Vertiges 2025

Screening of Assaut, John Carpenter's second professional feature film. The Festival then invites you to join Jean-Baptiste Thoret for a discussion to mark the release of his book Back to the Bone, John Carpenter 2025 (Magnani Éditeur). This new essay on the American director will be previewed before it hits bookshops in February 2025.

Mario Bava's name alone evokes all the magnificence of the golden age of Italian cinema bis. Yet for a long time, his films were passed around like rarities to be protected and difficult to see in the right conditions. His first feature film, Le Masque du démon (The Mask of the Demon), with the beauty of its black and white and the magic of its gimmicks, led to a whole production of gothic titles and launched an adventurous and pioneering career. On the other side of the spectrum, Demons, directed by his son Lamberto Bava, followed in the footsteps of a popular and bloodthirsty exploitation cinema. But this story of an invitation to a mysterious screening in a gigantic cinema contains within it a post-modern reflection on the programmed destruction of cinemas. From one Bava to another, it's an accelerated journey through a whole parallel history of Italian cinema that you can witness.

With Gérald Duchaussoy, author of Mario Bava, le magicien des couleurs (Lobster) and Lamberto Bava, conteur-né - Le Frisson et l'Émerveillement (Carlotta).

Two never-before-seen sci-fi films that share a confined environment and apocalyptic romanticism! French director Thibault Emin will be on hand to tell us about the epic genesis (it took him 14 years to complete Else) of his first feature-length film, full of stunning visions at the crossroads between body and matter. In the second half of the evening, U Are The Universe is a funny and spectacular UFO from Ukraine. This is director Pavlo Ostrikov's first film, and his space odyssey is particularly accomplished.