Returning to The Frida Cinema Thursday, September 2nd through Sunday, September 5th, the 12th annual Horrible Imaginings Film Festival will offer a cinematic and artistic experience that will challenge, educate, invoke, and enrich the viewer both in theater and virtually.

After a massive first two waves featuring a  global chorus of cinematic nightmares, the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival rounds out their 2021 program with the reveal of a huge “Opening Night” feature, the standout We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, directed by rising trans Filmmaker, Producer, and Editor Jane Schoenbrun. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair focuses on a shy and isolated teenage girl in a small town, that becomes immersed in an online role-playing game. “Say, ‘I want to go to the world’s fair’ three times into your computer camera. Prick your finger, draw some blood, and smear it on the screen. Now press play on the video. They say that once you’ve seen it, the changes begin…”

A nightmare of self-discovery and twisted horror storytelling born of the ’90s AOL cyber universe and scary stories, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair has been acclaimed by the press, peers, and fans since its “World Premiere” at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival. Horrible Imaginings Film Festival Director, Miguel Rodriguez, breaks down this powerful “Opening  Night” feature.

“Generally, films that focus on the lives of young people online are either made by folks in my GenX age bracket or older, betraying either naivete or some central lack of understanding about that world. We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is not only genuinely affecting, but I  believe it feels authentic to people on both sides of that generational divide. A lot of my own anxiety about the online space is precisely what is so empowering for those who grew up with it.  Jane Schoenbrun, who realized their own trans identity over the course of writing, directing, and editing this film, demonstrates extraordinary clarity about how reality, including one’s very identity, is a fluid, malleable thing on the internet. The reality is that danger and actualization  likely co-exist part and parcel amongst the myriad realms that people inhabit online–something  both thrilling and terrifying.”

---

During the festival weekend, Festival Director Miguel Rodriguez will host two special panels blending entertainment with education. Focusing on the Korean sci-fi, coming of age feature Trans, Rodriguez will discuss transhumanism with renowned UC San Diego Instructor Eric Leonardis and Trans Filmmaker Naeri Do.

REEL Science Panel: Transhumanism Facts and Probable (?) Fictions – Filmmaker Naeri Do and Instructor Eric Leonardis discuss not only the use of transhumanism in the film, but also dig deeper into what it is, what it could mean, and just how scary the potential could be?

---

Covid-19 has changed all our lives and the way we produce cinema no matter who you are or your level of experience.

Experimentation and Innovation: Filmmaking in 2020 – This panel will explore some of the ways in which filmmakers have adapted and innovated their filmmaking to meet the pandemic’s challenges and create cinema with a range of creative talent including Filmmaker & Editor Andrew Kasch (The award-winning documentary Never Sleep Again: The Elm Street Legacy), [Within the Frame] Filmmaker & Journalist Jay Kay, and Charon Filmmaker & Producer Jennifer Zhang.

---

Beyond the cinema, on-site networking, parties, Q&As, and after-hours celebrations that will be unfolding within the legendary Frida Cinema this Labor Day weekend, #HiFilmFest will again offer a range of virtual options all weekend long. The Horrible Imaginings team will be presenting the virtual audience constant content and connection with festival screenings, Q&As,  escape rooms, dialogue on Discord, live streaming, and much more that will continue the incredible tradition that has made Horrible Imaginings one of the rising genre festivals that not only welcome a diverse slate of voices, stories, and cinema!