The Imagine Film Festival, formerly Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival, also known as Imagine Fantastic Film Festival or simply Imagine, is an annual film festival in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. The festival was created in 1991 with a focus mainly on fantasy and horror films.

History

Imagine started out as the "Weekend of Terror". After several years, this weekend turned into a full-blown festival in 1991, titled the Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival (AFFF). It showed a wide array of international genre films, not just horror but also

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

, fantasy, martial arts and

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

. In 2004, the festival hosted the Golden Méliès Gala, awarding the best fantastic European films, in both, features and shorts categories. In 2009, the festival got a new name: Imagine Film Festival. With the name change, the organization wanted to emphasize that the festival had become more focused on films that cannot be strictly defined as fantasy, horror or science fiction over the years. In 2013, after many years based at the Kriterion, the festival chose the EYE Film Institute as its home base. During the years at Eye, the festival started adding VR experiences as well as games, under the flag of "Imagine Expanded", and extended its science programme. In 2022, both the timing and the venues were changed: to the end of October instead of mid-April, and at two new base venues.

Description

Imagine takes place at the end of October, at LAB111 and de Filmhallen. The festival aims to acquaint both film lovers and the general public with a selection of new and classic films from genres such as fantasy, horror and science fiction. A large part of the program consists of genre films,

exploitation film An exploitation film is a film that seeks commercial success by capitalizing on current trends, niche genres, or sensational content. Exploitation films often feature themes such as suggestive or explicit sex, sensational violence, drug use, nudi ...

cult film A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a cult following. Cult films are known for their dedicated, passionate fanbase, which forms an elaborate subculture, members of which engage in repeated ...

s and obscure films, though the offerings have become increasingly diverse over the years. The event is organised by the Foundation AFFF for no profit and receives subsidies from the Film Fund and the City of Amsterdam.

Awards

The Imagine Time Capsule was awarded between 2010 and 2015. Other former awards include the Black Tulip Award, the VR Award, and the Lifetime / Career Achievement Award. , the prizes awarded at the festival are: * Sea Devil Award, for best fantastic feature film * Silver Méliès, for best fantastic European film; one for features and one for shorts * Silver Scream Award, voted by the audience, all feature films (except classics) eligible

Sea Devil Award

Formerly Black Tulip Award. In 2006, the jury prize was awarded in three categories but afterwards only in the category of best feature:

Méliès Awards

The Méliès Awards are an initiative of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (formerly European Fantastic Film Festivals Federation, or EFFFF), of which Imagine has been a member since 1996. Affiliated festivals each year grant two Silver Méliès Award during their festival, one for best fantastic feature, and one for best fantastic short. The winners then join the Méliès d'Or Award ceremony. Amsterdam Méliès-winners:

Silver Scream Award

The Silver Scream Award is voted by the audience of the festival.

VR Award

In 2018, the inaugural VR Award was awarded to an eight-channel video Australian work called ''The Summation of Force'', by filmmaker Matthew Bate and photographers Narelle Autio and Trent Parke.

Lifetime/Career Achievement Award

The Lifetime/Career Achievement Award has been awarded to the following people: * 2024 -

Phil Tippett Phil Tippett (born September 27, 1951) is an American film director and visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, he has assisted ILM and Drea ...

(Career Achievement Award) * 2014 -

Alejandro Jodorowsky Alejandro Jodorowsky Prullansky (; born 17 February 1929) is a Chilean and French Experimental film, avant-garde filmmaker. Known for his films ''El Topo'' (1970), ''The Holy Mountain (1973 film), The Holy Mountain'' (1973) and ''Santa Sangre'' ...

(Career Achievement Award) * 2013 -

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish filmmaker and writer. He first achieved recognition for his short story collection, ''Night in Tunisia (short story collection), Night in Tunisia,'' which won the Guardian Fiction Prize in ...

* 2012 -

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

* 2011 -

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

* 2010 -

Dick Maas Dirk Herman Willem Maas (Dick) (born 15 April 1951) is a Dutch film director, screenwriter, film producer and film composer. Career Maas achieved fame after the success of his music videos for the Dutch band Golden Earring, including "Twilight Z ...

* 2008 -

Tim Burton Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958) is an American filmmaker and producer. Known for popularizing Goth subculture, Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his Gothic film, gothic horror and dark fantasy films. ...

(Career Achievement Award) * 2007 -

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

(Career Achievement Award) * 2006 -

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (April 5, 1926 – May 9, 2024) was an American film director, producer, and actor. Known under various monikers such as "The Pope of Pop Cinema", "The Spiritual Godfather of the New Hollywood", and "The King of Cult", he w ...

* 2005 -

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

* 2005 -

Paul Naschy Jacinto Molina Álvarez (September 6, 1934 – November 30, 2009) known by his stage name Paul Naschy, was a Spanish film actor, screenwriter, and director working primarily in horror films. His portrayals of numerous classic horror figures&md ...

* 2004 - not awarded * 2003 -

Lloyd Kaufman Stanley Lloyd Kaufman Jr. (born December 30, 1945) is an American film director, screenwriter, producer and actor. Alongside producer Michael Herz, he is the co-founder of Troma Entertainment film studio, and the director of many of their featu ...

* 2002 -

Paul Verhoeven Paul Verhoeven (; born 18 July 1938) is a Dutch filmmaker, who has worked variously in the Netherlands, the United States, and in France. He is known for directing genre films with strong satirical elements, often featuring graphic violence and ...

* 2001 -

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, screenwriter and producer. His influential work in the horror film, horror and giallo genres during the 1970s and 1980s has led him to being referred to as the "Master of the ...

* 2000 -

Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...

Imagine Time Capsule

This prize was awarded for online entries between 2010 and 2015:

References

External links

*{{official website, https://www.imaginefilmfestival.nl/en/ Film festivals in the Netherlands Festivals in Amsterdam