Fans of history and horror are in for a Poison Peach treat as the 14th annual film festival serves up a slew of the scary supernatural as well as films focusing on lesser-known history.
“I’m a fan of horror,” said Jezibell Anat, the festival’s spokesperson as well as one of the filmmakers in this year’s event, scheduled for Jan. 7 and 8 at the Imperial Theatre. “This year we have some light and some much darker horror.”
Organizers divided the festival into two distinct themes. Horror Night is Jan. 7 with history on Jan 8.
Horror Night begins at 7 p.m. with a short film showcase featuring nine mini-movies with three of Anat’s titles — Phantom of the Opera, Curse of the Mummy and Penniless Spinsters — scheduled.
Other horror creators include Adam Cowart, Kenneth Perkins, William Adams, Jonathan Cook, Christopher Forbes and Joseph Zuchowski.
Brendan Thompson’s feature length film Night to Day will make its debut at 9 p.m.
“Brendan has been working on it for the past several years,” said Anat, who added she was excited to see the final result.
Night to Day is about a monster who wants to become a human girl, but when the Queen of the Nightlands learns this, the killing begins.
Sunday’s focus shifts gears from the supernatural to the historical with two films by Forbes being screened.
The Battle of Camden highlights “the struggles of Southern patriots in their fight against the British in the second half of the Revolutionary War,” according to a news release.
Fought in August 1780, the battle resulted in heavy losses for those in South Carolina and gave the British the upper hand.
The film will be shown at 4 p.m. It will be followed at 7 p.m. by the world premiere of Thousand Plane Raid, “a World War II film depicting the dramatic story of the bombing of the German city of Cologne. Polish refugee pilots join the British officers of the Royal Air Force to fly in a historic bomber stream that turned the war in favor of the Allies,” the news release said.
Appearing in this film is Anat’s husband, Joseph Zuchowski, who pays homage to his Polish ancestry.
“He was really happy to bring in his heritage,” she said.
The annual Poison Peach Film Festival highlights movies made by local filmmakers including members of the Southeastern Filmmakers’ group. Thompson is the incoming president of the group, and Anat is a former officer.
“People aren’t aware there’s a local filmmakers’ group,” she said.
The film festival is a great opportunity for anyone interested in filmmaking to network with others, she said.
Poison Peach tickets are $13 and are available at the Imperial Theatre box office.
Featured image is from The Battle of Camden.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the publisher of Augusta Good News. Subscribe to the free newsletter here.
