Fanomenon

Fanomenon is the home at LIFF for fantastic genre films – including fantasy, sci-fi, horror, anime, dark comedies, thrillers, mixed genre films, and much more.

Highlights this year include the Fanomenon opening film – the apocalyptic road trip Sirāt from Oliver Laxe, previews of Julia Ducournau’s Alpha and Bugonia from Yorgos Lanthimos, wonderful family films like Kid Koala’s Space Cadet and The Girl Who Stole Time from Yu Ao and Zhou Tienan, and award-winners like Paolo Strippoli’s The Holy Boy and A Useful Ghost from Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke. We present two competitions for the new generation of genre filmmakers, with UK Premieres of 7 features and three programmesof shorts. Plus, we have special selections for Halloween like Grace Glowicki’s Dead Lover, and our legendary horror all-nighter Night of theDead, headlined this year by Tina Romero’s Queens of the Dead.

Events in Festival

What's On

Deathstalker

Dir. Steven Kostanski

Fanomenon - NIGHT OF THE DEAD

Fri 14 Nov - 23:00

Cult director Steven Kostanski resurrects the classic 1980s fantasy in a riotous mix of swords, sorcery and gloriously gooey practical effects.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
Canada

USA

North America

Horror

Fantasy

Action

Marathons

Adaptations

Past event
Flush

Dir. Grégory Morin

Fanomenon - NIGHT OF THE DEAD

Fri 14 Nov - 23:00

A darkly comic horror-thriller about a down-on-his-luck dad whose night takes a grotesque turn in the toilets of a grimy nightclub.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
France

Europe

Comedy

Horror

Thriller

Marathons

Past event
Night of the Dead

All-Night Horror Film Marathon

Fanomenon - FANATHONS

Fri 14 Nov - 23:00

Night of the Dead returns for an all-night horror marathon at Hyde Park Picture House, with a new mix of outrageous horror, cult carnage, and Midnight Mayhem.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
Comedy

Horror

Fantasy

Short Films

Marathons

Feature Film

Cult

Past event
Queens of the Dead

Dir. Tina Romero

Fanomenon Closing Film / NIGHT OF THE DEAD

Fri 14 Nov and Sat 15 Nov

The Night of the Dead headline film and Fanomenon closing film is Tina Romeo’s outrageous horror-comedy about a zombie apocalypse during a queer warehouse party in Brooklyn.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
USA

Women Filmmakers

Award Winners

Comedy

North America

Horror

Queer Films

Marathons

Past event
Vampire Zombies from Space

Dir. Michael Stasko

Fanomenon - NIGHT OF THE DEAD

Fri 14 Nov - 23:00

A loving spoof of 1950s drive-in creature features, packed with laughs, gore and lots of cigarettes.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
Canada

Comedy

North America

Horror

Offbeat

Sci-Fi

Marathons

Past event
All You Need is Kill

Dir. Ken'ichirô Akimoto

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Mon 10 Nov and Thu 13 Nov

Like Edge of Tomorrow (2014), the spectacular animated sci-fi All You Need is Kill from Ken’ichirô Akimoto is based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s best-selling young adult novel of the same name.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Japan

East Asia

Animation

Sci-Fi

Action

Past event
A Useful Ghost

Dir. Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 8 Nov - Sat 15 Nov

Visually striking, haunting and sharply funny, A Useful Ghost is a wildly inventive tale and unlike anything else you’ll see this year.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
France

Germany

Singapore

Thailand

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Southeast Asia

Past event
Anything That Moves

Dir. Alex Phillips

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 8 Nov - 18:30

A food courier who offers sex services on the side becomes entangled in a string of grisly murders in this surreal, psychedelic horror-thriller.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
USA

UK Premiere

Comedy

North America

Horror

Offbeat

Thriller

Past event
The Holy Boy

Dir. Paolo Strippoli

Fanomenon - DAY OF THE DEAD

Sat 8 Nov and Mon 10 Nov

Something sinister lies beneath the picture-perfect aura of a small community in this Italian horror thriller.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Italy

Slovenia

Europe

Horror

First Features

Competitions

Thriller

Past event
Dog of God

Dir. Raitis Ābele, Lauris Ābele

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 8 Nov and Mon 10 Nov

This surreal, graphic and beautifully twisted rotoscope animation explores witchcraft, werewolves and corruption in 17th-century Europe.
Latvia

USA

Europe

Horror

Offbeat

Satire

Animation

Fantasy

Past event
ChaO

Dir. Yasuhiro Aoki

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 8 Nov - Wed 12 Nov

From acclaimed Japanese animation production house Studio 4°C, ChaO is a wild romantic comedy and a true ‘fish out of water’ story.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Japan

Award Winners

East Asia

Comedy

Animation

Sci-Fi

Past event
F*cktoys

Dir. Annapurna Sriram

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Fri 7 Nov and Sat 15 Nov

A young sex worker attempts to challenge the universe’s dark karma in Annapurna Sriram’s distinct and surprising debut.

