Lucid Dream Fantastic Seeks the Surreal and "Non-Standard"

Another film festival making its debut -- October 26th through 28th this year! -- is Lucid Dream Fantastic.

The event's founder and artistic director, Stefano Cosimini, says the film festival "is part of a bigger project of cultural promotion, regarding not only cinema, but also music and theater."

The Lucid Dream Fantastic Film Festival sounds like it leans toward fantasy, but Cosimini says it actually has four categories: fantasy, sci-fi, horror and animation.

"We're looking for innovative films," said Cosimini "We're against the visual and conceptual standardization of the mainstream cinema. But we're not looking for niche experimental films. We want something that the common audience could enjoy. Something that can help them to get familiar with non-standard narrative styles."

So, innovative and non-standard, but audience friendly. Not too experimental. I interpret that to mean, not so artsy-fartsy that it ceases to entertain.

"Of course," Cosimini adds, "we'll have special consideration for films with oneiric atmosphere."

I had to look that up. Oneiric means "Of, relating to, or suggestive of dreams." Which makes sense, that a festival called Lucid Dream Fantastic would welcome the oneiric. I assume they'd just love David Lynch style surrealism.

Cosimini offers the following advice to entrants: "Being myself a filmmaker who has been selected in a few festivals, I think the key is never settle for your ideas. Always go further. If an idea seems to work, ask yourself what is the craziest plot twist that could happen, and then start working on that. I think the best stories come from the craziest ideas.

"The main mistake is being predictable. Independent films have the chance to be 'different.' Why not take an advantage of this?"

Lucid Dream Fantastic will screen in Tuscany, Italy, which Cosimini considers a big plus. "The LDFFF is set in Garfagnana, a magical place north of Tuscany. And when I say 'magical,' it's not just figurative. Our territory is full of legends and old tales, both dreamy and horror. This is the perfect location for a fantastic film festival."

Despite Lucid Dream Fantastic's bent toward fantasy, Cosimini describes himself as "a professional filmmaker, specializing in horror films."

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For a behind-the-scenes look at horror film festivals and the festival directors who manage them, see Horror Film Festivals and Awards. This book also includes a directory of over 200 horror film festivals, and a list of festival award winners from dozens of festivals over several decades.