The second edition of the Maskoon Fantastic Film Festival, the only festival that focuses on horror, action, fantasy and sci-fi films in the MENA region, will take place between 13 and 17 September in Beirut, Lebanon. The festival will be held at Metropolis Cinema and will include films from Lebanon, Italy, France, Ireland, Austria, Hungary, Germany, South Korea and the US. The festival's final ceremony will feature Italian horror movie The Beyond Composer's Cut by Lucio Fulci, followed by a concert by Fabio Frizzi at the Music Hall. The festival is the brainchild of producer Myriam Sassine and creative consultant Antoine Waked of leading independent Beirut-based production house Abbout Productions. Maskoon's organisers revealed on social media that the festival's main target is to attract a young and diverse audience through a rich programme, giving them the opportunity to discover international genre films that rarely get official theatre releases in the Middle East, while offering a variety of special events such as master classes, conferences, family screenings and outdoor activities Capitalising on its success in the first edition, this year's Maskoon is collaborating with Sitges Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya (an Oscar qualifying festival), with Maskoon's winning film to be entered in the Sitges Official Short Film Competition. For more arts and culture news and updates, follow Ahram Online Arts and Culture on Twitter at @AhramOnlineArts and on Facebook at Ahram Online: Arts & Culture
