It’s June, so you know that means we have another fantastic lineup for Chattanooga Film Festival! While the festival always boasts an impressive collection of films, they decided to go nuclear for 2024. CFF 2024 “has now more than doubled down and conjured a mega-wave of 21 additional features, more than 80 short films, more parties, panels and podcasts alongside the festival’s infamous watch parties.” Last year, I was awed by Trim Season, and just looking at the lineup this year has me frothing at the mouth for June 21st. So what do we have to look forward to?

Chattanooga Film Festival is known for many things, and one of them is its annual FREE kick-off event. “This year’s launch party is a tribute to one of the festival’s first champions. Filmmaker Jeff Burr (From A Whisper To A Scream, Leatherface) was the embodiment of CFF’s mission to bring great genre cinema to the city of Chattanooga and beyond. He accomplished this with numerous screenings of his own films but also as a warm-hearted film historian, educator, and mentor to young, local filmmakers. Jeff gave fans new reasons to love cult classics screening for CFF audiences. This event is a free-to-attend (Jeff would have wanted it that way) celebration of the life and films of Jeff Burr.”

Chattanooga Film Festival 2024 Lineup

There will also be three world premieres at the festival with Kelsey Egan’s The Fix, Racheal Cain’s Somnium, and Ariel Vida’s Sleep, Wake, Forget. And those are just the premieres! Let’s take a look at the full lineup (Make sure to get your badges here!):

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Blind Cop 2

Director Alec Bonk | United States 2023 | Virtual

Blind Cop, the former beacon of justice, is consumed by grief after the mysterious death of his partner in the first movie. (There is no first movie.) His once-illustrious career has been reduced to drunken disorderly conduct, putting him at odds with the police force. In his investigation of a new influx of arms trafficking, Blind Cop discovers a lead that connects the illegal weapons to his partner’s death. However, he is fired from the force for his reckless behavior. Now Blind Cop must venture into the dark underworld of the city to continue his investigation. With the help of a bright-eyed young man who wants to follow in his footsteps, they will uncover a web of deceit and corruption that will challenge Blind Cop’s perceptions of justice and morality.

The truth he seeks may not be what he expected, but he will stop at nothing to avenge his fallen partner and bring the criminals responsible to justice.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Cannibal Mukbang

Director Aimee Kuge | United States 2023 | Virtual

An introverted nerd finds himself dangerously deep inside the crazy world of mukbanging after he falls head over heels for a mysterious woman.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Canvas

Directors Kimberly Stuckwisch, Melora Donoghue | United States 2022 | Virtual

Pitted against each other since youth and raised to believe true artists are only formed through suffering, two sisters reunite after years of estrangement. One sister learns authenticity and the other regret, but neither escapes the sins of their father.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Carnage For Christmas – Southeast Premiere

Alice Maio Mackay | Australia 2023 | Virtual

When true-crime podcaster and sleuth Lola visits her hometown at Christmas for the first time since running away and transitioning, the vengeful ghost of a historical murderer and urban legend seemingly arises to kill again. Lola must solve the case before her community is slaughtered. She’s up against not only a psychotic killer, but a town haunted by secrets.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Daughter of the Sun

Director Ryan Ward | Canada 2023 | Virtual

A 12-year-old girl struggles with life on the run as she travels across the country with her father who has Tourette Syndrome. Wanting nothing more than a normal family life, she befriends a community of outcasts in the remote countryside who want to harness a volatile supernatural power her father is hiding.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Falling Stars

Directors Richard Karpala, Gabriel Bienczycki | United States 2023 | In Person

On the first night of harvest, three brothers set out for the desert to see a witch’s corpse.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

In the Name of God

Director Ludwig Gur | Sweden 2024 | Virtual

After the wife of Theodor, a 40-year-old priest, falls seriously ill, he seeks guidance from his old mentor who convinces him he has been chosen by God to rid the world of sinners to bring new life to true believers. He then commits his first murder, convinced it is a necessary sacrifice in service of his divine mission. At the moment of the murder, his wife’s health improves and the congregation starts referring to him as the “miracle priest,” knowing nothing of his horrible act. But lurking in the shadows is a disbelieving man who begins to uncover the bloody traces of the priest’s unholy deeds.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Killington

Directors Mark Dudzinksi, Frank Perz | United States 2023 | Virtual

When a group of women from Manhattan win a weekend getaway with wellness influencer Kali to picturesque Killington, Vermont, the creepy local vibes and characters take on a life of their own. Tensions spark among the longtime friends as Kali pushes their boundaries, and things take an unexpected turn.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Love And Work

