Varaždin‘s Trash Film Festival Unleashes Mayhem and Dystopian Delights

Mother-daughter relationships are complex, sometimes so strong that not even death can separate them. Escaping from her mother is the only thing Isabel wants. That‘s why she killed her, juicy, mercilessly and cruelly. With pleasure. But, the old lady won‘t give up, she haunts Isabel even as a ghost. Is Isabel better in the mission of saving her own life from the mother she just killed, or is the winner the group of mummies who break into a vampire‘s estate in the middle of the night? We‘ll find out on Saturday, just before the concert of the cult band Porto Morto. However, perhaps all the competition will be swept away by a series of horrific events in the house Matija inherited from his grandfather, where he takes a group of friends to a party that turns into a fight for survival. That‘s The Lawnmower that fittingly mows faces, one of the films of this year‘s Trash Film Festival dedicated to dystopia. The value of the nominated films will be decided by Dean Šoša, a comparatist with a degree in history, once an unhappy president of the HRT workers‘ council, and the audience will have their say about the aforementioned. Everything will be revealed after Bore Lee steps out of the limousine tomorrow evening and takes his first step on the red carpet, the last stretch to his place in Varaždin‘s Walk of Fame, Uska Street.

From Wednesday to Saturday, the 20th edition of the low-budget genre film festival of high value will be held in Varaždin, where 26 titles selected from 130 submitted works will be screened.

The aforementioned Dean Šoša, whom the wider audience knows as the first editor-in-chief of the HTV3 program and an excellent film expert, will lead the jury that will decide who will win the Golden Chainsaw, the award of the Trash Film Festival in Varaždin. Alongside Dean Šoša is Damir I. Chytil, a cinematographer who won the highest Canadian television award Gemini and has worked on numerous projects over the past 30 years, including the series Breakout: Pittsburgh Six, See No Evil, various documentaries, docudramas, and now lives in Varaždin. With them is also Alberto Viavattene, a film author who has collaborated with Paolo Sorrentino. Viavattene has directed series for Amazon and Netflix, and his video Rockin‘ 1000 – Learn To Fly had 66 million views and won the Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Award. The jury will select the five best films among 11 films in different genres that deserve the Golden Chainsaw. The chainsaw is awarded for the best horror, action, martial arts and SF film, and a special one by audience choice. The chainsaw, for the organizers, the Trash Film Association and the Rebel Film Association, is not only the most beloved toy but also “the first frontier of civilization, which they place not in Leatherface‘s garage where he sews a cloak from human skin, but in the jungle where excavators dig the ground and drills break through rocks”.

In addition to the cheerful panel on life in the age of techno-feudalism and the contemporary environment “What after dystopia” where Prof. Dr. Sc. Tomislav Pletenac will talk with Prof. Dr. Sc. Mario Vrbančić, the author of the book What After Dystopia, on Thursday there will also be a special bilingual quiz prepared by Mario Kovač. On the same day, at the film props workshop of Filip Majcen, known to all cosplayers, the necessary tool for the age of dystopia, a shortened double-barrel shotgun, will be made, and a special attraction will be the arrival of Ćirba. Ćirba spent twenty years in Australia, and is coming to the Trash Festival in an authentic V8 Interceptor from Mad Max. Of course, accompanied by a biker gang. After all, about thirty years ago Ćirba founded the MC Crazy Hill Riders motorcycle club. You should definitely show up at the “Yellow Subtitle” discussion where Velimir Grgić, writer, screenwriter and producer, will speak. The Francophone band Jall Aux Yeux, known for their original music but also for very successful covers of hits such as Ena, Teške boje and Frida, have been given the task of musically opening the festival on the first night, and every night until the final concert will be left to DJs, including DJ DUO Bernie & BoB, who will take the audience into disco-metal music. Among other things, the Festival will also feature the NoMad Movie Art exhibition, a series of posters created as interpretations of film classics. The exhibition is the work of Nomad.Art, a platform dedicated to promoting artists at festivals and pop-up events, launched by Mirela Jusupović, a woman from Sarajevo who lives in Split after building a career in fashion design in New York. Don‘t forget Fakin lajsne. They are everywhere around us, and the band of the same name performs on Friday.