Bram Stoker International Film Festival (2009)

Whitby, England Oct 16-19, 2009

>>Mission Statement:

The Bram Stoker International Film Festival established in
order to provide more opportunities and exposure for
filmmakers, screenwriters, Sci-Fi and games developers
working within the horror, science fiction and suspense
genres, as well as to draw more attention to WHITBY by
means of our annual Film Festival.

Our international organisation hopes to provide education
and entertaining visual experience for the attendees of The
Bram Stoker International Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller Film
Festival, which will showcase and celebrate the diversity of
projects submitted to our competition year on year.

We will further develop a forum for filmmakers from across
the globe, where novices and seasoned veterans alike can
interact and learn from one another, as well as from our
array of special celebrity guests and industry professionals.
The intention is to build year on year and develop the Film
Festival into on of the most popular and respected events
in Europe.

Visitors and fans can meet their favourite stars; buy horror,
sci-fi related merchandise and converse with company
representatives at the Bram Stoker expo, held in conjunction
with our film screening during the festival. We are further
looking at the literary world to invite guest writers to
workshop their skills.

Ever wondered how that effect was done? Well now is the
time to ask! The festival hopes that their efforts continue
to attract attention, tourism and economic impact to WHITBY
and surrounding area and they can provide an even bigger
and better event for attendees each and every year. The
Festival will provide to the area and beyond, quality
entertainment in an enjoyable, pleasant atmosphere. It will
provide excellent movies and opportunities for social
interaction with music, games, educational classes and
special events, with an emphasis on all areas of film.



>>Target:

The targets for The Bram Stoker International Film Festival
are to create an entertainment, community education, and
cinematic experience venue offering unique and appealing
entertainment for all visitors.

The purpose of The Bram Stoker International Film Festival
is to provide the area, and beyond, with quality entertainment
in an enjoyable, pleasant atmosphere. It will provide excellent
movies and opportunities for social interaction with music,
games, educational classes, and special events, with an
emphasis on all areas of film.



>>Bram Stoker International Film Festival

> Honorary President: DACRE STOKER

Mr. Stoker, 49, is a great-grand-nephew of Bram Stoker, the
Irish author who introduced the world to Dracula in 1897.

Dacre has graciously accepted the role as President after
conversations with his friend Mike McCarthy ( Festival Director).

Dacre says:
"That he is thrilled and honoured to be associated with the Film
Festival and is looking forward to seeing Whitby and visiting the
spiritual home of Dracula and did not think twice after speaking
with Mike about the long term plans and direction of the Bram
Stoker International Film Festival"

Dacre is continuing the Stoker literary legacy with Dracula: The
Un-Dead, the original title for Dracula before an editor changed
it. The novel, which will be launched Globally in October 2009,
will coincide with the Film Festival. The story draws on excised
characters, existing character back-stories and plot threads
that were cut from the original Dracula novel, which has never
been out of print since it was first published in 1897.

Dracula: The Un-Dead has been co-written with New York
based screenwriter Mr Ian Holt.

Dacre Stoker grew up in Canada. In 1979, while in college, he
picked up Dracula for the first time.

"I was surprised that this old story was a 'page turner' and fairly
fast-paced," he said.

He wrote a paper about his great-grand-uncle and his possible
motivations for writing the novel.

"I had seen so many film versions of Dracula and very few had
any resemblance to Bram's original novel. ... I found it really sad
that all the trash Hollywood had put out had really sullied Bram's
and the family's literary legacy," he said.

Several years ago, Mr. Stoker met Mr. Holt through a mutual friend.

"Ian's story ideas for a sequel to Bram's work really sparked a lot of
those old feelings I had when I did my college paper. Ian and I
decided to work together to re-establish the Stoker lineage ... by
resurrecting Bram's original themes and characters," he said.

Mr. Holt, 36, has been fascinated with Dracula since he was a child.

His quest to know Dracula has taken him to Transylvania, to sleep in
the ruins of the castle and stand at the spot where Vlad the Impaler,
the real-life inspiration for Dracula, would have watched the
executions of his foes.

He said he has actively pursued the opportunity to write a sequel for
a decade.

"Writer of the sequel to Dracula, that's the epitaph I've always wanted,"
he said.

The sequel is set about 25 years after the first novel ends.

More than 600 pages of the original novel were edited from the
final work. Mr. Stoker and his wife, Jenne, visited the Rosenbach
Museum in Philadelphia where Bram Stoker's original, handwritten
notes were on display. The North American branch of the Stoker
family has an autographed copy of the original novel.

Mr. Stoker said those items plus some private family papers were
used to complete the sequel, which has Bram Stoker's original title,
The Un-Dead.

"Believe me when I say we and Bram have some real big surprises
for the fans - plot twists and characters that have been hidden
from the public since 1897," says Ian. The new story is set in
London in 1912, a quarter of a century after the blood-sucking
Count apparently came to grief. The Vampire-hunter Van
Helsing's protege Dr Seward is now a disgraced morphine addict,
and Quincey, the son of Stoker's hero Jonathan, has become
involved in a troubled theatre production of Dracula, directed
and produced by Bram Stoker himself. The play plunges Quincey
into the world of his parents' terrible secrets, but before he can
confront them his father is found murdered, impaled in
Piccadilly Circus.



The new book is the first Dracula story to be fully authorised by the
Stoker family since the 1931 film starring Bela Lugosi and looks set
to be a bestseller. It has already been sold for £1m to Dutton US,
HarperCollins UK and Penguin Canada, and a film version is also
being planned. Dacre Stoker, who formerly coached the Canadian
Olympic Pentathlon team now lives in the USA..

Pre-Order NOW!



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More Info:
Bram Stoker International Film Festival
Dracula "The Un-Dead"