Kellams: This fall, the Waterwitch film and cocktail series is returning for a third series of films in Fayetteville. The idea remains the same for this third iteration. Community showings on a big screen of interesting films from around the world. Also the same, this time a specific signature cocktail paired with each movie, and the popularity of the first two sets in this series means these films, while still at Puritan on Dickson Street in Fayetteville, will be shown in a bigger space at Puritan. The Garden Room. The first screening in this latest series is the 1973 Japanese film "Lady Snowblood" that will be shown on Oct. 10. Cole Borgstadt is the founder and curator of the series, and he says these next four films do have a bit of a connection when there's a bit of curation involved.
Borgstadt: I am kind of thinking a little bit about maybe what those little touch points are.
Kellams: Let's go chronologically. "Lady Snowblood," which really, and I think Quentin Tarantino has even admitted this, inspired "Kill Bill" or influenced "Kill Bill."
Borgstadt: Yes. I mean, I think it's pretty palpable, I guess, when you watch "Lady Snowblood." It's a new film for me. Actually, the first slot was the one in our lineup that I was stressing over and was trying to figure out. And I think partially because, you know, not to jump ahead too much, but you know, we're talking about some October screenings. So naturally, we're wanting to do some things that skew a little bit more towards the season and Halloween. So I feel like it was a bit of reverse engineering. And Reed Carson, who's a filmmaker from Fayetteville as well that I grew up with, recommended I look at "Lady Snowblood." And he's a big Tarantino guy, I think even more than I am. And it was a blast to watch. And in a way, you can see the influences to "Kill Bill," but it really, you know, has its own flavor and it is, you know, in some ways very different than a Tarantino film, but you can see the visual language that's being pulled from a Tarantino film.
Kellams: It's Japanese and, like "Kill Bill," there is a woman who can handle herself against all enemies, who has had loved ones close to her killed.
Borgstadt: Yes. Yeah. And I do think it's not maybe the original revenge movie, but I do think it is one of the quintessential kind of, you know, revenge movies from the film canon. But in some ways it's very campy in terms of the way the violence is treated. Like after I watched it, I kept thinking about "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and how the, you know, the blood spurts in that movie are quite theatrical. And in this it's very similar. And, you know, it has a kung fu influence as well, where people are doing flips in ways that, you know, are not realistic.
Kellams: Defy physics.
Borgstadt: Yes. But I guess that's a good transition to talk about "Beau Travail." Claire Denis film from 1999 that we're screening on Sept. 24.
Kellams: It's French.
Borgstadt: It's French film that primarily takes place in Djibouti in East Africa. It is, I think of the four, probably the one that is closest to my heart. And it's probably my personal favorite. I've known this film for a while and was really considering trying how to squeeze it in in the first two iterations of Waterwitch that we had done, but I'm really, really excited to be able to kind of present it now.
Kellams: Oct. 8, help me with the pronunciation.
Borgstadt: So if we had spoken prior to me curating, I would have said "Titane."
Kellams: Yes.
Borgstadt: I think it's "Tee-tahn."
Kellams: "Tee-tahn." OK.
Borgstadt: Given that it's French. But I think conversationally I would probably slip back into saying "Titane."
Kellams: There was a movie, oh, gosh, maybe 30 years ago that David Cronenberg, kind of this auteur of horror, did called "Crash." It was about people who were aroused by seeing automobile accidents. It's very strange. Very interesting movie. This is a cousin of that film.
Borgstadt: I think that's a great way to put it. Have you seen "Crash"?
Kellams: I have. I will never see it again.
Borgstadt: Yeah. So I actually hadn't seen it prior to seeing "Titane," but I'd been familiar with Cronenberg's work and, you know, very familiar with his treatment of like body horror. I guess
Kellams: "Scanners" was one of... Where the heads blew up.
Borgstadt: Yeah, absolutely. And I've seen "Crash" now. They're kind of maybe your sentiment of, I don't know that it's one that on just a casual Wednesday night I'm going to put on to unwind.
Kellams: I'm not sorry I saw it.
