It’s beginning to look a lot like nightmares. Columbus’ own horror fest Nightmares Film Festival – “the Cannes of horror,” says iHorror – returns next month to Gateway Film Center. Co-founder and programmer Jason Tostevin recently announced the program and shares some thoughts with Columbus Underground.
Hope Madden: Nightmares is in its 7th year! What do you credit its success to?
Jason Tostevin: What we hear from filmmakers and fans who join us each year is, two things unique to us bring them back: the communal experience and the “better horror” program.
Our lens on genre puts a premium on fresh voices and unique perspectives. This is work from around the world that’s – whether it’s shorts or features or films or screenplays – new and testing the boundaries and playing outside the lines. It will shock and surprise you. It’ll stick with you. And you get that Nightmares flavor consistently from the first film or panel to the last. That’s key. The program has to be among the best in the world every year to build and grow.
And it all takes place in what I think is the most welcoming and upbeat community experience in the genre festival world. We expect it and demand it. The filmmakers and screenwriters come with their projects, and they support and cheer for each other. And the fans come to celebrate the program right alongside the people that created it. It’s full of energy and lively. Everyone connects and supports one another. Creators come out of Nightmares with a support network and new friends for a lifetime.
It’s just a really special four days where you can feel like you belong, and you can explore your love of genre and be around hundreds of other people who love it, too. Giving that to people is really why Chris [Hamel, co-founder] and I do this.
HM: You have a slate of returning filmmakers with sequels of films that have screened at Nightmares in the past. How exciting is it for the fest to be part of these films’ histories and for these films to be part of NFF’s history?
JT: Being a part of filmmakers’ and screenwriters’ career journeys and growth is really core to what Nightmares is about. We always say our Nightmares culture is about getting better, so staying together over time and supporting each other is built in. Our awards are “keep going” awards. It’s not about having made it, it’s about knowing this festival, this program, this community believes in what you’re doing and is saying, “Keep going, we’re behind you.”
So, seeing filmmakers realize their dreams not once, but twice, or many times – that’s part of the mission. When Chris and I talked about what would go into the Returning Terrors program, it really put into perspective how many extraordinary filmmakers we’ve seen join the NFFam and bloom. Not saying we’re responsible for that, because they’re amazing and doing this on their own. But we love supporting it, encouraging it, and connecting fans to that work who can come back and see the filmmakers and cheer their next installments.
HM: What should we know about Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s Something in the Dirt? How you got it, why you love it, what we’ll think of it?
JT: I am a big fan of their work, but also their approach to the work. They dedicated Something in the Dirt to “making movies with your friends,” and that’s after getting a Moon Knight episode and directing Oscar Isaac! I think they are one of a very small group of genre folks who have kept their indie spirit alive through lots of success, and that makes them an example worth following, at least to me.
As far as getting it, that’s all Chris. And it’s amazing. People know him as the president of Gateway Film Center, but lot of people don’t know or really realize what it means that Chris is also the film center’s programmer. That’s hard, daily, grinding work that even the big chains often farm out to agencies. He has relationships that he’s worked for years to build, and because of that we can land early screenings of studio films like this one that match our spirit and values.
HM: This year, the always-amazing shorts programs have fun themes. What are they and why is that?
JT: Not only are we always on the hunt for better horror films, but also ways for our Sleepless to experience them that are fun and surprising. I think it’s important that the shorts blocks in the majority be presented in their categories, because that helps our fans find what they love. If you’ve been to a Midnight shorts block at Nightmares, you know exactly what you’re getting in future years, and you can come back and discover new favorites with that specific feeling.
But I’ve also been thinking about ways to bring films to the audience that gives the shorts a different wrapping, with emotion and a theme that intrigues. It’s like a mini-anthology. We tested it last year with our Dance ‘Til You’re Dead musical block, and the response was enthusiastic. So, this year we’ve expanded to several more themed blocks. There are two Horrors of Filmmaking blocks I think creators and fans alike will love, where the act of filmmaking goes terribly wrong. We also have an animated shorts block, called Animated Nightmares, and one called Never Play with Your Food. A more intense themed block is on Sunday, called She Just Hasn’t Been Herself, about women making empowering but terrifying discoveries about who they are.
HM: The fest’s two panels – Social Progress in Horror and The New Distribution – hit two timely topics in indie film. What can we expect from them?
JT: Our panels have become an annual destination, in part I think because we don’t pull punches. We take on the real issues and explore them honestly. At the Social Progress in Horror panel, we’ll examine what role genre creators play in addressing social injustice through their work, what responsibility we all have to make progress, and how we might be getting in our own way. And the New Distribution panel goes headlong at both the actual barriers and realities of decentralized distribution, and also the ways we as filmmakers might be misinformed or causing our own trouble.
HM: You’ve supported Ohio filmmakers with dedicated real estate in a packed schedule every year of the festival. Why is that, and what can we expect from the Ohio program this year?
JT: It’s just an extension of why we founded the fest and put it on every year. We want to elevate genre and inspire its makers. Giving Ohio filmmakers a dedicated category means we can bring in our local talent and help them connect to genre work and creators from around the world.
We have Victor Bonacore, an NFF alum, coming with his post-apocalyptic feature Thrust!, and of course we are over the moon to host a screening of your feature, Obstacle Corpse, Hope! We want everyone to come and cheer both of you on, and to support the Ohio shorts block and their filmmakers.
Local support, especially from Chris and the film center, was a very real part of me making movies and getting to where I am now. We want to continue to provide that path. Though it only works if you come to the festival, Ohio friends!
HM: What else should we know about NFF ’22?
JT: We always have an active, excited community, but it’s at a different level this year. I can’t remember this level of energy around the fest. I think if you’ve been before, come back, because you’re going to reunite with friends. And if you’ve never been before, this is an excellent year to start attending, because it’s feeling like it might be the best edition yet.
Nightmares Film Festival runs October 20 – 23, 2022 at the Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St. Find the full lineup for this year’s festival here.
VIP passes available now at gatewayfilmcenter.org. Individual film tickets will go on sale in mid-October.
For more information, visit nightmaresfest.com.