11th HARD:LINE Film Festival: April 11th until April 14th 2024
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We tend to start our introductory texts a little cautiously and find some kind of curse in every number: "Fear the four", "The number of the beast" and now "The darned seventh year". Maybe it's because we still can't quite believe what the festival has become. A weekend with genre buddies it was back then... and somehow it still is today. Only that you often don't know your mates beforehand and they come from the other corner of the republic. That's what HARD:LINE always wanted to be and hopefully still is: subculture for subculture. That's how friendships are made.
But we haven't lost any quality with the size. The films are stronger than ever and with each year it becomes a little easier to put together a festival that is worth seeing. On the other hand, there is the volume. The admission to the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation is both a blessing and a curse. Five days with 16 long and 16 short films, parties, concerts and discussions are an official programme that needs to be managed. For this you need helpers, thinkers, graphic designers and financial backers. We would like to thank all those who contribute to the success of this seventh HARD:LINE Film Festival. It is truly a celebration to create a framework with such creative and exciting people in which the genre fan can really feel at home.
As you make your way again this year and pilgrimage to the Ostentor Kino in your thousands, we also want to say a heartfelt "thank you" to you and express our gratitude with a programme the likes of which we have never had before. It has become incredibly diverse, variable, exciting, controversial, gruesome, funny, bloody and fantastic. Films from sixteen countries flicker across the screen that will certainly not be to everyone's taste. Not everyone will see 32 masterpieces. But let's be honest: what would be boring?
We want to go on a bloody discovery tour with you. Are you coming?
A total of 20 film premiere(s) in 2019. Of which 1 world premiere(s) [W]; 1 international premiere(s) [I]; 4 European premiere(s) [E]; 14 German premiere(s) [ D];
Guests present at the screening
Guests travelled from almost all parts of the world to the films in Regensburg to present their work here. They were directors, composers or producers and patiently answered all the questions of both the fans and the professional audience, faced our camera or took part in the panel discussion. What makes our festival so unique, however, is that you can also meet all the guests over a beer in the cinema pub and talk casually about what you've seen.
Short film director Noah Ambrose travelled from faraway Estonia to Regensburg to attend the German premiere of his film GETTING OFF EARLY.
A four-person team also travelled from the States for the German premiere of THE WRETCHED. The two brothers and directors Brett and Drew Pierce set out to put a face to the devilish goings-on on the screen. They were accompanied by producer Chang Tseng and the film's composer Devin Burrows.
For the first time outside its home country, the film ARTIK was screened and the extremely likeable director Tom Botchii came to talk to us about his extremely crude creep.
The "Highlight German Cinema" was newly launched and we wanted to show the best genre film we could find this season. Georg Erler came to the Danube for the screening of DER LETZTE MIETER and the subsequent panel discussion.
It tickled and crawled when Micah Gallo introduced his spider film ITSY BITSY and the audience listened intently to what the US American had to say.
Nominated for the Méliès D'Argent for Best European Fantastic Short Film was the exciting bicycle horror NOM, directed by Angel Hernández Suarez. Angel came to us to present his film.
Producers Martin Raiman and Steve Reverand were on stage for the short film SUPINE. Twice, to be precise, because on Sunday they received the Méliès D'Argent to great applause.
We were particularly pleased about the guest of honour of the festival and member of the jury for the Méliès Award. Welsh director Julian Richards can look back on more than 20 years of filmmaking and had a lot to say about his films in the "Directors Spotlight".
The audience of this festival liked the Moroccan production ACHOURA the best and endowed the film with the "Golden Razor Blade". Fortunately, Talal Selhami was there in person to accept the award. The always good-humoured and super likeable director was always available to talk to the fans!
Méliès D'Argent for the best European fantastic short film:
Audience voting:
1. ACHOURA (4.31)
2. THE LAST TENANT (4.25)
3. ANIARA (4.11)
1. THE BURDEN (4.39)
2. A LITTLE TASTE (3,94)
3. YOUR LAST DAY IN EARTH (3.91)
Julian Richards is a DIY artist by the book: you can't, you can't, because when in doubt, you do everything yourself. Like a whole generation of filmmakers, he began with a Super 8 camera. Just point and shoot and tell your own stories - early practice. Welshman Richards began experimenting at the age of 13. The National Film School in London and years of apprenticeship in LA, during which he worked on scripts for Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, among others, refined his skills, but he still never completely shed his uncompromising attitude.
