US Premiere

Anna Zaytseva was born on April 2, 1985 in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (Russia) in a family of a director and an actress. She has lived in Moscow most of her life. Anna graduated from the international directing master program of FAMU (Czech Republic) in 2014. Her mentor was Ivo Trajkov, an acclaimed Czech-Macedonian director.
Anna’s films took part in 52 film festivals and her short films "The contract", "Lisa" and «No, you’re stupid!» received 16 international awards. Her short film «No, you’re stupid!» is the most popular film among Russian teenagers and has more than 24 millions views on YouTube. Anna directed criminal TV comedy "Rules of the safecracker" for Russian TV. Her 10-episode TV series "Hero on call" was in the competition section of the prestigious Russian series festival “Pilot”.
At the moment, Anna is finishing as a writer–director her teenage thriller #Blue_whale (#IWantToPlayTheGame) with Timur Bekmambetov’s Studio Bazelevs.

Daniel Farrands sold his first screenplay to TriStar Pictures (a modern version of "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow") when he was only 18 years old. By the age of 24, his passion for the "Halloween" franchise landed him his dream assignment: to write Dimension Films’ HALLOWEEN 6: THE CURSE OF MICHAEL MYERS, which starred the late, great Donald Pleasence in his final outing as the iconic "Dr. Sam Loomis," and Paul Rudd in his feature film debut.

Daniel has worked steadily as a writer, producer and director for more than twenty-five years. Among his credits are HAVENHURST, THE TOOTH FAIRY, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR (based on the acclaimed horror novel by the late Jack Ketchum), and the hit supernatural thriller THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT, which grossed more than $80 million worldwide.

An accomplished documentarian, Daniel’s encyclopedic knowledge of the genre has "bled" into nearly every one of today's most iconic horror franchises. He directed and produced the Starz
documentary HIS NAME WAS JASON: 30 YEARS OF ‘FRIDAY THE 13TH’ as well as CRYSTAL
LAKE MEMORIES: THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF ‘FRIDAY THE 13TH, based on the bestselling book by Peter M. Bracke (which Daniel also edited and co-published).

He also produced and directed SCREAM: THE INSIDE STORY for A&E/BIO Channel, and was the creative force behind one of the most acclaimed horror documentaries of all time, NEVER SLEEP AGAIN: THE ELM STREET LEGACY, a four-hour celebration of the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, featuring interviews with over 100 cast and crew. “Never Sleep Again” was the recipient of numerous awards and accolades, including the Saturn Award for “Best DVD Release” of the year.

One of the world's foremost experts on THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, Daniel served as writer, producer and director of The History Channel's acclaimed two-hour documentary on the Amityville haunting, which is widely-regarded as the definitive work on the case. This project reignited interest in the AMITYVILLE film franchise; Daniel went on to partner with prolific producer Jason Blum (GET OUT, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, INSIDIOUS) on AMITYVILLE: THE AWAKENING, starring Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bella Thorne and released by Dimension Films.

Daniel also wrote, produced and directed another terrifying vision of the Amityville legend: THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS, starring John Robinson (Gus Van Sant’s “Elephant”), Diane Franklin and Burt Young (both stars of 1982’s “Amityville 2: The Possession”). THE AMITYVILLE MURDERS had its world premiere at Screamfest in 2018.

2021 sees the release of Daniel’s next two projects -- TED BUNDY: AMERICAN BOOGEYMAN, starring Chad Michael Murray as the infamous serial killer, Holland Roden (“Teen Wolf,” “Escape Room: Tournament of Champions”) and genre veteran Lin Shaye (“Insidious” franchise) -- and AILEEN WUORNOS: AMERICAN BOOGEYWOMAN, starring Peyton List (“Cobra Kai”), Lydia Hearst (“Z Nation”) and Tobin Bell (“Saw” franchise).

Daniel is thrilled to bring the US theatrical premiere of his latest film to Screamfest.

Trish Harnetiaux is a playwright, novelist, and co-creator of short dark comedies. Current projects include her play Bender and Brian, a new play commission: California, and the narrative podcast The MS Phoenix Rising, a serial podcast about a cruise ship conglomerate using avant-garde theatre to rebrand on their latest voyage. She’s developed or presented work with Clubbed Thumb, New Georges, JACK, Soho Rep, Ars Nova, Incubator Arts Project, NYU and Playwright’s Horizons. MFA in playwriting Brooklyn College. Harnetiaux was an Executive Producer on the off-beat comedy series Driver Ed that premiered at 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. Residencies include: MacDowell, Yaddo, The Millay Colony, and SPACE at Ryder Farm.

Besides working as a Post Producer for award-winning production company Caviar, Steffen decided to return to his original passion a few years ago. His previous shorts 'Hold Back' and 'Silent Campine' got selected for more than 100 festivals worldwide and received numerous awards. His third film in four years, BOS, is an experimental fantasy short that will take your breath away. Steffen is currently developing two feature films that will further explore the mysterious horror vibe of his recent shorts. One of them is FALL, based upon the critically acclaimed novel by Flemish writer Roderik Six, and selected by the European Genre Forum 2020.

Austin Rourke is a Los Angeles-based writer/director currently in pre-production on his sixth short film, WITHOUT ADDRESS. His American Film Institute short film, A STRANGE CALM, is an official selection at a number of festivals around the country, and has been awarded Best Director, Best Short Film, and Best Thriller by Indie Short Fest in Los Angeles. Most recently, Austin was hired as 2nd Unit Director by Palme d’Or-nominated director, Michael Spiccia, based on the strength of his film work. A Greater Boston Area native, Austin holds a BA in Journalism & Cinema Studies from Rutgers University and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute.

Explore more of his work at www.austinrourke.com