by Tori Potenza, Staff Writer

This weekend The Final Girls Berlin Film Fest came to a close after a jam packed 5 days of programming. The festival’s focus on women and non-binary filmmakers has given many filmmakers, academics, and others who join in to find a space to congregate and share the spotlight when they might feel marginalized in other similar spaces. Their 9th annual festival ran from February 7-11 at City Kino Wedding as well as offering virtual components for those who are not able to make it to Berlin. If you attended virtually, like myself, there were various shorts and feature films you could take the opportunity to watch from filmmakers all over the world. I was thrilled to experience another year of consistently quality programming and plenty of filmmakers I am excited to see more from. 

Festival Features

The festival featured some great shorts from both first time and seasoned horror filmmakers. It was exciting to see films like Where the Devil Roams, My Animal, Birth/Rebirth make Berlin/International premieres amongst some others I had not seen. 

Booger (dir. Mary Dauterman, 2023)

Booger takes the monstrous feminine trope to some weird and surreal places. The film follows Anna (Grace Glowicki) a young woman struggling to cope with the death of her best friend. After being scratched by her friend's cat she begins to exhibit some unusual behavior that concerns those around her and threatens to cut her off from everyone else in her life. Mary Dauterman has a very unique style that made Booger a very entertaining watch. It has a lull about midway through and it is hard to tell where the story is going at times, but in the end it really blossomed with its themes around grief and coming through the darkness. Grace Glowicki brings a lot to the character of Anna, who at times can be frustrating and hard to empathize with even considering her situation. By the end, I was moved and touched by this strange tale and its unique take on traditional horror tropes. 

Somewhere Quiet (dir. Olivia West Lloyd, 2023)

Somewhere Quiet had a lot of interesting horror and thriller elements but its build up leads to a rather bland ending. The story focuses on Kim (Jennifer Kim) a woman who escaped from a traumatic kidnapping experience. Soon after her husband Scott (Kentucker Audley) suggests they go to his family's remote estate to relax and give Kim an opportunity to heal. But Kim is haunted by images and dreams that unsettle her and after Scott’s cousin Madeline (Marin Ireland) joins them for the trip she begins to suspect that something is going on. 

The movie had some promising Let's Scare Jessica to Death vibes that were unsettling and make you just as on edge as your heroine. The performances in general were one of the best elements about it, especially Marin Ireland, who always stands out even in her smaller roles. It was a movie that tried very hard to leave you uncertain of what was going on so it felt easy to get lost in all of the plot elements, it also had some interesting threads that it brings in and never really does anything with. In the end the script felt too messy for it to be as intriguing as the plot and initial builds up leads you to believe. There are certainly elements to enjoy but overall this fell flat. 

Tiger Stripes (dir. Amanda Nell Eu, 2023) 

Also taking on the monstrous feminine from the point of view of a girl coming into womanhood is the Malaysian film Tiger Stripes. Zaffan (Zafreen Zairizal) grows up in a rural area of her country, and is looked down upon for her feisty behavior that is seen as unbecoming in her culture. After she has her first period her behavior only changes more, but when she begins losing her hair and growing large claws it becomes clear she is turning into something different than a typical woman. All of the performances from the young actors were so impressive. Zafreen brings so much to her character and you can feel the struggles of what it is like for someone who does not fit in with those around her. 

The film has a great sense of humor and has a lot of fun getting weird and gross with its premise. Its use of urban legends, folklore, and hysteria were also interesting elements that harken back to the superstition and witch hunting that women throughout history have faced. At times the story can be a little bit meandering and has some pacing issues as it gets into the second half. But overall this is a great look at puberty, rebellious women, and a culture that tries and fails to stamp out the individuality of its young heroine. 

Shorts Blocks

The shorts blocks at Final Girls are always so well curated and have such a unique variety of stories, subgenres, and international filmmakers. This year they offered twelve different shorts blocks making it almost impossible to choose which ones to make the time for. In the end I ended up checking out Body Politics, Absurd and Surreal, Queer Horror, and Eco Horror. If you want to see some of the most unique stories from some of the most promising up and coming filmmakers the shorts blocks are where you want to look. So here are some of the real stand outs this year. 

Gertrude and Yvan Party Hard (dir. Louise Groult, 2022) 

Who doesn’t love a good meet cute? Add in some bizarre horror elements and you have a great love story for horror fans to dig into. This is bizarre, fun, and weirdly cute. 

3pm, Thursdays (dir. Michèle Kaye, 2023) 

Men love women to undress for their pleasure, unless they are on their period. With little to no dialogue Michèle Kaye gives us a horror tale that highlights the overexaggerated responses men give when they experience that time of the month front and center. 

Poppy’s Saturn (dir. Nicole Tegelaar, 2023)

This one is for the David Lynch fans out there. Sexy, fantastical, with the right hints of darkness. Through dreamy and surreal storytelling Tegelaar gives us a tale of a woman pulling herself out of the darkness. This is a gorgeous piece that makes you long for its filmmaker to give us a feature length with this aesthetic. 

Pool Party (dir. Ellie Stewart, 2023) 

Stewart really nails the awkward and traumatizing experience of feeling like an outsider in your adolescence. Playing with nautical folklore Pool Party gives us a queer bipoc character facing off against the worst of villains, a high school bully. This is as cathartic as it is fun. 

Skin (dir. Cyrus Gainer, 2023) 

It is nice to see a story that hits on the emotions and loneliness of recent quarantine life, without it having to be set in the world of COVID. Instead Gainer sets their story in a world that feels like it could be our not so distant future and uses it to explore the importance of touch and connection and the ways we can find it when we are separate. This has a fun punk rock energy while also being an emotional and relatable tale. 

Deprivation (dir. Caitlan Arthur, 2024)

Deprivation is a chilling and experimental piece about a woman facing the ghosts of her past. What is most impressive about the film is its 70’s exploitation horror vibes and effects. It looks great and remains eerie throughout. I look forward to seeing more work from Caitlan Arthur. 

I ended up watching 20+ shorts this fest and it is hard to find the space to write about them all. Some other standout watches include Gravid (dir. Laura Jai Smith), Hellmark (dir. Jessica Lauren Doucet), Fck’n Nuts (dir. Sam Fox), and Piss on the Patriarchy (dir. Lena Fakler). Make sure to check out these filmmakers and the other amazing ones showcased in this year’s festival lineup.

So that is a wrap on this year’s Final Girls Berlin Film Fest. But be on the lookout for other programming the festival does throughout the year and make sure to add some of these films to your watchlist. You can also support the festival by following them on social media and spreading the world about all of the wonderful work they do to highlight women in horror.