DARK NIGHTS FILM FEST ANNOUNCES INAUGURAL JURY MEMBERS

Australia’s new horror and dark genre film event, Dark Nights Film Fest has revealed the esteemed jurors onboard for its first three-day event, to be held at the iconic Randwick Ritz cinema from October 11-13.

The festival is calling for submissions from emerging and established Australian and international filmmakers and screenwriters to help the organisers celebrate the best new independent visions from the more tenebrous corners of cinema.

Feature film judges include rising Latino filmmaker Gigi Saul Guerrero, whose short El Gigante led to a first-look deal with Hollywood horror studio Blumhouse; Australian director Andrew Traucki (pictured, right), whose creature features Black Water and The Reef have garnered critical and commercial success globally; and, prolific U.S. producer and documentarian Sylvia Caminer, whose debut narrative feature Follow Her won Best Film honours at the prestigious Fantasporto festival in 2022.

Short film judges are Natalie Richards, the founder and director of Australian youth horror festival Bloodfest; horror expert and genre academic Dr. Tara Lomax; and movie freak-geek, cinephile and podcaster, Adam Lovett.

Tackling the unproduced screenplays are script guru Anthony Egan, whose work includes such genre pics as Needle, Crush, Wanted, The Devil’s Work, Mortal Fools, and Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau;, author and commentator Emma Westwood, co-host on Triple R's weekly Plato's Cave radio show and author of books that examine David Cronenberg's The Fly, John Frankenheimer's Seconds and James Whale’s Bride of Frankenstein; and, Dr. Adam Daniel, a filmmaker and Associate Lecturer in Communication at Western Sydney University.

The winning feature film and short film screenwriters in the unproduced screenplay competition will be given the opportunity to be mentored by Robbie Miles, an internationally experienced producer and development executive, and an AFTRS alumnus. 

“We want audiences to immerse themselves in an atmosphere that redefines and pushes boundaries and leads them into new, unknown or lesser-known territory. Not just visceral horror, but psychological thrills, dark fantasy, cosmic dread, neo-noir, other kinds of dark genre vibes,” states Dark Nights’ festival director Bryn Tilly (pictured, left).