22nd ANNIVERSARY SEASON
Running October 16-24, 2021
Celebrating the Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror Genres
CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO BE TAKEN TO THE FULL ZONE VORTEX SCHEDULE:

• Click here to download the 2021 Vortex Festival Poster
PLEASE NOTE: THE MAJORITY OF OUR FILMS ARE INTENDED FOR MATURE AUDIENCES. UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED, CHILDREN UNDER 14 WILL NOT BE ADMITTED WITHOUT AN ADULT. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.
This year’s Vortex programming is sponsored by the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival Rhode Island Film & Television Office, The Providence Tourism Council, ACT/Providence, Cox Media, WLNE ABC6, Eurochannel, RISCA, WSBE Rhode Island PBS, Providence College, Johnson and Wales University, Narragansett Brewing Company, the RI Historical Society, the RWU School of Humanities, Arts and Education, RWU Department of Communication, Graphic Design and Web Development.
THE 2021 FESTIVAL:
FLICKERS’ VORTEX SCI-FI, FANTASY, AND HORROR FILM FESTIVAL LAUNCHES ITS 22nd GENRE-FILLED YEAR
Over 80 Films, 17 Countries, 9 Running Days, 14 World/North American Premieres, Virtual and Drive-In Locations, Free Screenings, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Animation Programming, doubleFEATURE showcase on Rhode Island PBS, and the Popular H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour Times Four
A phantasmagoric symphony of international films blasts its way across the big screen as the Flickers’ Rhode Island International Film Festival launches its 22nd Annual Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival (VORTEX), October 16-24th.
This year Vortex will again be a hybrid event with programming appearing online and select screenings at the Rustic Tri-View Drive-in. Webinars, industry workshops, forums, the popular Lovecraft Walking Tour, special tributes, coffee talks, filmmaker interviews, and post film screening Q&A’s. The 2021 Festival will continue popular annual programs “virtually,” including a special episode of the Flickers’ series “doubleFEATURE” that will air on Rhode Island PBS.
With the bracing Fall weather, the seasonal return of the H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour could not be timelier. The 90-minute Tour, presented in collaboration with the Rhode Island Historical Society will take place over four days during the Festival and follow Rhode Island Department of Health and CDC guidelines. Attendees are expected to maintain social distancing from their guide during the tour, as well as wear masks while on the street and in public. Attendance is limited to 15 guests per Tour.
Double-bill screenings at the Rustic Tri-View Drive-In, 195 Eddie Dowling Hwy, North Smithfield, RI, will take place during the week of October 18-22, 2021 (rain dates will apply).
The full schedule for this year’s Festival can be found on http://www.rifilmfest.org or https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/22/date/all
This year’s programming has been curated by Shawn Drywa, who created the Vortex Festival 22-years ago while a student at Rhode Island College and a Flickers’ intern. He has partnered with Shawn Quirk, RIIFF’s Program Director for the main Festival in creating this year’s hybrid event.
"We have a wonderfully diverse list of entries and events for this year's festival. Everything from traditional horror and horror comedy to thought provoking science fiction and animation. Our Drive-In program at the Rustic is diverse, entertaining and memorable.
“Plus, we have some great panelists and a virtual awards ceremony and closing night virtual wrap party for participating filmmakers. We truly have something for everyone which should offer broad appeal on our new virtual entertainment reality," noted Drywa.
The Flickers’ Vortex Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror Film Festival celebrates and showcases imagination and creativity in filmmaking and will include a bevy of World and U.S. Premieres. In all, over 80 films have been selected from over 3,000 genre submissions. They represent 17 countries including the United Kingdom, China, Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, France, Russian Federation, Mexico, Argentina and the United States. Many of the filmmakers will be in virtual attendance, so audience members will have a chance to meet, ask questions, and even network with the next generation of genre filmmakers via the planned online conversations using Zoom and Facebook Live!
Links will be posted throughout the week on the Zone Vortex Festival platform.
Most events will be free to the general public except the Lovecraft Walking Tour ($22 per person) and the screenings at the Rustic Drive In ($22 per carload). At the request of the filmmakers, select films may be geoblocked. These will have a paywall.

