Kaufman, Takeshi Kitano, Rick Alverson, Joe Begos, Sebastian Schipper or Jaco Van Dormael, among others.

The Festival screens will show films full of well-known faces such as Michael Fassbender, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Kurt Russell, Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Ewan McGregor, Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Kevin Bacon, Keanu Reeves, Arnold Schwarzenneger, Taissa Farmiga, Sam Rockwell, Robert Carlyle, Emma Thompson, Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Elijah Wood, Robert Pattinson, Vincent Cassel, Joseph Fiennes, Isabelle Huppert, Gérard Depardieu, Ron Perlman, Mads Mikkelsen, Winona Ryder and Eva Green, among many others.

The Festival's cinematographic offer will be completed with a wide range of cultural activities and events, new spaces and the premiere of a new projection room: the Sala Tramuntana. This space will be added to the other three movie theaters: the Auditori, the Retiro and the Prado. The space, which until now hosted presentations and parallel activities, has been converted into a movie theater and will screen a good number of sessions, as well as some relevant master classes. In addition to these four cinemas, the Festival will have other spaces for screenings and events: the Escorxador (which hosts, once again, the Brigadoon section), the Hotel Avenida Sofía (which shows two sessions of the Sitges serial, sponsored by FNAC) the Palau de Maricel (which presents a special Game of Thrones) the Espacio Movistar+ (free space in the Fragata with different sessions the first weekend of the Festival) and L'Hort de Can Falç (which, of course, third consecutive year, it plans open sessions on both weekends).

An open door to industry and universities

This year, Sitges launches four initiatives aimed at projecting its role as a meeting point for the Catalan industry and talent. On the one hand, the Sitges Pitchbox was born as a tool of the Festival and the Filmarket Hub platform, which offers opportunities to possible genre feature film productions and in which 170 projects have been registered.

On the other hand, the Industry Meeting Point (installed in the Meliá Hotel) will share actions and initiatives of Catalan professionals and industrialists. At the same time, the Blood Window Red Carpet was also born this year as a panel of actors and actresses with international projection, selected by a jury made up of the Catalan Cinema Academy, the Catalan Association of Actors and Directors Professionals of Catalonia and professionals from the sector. Finally, in this edition the Festival premieres the Sitges Campus 2015, a forum on thrillers carried out with the collaboration of Catalan universities and film schools.

For the third consecutive year, Sitges will host ESCAC Week, a program of activities and screenings where hundreds of students from the school participate within the framework of the Festival. This experience as Sitges accredited allows them to experience this artistic and industry event from within, understand international fantasy cinematography and participate in the country's professional network.

And like every year, the Festival will also host the SGAE Nova Autoria session, a selection of short films by students from Catalan film and audiovisual schools that compete for the SGAE Nova Autoria Awards for best script, best direction and best music.