The 2018 edition of the Noir Film Festival is just a month away, with classic film noir favorites and some newer neo-noir offerings headed to the scenic surroundings of the Křivoklát Castle from August 23rd through the 26th.
Earlier this month, festival organizers released the full lineup of noir films headed to this year’s festival, which includes 1940s-era Hollywood classics, some of their little-seen Czech and Scandinavian counterparts, and modern femme fatales. The fest also confirmed the attendance of some of this year’s special guests.
Chief among those is Samantha Fuller, daughter of legendary director Sam Fuller, who will introduce a special section dedicated to her father’s films. Fuller’s classics Pickup on South Street, The Naked Kiss, House of Bamboo, and Shock Corridor will all be screened during the 2018 Noir Film Festival.
Samantha Fuller will also present A Fuller Life, a 2013 documentary about her father that she directed which features interviews with those he inspired including Wim Wenders, Monte Hellman, Mark Hamill, James Franco, and others.
Also attending this year’s Noir Film Festival will be Czech actor Jaromír Hanzlík, who turned 70 in 2018 and was just honored with a President’s Award for Artistic Contribution to Czech Cinema at the recent Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. At the Noir Film Fest, Hanzlík will introduce the 1971 detective film Zločin na Zlenicích hradě (The Crime at Zlenice Castle).
Some of the other Czech films brought into the spotlight at this year’s festival include Václav Krška’s 1947 feature Až se vrátíš… (When You Return) and Martin Frič’s 1958 drama Dnes naposled (Today for the Last Time), along with two Czech New Wave-era crime dramas, Petr Schulhoff’s 1963 Strach (Fear) and 1965’s Smrť prichádza v daždi (Death Comes in the Rain), from director Andrej Lettrich.
One of the contemporary highlights at this year’s festival will be the Czech premiere of White Orchid, a new neo-noir thriller directed by Steve Anderson and starring Olivia Thirlby (Dredd, Chappaquiddick), Jennifer Beals, and John Carroll Lynch.
White Orchid will screen as part of a special section dedicated to the modern femme fatale, which will also feature the modern classics Body Heat, starring Kathleen Turner, The Last Seduction, with Linda Fiorentino, and the Wachowski’s debut Bound.
Another special event at this year’s fest will be a marathon screening of the 6-part Steven Soderbergh HBO TV series Mosaic, which stars Sharon Stone, Paul Reubens, Devin Ratray, and Garrett Hedlund, among others. The murder mystery will be shown from 20:00 until nearly 2:00 in the morning on the night of Friday, August 24. Another new HBO series, Sharp Objects, will see its first two episodes screened during the 2018 Noir Film Fest.
One of the most unique sections at this year’s Noir Film Fest will be dedicated to Nordic Noir Films, giving local audiences a chance to catch some chilly classics that they would otherwise not have a chance to see. Films include 1953’s Hidden in the Fog (pictured above), a Swedish spin on Laura, and Bodil Ipsen’s 1944 Danish crime classic Murder Melody, among others.
Hollywood classics will also be well represented at this year’s Noir Film Festival, with two seperate sections dedicated to Prison Noir (Jules Dassin’s Brute Force, Don Siegel’s Riot in Cell Block 11, and more) and Psycho Noir, which includes classic like Henry Hathaway’s Kiss of Death and Raoul Walsh’s White Heat.
The 2018 edition of the Noir Film Festival will take place at the baroque grounds of the Křivoklát Castle from August 23-26. Festival passes, 1050 CZK for the full fest (950 CZK if purchased before July 31) and a Saturday-Sunday weekend pass (700 CZK/650 CZK), along with tickets to individual screenings (90 – 120 CZK) can now be reserved via email.
For more information, visit the official Noir Film Festival website and keep an eye on the festival’s Facebook page for updates.
