Baghead is a 2008 mumblecore comedy horror film written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass . The film stars Ross Partridge , Elise Muller, Greta Gerwig , and Steve Zissis . The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2008. The film was given a limited release by Sony Pictures Classics on July 13, 2008.
23-408: Four actors – Matt ( Ross Partridge ), Catherine (Elise Muller), Michelle ( Greta Gerwig ), and Chad ( Steve Zissis ) – attend an art festival and watch a low-budget movie directed by Jett (Jett Garner). After the showing, Jett explains to them that he kept the budget so low by not telling his actors they were in a movie until the final piece was ready. The group then goes to an after party; however, Matt
46-498: A film festival , as he believes it will be a success. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2008. Shortly after it was announced Sony Pictures Classics had acquired distribution rights to the film for "under $ 1 million", beating out studios such as Picturehouse , IFC Films , Netflix and Samuel Goldwyn Films . The film went on to premiere at SXSW on March 9, 2008. and
69-418: A figure wearing a bag over the head enters. At first, Michelle believes it to be Matt, but she becomes increasingly uncomfortable before the figure eventually leaves. Upset, Michelle confronts Matt, who denies it was him, leading the pair to believe it was perhaps instead Catherine trying to scare Michelle, because she is jealous of her connection with Matt. Catherine also denies the accusations and angrily leaves
92-415: A self-aware struggle for stardom, Baghead successfully skates the borders of horror and comedy." On Metacritic , Baghead has a rank of 62 out of a 100 based on 23 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Todd Gilchrist of IGN , while attending Los Angeles Film Festival in 2008, wrote: "Mumblecore makes its first horror film with this indie opus". Dana Stevens of Slate magazine compared
115-420: A window to get in, "baghead" appears and chases the group through the woods. Matt is caught and stabbed to death in front of the others. Catherine and Michelle reach the freeway and attempt to flag down a car, but it continues to drive on past them. Chad emerges from the woods further up the road and is subsequently hit by the car as it swerves to miss the girls. Catherine and Michelle help the unconscious Chad into
138-526: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mar del Plata Film Festival The Mar del Plata International Film Festival ( Spanish : Festival Internacional de Cine de Mar del Plata ) is an international film festival that takes place every November in the city of Mar del Plata , Argentina . It is the only competitive feature festival recognized by the FIAPF in Latin America, and
161-451: Is like a brother. Later, Michelle rushes outside of the cabin to vomit, where she encounters a man with a bag over his head. The next morning, Michelle believes this to have been a dream and decides to tell the others in the hopes of creating a horror movie based around the character 'baghead'. At night, the group gathers to brainstorm ideas. Michelle writes several notes to Matt to meet her in her room, before she goes to bed. While in her room,
184-469: Is unable to gain entry into the club after not wanting to appear desperate by asking his old friend Jett to get him in. The four actors go to a different bar, where they decide to go to Chad's isolated cabin in the woods to write their own movie to star in, since they were fed up having only been cast as extras. After arriving at the cabin, Michelle gets drunk and decides to go to bed, whereupon Chad hits on her, although she rejects his advances, telling him he
207-949: The Tribeca Film Festival on April 26, 2008. The film was released in a limited release in the United States on July 13, 2008. The film had its Latin American premiere at the Mar del Plata Film Festival on November 6, 2008. and the European Premiere at the Hamburg Film Festival in September 2009. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 79% approval rating, based on 99 reviews with an average rating of 6.6/10. The site's consensus reads, "Pitting actors against murderers in
230-408: The 1960s several well-known guests appeared, including: Paul Newman , Alberto Sordi , Pier Paolo Pasolini , Vittorio Gassman , Toshirō Mifune , François Truffaut , Karel Reisz , Catherine Deneuve , Juan Antonio Bardem , Anthony Perkins , Jean-Paul Belmondo , Maria Callas , Cantinflas , Andrzej Wajda , Jacques Tati , Lee Strasberg , George Hamilton . After the 1970 edition, the festival
253-414: The actual "baghead" figure. Matt and Chad attempt to attack him, but upon seeing he has a knife, the members of the group flee into the cabin, and they barricade themselves in until morning. The following day, the group decides to hike the 11 miles (18 km) to the nearest freeway. After hours of walking, the group becomes lost in the woods before stumbling upon an abandoned car. As Chad is about to break
