Vampire Film Festival haunts New Orleans and scares up big crowds

October 26, 10:47 AMBisexuality ExaminerMike Szymanski

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Bisexuality Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Vampire Film Festival

(courtesy Vampire Film Fest)

Vampires have historically been labeled bisexual, or seem to have universal sexual appeal for either gender.

It didn't start with just Anne Rice, and the bisexual attitude among vampires continues on with the TV show "True Blood" and even this Vampire Film Festival (where some of the people involved are also openly bisexual).

Today, Oct. 26, is the final day of the four-day Vampire Film Festival in New Orleans, which has 50 films from 11 countries.

The weekend has included a series of panels and a Vampire Ball (see photos below), as well as a Jazz Festival for a Vampire.

“After two years in Los Angeles we wanted to permanently move the festival to the city most connected to the vampire myth - New Orleans. This glorious city is a place of mystical allure, the city where Anne Rice rethought the myth of the vampire. With its Gothic architecture, above the ground graves, voodoo and colorful history, New Orleans is the perfect location to celebrate the vampire myth and build the foundation for an annual must attend film festival event,” announced Festival Director, Asif Ahmed.

The festival also included a vampire ballet and a French Quarter scavenger hunt.

Vampire Fest has declared 2009 the Year of the International Vampire and will screen films from Japan, Spain, France, Italy, Norway, Austria, Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom.

The films that are shown that could be classified in the context of vampire, include: supernatural, the bizarre, the grotesque, the mysterious or the desolate. The legend of the werewolf is interconnected with that of vampire and Vampire Fest is open to films of the Gothic, zombie, werewolf or ghost genre.

“This marks Vampire Fest’s first time in NOLA!” Mary Beth Romig, Director of Public Relations and Communications for the New Orleans Convention and Visitors Bureau declared, “With our reputation for being one of America's most haunted cities and our rich history, we feel our city will be the perfect backdrop for the festival this year and for many years to come, adding another exciting and unique festival to the line up of great events in New Orleans."

There's still more going on today, so check out the schedule:

Oct. 26th, at 2:00 p.m., Vampire Fest screens the vampire short, "Now That You’re Dead" followed by the British vampire feature, "Strigoi," a unique feature set in a post-communist Romanian village and introduces us to an ancient myth, the Strigoi, souls that rise again after death to seek justice if they have been wronged, their appetites intensified by a hunger for blood.

4:30 p.m., Vampire Fest presents a Gothic double header, "Grotesque" followed by the feature film, "Let Me Die Quietly," a neo-noir thriller in which a brilliant psychiatrist, a beautiful seductress, and a jaded detective unexpectedly crash into the disturbed world of a death-obsessed loner.

The winning entries from the Hunted Contest will be screened at 7 p.m. and they will also show audience favorites.

Also, Lisa Starry's "A Vampire's Tale" Vampire Ballet is shown at both 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. tonight.

The closing night party is free for all. Go to Vampire Film Festival's website (vampirefilmfestival.com).

Check out the trailer below and photos of the films and ballet.