Nightstream was an online

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

, launched in the United States in 2020.Dino-Ray Ramos
"Genre Film Festivals Across The Country Partner For Nightstream Virtual Event"
''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. It is updated several times a day, with en ...

'', August 13, 2020. Created as a partnership of several

horror Horror may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Genres *Horror fiction, a genre of fiction **Psychological horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Christmas horror, a subgenre of horror fiction **Analog horror, a subgenre of horror fiction * ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

film festivals as a response to the cancellation of their regular events due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in the United States On December 31, 2019, China announced the discovery of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan. The first American case was reported on January 20, and United States Department of Health and Human Services, Health and Human Services Secreta ...

, the festival presented a

streaming Streaming media refers to multimedia delivered through a network for playback using a media player. Media is transferred in a ''stream'' of packets from a server to a client and is rendered in real-time; this contrasts with file downl ...

lineup of horror, fantasy and other genre films in October 2020.Katie Rife
"Halloween isn’t canceled: What to stream from Nightstream, Salem Horror, and Fantastic Fest 2020"
''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'', October 9, 2020. Participating festivals were the

Boston Underground Film Festival The Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF) is an annual event held in the Boston area that specializes in alternative film and video. BUFF is the largest underground film festival in New England, spotlighting short films and feature-length films ...

, the

Brooklyn Horror Film Festival Brooklyn Horror Film Festival is an annual film festival in Brooklyn, New York. It was founded in 2016. With the 2020 edition of the festival cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, it was one of the partners in the Nightstr ...

, the North Bend Film Festival, the

Overlook Film Festival The Overlook Film Festival is an annual film festival that takes place each May, showcasing horror films and live performances. The inaugural event took place at the Timberline Lodge in Mount Hood, Oregon in 2017. Since 2018, the festival has been ...

and Popcorn Frights. The opening film of the 2020 edition was

Aneesh Chaganty Aneesh Chaganty (; born January 30, 1991) is an American film director and screenwriter. He made his feature film directorial debut with the 2018 thriller ''Searching (film), Searching'', for which he won the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Alfred P. ...

's ''

Run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

''. Other films screened included ''32 Malasaña Street'', '' Honeydew'', '' My Heart Can't Beat Unless You Tell It To'', '' The Queen of Black Magic'' and ''

Boys from County Hell ''Boys From County Hell'' is a 2020 Irish vampire comedy horror film. Plot An elderly couple start to bleed profusely from their nose, ears and eyes in their front room. An unseen figure enters the room as they both scream in terror. Two month ...

''. The program also included online parties, a virtual festival lounge, and a talk by ''

American Psycho ''American Psycho'' is a black comedy horror novel by American writer Bret Easton Ellis, published in 1991. The story is told in the First-person narrative, first-person by Patrick Bateman, a wealthy, narcissistic, and vain Manhattan investmen ...

'' director

Mary Harron Mary Harron (born January 12, 1953) is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. She co-wrote the screenplay and directed ''American Psycho'', '' The Notorious Bettie Page' and I Shot Andy Warhol.'' Early life Born in Bracebridge, Ontar ...

. Organizers announced that Nightstream would be staged again in October 2021. Films screened in 2021 included ''Cosmic Dawn'', ''To the Moon'', ''

Hellbender The hellbender (''Cryptobranchus alleganiensis''), also known as the hellbender salamander, is a species of aquatic giant salamander endemic to the eastern and central United States. It is the largest salamander in North America. A member of the ...

'' and ''

All My Friends Hate Me ''All My Friends Hate Me'' is a 2021 British comedy horror film directed by Andrew Gaynord and written by Tom Palmer and Tom Stourton, who also stars in the film. It was released on 11 March 2022 in theatres with a digital release on March 25. I ...

''. In 2023, the Nightstream platform was relaunched as a

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...

service for genre films.Dade Hayes
"Nightstream Virtual Festival Gets Re-Animated As Transactional VOD Hub; ‘Summoners’ Tapped As First Exclusive Title"
''

'', October 31, 2023.

References

External links

* Internet film festivals Fantasy and horror film festivals in the United States 2020 establishments in the United States Cultural responses to the COVID-19 pandemic Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cinema Film festivals established in 2020 Video on demand services {{US-film-festival-stub