Coming up in Philly film: Festival season is back

Despite the 90-degree weather, September is upon us, and with it comes an impressive slew of independent film programming.

Philly Unnamed

Starting on Wednesday, September 5, Philadelphia Unnamed Film Festival (PUFF) will return for its third annual edition, running through Sunday, September 9. Known for its genre-centric programming, the 2018 festival features an eclectic mix of horror, grindhouse, sci-fi, and action films. With 11 features and four shorts programs, this will be its largest program to date, coming to the Proscenium Theatre at The Drake, except for the Horror Shorts block on Saturday, screening at South Street Cinema.

As its soft opening on Wednesday, the festival will host a 30th-anniversary screening of John Waters’s 1988 cult comedy Hairspray at 8pm. Not to be confused with the 2007 remake, the original film offers a satirical critique on Baltimore’s race relations in 1962 and features Divine, one of the first trans woman actors working in mainstream Hollywood cinema, in a strong supporting role.

PUFF 2018 has an impressive slate of international films showing an increased awareness of regional diversity within genre storytelling. On Thursday at 7:15pm, catch Indonesian horror film Satan’s Slaves, a chilling tale about a mother who returns from beyond the grave to collect her children. Then on Saturday at 9pm, check out Filipino action thriller BuyBust, a visceral survival horror in which an anti-narcotics squad must fight for their lives through the slums of Manila after a failed drug bust.

Finally, on Sunday, join PUFF for its Closing Night presentation of Luciferina, Spanish-language horror set in Argentina about a young nun who accompanies her wayward sister into the jungle on a quest for a mystical plant, but instead finds a satanic cult that prompts their descent into madness. Tickets ($10; $50 for an all-access badge) are available online or at the door.

Women’s Film Fest at Fringe

On Wednesday, September 12, the Women’s Film Festival (WFF) will be presenting a program of animated films by or about women titled Animation Nation, which will screen as part of the Fringe Festival. This will be WFF’s first Fringe presentation, and will feature an assortment of local and international artists. The screening starts 7pm at Hot-Bed Gallery (James Oliver’s new event space located on the 4th floor of their 723 Chestnut Street gallery). Tickets ($8) are available online or at the door.

Ingmar Bergman’s 100th

In University City news, Lightbox Film Center hosts a centennial retrospective of Ingmar Bergman films September 6-21, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Swedish film icon’s birth. The three-week program will feature ten of Bergman’s most influential films, which Lightbox curator Jesse Pires calls “a gateway to European arthouse cinema.” Bergman emerged in the late 1940s as Sweden’s leading auteur director, questioning existence and the meaning of life from the fatalist perspective of a post-WWII European while also pushing the envelope with his progressive sexual themes.

On Friday, September 7, Lightbox hosts an opening party and screening of Bergman’s iconic 1957 film, The Seventh Seal. One of Bergman’s best-known films for its oft-parodied central concept (a disillusioned crusader who challenges Death to a game of chess), it was one of the most successful arthouse films of its time and paved the way for further exports to enter the American market. The film starts at 7pm, followed by a catered reception. Another highlight is the 7pm screening on Friday, September 21: Autumn Sonata, in which the other famed Bergman, Ingrid (Casablanca) stars as a world-renowned concert pianist confronted by her daughter about years of neglect. Tickets ($8-$10; free for Lightbox members) are available online or at the door.

Films at sea

On Thursday, September 27, Philadelphia Environmental Film Festival presents the International Ocean Film Tour at the Academy of Natural Sciences. Featuring six short films with a combined runtime of 120 minutes, the program includes a curated selection of the best ocean conservation and water sports films from 2016-2017. Of particular note is the Australian-Portuguese co-production The Big Wave Project – A Band of Brothers, a documentary short that chronicles the international community of surfers who brave the 70+ foot waves of Nazaré, Portugal. Doors open at 6:30pm and the program begins at 7pm. Tickets ($15) are available online.