Demonic Brilliance Film Festival 2023
Demonic Brilliance Film Festival 2023 was another strong year with over 140 submissions and a remarkable film selection. The screenings were hosted on the 21st and 22nd of September at Broken Record Bar and Music Room and closed out on September 23rd with a musical performance by Painsaw and the closing screening at Maybee Brewing Company in Fredericton, New Brunswick.
2023 Award Winners
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Sabbath
BEST Makeup
For What the Door Bell Tolls
BEST PICTURE EDITING
Match
BEST ACTRESS
Jill Galbraith in VIOLAR
BEST SOUND DESIGN
Match
BEST Screenplay
Alejandro Gómez and Juan Bermúdez for Prosopagnosia
BEST MUSIC SCORE
Flesheater
BEST ACTOR
D'Arcy McLenaghen in The Haunting of a Ghost
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Sabbath
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kate Schrader in Storage
BEST Cinematography
Sabbath
BEST FILM
Sabbath directed by Alexandra Mignien
BEST EFFECTS
Losin’ It At The Devil’s Whorehouse
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matthew Sorensen in Uncle Sleazo’s Toxic and Terrifying TV Hour
BEST DIRECTOR
Ivan Villamel for La Nueva (The Newcomer)
The JUDGES
DERRICK ACOSTA Co-creator of the comedy production company Mega64, Derrick Acosta has produced videos for MTV, Shepard Fairy, Nintendo, Hasbro Toys, SpikeTV, Sony, Game Developers Conference, The Hub Network, Disney, Microsoft and more. As a music video director he's worked for Cult Records, Swami Records, Finn Records, Thrill Me Records, Cheddar Goblin and others. As an actor he's appeared in commercials, television, web and film. Including featured roles on Spike TV's Game Trailers TV and The Aquabats Super Show on the HUB. Derrick currently resides in San Diego, CA. producing weekly entertainment for the YouTube channel Mega64 with a video catalog garnering over 150 million views and 600K subscribers worldwide.
SAM EVANS Sam Evans, better known as @screwsocietysam, is a horror photographer of five years who has a passion for where beauty and the macabre meet. Sam has been a lifelong horror fan, mostly due to the love of it her father instilled into her at a young age. To this day it is a way her and her sisters bond. Sam has delved into some short film and plans on improving in all aspects of horror making including SFX. Specializing in things that go bump in the night she has been published on Vogue Italia’s photography page 8 times. She has had work in magazine publications, had a piece shown in the Salem Art Gallery, prints and apparel made with her work for her fellow horror lovers to wear, and has had works featured on albums. It is an extreme privilege for Sam to be judging Demonic for a third year and she hopes she and it grow in spooky ways beyond belief.
HENDERSON KITE Henderson Kite can be seen regularly at Capital City Wrestling Shows in New Brunswick, primarily Fredericton. Having already started off as a demented circus ringmaster, Kite's grasp on his mental capacities has loosened even more over time. By all accounts, he has absolutely lost his mind and is hell-bent on bringing down the company from within using his menagerie of monsters and freaks.
LEFT HAND GIRLS ASHLEY DALE & KAYLEIGH SAAD Ashley Dale and Kayleigh Saad are alternative artists embracing the night, and all the things that go ‘bump’ within it. Years of friendship and creating weird art together have finally culminated in the creation of Left Hand Girls, an Art House that goes against the right hand man. Using their combined experience and passion, they have begun focusing on creating content centered around hard topics, presenting their work through the lens of Horror Films. As Left Hand Girls, the goal is also to create a safe space for fellow artists to make a ruckus, cause a stink, or however else they choose to rail against the system. With their first short length film Ruff under their belts, they are excited to continue celebrating all things that lurk in the shadows, and they are very excited to see what Demonic Brilliance brings their way this year.
JAMES MULLINGER James Mullinger was one of the UK’s hardest working comedians and the Comedy Editor for GQ magazine when he moved to New Brunswick, Canada in 2014. Since his arrival, he has taken the country by storm. He has sold out shows across the country, made appearances on CBC’s The Debaters, movies, television shows, festivals, award shows and stand up specials… he’s done it all. In May 2022, James Mullinger’s autobiography Brit Happens - Living The Canadian Dream was released to rave reviews and quickly topped the Amazon Comedy Book Charts! He was recently named one of the Most Inspiring Immigrants in Atlantic Canada and earlier this year released New Brunswick’s first ever national sitcom about, you guessed it, a British comedian who accidentally moves to New Brunswick! He is a lifelong horror fan and has starred in movies such as Anonymous Zombie and The Minister that can be watched here. He made his first fanzine about Troma films aged 14 and still obsessively collects Troma film memorabilia and has a basement devoted to VHS tapes boasting authentic Blockbuster Video shelving from the old Blockbuster at Lancaster Mall in Saint John.
CALUM SIKANDER SMITH Calum Sikander Smith is a Vancouver-based filmmaker, cartoonist and technician. his creative works often feature fractured, alternate, or recursive realities bumping up against each other, and while their tone varies from heavy to silly, each has a social conscience at its heart. Calum lives in New Westminster, BC, with his wife, daughter and dog and splits his time between his creative endeavours, being a cog in the machinery of big Hollywood productions, and dad-ing.