Hyde Park Picture House, Leeds

Screen 1
USA

Women Filmmakers

North America

Horror

Queer Films

First Features

Competitions

Past event
The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick

Dir. Pete Ohs

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Fri 7 Nov and Sun 9 Nov

In this quiet and darkly comic masterclass in millennial malaise from Jethica director Pete Ohs, a weekend to the country changes Yvonne’s life forever when she’s bitten by a tick.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
USA

UK Premiere

North America

Competitions

Offbeat

Thriller

Past event
Sirens Call

Dir. Miri Ian Gossing, Lina Sieckmann

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Thu 6 Nov and Wed 12 Nov

A reincarnated mermaid tries to find herself and adapt to the rigidity of the human world in this astonishing hybrid debut.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Germany

Netherlands

UK Premiere

Europe

Award Winners

Queer Films

First Features

Competitions

Fantasy

Documentaries

Past event
Fanomenon Short Film Competition 3

FANOMENON

Thu 6 Nov and Fri 7 Nov

The very popular fantastic genre shorts selection at LIFF is now a competition, with three programmes of fantasy, horror, comedy, sci-fi and more.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Past event
The Virgin of the Quarry Lake

Dir. Laura Casabé

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Thu 6 Nov - Thu 13 Nov

In this captivating supernatural coming-of-age film from Laura Casabé, a young girl’s first love awakens something darker within her when another woman gets in her way.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Argentina

Mexico

Spain

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Horror

South America

Competitions

Past event
Rains Over Babel

Dir. Gala del Sol

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Thu 6 Nov and Sun 9 Nov

Blending steampunk, magic realism, and Afrofuturism, director Gala del Sol’s first feature is an exuberant dark comic fantasy inspired by Dante’s Inferno, with a terrific ensemble of trans and queer characters.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Colombia

Colombia

Spain

USA

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Queer Films

First Features

South America

Competitions

Fantasy

Past event
Dandelion’s Odyssey

Dir. Momoko Seto

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Thu 6 Nov and Mon 10 Nov

A creatively unique animated journey of friendship and survival, this mesmerising film follows a group of dandelion seeds as they escape a nuclear explosion in search of a new home.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Belgium

France

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Europe

Award Winners

First Features

Competitions

Political

Animation

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Past event
Roqia

Dir. Yanis Koussim

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Wed 5 Nov - 20:30

Yanis Koussim’s first feature Roqia is an eerie supernatural horror that confronts the spectres of Algeria’s 'Black Decade' (1992–2002), when extremist violence engulfed the country and left traumas still felt today.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Algeria

France

UK Premiere

Horror

Competitions

Africa

Past event
Fanomenon Short Film Competition 2

FANOMENON

Wed 5 Nov and Fri 7 Nov

The very popular fantastic genre shorts selection at LIFF is now a competition, with three programmes of fantasy, horror, comedy, sci-fi and more.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Travel

Past event
Tinsman Road

Dir. Robbie Banfitch

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Wed 5 Nov and Sun 9 Nov

Shot entirely on DV, this haunting found-footage horror follows a filmmaker investigating the mysterious disappearance of his long-missing sister.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
USA

UK Premiere

North America

Horror

Competitions

Thriller

Past event
The Black Hole

Dir. Moonika Siimets

Fanomenon - FANOMENON FEATURE FILM COMPETITION

Wed 5 Nov and Tue 11 Nov

Otherworldly creatures disrupt the lives of the residents of an apartment block in this delightful Estonian sci-fi triptych.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Estonia

Finland

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Europe

Comedy

Horror

Competitions

Offbeat

Sci-Fi

Fantasy

Past event
Fanomenon Short Film Competition 1

FANOMENON

Tue 4 Nov and Fri 7 Nov

The very popular fantastic genre shorts selection at LIFF is now a competition, with three programmes of fantasy, horror, comedy, sci-fi and more.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Past event
Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks

Dir. Yugo Sakamoto

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Mon 3 Nov and Sun 9 Nov

From director Yugo Sakamoto (Baby Assassins) and adapted from Masakazu Ishiguro’s manga, Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks is a comic story about two broke college roommates with polar opposite personalities.

