11th March 2008.
 My feet haven’t touched the ground since FrightFest Glasgow. It has been one of my busiest periods ever for some reason. Set reports on Tom Shankland’s THE DAY (starring Eva Birthistle, Hannah Tointon and Jeremy Shepherd in answer to Forum queries) on location in Stratford-on-Avon and Paddy Breathnach’s RED MIST (Arielle Kebbel, MyAnna Buring, Martin Compston and Andrew Lee Potts) in Belfast. University lectures on the Giallo genre. Moderating THE CEMENT GARDEN DVD commentary with director Andrew (THE FINAL CONFLICT) Birkin and his assorted actors. Hosting events at the Viva Spanish and Latin American Film Festival in Manchester, one on ‘The Rise and Rise of Spanish Horror’. Yet in the middle of it all I managed to squeeze in four days attendance at Fantasporto in Portugal.
I had to really. Ever since I was on the Critic’s Jury a few years back I’ve been promising to return to the bijou Festival run by my good friend Mario Dorminsky and his lovely wife Beatriz Pacheco Pereira. Every time I see them in Sitges I say I’ll try and get there again. I’m glad I made the effort this year as the weather in Porto was warmly Spring-tastic and it was great seeing all the other Euro Festival heads in social mode as opposed to annual Cannes meeting frazzled.
The main base of operations for Fantasporto is the Rivoli theatre, centrally located at the Praca D. Joao, although other screenings do occur in superbly preserved Fifties cinemas elsewhere. It was a bit of a shock to discover the Rivoli covered in posters for its next major attraction, ‘Musica no Coracao’ – that’s ‘The Sound of Music; stage show to you. But once inside the inviting cinema, with its’ second floor bar and restaurant where everyone congregates between films, I felt very much back at home. Portuguese beer giant Super Bock has been a major sponsor throughout its 28 years and I loved their main gimmick. If you trod on their projected bottle caps dotted all over the entrance red carpet, they tuned into animated spiders that chased you. Hours of mindless fun believe me!
Movies on show included MOTHER OF TEARS, DADDY’S GIRL, THE ORPHANAGE, THE TATTOOIST, DOLLINA, THE MIST and [REC]. The latter marking the third weekend in a row, sandwiched between Glasgow and Manchester, I’ve spent with co-director Jaume Balaguero. [REC] was bound to win the top prize. Not only because it’s such a great movie but also those who’ve seen it may recall the key to the virus has a Portuguese explanation. Jaume told me he was fascinated to see how the audience would react to this and how delighted he was by their shocked roars of approval.
 One of the nicest things about Fantasporto is the diary of events the organizers lay on outside the daily film going as part of their overall cultural sponsorship mandate. Every morning at 11 am visiting guests (including TEMPUS FUGIT director Enric Folch and the omnipresent Mondo Macabro DVD label boys Pete Tombs and Andy Starke still hustling HELL’S GROUND) boarded a coach outside the Rivoli and got whisked off on guided tours of port wine companies, museums and gardens. Great ice-breakers and a real treat in the glorious sunshine. So too is a meal at the fabulous art nouveau Majestic Café, one of my Euro favourites.
Although Mario and Beatriz have a constant funding fight on their hands they always manage to pull the Fantasporto event off spectacularly. This year audiences reached record attendance numbers and got much media coverage. I was interviewed for the national TV station and gave it a glowing review. It’s interesting to me how every festival in the European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation has its own unique atmosphere and flavour above its clearly defined national identity. Fantasporto is as warm and welcoming as FrightFest and probably the main reason why I feel so comfortable in its environment. Special thanks must go to supreme organiser Aurea Ribeiro for making my stay so effortlessly easy. Same time next year I hope
Until next time…
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