In January 2025, Gross Encounters immersed audiences in two nights of horror and cinematic exploration in collaboration with the Black Movie Film Festival. Initiated by Reem Saleh and Noam Toran, Gross Encounters is a workshop, festival, and film club that explores the politics of monstrosity and otherness by celebrating subversive horror, trash, and counter-hegemonic science fiction films, along with their creators, fans, and researchers.

This special edition began on January 24 at Les Salons, where Gross Encounters was given carte blanche for a double screening dedicated to Indonesian horror and exploitation cinema. The evening featured Suzzanna: The Queen of Black Magic (2024), followed by the cult classic Sundel Bolong (1981). Between screenings, Indonesian cinema specialist and actress Fala Pratika engaged in a discussion with the audience, presenting her research on the cinematic legacy of Suzzanna, an icon of Indonesian horror cinema.

On January 25, at Espace Dukat, the terror continued with the second edition of the One Night Fright festival. An immersive night blending performances, installations, discussions, screenings, video games, DJ sets, and more. Highlights of the evening included:

• The Monstrous Feminine (UK, USA) – A podcast exploring monstrous femininity in horror cinema
• Justine Landais (FR) – Special effects makeup artist
• Distraction (FR, CH) – A collective of video game and interactive media artists
• Migu – A musical performance accompanied by live reactive animations
• Skargaze – A program of Indonesian horror short films curated by the duo Skargaze
• Collectif Kimera and designers from the Space and Communication department at HEAD – Genève

With these two nights dedicated to genre cinema and artistic experimentation, Gross Encounters provided a space for reflection and celebration of horror, marginality, and subversion.