Everyman Cinema Leeds, Leeds

Screen 4
Japan

UK Premiere

Friendship

Music

East Asia

Comedy

Offbeat

Past event
Alpha

Dir. Julia Ducournau

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Mon 3 Nov and Sat 8 Nov

Julia Ducournau follows her award-winning Titane with this genre-bending family drama.
Belgium

France

Women Filmmakers

Europe

Horror

Sci-Fi

Past event
We Bury the Dead

Dir. Zak Hilditch

Fanomenon - DAY OF THE DEAD

Sat 1 Nov - 20:15

An epic survival thriller about a young woman searching for her husband in the aftermath of a terrifying national disaster.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
Australia

USA

UK Premiere

Horror

Thriller

Marathons

Australasia

Past event
Hellcat

Dir. Brock Bodell

Fanomenon - DAY OF THE DEAD

Sat 1 Nov and Tue 11 Nov

In this tense, high-stakes thriller, Dakota Gorman delivers a blistering performance as a woman who must find a way out when she wakes up in a moving trailer.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
USA

North America

Horror

First Features

Competitions

Thriller

Marathons

Past event
The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin

Dir. Hadrah Daeng Ratu

Fanomenon - DAY OF THE DEAD

Sat 1 Nov - 15:30

From two of the leading women horror filmmakers in Southeast Asia, writer Lele Laila and director Hadrah Daeng Ratu, The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin is a visceral Indonesian tale of black magic revenge

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
Indonesia

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Horror

Southeast Asia

Past event
Day of the Dead

All-Day Horror Marathon

Fanomenon - FANATHONS

Sat 1 Nov - 13:15

This year’s Day of the Dead includes two of the most acclaimed independent genre films of the year, Redux Redux and Hellcat, and UK Premieres of The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin from Indonesia and We Bury the Dead from Australia.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
Horror

Marathons

Past event
Redux Redux

Dir. Kevin McManus, Matthew McManus

Fanomenon - DAY OF THE DEAD

Sat 1 Nov and Tue 11 Nov

A bereaved mother journeys across universes to repeatedly kill her daughter’s killer in this lo-fi sci-fi horror.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
USA

North America

Horror

Competitions

Thriller

Sci-Fi

Marathons

Past event
The Girl Who Stole Time

Dir. Yu Ao, Zhou Tienan

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 1 Nov and Sun 9 Nov

From writer/directors Ao Yu and Tienan Zhou, the stunningly-animated The Girl Who Stole Time is a fast-paced fantasy action adventure packed with delights, surprises and twists to the end.
China

UK Premiere

Women Filmmakers

Award Winners

East Asia

Animation

Family Films

Past event
Space Cadet

Dir. Kid Koala

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Sat 1 Nov - Sun 9 Nov

Directed by Kid Koala and based on his graphic novel, Space Cadet is a heartwarming, music-filled, and dialogue-free futuristic lullaby about memories and the bonds that connect us.
Canada

UK Premiere

Comedy

North America

Animation

Family Films

Sci-Fi

Past event
Dead Lover

Dir. Grace Glowicki

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Fri 31 Oct and Sun 2 Nov

Shot on 16mm, this delightfully strange love story follows a lonely gravedigger who tries to resurrect the love of her life.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Canada

USA

Women Filmmakers

Award Winners

Comedy

North America

Horror

Offbeat

Past event
Honey Bunch

Dir. Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Dusty Mancinelli

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Fri 31 Oct and Sun 2 Nov

Dark truths emerge from an experimental treatment for memory recovery in this gothic thriller.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 7
Canada

UK

Women Filmmakers

North America

Competitions

Thriller

Sci-Fi

Past event
Bugonia

Dir. Yorgos Lanthimos

Fanomenon - FANORAMA

Thu 30 Oct - Tue 4 Nov

The latest, much-anticipated collaboration between Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone after Poor Things and Kinds of Kindness, Bugonia is a remake of cult Korean sci-fi comedy Save the Green Planet (2003).
Canada

Ireland

South Korea

UK

USA

Europe

British Films

Thriller

Sci-Fi

Past event
Sirāt

Dir. Oliver Laxe

Fanomenon Opening Film

Thu 30 Oct - Fri 7 Nov

Winner of the Cannes Jury Prize, Oliver Laxe’s Sirāt is a hallucinatory odyssey that demands to be experienced on the big screen.

Vue in the Light, Leeds

Screen 12
France

Spain

Europe

Award Winners

Music

Africa

Thriller

Action

Past event

Fanomenon

Events in Festival

What's On

Deathstalker

Flush

Night of the Dead

Queens of the Dead

Vampire Zombies from Space

All You Need is Kill

A Useful Ghost

Anything That Moves

The Holy Boy

Dog of God

ChaO

F*cktoys

The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick

Sirens Call

Fanomenon Short Film Competition 3

The Virgin of the Quarry Lake

Rains Over Babel

Dandelion’s Odyssey

Roqia

Fanomenon Short Film Competition 2

Tinsman Road

The Black Hole

Fanomenon Short Film Competition 1

Nemurubaka: Hypnic Jerks

Alpha

We Bury the Dead

Hellcat

The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin

Day of the Dead

Redux Redux

The Girl Who Stole Time

Space Cadet

Dead Lover

Honey Bunch

Bugonia

Sirāt