ARCANE SORCERER (L’ARCANO INCANTATORE) Guest Artistic Director

Banished from seminary school after a sacrilegious scandal, young student Giacomo (Stefano Dionisi) flees Bologna seeking refuge. He finds favor with an elderly woman who directs him to a remote countryside villa, home to an excommunicated monsignor (Carlo Cecchi) with a penchant for the occult. In need of a new assistant after his last one died under mysterious circumstances, Giacomo reluctantly becomes the sorcerer’s apprentice. Forced to participate in increasingly macabre rituals and tests, Giacomo is consumed by the sinister — as apparitions, ghosts and deadly rumors start to accumulate.  A richly atmospheric, spiritual horror film, ARCANE SORCERER is magnificently crafted by Italian journeyman filmmaker Pupi Avati, best known for THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS and ZEDER. A personal favorite of Guillermo del Toro and described by filmmaker Edgar Wright as “the BARRY LYNDON of horror films,” this rarely seen cult classic will surprise and delight fans of fantastic cinema. –Josh Gardner