Cine-Excess Presents: A Monthly Voyage into Cult Cinephilia
Cine-Excess IV takes place between 29th April and 1st May 2010 and to celebrate its launch, the festival is joining forces with Cinephilia West to present a regular monthly cult film screening and critical discussion event programmed by Cine-Excess Director Xavier Mendik. From exclusive previews of forthcoming cult movie releases and retrospective screenings of American, Eurotrash and Far-Eastern grindhouse classics, to special filmmaker discussions and distribution workshops, ‘Cine-Excess presents’ will profile some of the most influential and outlandish traditions of global cult and alternative cinema.
The series will take place on the second Sunday of every month at the Cinephilia West venue at 171 Wesbourne Grove, London W11 2RS. See http://www.cinephilia.co.uk/west/ for more details.
Argent Avengers: An Evening of Spaghetti Western Splatter Savagery
Presented with Argent Films and including a screening of Enzo (Inglorious Bastards) Castellari’s splatter classic Keoma - Sunday 13th June at 7pm. at Cinéphilia West, 171 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2RS
£5 / Free to Cinéphilia Club members
Since 2003, Argent films has emerged as one of the key DVD labels dedicated to releasing fully restored and carefully remastered versions of classic films by European cinema’s most iconic directors. This has resulted in a plethora of classy Euro-cult releases including the notorious Salon Kitty by Tinto Brass, as well as cult Italian westerns including Django Kill (Guilio Questi) and ‘Nunsploitation’ classics such as
Story of a Cloistered Nun (Domenico Paolella). With the launch of Argent’s ‘Shameless’ sister label also dedicated to bringing Eurotrash classics to a new generation of fear fans, the time is right to reassess the Argent cult film factory.
For this month’s journey into cult cinephila, Cine-Excess proudly presents an evening of ‘Argent Avengers’, featuring an exclusive screening of one of the last and most extreme spaghetti westerns to be made: Keoma (1976). The film was directed by Tarantino influence Enzo G. Castellari (who helmed the original Inglorious Bastards), and stars Franco Nero (Django, Die Hard 2) as Keoma, a gunslinger, who on his return to his hometown finds it is now ruled by Caldwell, a sadistic local villain. To make matters worse, Keoma discovers his half-brothers have joined Caldwell’s evil gang. Intent on restoring law and order, Keoma, aided by his childhood friend, the banjo-playing drunk (Woody Strode), has to fight this horde of ruthless killers to the bitter deadly end.
Defined by Channel 4 as “A brutal blood-soaked classic, Keoma is remarkable for its cynicism, filth-encrusted imagery and merciless violence”, the film became an instant cult classic at the time of its release.
The screening will be introduced by Cine-Excess Director Xavier Mendik and Garwin Spencer-Davison, Head of Argent and Shameless Films, who will be discussing the film and related Argent releases.
We are delighted to announce that director and producer Roberta Licurgo will also be attending the event to screen the exclusive documentary on Enzo G. Castellari that she filmed for the Argent Keoma release.