Borgstadt: But no, it's not your comfort movie. It's not a comfort movie. It's something, but it is a movie I've thought about a lot since I've seen. But there's a similar fixation with like cars and automobiles, and both with "Crash" and with "Titane" both kind of have the inciting incident of a car wreck that kind of impacts this person's psyche. "Titane" is unlike any movie I've ever seen. Even with "Crash" included. I've been trying to figure out how I want to talk about the movie because it is one of those that I don't want to spoil too much. Because I do think that there's a richness of the experience because it really goes places that I don't think you expect in the first 20 minutes. And have you seen... I can talk to you about it in that way, but...
Kellams: No, I have not seen it.
Borgstadt: It kind of has like everything that you, it kind of has it all, but stuff that maybe you don't want also. It's unnerving. It's thrilling. It's very funny at times and it's very sweet at times. It's kind of this amazing dance of craft and tone and genre, honestly, throughout the movie. But it's one that I saw in theaters when it came out when I was in California. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 2021. Julia Ducournau, the director, is the second woman to ever win the Palme d'Or at Cannes and won with this film, which, you know, was a little polarizing. And I think we'll probably still be a bit of a polarizing film. But I think for kind of transitioning into the Halloween season, I think it's a really intriguing movie. And I think it has a lot to offer conversationally in terms of gender and sexuality and, you know, even grief and trauma. I think it's jam packed for sure.
Kellams: That's Oct. 8, then Oct. 22 to close out the third installment of the Waterwitch film series. You mentioned it's October. It's almost Halloween by the time this one comes out. This is a Japanese movie I've read about. I've heard about. It's called "House," and it's one of those that upon initial release, critics kind of universally panned it. It's now become a cult classic. And do I understand sort of the protagonists in the movie "House" is a house?
Borgstadt: Yeah, I think that is true in a lot of ways. I mean, you know, structurally, maybe in terms of the narrative, it follows kind of maybe what would be kind of a trope of, you know, the horror genre, right? Which is, you know, like five high school girls go to take a holiday at one of their aunt's house and they show up and, you know, it's not what they imagined at all. And it's a haunted house movie in a lot of ways. And again, Japanese movie from the 70s. And, you know, it was one of those that I think it was a friend had recommended it to me and it was kind of one of those where it was like, you've got to watch this movie. Like it's beyond belief in terms of some of the things that happen in it. And I was talking to my parents about the lineup and, you know, I wouldn't say that as a family, we skew towards the horror genre at all. But I think this is one of those that is just so, it is so over the top. It's closer to like a "Scooby-Doo" episode than it is like "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or anything like that. It is just kind of unapologetic in how silly it's willing to be within this kind of horror genre. And so I think it'll be a blast of a screening. I just, it's one of those films to just have fun with.
Kellams: All right. So the first one again will be "Lady Snowblood" Sept. 10. Every couple of weeks after that, Garden Room at Puritan. What time does the movie start?
Borgstadt: So we're kind of moving with the sun a little bit. So our first three screenings, doors will open at 6. We'll have our cocktail hour. The screening will start at 7. For "House," just because it's a little bit later, doors will open at 7. We'll start the movie at 8. The only other plug I would love to make is, you know, we do custom cocktail pairings with every screening, and that's kind of been a mainstay for the Waterwitch experience.
Kellams: Do you know what the custom cocktail for "House" will be?
Borgstadt: Not quite yet. No, we're, you know, we're currently working through, we're working sequentially, I guess. So still working on "Lady Snowblood," but we are actually going to be partnering with Hotvine. And we'll be doing wine pairings instead of cocktails. So we're still working through that with them as well.
Kellams: Cool. Borgstadt is founder and curator of the Waterwitch film and cocktail series that will return beginning Sept. 9 with the Japanese movie "Lady Snowblood." Other films and dates for this latest part of the series, "Beau Travail" on Sept. 24, "Titane" on Oct. 8 and "House" on Oct. 22. Each of the four movies will be shown in the Garden Room at Puritan on Dickson Street in Fayetteville. Tickets for each can be purchased at the door. You can also follow developments at the series' Instagram feed. That's at @waterwitch.mov.
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