The 57th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia took place from 3 to 13 October 2024, in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain. Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller film Presence opened the festival, while Alexandre Aja's survival horror film Never Let Go served as the festival's closing film. Austrian historical horror film The Devil's Bath, directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, won the Best Film award.
Background While some films were announced in July 2024, the complete lineup was revealed on 10 September 2024. The festival's poster, commissioned to design agency CHINA and created through chemical techniques on photography, pays hommage to Tod Browning's 1932 horror film Freaks.
Australian actor Geoffrey Rush will be honoured with the Honorary Grand Prize (Gran Premi Honorífic). French director Alexandre Aja, English actor Nick Frost, American filmmaker Mike Flanagan, American actor Corey Feldman, American actress Heather Langenkamp, Greek-Italian film producer Ovidio G. Assonitis, and American director Fred Dekker, all will be recognized with the Time Machine Award (Premi Màquina del Temps). Additionally, Italian actor Fabio Testi will received the Nosferatu Award (Premio Nosferatu) while French director Christophe Gans will be honored with the Premio Méliès Career, presented by the Méliès International Festivals Federation. On 24 September, it was announced that American actor Giancarlo Esposito will also be honored with the Time Machine Award, while Spanish director Mar Targarona will be recognized with the WomanInFan Award.
Juries The juries consists of the following members:
Main competition Fred Dekker, American screenwriter and film director. Stephen Thrower, English musician and author. Carlota Pereda, Spanish director and screenwriter. Christophe Gans, French director, producer and screenwriter. Lisa Dreyer, director of Fantastic Fest.
Noves Visions José Enrique Monterde, Spanish journalist and film critic. Rebecca de Pas, Spanish festival programmer. Olivia Cooper-Hadjian, French film critic and festival curator.
Anima't Bill Kopp, American animator, writer and voice actor. Verónica Buide, Spanish consultant, producer and president of Mujeres en la Industria de la Animación (MIA). Juanjo Sáez, Spanish cartoonist and illustrator.
Blood Window / Òrbita Roxana Ramos, Argentine film producer. Douglas Buck, American director and film editor. , Spanish film producer.
Méliès d'Argent Álex Mendíbil, Spanish screenwriter and researcher. Marysia Nikitiuk, Ukrainian director, screenwriter and fiction writer. Victoria McCollum, Northern Irish researcher.
Brigadoon Nerea Torrijos, Spanish costume designer. Ivan Villamel, Spanish film producer. Mariona Borrull Zapata, Spanish journalist and film critic.
Crítica / Méliès d'Or Josep M. Bunyol, Spanish film critic. Paola Franco, Spanish film critic. Sergi Sánchez, Spanish film critic.
SGAE Nova Autoria Jaume Balagueró, Spanish director and screenwriter. Aina Clotet, Spanish actress and director. Francesc Gener Rius, Spanish film composer.
Sections The films selected for each section are as follows:
Official selection In competition The following films were selected to be screened as a part of the official competition section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 2073 Asif Kapadia United Kingdom A Different Man Aaron Schimberg United States Animale Emma Benestan France, Belgium Azrael E.L. Katz United States Isabella Torre Italy, Sweden Still Life with Ghosts Bodegón con fantasmas Enrique Buleo Spain, Serbia Enterre Seus Mortos Marco Dutra Brazil Call of Water Dans l'eau Élise Otzenberger France Continente Davi Pretto Brazil, France, Argentina Daniela Forever Nacho Vigalondo Spain, Belgium Shannon Triplett United States The Devil's Bath Des Teufels Bad Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala Austria, Germany The Second Act Le Deuxième Acte Quentin Dupieux France Thibault Emin France, Belgium Escape from the 21st Century 从21世纪安全撤离 Li Yang China Exhuma 파묘 Jang Jae-hyun South Korea Fréwaka Aislinn Clarke Ireland Get Away Steffen Haars United Kingdom Ghost Cat Anzu 化け猫あんずちゃん Yōko Kuno, Nobuhiro Yamashita Japan Luna Alfonso Cortés-Cavanillas Spain Mads France Meanwhile on Earth Pendant ce temps sur terre Jéremy Clapin France Mr. K Tallulah H. Schwab Belgium, Netherlands, Norway Nightbitch Marielle Heller United States Cisza nocna Bartosz M. Kowalski Poland Planet B Aude Léa Rapin France Rich Flu Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia Spain Sanatorium Under the Sign of the Hourglass Brothers Quay United Kingdom, Poland, Germany Sister Midnight Karan Kandhari United Kingdom, India, Sweden Strange Darling JT Mollner United States The Rule of Jenny Pen James Ashcroft New Zealand Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In 九龍城寨之圍城 Soi Cheang Hong Kong A Whale Una ballena Spain Highlighted title indicates Best Feature Film winner.
