Attending the Soho International Film Festival will do weird things to your body

Cinema can have a visceral effect on people, but this is ridiculous.

The 2023 Soho International Film Festival, which began Thursday, created a bizarre minute-long promo for this year’s festival that attempts to dramatize the physical effects of watching the genre-bending movies in its lineup.

The woman in the spot below certainly experiences physical effects, but she might want to see a doctor in the coming days.

Gigil NYC, a satellite office of Filipino agency Gigil, created the campaign. This is one of the New York office’s first projects after opening at the beginning of 2023. Gigil was named Ad Age’s International Small Agency of the Year in 2021.

“What better way to kick things off at Gigil NYC than by supporting such an artful cause?” said JV Valino, the office’s managing partner.

“Gigil definitely captured the essence of our film festival and the direction we wanted it to take this year,” said Jorge Ballos, founder of the Soho International Film Festival. “Their creative input helped us take things on a whole new level, and we’re very excited to see what else they come up with in the future.”

“Gigil did a great job of helping us strategize on the positioning of our film festival and focusing on our identity of showcasing mixed genre films,” added Sibyl Santiago, executive director and head of programming for the SOHO International Film Festival. “Their art direction on the posters and their film definitely captured the attention of everyone.”

The theme of this year’s festival is “Mixing genres. Breaking boundaries.” “This year is all about breaking free of the constraints of genre. Join us for a thrilling lineup of 125 films,” the festival says. It runs through Sept. 21.