FORBIDDEN WORLDS FILM FESTIVAL
28 May – 1 June 2025, Bristol Megascreen
Forbidden Worlds to celebrate career of Aliens and Tremors producer Gale Anne Hurd
● Legendary producer Gale Anne Hurd will be attending the Bristol-based genre film
festival to discuss her incredible career at special Q&A screenings of Aliens (1986), Battle Beyond The Stars (1980) and Tremors (1990)
● The festival’s theme this year is Forbidden Worlds of the Deep, featuring a line-up of horror, sci fi and action films based on, under and around the world’s oceans including the first UK theatrical screenings of the European extended cut of Waterworld (1995), Orca (1977), Below (2002) and The Whale God (1962), a rarely screened Japanese-take on Moby Dick
● The festival will also be hosting the World Premiere of Arthur Cauty’s The Big Picture, a new feature documentary, about how the Bristol IMAX lay dormant and forgotten for over a decade until it found a new lease of life as a community cinema space.
Bristol’s biggest repertory genre film festival is back and bigger than ever as it celebrates the career of legendary genre producer Gale Anne Hurd, as well as screening some of the most terrifying and exciting ocean-based movies ahead of the 50th anniversary of Jaws.
Each year, Forbidden Worlds celebrates someone who has made an indelible impact on the
world of genre film by naming them as the festival ‘Legend’ and screening some of their most memorable projects. This year, the festival will be celebrating the career of Gale Anne Hurd, a leading voice in the entertainment industry who has had unprecedented success as both a film and television producer. Initially hired as an executive assistant to the legendary Roger Corman, she rapidly rose through the ranks at his independent film company, New World Pictures.
After launching her own production company in 1982, Hurd produced her first film, the science fiction classic The Terminator, setting the stage for her meteoric rise in the entertainment industry.
Throughout her career, Hurd has championed daring female-driven storytelling and
technological innovation with a hands-on approach. In a predominantly male-dominated
industry, she has been a trailblazer and has a well-deserved reputation as a creator of iconic
cultural touchstones.
Hurd’s extensive producing credits include a number of Academy Award- nominated and
winning films like Aliens, The Abyss, The Ghost and the Darkness, Armageddon and Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which along with The Terminator was also added to the National Film Registry by the US Library of Congress. Her additional science fiction, fantasy and horror credits include Tremors, Alien Nation, The Relic, Hulk and The Incredible Hulk.
Currently Hurd serves as an Executive Producer of The Walking Dead universe, which includes ratings juggernauts The Walking Dead: Dead City and The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, as well as the record-setting miniseries The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live.
On Thursday 29 May, Hurd will attend the festival in-person for a special Q&A event to discuss her incredible career with journalist and author Helen O’Hara, followed by a screening of the iconic sci-fi actioner Aliens (1986).
On Friday 30 May, she will introduce a screening of Battle Beyond The Stars (1980) and talk about her time working with legendary producer Roger Corman and on Saturday 31 May, she will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the 90s monster movie Tremors (1990).
“I am thrilled to be this year’s Forbidden Worlds honoree and share my love of film with its
supporters,” said Hurd. “Genre is a powerful medium that enables us to tell powerful stories
without being overly didactic. I’m truly grateful to be recognized for my body of work in science fiction, fantasy and horror.’”
“Without Gale Anne Hurd I wouldn’t have a job because I doubt video shops would exist,” says David Taylor, Forbidden Worlds co-director and owner of 20th Century Flicks, Bristol’s infamous video shop. “It’s hard to imagine a world without The Terminator or Aliens or Tremors; even harder to imagine a video shop without those iconic covers on the shelves, luring adolescent movie lovers to satisfy their curiosity and endure the subsequent nightmares. Ms Hurd started her first production company in 1982, the same year Flicks opened. I can’t wait to welcome her to Bristol so we can share the journey she’s been on since then, with an audience that holds her and the movies she’s given us in such high esteem, and a lasting deep affection.”
New depths of terror
Ahead of the 50th anniversary re-release of Jaws this August, Forbidden Worlds invites audiences to dive into new depths of fear and excitement with FORBIDDEN WORLDS OF THE DEEP, featuring a line-up of classic and cult films set on, around and under the water.
Events include a special 30th anniversary screening of Waterworld, which will see the extended European ‘Ulysses Cut’ shown theatrically for the first time in the UK; The Whale God (1962), a rarely screened Japanese-take on Moby Dick with stunning life-size practical effects; cult horror Blood Tide (1980) featuring the late, great James Earl Jones as a secretive treasure hunter; an in-depth look at the world of Jawsploitation films with screenings of the new 4K restorations of Orca (1977) and Alligator (1980); and Below (2002) – a WWII-horror film featuring supernatural occurrences onboard a submarine from David Twohy, director of Pitch Black (2000).
Festival co-director Timon Singh says: “It is estimated that 10% of the population have thalassophobia – a deep fear of the ocean. And why would they not? The vast emptiness, unknown monsters lying in the depths, the crushing pressure and deep and terrifying darkness – it is the stuff of nightmares. The oceans stir a very primal and primordial part of our minds and that’s why it was the perfect theme for this year’s festival – and on the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the film that made us all terrified to go into the water.”
Premieres and anniversary screenings
On its opening night on Wednesday 28 May, the festival will also host the World Premiere of Bristolian film-maker Arthur Cauty’s new documentary film – The Big Picture – which tells the story of how the Forbidden Worlds Film Festival team gave a new lease of life to Bristol’s old IMAX screen that was left forgotten for over a decade and has now become a new community cinema space.
Pulled from the video shop archives of Bristol institution 20th Century Flicks also comes special screenings of French fantasy The City of Lost Children, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary, and Amblin Studios adventure Young Sherlock Holmes for which the festival will be hosting a special cast Q&A with stars Nicholas Rowe and Sophie Ward to mark the film’s 40th anniversary.
Attendees will also be able to enjoy the festival’s Genre Film-makers of the Future: Shorts
Showcase on Saturday 31 May which will screen the latest action, horror and sci-fi/fantasy
shorts from up-and-coming filmmakers around the world.
Launched in 2022, Forbidden Worlds Film Festival is Bristol’s leading genre film festival
dedicated to screening repertory fantasy, action, science-fiction and horror films from around the world, and celebrating the people that made them.
The festival has drawn a lot of attention for utilising Bristol’s former IMAX screen to put on
showings of classic genre movies complete with special video intros from Hollywood icons
such as James Cameron, Jamie Lee Curtis, Guillermo del Toro, Peter Jackson and more.
For the full line-up, visit www.forbiddenworldsfilmfestival.co.uk
You can follow Forbidden Worlds Film Festival on Facebook, BlueSky, YouTube, Letterbox and Instagram.
About Forbidden Worlds Film Festival:
Forbidden Worlds Film Festival is dedicated to screening repertory fantasy, action, science-fiction and horror films from around the world and celebrating the people that made them.
The festival was created by a group of Bristol-based cinephiles who wished to celebrate their mutual love of classic and obscure genre films by showing them on the big screen where they belong.
Tickets can be purchased through www.forbiddenworldsfilmfestival.co.uk
