FILM/Festivals/Berlin
Fantasy Filmfest
August 11-18

The Fantasy Filmfest tour wraps this month, landing in Berlin in mid-August.

Read up on selections like "Immortel (Ad Vitam)", "One Missed Call" and surrealist sci-fi dramedy "Nothing", here, or read below for additional highlights:

"Sword in the Moon"
Wire-fu epic tells the story of two former comrades who find each other on opposite sides of a historic conflict.

Thematically, "Sword in the Moon" delivers it all: brotherhood, aspiration, conspiracy and revenge, along with action and intrigue in equal measure.

[Shown above: "Sword in the Moon"]

"Spy Bound"
French intelligence sends out two agents, Captain Brisseau and Nadege (Monica Bellucci), to neutralize an international smuggling network by blowing up a ship carrying arms.

The mission goes off without a hitch, but on the return trip, Nadege is arrested at the Swiss border, and the real game is underway. Or is it...?

Packed with lightning-fast action and intriguing plot reversals, director Frédéric Schoendoerffer delivers a taut espionage thriller, in the tradition of "The Bourne Identity".




[Shown: "Spybound"]

"The Twins Effect"
Entertaining martial arts action/horror/comedy from HK director Dante Lam. The battle between a tribe of vampires and master vampire hunter Reeve ends in tragedy when his partner Lila is killed in the line of duty.

Reeve's adversary, Duke Dekotes, is killing off the European royal vampire family, one by one. He needs their blood in order to unlock sacred tome "Night to Day," which will render him invincible.

Dekotes is hot on the trail of the last surviving prince, Kazaf, who hightails it to Hong Kong, looking for a safe refuge. Kazaf meets Reeve's sister Helen and the two fall in love.

Meanwhile, Reeve gets yet another surprise -- he's been assigned a revoltingly perky new assistant, who seems more of a hindrance of a help...




[Shown: "Destino", (c) 2002, Disney]

Also, on the short films menu, "Destino"; an oddball bit of animation, it was the result, originally, of a collaboration between Walt Disney and Salvador Dali, back in the mid-1940s.

The project was abandoned, and only recently resurfaced and released. "It is a little different [project] for us," Roy Disney said of the film, in 2003. No kidding.

In case you were wondering -- yep, the film includes visual imagery of melting clocks.

Find it: Cinemaxx, Potsdamerstrasse, 5
Get info: 01805-246-36-299

Find other film festivals worldwide, in the August 2004 issue of "Arte Six".