Imagine Film Festival announces opening and closing films

Opening and closing film announced!



The 32nd Imagine Film Festival takes place at EYE Amsterdam from the 14th until the 24th of April. At the grand opening on Thursday, April 14, the American film Midnight Special by Jeff Nichols will be shown. The Korean action film Veteran will be the opening film for the general public that same night. The impressive Norwegian disaster film The Wave will conclude the festival on April 24.

Imagine 2016’s opening film is the American Midnight Special by Jeff Nichols, with Michael Shannon, Joel Edgerton and Kirsten Dunst. The film had its world premiere in the competition of the Berlin film festival in February. This

sci-fi thriller is about father Roy and his eight-year-old son Alton, who possesses special gifts. What begins as running from a religious cult and local police, quickly escalates into a nationwide manhunt, organised from within the highest levels of the FBI. Jeff Nichols previous films include Shotgun Stories (2007), Take Shelter (2011) and Mud (2012).

The opening film for the general public is the Korean action film Veteran by Ryoo Seung-wan, a big hit in his home country last year. Quirky detective Seo Do-cheol suspects that the death of his truck driver friend was not the suicide the official reports say it was. It seems very likely that wealthy industrialist Jo Tae-oh was behind it. His lawyers do everything to sabotage Do-cheol’s investigation, but he will not be intimidated. Superior action film with a hefty dose of humour and slapstick.

Closing the festival will be the Norwegian disaster film The Wave, in which a geologist in a small fjord village suspects that an overhanging cliff might plunge into the fjord, unleashing a destructive tsunami. The film was a huge hit in Norway and is made in the best tradition of Steven Spielberg and Roland Emmerich.

SHORTS

We had over 800 submissions to choose from for our short film programme. The 35 selected films are from seventeen countries. Four Dutch films are included in the programme. Two films have their world premiere at Imagine: the Dutch film Baardmos by Kokosky Deforchaux and the Danish The Sunken Convent by Michael Panduro. The European films in the programme form the competition for the Silver Méliès, the award for the best European fantastic short film. 

• Midnight Special - Jeff Nichols (United States, 2016) – in cinemas from May 12th, via Warner Bros. Pictures International Holland.
• Veteran (Beterang) - Ryoo Seung-wan (South Korea, 2015) – on DVD/Blu-ray and VoD from  May 26th, via Splendid Films.
• The Wave (Bølgen) - Roar Uthaug (Norway, 2015)