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Special Highlights for 2021
LOVECRAFT AND DRIVE IN SCREENINGS...
SAVE THE DATES: OCTOBER 16, 17, 23 & 24TH
H.P. LOVECRAFT: WALKING TOUR & FILM SCREENING
This year, the popular annual H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour hosted in collaboration with the RI Historical Society will be held on four dates: October 16, 17, 23. & 24th at 12:00 NOON.
The life and work of Providence's best-known fantasy and horror author, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, provide the backdrop for this walking tour. Acknowledged genius of occult and horror fiction, Lovecraft's Providence Stories (written between 1924 and 1935) provide the basis for this walk. Lovecraft wrote eloquently, and in great detail, about such landmarks as Prospect Terrace, the First Baptist Church, and the historic homes of Benefit Street. See the site of his former home, as well as the sights mentioned in The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, The Haunter of the Dark, The Shunned House, and The Call of Cthulhu. Lovecraft's own words offer a most amazing literary, historical, and architectural walking tour.
The tour will depart from the John Brown House at 52 Power Street, Providence and lasts 90 minutes.
“This walking tour is a wonderful opportunity for fans of H.P. Lovecraft to connect with the man behind the writer, and for others to discover his genius,” said Shawn Drywa, Vortex Program Director.
“Lovecraft’s horror writing continues to resonate with audiences from across the globe and provide inspiration for some of the most chilling and terrifying stories in the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres,” commented Shawn Quirk, RIIFF Program Director.
“His work has become the corner stone in weird fiction and has influenced countless writers and artists in today's popular culture. His frightfully uncanny literature set right here in Providence serves as our essential historical link between Edgar Allen Poe and Steven King.”
This year’s Festival is sponsored in part by the Rhode Island Film & Television Office.
THE WHO, WHAT AND WHEN OF IT:
Location: John Brown House, 52 Power Street, Providence, RI
Time: The tour will take place this year at 12:00 Noon on the designated dates.
Cost: $22.00; Bring your eTicket with you to the Tour and Screening
A WORD ABOUT THE LOVECRAFT-INSPIRED FILM SCREENINGS:
The H.P. Lovecraft Walking Tour concludes with a virtual screening of a short film collection inspired by H.P. Lovecraft. Attendees will be given coded access to a curated program they can watch at their leisure..

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SAVE THE DATES: Tuesday, October 19th & Thursday, October 21st
SPECIAL EVENT PRESENTATION & SCREENINGS AT THE RUSTIC DRIVE
Special Outdoor Vortex screenings will take place at the Rustic Tri-View Drive-In, 195 Eddie Dowling Hwy, North Smithfield, RI. Cost: $22.00 per carload.
October 19, 2021
FILM PROGRAMMING: (https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/22/date/all/all/all/all/all/all/2610)
Floaters | Karl Poyzer, Joseph Roberts | United Kingdom | English | 2020 | 4min | Color | Animation | Comedy, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Gone | Christopher Piñero | United States | English | 22min | Color | Drama, Horror, Thriller
M | Josh Banks | United States | English | 2021 | 10min | Color | Horror
Grummy | Micheline Pitt, R.H. Norman | United States | English | 2020 | 11min | Color | Drama,
Horror
Sins of a Werewolf | David Prendeville | Ireland | English | 2020 | 22min | Color
Lady Betty | Paul McGrath | Ireland | English | 2021 | 7min | Color | Animation | Comedy, Horror
Frank Miller American Genius | Silenn Thomas | United States | 2021 | 109min | Color |
Documentary
THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE:
Programming Runs Tuesday, OCTOBER 19, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. for Premiere Short Film Screenings followed by our Feature Premiere.
• Masks must be worn anytime customers go inside the concession
• Customers will listen to the movies on their car radios.
• Rustic’s gates open at 5 p.m. and the first movie starts at 6:30 p.m.
Please have your receipt available for admission.
NO EXCHANGES OR REFUNDS. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED AND MAY SELL OUT AT ANY TIME.

