Explosive births, talking foxes and the devil in a trenchcoat – the Sitges fantastic film festival in all its creepy glory

the polish director builds immersive stage environments in which live performance, moving images, and shifting scenography challenge how audiences experience theater. thomai tsimpou October 20, 2026 5 min prefer designboom on googleŁukasz Twarkowski merges theater and cinema onstageBefore Oracle begins at Onassis Stegi in Athens, a camera captures the audience and projects its image onto a screen. Spectators appear as grainy black-and-white figures, their faces transformed into a strange, almost anonymous collective portrait. Those who have come to watch find themselves becoming the spectacle. It is an introduction to the work of Polish director Łukasz Twarkowski, in which live performance and cinema become inseparable. Twarkowski brings theater and cinema into a shared space, making the process of filming part of the performance. The stage divides horizontally into two visual fields: the live theatrical action unfolds below, while a screen above displays footage captured by cameras operating within the set in real time. The audience watches the actors perform while simultaneously observing how their movements are framed and transformed into cinematic images.

Fred Camper's contemplative film "Suicide Note" was born out of grief and a city in collapse. Film still from Suicide Note (1976–1984), directed by Fred Camper (all images courtesy Film at Lincoln Center)

Apply by January 17, 2027 to be considered for a full-tuition scholarship. The 2026 MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D. Photo by Joel Tsui ’16, Salt ’17, MFA ’19.

Of all the criticisms levelled at the authorised biopic of Michael Jackson released earlier this year, the most persistent was that Antoine Fuqua’s film failed to mention the sexual abuse allegations against the singer. In part, this was due to a legal clause, only spotted late in production, which stipulated that one of the men who accused Jackson of abusing them as a boy could never be depicted in a fictionalised account of the period. A sequence involving a police raid at the Neverland ranch was cut, $50m (£37m) of reshoots were funded by the Jackson family, and the narrative was curtailed early. However, the enormous box office response to the film, which recently overtook Oppenheimer as the highest-grossing biopic of all time, has meant a sequel is inevitable. Speaking to Variety, star Jaafar Jackson – the nephew of the man he plays – downplayed the first film’s production woes, saying: “I’ve heard many stories from other actors about how much you shoot on a project that doesn’t make it into the final picture. “In the editing room, you go through scenes looking for specific performances or takes and things change constantly.

Claes Oldenburg’s (1929-2022) most famous piece of writing is his statement titled “I Am For…” which graced an exhibition catalogue in 1961 and starts: I am for an art that is political-erotical-mystical, that does something other than sit on its ass in a museum. / I am for an art that grows up not knowing it is art at all, an art given the chance of having a starting point of zero. / I am for an art that embroils itself with the everyday crap and still comes out on top. / I am for an art that imitates the human, that is comic, if necessary, or violent, or whatever is necessary. / I am for all art that takes its form from the lines of life itself, that twists and extends and accumulates and spits and drips, and is heavy and coarse and blunt and sweet and stupid as life itself.

Liverpool is to unveil a new 100,000 sq ft visitor attraction about the Beatles, in plans hailed as “extraordinary” by Paul McCartney, and by Andy Burnham as having “the kind of ambition I want to see more of across Britain”. Opening in 2028, the project is a huge upgrade for the Beatles Story, a museum which opened in Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock in 1990. Ownership will now pass to the Beatles company Apple Corps, making the Beatles Story the band’s first official fan experience in their home city. It will also move across the city to the former shopping centre St John’s Market, close to Liverpool’s Lime Street railway station, which has lain unused since closing in 2024. The new site will allow the museum to become four times bigger than its current home. Apple Corps has also announced it will take over and renovate Liverpool’s second-tallest building: St Johns Beacon, a 450ft tower that has also remained unused since 2024, when its viewing gallery closed and its radio station tenants vacated. Neighbouring the redeveloped museum, the tower will become a separate attraction themed around the Beatles’ whimsical and psychedelic animated film Yellow Submarine.