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League steers Fantastic Fest to new level of wacky
Fantastic Fest director Tim League will offer up his sweat, and possibly blood and tears, on Sunday night for the genre film festival he helped found in 2005.
After a debate with actress Michelle Rodriguez on the merits of “Avatar” as an Academy Award Best Picture-worthy film, the slight League will enter the square ring at 11:59 p.m. at the Alamo South and go toe-to-toe with the “Machete” star, who happens to be a trained boxer. (Maybe you’ve seen “Girlfight”?)
“I pride myself on being a festival director that’s up to that particular type of challenge,” League said recently at his office.
A little crazy? Maybe. But it’s that type of boldness, level of commitment and absurdist sense of joy that have helped make Fan tastic Fest one of the most popular genre film festivals in the world.
When the fest began five years ago, organizers screened 25 feature films and a handful of shorts over four days while playing host to fewer than 10 actors and directors. This year’s installment, which began Thursday, runs for an entire week and features 75 films and 50 shorts and welcomes more than 100 filmmakers and actors.
Much of the festival’s growth can be attributed to the fact that once filmmakers and stars visit the festival, they are enamored of the unbridled passion of both the organizers and attendees, who celebrate their love of film with a host of parties, off-kilter panels and special events. In fact, filmmakers have become one of the fest’s greatest marketing tools.
“Since we’ve been around for a little while now, I think some of the guests have gone and talked about some of the things they’ve done or said they’ve had a fun time at the festival,” League said. “That builds, and people want to come and not just send their movie along.”
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