October 21, 2021
FILM PROGRAMMING: (https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/22/date/all/all/all/all/all/all/2610)
In the Mirrors | Merlin Camozzi | United States | English | 2020 | 8min | Color | Horror
Adventure
Space Squad | Joe Cappa | United States | English | 2021 | 14min | Color | Animation | Comedy
Snapper: The Man-Eating Turtle Movie That Never Got Made | John Campopiano | United States | 2021 | 30min | Color | Documentary | Horror
Good Head | United States | English | 2021 | 29min | Color | Comedy, Horror
The Exit Plan | Angus Wilkinson | Australia | English | 2020 | 14min | Color | Drama, Thriller
6:45 | Craig Singer | United States | English | 2020 | 100min | Color | Narrative | Thriller | World Premier
THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN AND WHERE:
Programming Runs Thursday, OCTOBER 21, 2021 at 6:30 p.m. for Premiere Short Film Screenings followed by our Feature Premiere.
• Masks must be worn anytime customers go inside the concession
• Customers will listen to the movies on their car radios.
• Rustic’s gates open at 5 p.m. and the first movie starts at 6:30 p.m.
Please have your receipt available for admission.
NO EXCHANGES OR REFUNDS. ALL SALES ARE FINAL. QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED AND MAY SELL OUT AT ANY TIME.

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Thursday, October 21st
LOCATION:
WSBE - Rhode Island PBS
Broadcast: Channel
36
CoxCox 08 / 1008HD
Verizon FiOS (RI) 08 / 508HD / (MA) 18 / 518 HD
Full Channel 08
Comcast in Southern MA *Various / 819 HD
DirecTV 36 | DISH Network 36
8:00 P.M.
doubleFEATURE
60 min. weekly series, television magazine “doubleFEATURE,” a showcase for the art of film and the artists who create them.
Each week, “doubleFEATURE” presents award-winning short films that have premiered at the Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival over the past 20 years. Ranked as one of the top 10 Festivals in the United States, RIIFF is also a qualifying festival for the Live Action, Documentary and Animation Short Film Academy Awards through its affiliation with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. It is also a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) and Canadian Screen Awards (Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television)-qualifying Festival. There are only 6 film festivals worldwide that share this distinction.
Steven Feinberg, Executive Director of the RI Film and Television, and an accomplished writer/director, will introduce audiences to the filmmakers those who work behind the camera lens through incisive and revealing interviews.
“doubleFEATURE” promises a voyage of discovery where viewers learn about the talented artists from Rhode Island and beyond who work in the industry or aspire to create their career. From seasoned professionals, college and high school students, to those whose passion and creativity are their drivers, “doubleFEATURE” shines a spotlight. Writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, talent, costume, set and sound designers, gaffers, grips and production assistants share their inspiration.
Showtime: Each Friday on RI PBS, WSBE-36 at 8:00 p.m. with a repeat broadcast on the following Thursday night at 10:00 p.m.
Credits: A Flickers Production in collaboration with the RI Film and Television Office and RI PBS. George T. Marshall, Executive Producer; Steven Feinberg, and Shawn Quirk, Producers.
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All proceeds generated by the Flickers' VORTEX Sci-Fi, Fantasy & Horror Film Festival will be dedicated to the FLICKERS' SCHOLARSHIP FUNDS. These include the Drwya-Feinberg Scholarship, the Winifred Brownell Scholarship, the Viola M. and Joseph Marshall Scholarship and the Patricia Neal Scholarship Fund that are designed to help area college students pursue
studies in the film arts. Since RIIFF is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit
organization, you can rest assured that your money will
be re-invested back into the community.
Now celebrating its 40th Anniversary, Flickers, the producers/creator of the Rhode Island International
Film Festival, showcases the artistic efforts
of filmmakers and encourages new talent while providing
the visibility necessary to launch careers in the industry.
For more information, write RIIFF, P.O. Box 162, Newport,
RI 02840. Telephone: 401-861-4445. E-mail: info@film-festival.org. Our offices are located at 83 Park Street, Suite 5, Providence, RI 02903.
THIS YEAR'S THEATERS/EVENT LOCATIONS WE USE:
The Rustic Tri-View Drive-In
195 Eddie Dowling Hwy
North Smithfield, RI
More Details can be found on our Zone Vortex schedule site, including listings of the Virtual Screenings:
https://prog.tsharp.xyz/en/riiff/22/date/all

Sponsors for 2021:







The Department of Theatre, Dance, and Film at Providence College.


Johnson & Wales College of
Arts & Sciences



©2021 Rhode Island International Film Festival®.
All Rights Reserved.
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