Director Pete Ohs | United States 2023 | Hybrid

Diane and Fox love to work. Unfortunately, they live in a polarized world where having a job is illegal.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

NOCLIP

Directors Gavin Charles, Alex Conn | United States 2023 | Virtual

Two filmmakers set out on an adventure into a creepy old mall, only to find themselves lost in an increasingly claustrophobic maze of hallways, liminal spaces, stairwells, and backrooms in this comedic found footage horror film.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Off Ramp

Director Nathan Tape | United States 2023 | Virtual

A couple of lovable, degenerate Juggalos must sojourn through America’s hellish underbelly to The Gathering of the Juggalos, the one place on earth they feel accepted.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Quantum Suicide

Director Gerrit Van Woudenberg | Canada 2023 | Virtual

A reclusive physicist builds a particle accelerator in his garage and embarks on a quest to understand the nature of reality. In the process of his experiments he suffers radiation poisoning, loses his vision and alienates his partner, who eventually leaves him. But in his obsession he finds clarity and the key to understanding our reality. There is one final test he must perform.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Red Rooms

Director Pascal Plante | France 2024 | In Person

The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the puzzle: the missing video of a murdered 13-year-old girl, to whom Kelly-Anne bears a disturbing resemblance.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Sleep, Wake, Forget – World Premiere

Ariel Vida | United States

In a fallen world, a young man will stop at nothing to save his brother from becoming one of the creatures they have spent their lives running from.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

SOMNIUM – World Premiere

Director Racheal Cain | United States 2023 | In Person

At an experimental sleep clinic, Somnium, your dreams are made real. Side effects may include: hallucinations, confusion, paranoia, sleep paralysis, detachment from reality, lost sense of self, permanent nightmares.

The Buildout

Director Zeshaan Younus | United States 2023 | Virtual

A friendship is tested as two women experience something strange in the desert.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

The Fix – World Premiere

Director Kelsey Egan | South Africa 2023 | Hybrid

A dark, dystopian thrill ride with an environmental slant, The Fix explores identity, perception and autonomy in a frighteningly viable future. A toxic compound infects earth’s atmosphere. Pharmaceutical giant, Aethera, sells immunity to those who can afford the daily dose… most can’t. When a troubled model takes a new designer drug at a house party, she suffers a shocking transformation. Pursued by a dangerous gang and authorities in cahoots with Aethera, she hunts desperately for a “fix” to reverse the drug’s effects… only to discover that her mutations could save the human race.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

The Lonely Man With The Ghost Machine

Director Graham Skipper | United States 2023 | Virtual

The last man on Earth after a global catastrophe finds himself questioning his purpose and sanity as both his dead wife and a mysterious stranger confront him with his past, his present, and whatever future might remain in the wastes of a dead world.

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

The UFOS of Soesterberg

Director Bram Roza | Netherlands 2023 | Virtual

In the early morning of February 3, 1979, a mysterious object flew over Soesterberg Air Base. At least twelve soldiers witnessed this. Despite being in the middle of the cold war this event has still remained unexplained. And that is not the only anomalous sighting in that specific part of the Netherlands…

Image courtesy of Chattanooga Film Festival

Things Will Be Different

Director Michael Felker | United States 2024 | In Person

In order to escape police after a robbery, two estranged siblings lay low in a farmhouse that hides them away in a different time. There they reckon with a mysterious force that pushes their familial bonds to unnatural breaking points.

Short Film blocks will include:

 CFF Salutes Your Shorts – Student & Regional Shorts

Analog Exorcism – Directed by Jim Shashaty
A Portrait of Elizabeth – Directed by Corey Simpson
Big Break – Directed by Harrison Shook
Dead Presidents – Directed by Ryan Lilienfield
Descension – Directed by Valery Garcia
Hope Chest – Directed by Dycee Wildman, Jennifer Bonior
Implications of the Bootstrap Paradox on Spatiotemporal Continuity – Directed by Shaler Keenum
Kino Kopf – Directed by Jack Cosgriff
Out of Order – Directed by Catherine Mosier-Mills
Washed Up – Directed by Thomas Bayne

Dangerous Visions – Horror and Sci-Fi Shorts

13th Night – Directed by Benjamin Percy
Accidental Stars – Directed by Emily Bennett
Butterscotch – Directed by Alexander Lee Deeds
Dream Creep – Directed by Carlos A.F. Lopez
Hi! You Are Currently Being Recorded – by Anna Maguire, Kyle Greenberg
Let’s Go Disco – Directed by Austin Lewis
Pit Stop –  Directed by David A. Flores
Souling – Directed by Jacquelyn Ferguson
The Influencer – Directed by Lael Rogers
The Thaw – Directed by Sarah Wisner, Sean Temple

