The Final Girls Berlin Film Festival is bringing horror films directed, written, and/or produced by women* and non-binary filmmakers to the screen for the fifth time. This year‘s opening night feature film is Mary Harron‘s (AMERICAN PSYCHO) newest film CHARLIE SAYS, a haunting thriller about the “Manson Girls“ as they reckon with the abhorrent crimes they committed. Another standout is Carlo Mirabella-Davis‘ SWALLOW (Berlin premiere), a, award-winning, harrowing film about an affluent housewife who starts swallowing bizarre objects for seemingly no reason. Two South American films dealing with grief will be making their Berlin premieres: Macarena García Lenzi and Martín Blousson‘s ROCK PAPER SCISSORS from Argentina is about isolated, dysfunctional siblings who have their own special way of dealing with inheritence issues after their father‘s death and Gabriela Amaral Almeida‘s THE FATHER‘S SHADOW, is a dark and compelling portrait of a young girl turning to magic after her mother‘s tragic death. The festival has joined forces with Glasgow‘s Matchbox Cineclub to screen a retrospective of Amy Holden Jones‘ SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE, a fun 80s slasher that knowingly plays with horror tropes. As always, there will be plenty of shorts to satiate all of your horror desires with blocks dedicated to romance gone awry, #metoo, true crime, queer horror, dark folk tales, off-the-wall midnight movies, and more! The supporting program includes talks on “Martyrs in Horror,“ “Made-for-TV Horror,“ “The Bad Mother in Mexican Horror“ and “The Changing Face of the ‘Female Monster‘“ from horror specialists from the US, Canada, England, and Mexico. A horror self defense workshop that‘s back by popular demand and a party featuring creepy drag performances, sinister music performances, and experimental horror shorts will round out the festival.

All films are being shown in the English OV or with English subtitles.