The Kuwaiti film "Wonderland, A True Story" compares Kuwait to Lewis Carroll's Wonderland through the perspective of Alice, who finds her way around a modern Middle Eastern fantasy world in search of someone who can turn the ace of cards back into a one. The film, one of 63 showcased in this year's FLICKERS: Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, integrates the plot of "Alice in Wonderland" into modern issues of bureaucracy and government.
Films were aired at multiple venues in Providence, Jamestown, Kingston, Bristol and Newport during the four-day festival Oct.25-28. The 13-year-old event included science fiction films for the first time.
This year's films were chosen from a pool of 461. Shawn Quirk, programming director of the Rhode Island Film Festival, said the films are put online for a group of Rhode Island professors and filmmakers to judge. The group can rate each film on a scale of one to five. Once a film is recommended by three judges, the Horror Film Festival Committee views it and decides whether to show it in the festival.
The festival also features the "H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour," as well as forums and opportunities to meet directors of the films.
The films for this year's festival included Asian film, literary adaptations and international film. Throughout the festival, classic horror films are shown in addition to the themed films, Quirk said.
"The themes are always dependent on what we have," he said. "We put the puzzle pieces together. Half of it is what we're trying to do, and half of it just comes together."
In total, this year 20 countries were represented in the festival. "The films come from all over the world which is really exciting." Quirk said. "It's great to see how fantasy and horror are adapted differently, or the same, in different countries around the world."
