It’s been called “the key festival for indie cult filmmakers to land distribution deals.” Its founder and programmer has been called the “new champion of unabashed B-movie sleaze.” Those praises might seem a bit outlandish, but with the official announcement of the PollyGrind Film Festival’s schedule, it’s easy to see where they come from.
Chad Clinton Freeman’s second installment of the Las Vegas underground film festival will highlight more than 100 projects, including 30-plus features films, in October at theatre7 in the arts district.
The fun gets started October 6 with a red carpet world premiere for the sexy revenge thriller The Atonement of Janis Drake. The debut feature by Glen Meadows stars Beverly Lynne and Angel Porrino.
Other world premieres at the festival, which runs until Oct. 16, will include Creep Creepersin’s Finger Bang, Michael Ricks’ The Las Vegas Abductions, Logan Myers’ Mondo Sexxxx: The Terry Kobrah Story, Aramis Sartorio’s The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol, James Bickert’s Dear God No!, Shane Ryan’s The Girl Who Wasn’t Missing, and Craig McIntyre’s The Los Angeles Ripper. PollyGrind will be the U.S. premiere for Darren Ward’s A Day of Violence and Ginnetta Correli’s The Earl Sessions.
The event will also screen the latest from the legendary underground filmmakers Eric Stanze (Ratline), Herschell Gordon Lewis (The Uh-Oh Show), Bill Zebub (Night of the Pumpkin), Joe Castro (The Summer of Massacre), Caleb Emerson (Frankie in Blunderland), Sean Garrity (Zooey & Adam), Sean Cain (Breath of Hate), Henry Weintraub (The Darkest Corner of Paradise) and Fred Vogel (Sella Turcica).
Other highlights are the debut features from Adam Rehmeier (The Bunny Game), Calvin Lee Reeder (The Oregonian), Billy Chase Goforth (25K), Sevé Schelenz (Skew), Matthew Pollack (Run Run It’s Him), and Edward E. Romero (Butterfly).
Rounding out the films will be Planet of the Vampire Women (Darin Wood), Rage (Chris Witherspoon), 15 till Midnight (Wolfgang Meyer), My Demon Within (Michael Su), Seeking Wellness: Suffering Through Four Movements ( Daniel Schneidkraut), Ashes (Elias Matar), The Super (Evan Makrogiannis / Brian Weaver), El Monstro Del Mar (Stuart Simpson), Beware (Jason Daly), and The Taint (Drew Bolduc / Dan Nelson).
In addition to the feature films, there are 80-plus trailers, music videos and shorts playing the international event.
More than 20 projects are from Las Vegas filmmakers, but some of what’s screening comes from as far as India, Spain, Brazil, England, Australia, Canada, Germany, Sweden and Italy, making for a nice mix of cultures, human experiences and genres on display.
“Everything from arthouse to grindhouse is here,” Freeman said. “There’s brutality, there’s blood and nudity, there’s controversy, there’s exploitation, there’s experimentation, there’s comedy and there are movies that are quite thought provoking.”
According to Freeman, action, horror, sci-fi, experimental, dark comedy, hixploitation, mumblecore, horror comedy, crime, gore, found footage, avant-garde, biker, exploitation, western, sexploitation, documentary, and then some are represented at the event.
Eight of the 13 features screened last year went on to find DVD distribution, including the top jury and audience winners Slime City Massacre and Dead Hooker in a Trunk.
This year, PollyGrind has signed on to offer DVD distribution deals from Breaking Glass Pictures to the top two winners, with other winners receiving deluxe sub-distribution packages from Apprehensive Films and Wild Eye Releasing, as well as arthouse distribution contracts from venue host theatre7.
Also up for grabs is close to $10,000 in software prizes from Sony Creative, Final Draft and Red Giant Software.
Other award-winning filmmakers, auteurs, renegades and mavericks with projects screening at the event include Briony Kidd, Atul Taishete, Michael Dunn, Oren Shai, Paul von Stoetzel, Zachary Mami, Lee Lanier, Alex Ferrari, Ernie Fosselius,Yakov Levi, Cassandra Sechler, Ryen McPherson, Kelly Schwarze, Pardis Parker, Jimmie Gonzalez and The Thompson Brothers.
Guests currently expected to be in attendance include Beverly Lynne, John Karyus, Aramis Sartorio, Brandon Slagle, Devanny Pinn, Monique Parent, Creep Creepersin, Sean Cain, Brooke Lewis, Adam Rehmeier, Edward E. Romero, James Bickert, Honey Lauren, Ginnetta Correli, Joe Castro, and Michael Su.
Lynne, who is known as The Queen of Late Night for her roles in films such as Bikini Pirates, Bewitched Housewives and I.M. Caravaggio, and Karyus, who is a self-proclaimed actor that “specializes in bringing perverts, weirdos, freaks and nerds to life,” both appear in four projects.
Lynne stars in The Atonement of Janis Drake, The Las Vegas Abductions and two episodes of TanyaX, a webseries spinoff of The Girl from B.I.K.I.N.I. Karyus appears in Frankie in Blunderland, Summer of Massacre, The Gruesome Death of Tommy Pistol and Finger Bang. Sartorio, Slagle, and Pinn can all be seen in three projects each at the event.
After a kickoff event on Oct. 7 with a concert that features Creepersin, Of the Gods, The Roxy Gunn Project and more, PollyGrind grinds into full gear Oct. 8 with programming that starts at noon that goes into the wee hours.
The next day is another full slate of fun. During the week, PollyGrind will change up a bit. Oct. 10-11 will be double features that start at 7 p.m.
PollyGrind then takes over the bi-monthly late night talk and comedy show The Will Edwards Show on Oct. 12. Beverly Lynne and The Roxy Gunn Project will be guests. The world premiere of The Las Vegas Abductions rounds out the night.
Zombiepalooza brings five shorts and two features on Oct. 13, and a triple feature on Oct. 14 leads into all day programming on Oct. 15-16. Winning films will replay Oct. 29-30.
The PollyGrind Film Festival is all about the darker side of cinema and the artists that bring those films to life. The event celebrates individuality, diversity, creativity and empowerment by showcasing the work of filmmakers with defiantly independent visions. The festival consists of programming inspired by grindhouse theaters with features, bookended by trailers, shorts and music videos.
Located near the “Downtown Las Vegas” sign (1406 South 3rd Street, Las Vegas, NV 89104 In the arts district), theatre7 is an artlover’s and indie film fan’s paradise. Owned by filmmaker Derek Stonebarger, theatre7 screens independent films, doubles as an art gallery and host live theatre performances.
For a rundown on the entire PollyGrind lineup, including other events throughout the month, or to purchase tickets, visit www.pollygrind.com.