Out of competition The following films were selected to be screened out of the competition section: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Sitges Collection Apartment 7A Natalie Erika James United States Apocalypse Z: The Beginning of the End Apocalipsis Z: El principio del fin Carles Torrens Spain Arcadian Benjamin Brewer United States, Canada, Ireland Bookworm Ant Timpson New Zealand Cuckoo Tilman Singer Germany, United States Dead Talents Society 鬼才之道 John Hsu Taiwan The Wailing El llanto Pedro Martín-Calero Spain, Argentina, France Exorcism Chronicles: The Beginning 퇴마록 Kim Dong-chul South Korea Ghost Killer ゴーストキラー Kensuke Sonomura Japan Ick Joseph Kahn United States The American Backyard L'orto americano Pupi Avati Italy The Substance Coralie Fargeat United States, United Kingdom, France Please Don't Feed the Children Destry Allyn Spielberg United States Special Screenings Escape Rodrigo Cortés Spain Never Let Go Alexandre Aja United States 'Salem's Lot Gary Dauberman Hush Mike Flanagan House of Spoils Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy Presence Steven Soderbergh Rose & Samurai 2: Return of the Pirate Queen Hidenori Inoue Japan Terrifier 3 Damien Leone United States The Soul Eater Le Mangeur d'Âmes Alexandre Bustillo, Julie Maury France, Belgium The Wild Robot Chris Sanders United States
Órbita The following films were selected to be screened as a part of the Órbita section, for films that "stand out for their unique approach and their audience appeal": English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) 100 Yards 门前宝地 Xu Junfeng, Xu Haofeng China Cloud クラウド Kiyoshi Kurosawa Japan Confession 告白 Nobuhiro Yamashita Diabolik: Who Are You? Diabolik chi sei? Antonio and Marco Manetti Italy Escape 탈주 Lee Jong-pil South Korea The Roundup: Punishment 범죄도시4 Heo Myung-haeng I, the Executioner 베테랑2 Ryoo Seung-wan Maldoror Fabrice Du Welz Belgium, France Night Call La nuit se traîne Michael Blanchart Belgium, France Steppenwolf Adilkhan Yerzhanov Kazakhstan The Goldfinger 金手指 Felix Chong Hong Kong The Kingdom Le Royaume Julien Colonna France Zero Jean Luc Herbulot United States Special Sessions Beating Hearts L'Amour ouf Gilles Lellouche France, Belgium The Moon Thieves 盜月者 Steve Yuen Hong Kong Highlighted title indicates Órbita winner.
Anima't The following films were selected to be screened as a part of the Anima't section, for animated films: English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) Dalia y el Libro Rojo David Bisbano Argentina, Spain, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia Diplodocus Wojtek Wawszczyk Poland, Czech Republic Mariposas Negras David Baute Spain, Panama Memoir of a Snail Adam Elliot Australia Night of the Zoopocalypse Ricardo Curtis, Rodrigo Perez-Castro Canada, France, Belgium Pig that Survived Foot-and-Mouth Disease 구제역에서 살아 돌아온 돼지 Hur Bum-wook South Korea Savages Sauvages Claude Barras Switzerland Spermageddon Tommy Wirkola, Rasmus A. Sivertsen Norway The Colors Within きみの色 Naoko Yamada Japan The Glassworker شیشہ گر Usman Riaz Pakistan The Storm 大雨 Yang Zhigang China The Umbrella Fairy 伞少女 Jie Shen Special Sessions Fox and Hare Save the Forest Vos & Haas redden het bos Mascha Halberstad Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg Highlighted title indicates Anima't winner.
Noves Visions The following films were selected to be screened as a part of the Noves Visions section, for films "with fantastic genre themes, committed to experimentation, new languages and formats, and the hybridization of genres": English title Original title Director(s) Production countrie(s) A Desert Joshua Erkman United States Body Odyssey Grazia Tricarico Italy, Switzerland Centaures de la Nit Marc Recha Spain Dead Mail Joe DeBoer, Kyle McConaghy United States Electric Child Simon Jaquemet Switzerland, Germany, Philippines Gazer Ryan J. Sloan United States Infinite Summer Miguel Llansó Estonia, Spain It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This Rachel Kempf, Nick Toti United States The Hyperboreans Los hiperbóreos Joaquín Cociña, Cristóbal León Chile Love Me Sam and Andy Zuchero United States Mi Bestia Camila Beltrán Colombia, France Pepe Nelson Carlo De Los Santos Arias Dominican Republic, Namibia, Germany, France Schirkoa: In Lies We Trust Ishan Shukla India, France, Germany Sew Torn Freddy Macdonald United States, Switzerland She Loved Blossoms More Yannis Veslemes Greece, France Spirit in the Blood Carly May Borgstrom Germany, Canada The Gesuidouz ザ・ゲスイドウズ Ken'ichi Ugana Japan The Killers 더 킬러스 Roh Deok, Kim Jong-kwan, Jang Hang-jun, Lee Myung-se South Korea Things Will Be Different Michael Felker United States Timestalker Alice Lowe United Kingdom Un Cuento de Pescadores Edgar Nito Mexico Witte Wieven Didier Konings Netherlands Your Monster Caroline Lindy United States Petit Format Death of an Actor Ambroise Rateau France Don't Forget Jeremy S. Thompson Canada The Evil Eye El mal donat Hector Mas, Alfons Canal Andorra, Spain Fishtank Wendi Tang United States, China La Plaga Gemma Capdevila Spain ME Don Hertzfeldt United States Satomi Rayner Wang Japan, United States, Hong Kong Say Wuff! Fabian Podeszwa Germany Stills Moving Kevin Tsung-Hsuan Yeh Taiwan Strawberry Shortcake Deborah Devyn Chuang The Image Seller Donavan Richard Canada The Law of Extinction of Pain Lee Wonjae South Korea The Tree of Sinners Hiroyuki Onogawa, Rii Ishihara Japan Vinca Vision Lazar Bodroza Serbia Special Sessions Dragon Dilatation Bertrand Mandico France The Fall (4K Director's Cut) Tarsem Singh United States, India Highlighted title indicates Noves Visions winner.
Shorts The following films were selected to be screened as a part of the Shorts section: