Distinctive Visions: A Cine-Excess Event
22 – 31 MARCH 2023
We are Living Things (Dir. Antonio Tibaldi, USA, 2021)
Distinctive Visions: A Cine-Excess Event returns for its eclectic mix of UK theatrical premieres and exclusive pre-release screenings.
Distinctive Visions: A Cine-Excess Event features three screenings at the Birmingham Electric cinema between 22 - 24 March, with an additional season of curated digital screenings that runs online from 24 - 31 March.
Distinctive Visions: A Cine-Excess Event features three screenings at the Birmingham Electric cinema between 22 - 24 March, with an additional season of curated digital screenings that runs online from 24 - 31 March.
Distinctive Visions Digital Festival Strand
Available from Friday 24 March – Friday 31 March
This year’s Distinctive Visions: A Cine Excess Event festival has two programmed strands: Brave New Worlds (featuring innovative interpretations of cult cinema by new filmmakers) and After the Revolution (focusing on current examples of subversive Iranian film).
Digital screening passes are priced at £9.99, and all films are available to watch between 24-31 March 2023.
All films are rated over 18’s only and screenings are geo-locked to the UK region unless specified.
This year’s Distinctive Visions: A Cine Excess Event festival has two programmed strands: Brave New Worlds (featuring innovative interpretations of cult cinema by new filmmakers) and After the Revolution (focusing on current examples of subversive Iranian film).
Digital screening passes are priced at £9.99, and all films are available to watch between 24-31 March 2023.
All films are rated over 18’s only and screenings are geo-locked to the UK region unless specified.
Brave New Worlds Programming Strand
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Agatha + Pre-recorded Director Q&A
UK Premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Roland Becerra and Kelly Bigelow Becerra, USA, 60 mins, English language Cast: Emily Joyce-Dial, Ryan Whiting, Erin McDonough Horror animators Roland Becerra and Kelly Bigelow Becerra present this unsettling tale of a man suffering from a terminal disease who is drawn to his mysterious neighbour Agatha. Hoping to find a cure to his sickness he agrees to follow her on a strange and risky journey into a forgotten but not entirely deserted urban wasteland. Agatha Trailer (YouTube) |
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Parallels + Pre-recorded Director Q&A
Worldwide Digital Premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Daniel Goad, USA, 2023, 104 mins, English language Cast: Ember Burns, Jason Crow, Darren Lee Cupp Daniel Goad’s new film takes its inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft and body horror cinema. In the film, a young woman becomes possessed by supernatural entities and her family spirals out of control around her. Two Monster-Hunters must race against the clock to save her life before it's too late for everyone. Parallels Trailer (YouTube) |
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Tenebra + Pre-recorded Director Q&A
Available to Watch in all Regions Except the USA Also available to watch at the Birmingham Electric Cinema – separate booking required Dir. Anto, Italy, 2022, 96 mins, in Italian with English Subtitles Cast: Ornella Brescia, Luca Cirasola, Tonia De Micco Anto’s directorial debut recalls the films of Mario Bava, through an innovate focus on twisted psychologies and morbid family motives. In Tenebra, Giulia and her four-year-old daughter have been locked in a car trunk by a dangerous psychopath. Their only hope of salvation is Marta, a girl who on that same day has decided to commit suicide to escaper her own family traumas… Warning – contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing Tenebra Italian Language Trailer (YouTube) |
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The Full Moon Fathers + Pre-recorded Director Q&A
UK Premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Sean Cranston, 2023, 71 mins, English language Cast: Michael F Hayes, Paul Sacchetti, Stephen Croce Sons of Anarchy meets supernatural horror in Sean Cranston’s genre-busting film. The year is 1979. On the run from the law, a vicious biker gang known as The Full Moon Fathers wakes from a night of partying to find one of their members murdered. While all fingers point to each other, another more sinister presence moves in… The Full Moon Fathers Trailer (Vimeo) |
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We are Living Things + Pre-recorded Director Q&A
Available for UK based Viewers to Watch Also available to watch at the Birmingham Electric Cinema – separate booking required Dir. Antonio Tibaldi, USA, 2021, 96 mins, English language Cast: Jorge Antonio Guerrero, Xingchen Lyu, Zao Wang Solomon is an undocumented Mexican immigrant living in the back lot of a recycling plant in Brooklyn. By chance, he meets Chuyao who, shunned by her father for believing that she was abducted by a UFO, has fled China. The two fugitives decide to run from the law and head to Arizona, where together they search for the answers to their alienation in the skies. We are Living Things Trailer (YouTube) |
After the Revolution Programming Strand
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Beach Dream
UK Premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Arash Sajadi Hosseini, Iran, 2022, 93 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Ladan Mostofi, Ebrahim Koukhai, Mahan Nasiri Neda Arash Sajadi Hosseini’s unsettling coming of age narrative focuses on Amin, a teenage boy tasked with looking after his uncle’s beach motel during a period of family illness. When Amin meets a troubled woman seeking to escape from an oppressive relationship, this marks the beginning of a physical, mental and spiritual struggle. |
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Creature
Worldwide Digital Premiere Dir. Mohammad Reza Yarikia, Iran, 2023, 14 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Atefeh Makvandi, Mohammad Reza Yarikia, Ali Hooshmand This horror themed short uses genre imagery to critically investigate Iranian superstitions and rituals around animal sacrifice as a method to the achieving dreams and social aspirations. In the film a couple go to the forest to sacrifice an animal to the goblins, in order for their child to be born healthy. However, they soon realise that they are not alone… |
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Golnesa
Cine-Excess Digital Pre-release Screening - Available to Watch in all Regions Also available to watch at the Birmingham Electric Cinema – separate booking required Dir. Sattar Chamani Gol, Iran, 2018, 96 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Saeed Dakh, Ali Mohammad Radmanesh, Yeganeh Rajabi Chamani Gol’s film is part of a brave new wave of Iranian cinema, which is seeking to challenge strict gender and censorship rules by casting a light on the plight of women under the current regime. Golmammad and Golnesa are a young Afghan couple who are illegal immigrants working in a traditional brick-making kiln in Iran. Following the tragic events happening to them, their lives undergo shocking changes. Golnesa Original Iranian Language Trailer (YouTube) |
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Hen-Fatuation
Worldwide Digital Premiere - Available for UK based Viewers to Watch Dir. Mohsen Ghezel, Iran, 2023, 20 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Hossein Monfared, Negar Salahshoor, Alireza Haghparast Taking contemporary Iranian cinema to absurdist levels, Mohsen Ghezel’s film charts the decline of Sadegh, whose identity collapses after the break of his marriage. Seeking to reconstitute his sense of self, Sadegh transfers his emotions onto his neighbour’s chicken, which only adds to his sense of social isolation. Warning – contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing |
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Parva
UK premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Mehran Mahdavian, Iran, 2022, 74 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Mahtab Servati, Hessam Mahoudi, Siamak Adib Mehran Mahdavian’s dark romance focuses on Parva, a young woman caught between family loyalties and her desires for the wrong suitor. When Parva decides to run away with her lover, she becomes engulfed in a tragic chain of events. |
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Zaferanieh Near Sunset
UK premiere - Available to Watch in all Regions Dir. Mohammed Kharatzadeh, Iran, 2022, 101 mins, in Persian with English Subtitles Cast: Nasim Adabi, Karimi Nazanin, Iman Safa Filmed with a relentless and constantly roving camera, Mohammed Kharatzadeh’s film offers a stark examination of a group of Iranian women who are united through their addiction to drugs. Zaferanieh Near Sunset explores the relationships of the addicted, and the struggles of those who try to dig themselves out of a problem only to find they are going deeper. Warning – contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing |
Supported by Birmingham City University and The Electric Cinema, Birmingham
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