He already had to get creative for his 1997 debut DARKLANDS, because shortly after he sold the film, the American distributor went bankrupt and DARKLANDS hung in the air for over ten years - Richards even had to turn down an offer from Roger Corman because the rights could not be cleared. In 2012, he then founded his own world distributor Jinga Films, bought the film back and was able to release it in the USA after a delay of over 15 years. For the provocative mockumentary THE LAST HORROR MOVIE, he founded his first production company in 2003 to be able to pull off the film the way he had in mind.
Julian Richards is multi-faceted between production and distribution, but always with the aim of maintaining both his artistic and financial independence. In doing so, he remains true to genre film, picking up on tried and tested themes and tropes and giving them a new twist - such as locating the occult thriller DARKLANDS in the Welsh countryside, interweaving the snuff mockumentary for THE LAST HORROR MOVIE or intertwining the Frankenstein theme with a mother-daughter drama in REBORN.
2019 is Julian Richards' year, because after a short break from directing to devote himself to his family and build Jinga Films into a respected indie house, he's back in the spotlight with two works of his own and will be launching an element for the horror advent calendar DEATHCEMBER just in time for the silent season. More than enough reason to take a look at his work so far and talk to him about his experiences in the business.
German genre cinema is one of those things. Concrete grey and in rainy dreariness, the protagonists meander through a tough plot. This or something similar is the association with German genre cinema, because there is no such thing in the public perception. When talking about local productions, one is almost tempted to count Tatort as a genre and thus betray all conventions.
But behind the mousy façade, tender shoots of weeds are blossoming that can no longer be torn up. Wild and boisterous films with a screen-filling middle finger proliferate underground and meanwhile also climb up to be seen and admired. The list of examples is long, but a few of these bright spots deserve to be mentioned: RAMMBOCK has shown that German zombie cinema is possible even with the involvement of the public broadcasters; HAGAZUSSA is still one of the most ambitious cinematic essays of recent years; SCHNEEFLÖCKCHEN is a party grenade that more than meets international standards...
Maybe they are not peaks peeking out of the swamp of dramas, but even harbingers of a current? All of this is possible and calls for an assessment of where we stand. That's why from now on we call for the annual discussion after a screening of one of the German genre highlights.
Already on Friday in the cinema pub: Hellgore & Kermit
While the chainsaw roars in the cinema and the revered audience embarks on the morally dubious pleasure of a gore fireworks display, the record entertainers in the cinema pub serve us the musical counterpart to the big screen game. HELLGORE and MORTAL KERMIT sharpen their scalpels and dissect music history in search of the crudest excesses of the guitar world. With these masters of musical surgery, the patient is eviscerated by every trick in the book... Don't believe their appearance: this duo is devilishly good!
On Saturday, "Sublime" makes a traditional guest appearance
An understanding of music streams outside the mainstream and a sense for the unusual have brought together some people who have established an indie event series in Regensburg: Their name SUBLIME.
What else is there to add? The DJ team manages to characterise themselves in just a few words and at the same time gets to the heart of why we love what they do. SUBLIME is the passion of discovery, the love of music and a guarantee for a fantastic evening in the cinema pub!
We don't even think of giving up this cherished tradition. Sublime is madness - and that's what they remain.
http://sublime-music.blogspot.com/
A festival should be varied. It should not repeat itself. We think that the same standard should also be applied to the selection of the closing bands. Fortunately, this city makes it relatively easy. Countless talents cavort in and around Regensburg and make common cause. So let's pick up where we left off and invite a highly professional band onto the stage, just waiting to cross the city limits. Add to that a real party film to bring the festival to a close and you have the final evening of 2019!
Corsets are tight, they pinch and are everything but fun. That's why MEGASURI can't be squeezed into one. The influences are versatile and clearly anchored in rock and that's it. Somewhere between Creed and Placebo, but with a 70s touch, they take the listener on journeys through broad soundscapes... Fuck: You should leave it alone. MEGASURI simply don't fit into a pigeonhole. These newcomers from Regensburg are tight as hell and have a melodic depth that drives you to your core. Melancholy has to be danceable!
But what is a "Suri" actually, and what is one like when it is mega? The four of them won't let us look at their cards. There are rumours of Sanskrit, or of a slight intoxication from the Bavarian dialect. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. What is clear is that this band is really big and definitely wants to be heard. Whatever this Suri is, it's mega and we want to see it on the Ostentor stage!
Tim Bleil, Christof Maier, Konstantin Steinhauser and Andreas Schlapps are MEGASURI... and we will still hear from them.
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