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#1732787546787276-421: The cabin to smoke a cigarette, while Matt convinces Michelle to stay at the cabin. The following morning, Chad wakes up Matt and Michelle and says he cannot find Catherine. Chad then quickly learns of Michelle's advances on Matt, and upset he too leaves the cabins, only for his screams to be heard minutes later. Matt and Michelle find his ripped t-shirt in the woods, but believe it to be a prank and so go back to
299-441: The cabin. Michelle again advances on Matt, but feeling bad for Chad, Matt goes upstairs where he is attacked by figures wearing bags over their heads, revealed to be Chad and Catherine getting revenge for the romance between Matt and Michelle. Later, as night falls, the group hangs out before Matt and Chad see a figure through the window. The group investigates outside and finds their car has been disabled before apparently encountering
322-742: The critically acclaimed Netflix series Stranger Things , the Showtime series Billions , and the HBO series Insecure . He is the co-executive producer of Room 104 and has also directed three episodes ("Phoenix", "FOMO", and "Mr. Mulvahill"), written two episodes, and starred in one episode of the series. Partridge is a native of Kingston, New York , and attended the University of California, Santa Cruz after high school. In May 2016, Partridge married actress Jennifer Lafleur after 10 years of dating. This article about an American actor
345-490: The early years famous international guests such as Mary Pickford , Gina Lollobrigida , Edward G. Robinson and Errol Flynn attended the event. The festival continued in this way until 1959, when the Argentine Film Critics Association took charge of running it; during this time the festival was approved and recognized by FIAPF. In 1964 the festival moved temporarily to Buenos Aires , and
368-593: The festival was granted a 'Category A', the highest class assigned by FIAPF , making it the most important film festival of Latin America. Nowadays, after a history marked by unstable political situations in Argentina, the festival is in constant growth and slowly regaining its historical reputation. The main prize of the International Competition had different names throughout the history of
391-629: The festival, but in 2004 it was definitely changed to Ástor in honor of the Argentine musician Ástor Piazzolla . The twenty-second Mar del Plata Film Festival, held in March 2007, introduced a new competition specifically for Latin American film-makers. Now days, the festival helds four main competitions organised in various sections of the official selection: International Competition, Latin American Competition, Argentine Competition and,
414-418: The film "A first-rate horror/comedy mash-up" and "[a] scary, charming, funny, frightening must-scene indie flick". Ross Partridge Ross Partridge (born February 26, 1968) is an American actor, director, screenwriter and producer. His most notable work as a director is the 2015 adaptation of the book Lamb , which Partridge wrote, starred in and directed. As an actor, he has had recurring roles in
437-454: The film to early works by John Sayles and Eric Rohmer . The Village Voice ' s Robert Wilonsky , said that "[the film] better in its first half, when it pokes gentle fun at the film festival circuit where Baghead [has] been stretching its legs since its debut at Sundance in January". The DVD release of the film got a score of 8 out of 10 by Christopher Monfette of IGN who called
460-578: The name was changed to Festival Cinematográfico Internacional de la República Argentina ( International Cinematographic Festival of the Argentine Republic ). In 1966 there was a military coup d'état in Argentina; in 1968 and 1970 the Instituto de Cine took charge of the festival. From 1967 to 1969 the festival was cancelled because there were other festivals in Rio de Janeiro , Brazil. During
483-537: The oldest in this category in the Americas. The festival is organized by the National Institute of Cinema and Audiovisual Arts (INCAA) . Created in 1954 by Jesus Miller, it was not considered to be a competitive festival, it was just an exhibition of selected international movies; during this stage the event was named Festival Cinematográfico Internacional ( International Cinematographic Festival ). In
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#1732787546787506-446: The truck before Matt emerges from the woods uninjured and "baghead" is revealed to be Jett. Sometime later at the hospital, Chad awakens distraught over Matt's death. Catherine and Michelle explain to him that Matt and Jett orchestrated the whole thing and had been secretly filming them to create a movie. Chad demands to see Matt and asks him to see the footage . After watching, Chad tells Matt that they should edit it down and take it to
529-557: Was canceled when Argentina entered an unstable sociopolitical period that culminated in the highly repressive military dictatorship that ruled Argentina from 1976 to 1983. There were some attempts to reactivate it, but none succeeded until 1996, when the festival returned with new renovations. Since then there have been several changes. In the first years the event was not held in March; from 2001 to 2007 it returned to that month, and since 2008 it has been held in November. During this stage
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