Films Screened at Austin’s Fantastic Fest!
Both Set for 2013 Theatrical and DVD Releases
LOS ANGELES (September 21, 2012) – Artsploitation Films, founded earlier this year by TLA Entertainment Inc. president Raymond Murray, announces the acquisition of two new feature films, the German drama COMBAT GIRLS and the Lithuanian science fiction film VANISHING WAVES.
Both films screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, TX. COMBAT GIRLS on Friday, September 21 and VANISHING WAVES September 23, 2012. Both films will see limited theatrical releases and full DVD releases complete with special features in 2013 courtesy of Artsploitation Films.
A major success in its native Germany earlier this year, COMBAT GIRLS is an uncompromising and powerful drama about two young women caught up in the disturbing rise of neo-Nazism in contemporary Europe. This gritty, violent, and intense teen saga is exciting filmmaking with direction, cinematography and certainly the lead performances of the two young actresses, firing on all cylinders.
The story follows two young women in the world of right-wing neo-Nazi fascist youth in today’s German suburbs: 20-year-old Marisa is a hardcore believer, a semi-skinhead who’s been in the movement for years and whose body is adorned with Nazi tattoos, whereas 14-year-old Svenja is a naïve newcomer, a sheltered, spoiled, straight-A student who only becomes fascinated with the group because of her neo-Nazi boyfriend.
They begin as attention-seeking adversaries but become best friends, though their loyalty is shaken when Marisa decides she wants to leave the movement behind, a decision helped by her unlikely friendship with a scared young Afghan boy whose brother she injured in a hate crime.
A multiple award winner – for director David Wnendt and actresses Alina Levshin and Jella Hasse – at the German Film Awards, the Bavarian Film Awards, and the Munich Film Festival, COMBAT GIRLS inspired Fantastic Fest programmer Rodney Perkins to state, “COMBAT GIRLS pulls no punches. The film submerges the audience in the underground world of skinheads and racist ideologues. This attention to authenticity is not done for the purpose of sensationalism, but to support the film's compelling story and complex characters. COMBAT GIRLS is a powerful nuanced work by a dynamic new voice in German cinema.”
In his commentary on the film, Olivier van Blockstael – sales representative for the film’s German company East/West Distribution - said “We discovered COMBAT GIRLS just before Cannes 2011 and, although it was a first time director film, with a topic which at first sight could seem very specific to Germany, we saw a great international potential: at a time where nationalism is raising all over Europe we knew that the international audience would be interested, especially because it's the first film that approaches this topic through a female point of view. The incredible festival career of the film (with dozens of prestigious awards all over the world) and the number of territories where the film has been or will be released proved us right.”
The film will continue to screen at festivals throughout the rest of the year, and then Artsploitation, owner of all North American rights, will give it a general theatrical release in early 2013.
The self-described “erotic science fiction” film VANISHING WAVES is nothing short of a genre masterpiece. The film had its American premiere at Fantastic Fest, and then Artsploitation Films – owner of U.S. rights – will be theatrically releasing it in the first quarter of 2013.
A bold, visionary work of science fiction cinema that recalls the genre in its cerebral 1960s and 70s golden age, just as it simultaneously forges new territory with its unique fusion of emotional melodrama and hallucinatory widescreen spectacle, VANISHING WAVES is one of the most accomplished and distinctive European films in recent memory.
The second solo feature from Lithuanian director Kristina Buozyte, following her acclaimed 2008 debut The Collectress (which will be included on Artsploitation’s Blu-ray release of this new film), VANISHING WAVES confirms Buozyte as a major young talent whose frequently breathtaking visual and technical gifts are thankfully also matched by her interest in complex characterizations, adventurous narratives, and challenging themes.
Her new film is a science fiction romance that is equally occupied by the erotic as well as the fantastic. Lukas (Marius Jampolskis) is assisting a scientific research team by functioning as a patient in a series of heavily monitored (and medicated) sensory deprivation experiments wherein he is attempting to make some form of contact with the subject, Aurora (Jurga Jutaite), a young woman who has been locked in a comatose state for some time.
Doctors initially hope for just a vague reaffirmation of consciousness, but the experiment takes an unexpected twist when Lukas and Aurora actually develop a strong psychic link in their mutually altered forms of consciousness…and their link quickly evolves into a romantic, sexually charged relationship. As Lukas hides this data from his researchers, he and Aurora meet secretly and passionately in a series of surreal dreamscapes created by their collective minds, but their union is tragically doomed to collapse around them.
Exploring the tantalizing possibilities of forming a true, all-encompassing bond with one’s lover, VANISHING WAVES is hypnotic, erotic, wholly engrossing, and wildly thought-provoking cinema that transcends any perceived limitations of the science fiction genre, becoming one of the year’s most provocative films in the process. Director Kristina Buozyte remarks, “Artsploitation is a gateway for provocative, challenging and outstanding films to the U.S. VANISHING WAVES is delighted to be the part of this exclusive and fast growing family.”
Matteo Lovadina, the CEO of French sales agency Reel Suspects, said he “is thrilled about the theatrical release of his festival winner VANISHING WAVES by one of the most promising, edgy and high-profiled new distribution companies in the U.S. Artsploitation is the perfect American home for this powerful cinematic tale. Raymond Murray has shown a pure enthusiasm for this film since the first screening in Cannes.”
And Fantastic Fest programmer Luke Mullen wrote “VANISHING WAVES is a powerful sci-fi drama, with roots in films like The Cell and Inception while also calling to mind elements of Almodovar's Talk to Her. The film features beautiful cinematography along with a fantastic score that perfectly underscore a great story. Modern, slick and stylish, VANISHING WAVES is an incredible cinematic journey that will draw you in and keep you wanting more.”
You may view the VANISHING WAVES trailer here: http://www.artsploitationfilms.com/vanishing-waves/ .
ABOUT FANTASTIC FEST
Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. In years past the festival has been home to world premieres of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND, THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE 2 and RED while the guest roster has included such talent as Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Jemaine Clement, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. Fantastic Fest also features world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films. The festival has launched and propelled the buzz for international genre hits like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, MONSTERS, TIMECRIMES and TROLLHUNTER. Fantastic Fest is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. During his Keynote Address at the International Film Festival Summit, Variety president and publisher Charlie Koones listed Fantastic Fest in a list of “10 Film Festivals We Love,” alongside industry heavy-hitters such as Cannes, Toronto and Telluride. Fantastic Fest was also named as one of the “25 coolest film festivals” and the “25 film festivals worth the entry fee” by Moviemaker Magazine.
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