Isla Calavera Fantastic Film Festival Opens, Honors Kleiser, Cartwright
The ninth Isla Calavera Fantastic Film Festival opened in La Laguna, Canary Islands, with a gala honoring Randal Kleiser, Veronica Cartwright, Rodrigo Cortés, and Daniel Monzón, and featuring a diverse program of screenings and events until November 16.
The Isla Calavera Fantastic Film Festival in La Laguna, Canary Islands, opened its ninth edition last night with a red carpet gala at the Leal Theater. Earlier that morning, the festival's full program, which runs until the 16th, was announced. Attendees at the presentation included Mayor Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, Culture Councilor Adrián del Castillo, Javier Prieto from Promotur Turismo de Canarias, festival co-directors Ramón González Trujillo and Daniel Fumero, and several key figures from this year's event.
Director and producer Randal Kleiser, known for iconic films like Grease (1979) and Flight of the Navigator (1986), received an Isla Calavera Honorary Award at the opening ceremony. Both films will be screened at Multicines Tenerife, the festival's main venue, with Kleiser present for discussions. Additionally, Lisa Downs' 2020 documentary Life After the Navigator, which explores the life of child actor Joey Cramer from Flight of the Navigator, will also be shown.
British actress Veronica Cartwright also received an honorary award. She is celebrated for her roles in science fiction classics such as Alien (1979) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978). The latter film will be featured in a special meeting with the actress.
The festival is celebrating the 15th anniversary of Buried (2010), a landmark in Spanish fantastic cinema. Its director, Rodrigo Cortés, an Isla Calavera Honorary Award recipient for his diverse career, will attend a special event. The Galician filmmaker has continued to explore fantasy and thriller genres with films like Red Lights (2012), Blackwood (2018), and Escape (2024).
Daniel Monzón was also honored with an Isla Calavera Honorary Award for his strong career in both realistic and fantastic cinema. His prison thriller Cell 211 (2009) will be screened, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker.
Tenerife native Sara Sálamo received the S. S. Venture Award for Canarian Talent, recognizing her brilliant and versatile career in acting, writing, and directing across film, television, and theater. Her short film Yaya was screened yesterday after the gala.
This year, the Isla Calavera Festival introduced the Award for the Most Fantastic Series. The inaugural award went to Furia (HBO), created by Canarian filmmaker Félix Sabroso, with producer Tedy Villalba accepting it during the opening ceremony.
Set designer, visual effects specialist, and prop designer Simon Weisse is also visiting La Laguna. With a background in Fine Arts from Montpellier, Weisse operates a workshop in Berlin, specializing in creating miniatures and models for international productions. His impressive credits include V for Vendetta, Cloud Atlas, The Matrix Resurrections, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch, and Asteroid City. Today, he will lead a masterclass on his creative process.
This year's festival poster is inspired by Metropolis (1927), a silent film masterpiece and a pillar of science fiction and German expressionism. Fritz Lang's film will be screened at Multicines Tenerife in a unique Isla Calavera production that combines silent cinema with live performance and music by Jonay Armas. Directed by Camilo García, famous for dubbing Anthony Hopkins and Harrison Ford into Spanish, the event will also feature renowned dubbing talents such as Luis Posada (voice of Johnny Depp, Jim Carrey, Leonardo DiCaprio) and Graciela Molina (voice of Natalie Portman, Christina Ricci, Kirsten Dunst).
Films will be shown across three screens at La Laguna's multiplex cinemas. The program includes a total of 56 titles (30 feature films, 36 short films) and one series, divided into Official Competition, Panorama, Classics, Documentaries, and Special Events sections.
The Official Competition features 13 feature films: Luger, Gatillero, Disforia, Singular, Dog of God, The Legend of Ochi, Mother’s Baby, Redux, Redux, Blood Shine, Mother of Flies, The Black Hole, Luc Besson’s Dracula, and the Canarian production The Thing in the Fog.
The full festival program can be found on the website festivalislacalavera.com.