Body horror has pretty much always been a gross-out mainstay of the broader horror genre, pioneered by undisputed master David Cronenberg and kept alive (or undead) by more recent aficionados like Julia Ducournau. Now, just in time for spooky season, Fotografiska Berlin is set to pay tribute to this grotesque and gory side of cinema with a new double-bill film screening.
This weekend, the Body Horror showcase will kick off with the short film CHOMP IT!, from the Singaporean duo Mark Chua and Lam Li Shuen. Starring Yazid Jalil and Nickson Cheng as two crocodile men seeking refuge at a swimming pool in a tropical paradise, the short is an “unconventional, dark and drily comedic allegory of life in Singapore”, touching on topics such as social hierarchy and privilege, and was selected for this year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam.
Second on the billing is another exploration of societal issues through the lens of the human body, as it intersects with our biggest and nastiest fears. Titled Tiger Stripes, the debut feature film by Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu follows a young girl who experiences monstrous and hallucinatory transformations during puberty, against a strictly conservative backdrop, drawing comparisons to feminist body horror such as TItane and Ginger Snaps.
Presented in collaboration with the techno community event Kilowatt and film screening series Synergie, the spooky screening will run at Fotografiska Berlin on Sunday (November 5, 2023). Tickets are available here.
In the meantime, you can watch the trailers for CHOMP IT! and Tiger Stripes below.
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