SITGES FILM FESTIVAL | SPAIN

Thinestra Selected for the 58th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival

Following its celebrated World Premiere at Raindance in London, Thinestra traveled to Spain for a screening at the 58th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia — held October 9–19, 2025, in Sitges, just outside Barcelona. Widely regarded as one of the three most prestigious genre film festivals in the world alongside Fantasia and Fantastic Fest, Sitges has been the launchpad for landmark horror and fantasy cinema since 1968 and is both FIAPF-accredited and recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Thinestra screened in the festival's prestigious Brigadoon section, dedicated exclusively to independently produced horror and fantasy features — a fitting home for a film built from the ground up outside the studio system by a team of independent filmmakers. The 58th edition was a landmark year for body horror on the international circuit: the festival opened with Julia Ducournau's Alpha, placing Thinestra in company with some of the most ambitious and provocative genre work being made anywhere in the world.

The official Sitges selection described the film as "a disturbing dystopia about a miracle drug capable of giving you the body of your dreams" — a characterization that speaks to the film's tonal balance between social satire and visceral horror. For Michelle, appearing at Sitges as both lead actress and producer represented a full-circle moment: the festival that has championed transgressive female-driven genre cinema for over five decades was now championing hers.

The Sitges screening capped a remarkable festival run for the film — from London to Spain — and set the stage for the Vortex Award for Best Sci-Fi/Horror at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Us Weekly exclusive interview that followed.