WTF (Watch These Films) – Strange & Magical Shorts

Body – Directed by Ronald Short
Cart Return – Directed by Matt Webb
Gum – Directed by Sam Elder
Like Me – Directed by Ashley Thomas
Make Me a Pizza – Directed by Talia Shea Levin
One Happy Customer – Directed by WATTS
Stairwell – Directed by David Britton, Anthony Ceceri
The 44th Chamber of Shaolin – Directed by Jon Truei
The Curse of the Velvet Vampire – Directed by Christoffer Sandau Schuricht
The Rainbow Bridge – Directed by Dimitri Simakis
The Shadow Wrangler – Directed by Grace Rex
Type A – Directed by Jake Barcus
Two Women Make a Lunch Plan – Directed by Elizabeth Archer
We Joined a Cult – Directed by Chris McInroy

Bride of WTF

A.A. – Directed by Auden Bui
A Visual Poem – Directed by Benjamin N. Walant
All is Lost – Directed by Carla Pereira, Juanfran Jacinto
Burn Out – Directed by Russell Goldman
Catacombs – Directed by Chad Cunningham
Disciple – Directed by Boston Enderle
Don’t You Dare Film Me Now – Directed by Cade Featherstone
Fck’n Nuts – Directed by Sam Fox
Hunky Dory – Directed by Steven Vander Meer
Krampuss – Directed by Guðni Líndal Benediktsson
Ouchie – Directed by Kyle Kuchta
Quiet! Mom’s Working! – Directed by P Patrick Hogan
Shadow – Directed by Kamell Allaway
The Crossing Over Express – Directed by Luke Barnett, Tanner Thomason

So Long and Thanks For all the Dangerous Visions

Apotemnofilia – Directed by Jano Pita
Come Back Haunted – Directed by Logan James Freeman
Consumer – Directed by Matthew Fisher
Giallo – Directed by Yogesh Chandekar
Nian – Directed by Michelle Krusiec
Night Feeding – Directed by Sarah K. Reimers
Outer Reaches – Directed by Karl Redgen
Roger is a Serial Killer – Directed by Don Swaynos
Spooky Crew – Directed by Erin Broussard
Strange Creatures – Directed by Nicholas Payne Santos
That’s Our Time – Directed by Alex Backes
The Little Curse – Directed by Nicholas Berger, Dana Berry
The Noise – Directed by Jillian Shea Spaeder, Bryce Gheisar
When Shadows Lay Darkest – Jacob Leighton Burns

Funsize Epics Vol 1.

Amos’ Bride – Directed by Yakako Fujimori
Caller 102: A Ballad of Cyberspace – Directed by Turner Barrowman, Jack Goldfisher
Cotton Candy Sky – Directed by Michael Curtis Johnson
Dumpster Archeology – Directed by Dustie Carter
Get Me Off This F@*king Planet Quincy – Directed by John Yost
Honk – Directed by Charles de Lauzirika
Hot Soda – Directed by Nello DiGiandomenico
Redcoat – Directed by Michaela Hounslow
Seraphim – Directed by Oscar Ramos
Spiral to the Center – Directed by Alisa Stern, Scott Ampleford
The Dumpster Dive – Directed by Laura Asherman
Villa Mink – Directed by Darron Carswell
We Need Some Space – Directed by Ian Geatz, Antonio Zapiain Luna

Funsize Epics Vol 2.

CARNIVORA – Directed by Felipe Vargas
Dark Mommy – Directed by Courtney Eck
Eyes Like Yours – Directed by Gabrielle Chapman
Floater – Directed by D. M. Harring
Good Girls Get Fed – Directed by Kelly Lou Dennis
Inked  – Directed by Kelsey Bollig
Lost Boys Pizza – Directed by Cassie Llanas
Mort – Directed by Charlie Queen
Madame Hattori’s Izakaya – Directed by Shanna Fujii
Robbie Ain’t Right No More – Directed by Kyle Perritt
The Garden of Edette – Directed by Guinevere Fey Thomas
The Kindness of Strangers – Directed by Stu Silverman
The Lonely Portrait – Directed by Marc Marashi
Too Slow – Directed by Danielle McRae Spisso, Stephen Vanderpool
Up on the Housetop – Directed by Dakota Millett, Michael Fischer
Vespa – Directed by Olívia Ramos
Volition – Directed by Ashley George

CFF24 kicks off June 21st and you don’t want to miss it! And again, you can purchase badges here!