The "Nekromantik Day" took place at Milan's Legend Club, marking the first official Italian screening of the cult extreme film Nekromantik (1987), as well as the release of the film's first official Italian home video edition.
After 38 years of circulating exclusively through bootlegs, Nekromantik was officially released in Italy for the first time. Organized by Rustblade Records and Mostro Production in collaboration with Drag Me To Fest, the event featured the film's first official Italian screening, a Q&A with director Jörg Buttgereit, a live performance by Hermann Kopp (who composed part of the original score), and the launch of the Italian Blu-ray edition alongside a collector's liquid vinyl release of the soundtrack.
On the occasion of "Nekromantik Day", NonApriteQuestoBlog (NAQB) conducted two exclusive interviews, both conducted by interviewer Nyva Zarbano and now available on the site's YouTube channel: one with Jörg Buttgereit, director of Nekromantik, and another with Stefano Rossello, founder of Rustblade Records, the label behind this long-awaited Italian release.
The Film, the Director, and the Story
Shot on Super 8 in West Berlin with an almost nonexistent budget, Nekromantik was conceived by Jörg Buttgereit as an underground film experiment intended for just a handful of local theaters. Neither the director nor his collaborators could have imagined that, despite having no official distribution and being made long before the Internet, the film would eventually find its way to audiences around the world.
In the years that followed, the German authorities even attempted to have the copies of Nekromantik 2 destroyed, forcing Buttgereit to take legal action to recover the material seized by the censors. Rather than censoring himself, the filmmaker responded by making Schramm (1993), which he still considers an even more subversive work.
Today, Nekromantik is recognized internationally, and the "Nekromantik Day" at Milan's Legend Club confirmed the strong interest of Italian audiences, drawing a larger-than-expected crowd and a significant number of younger attendees.
Interview with Jörg Buttgereit
During the interview conducted by Nyva Zarbano at Milan's Legend Club, Jörg Buttgereit reflected on the origins of Nekromantik, including the three weeks he spent in his own kitchen building the film's "corpse" prop together with the lead actor, an experience that ultimately gave him the confidence to make the film.
Buttgereit also discussed the influences behind Nekromantik, particularly the films of John Waters, the relationship between underground and mainstream aesthetics today, his critical views on the use of artificial intelligence in creative work, and what it means to see his film officially released in Italy for the first time, 38 years after its completion.
Watch the interview with Jörg Buttgereit here.
Rustblade Records' Italian Edition
Stefano Rossello, founder of Rustblade Records, looks back on the journey that led to the Italian release of Nekromantik. Specializing in experimental music and underground cinema, the label oversaw every stage of the project, from working directly with Jörg Buttgereit and producer Manfred Jelinski to creating the physical collector's edition. The release also includes the original soundtrack and will be distributed in the U.S. market.
In the interview conducted by Nyva Zarbano, Stefano Rossello also discusses his intention to bring more of Buttgereit's films to Italy, many of which remain scarcely distributed in the country. He also explains the philosophy behind Rustblade Records: an artistic rather than commercial approach, driven by the desire to build a community around authentic underground cinema.
Watch the interview with Stefano Rossello of Rustblade Records here.
About Non Aprite Questo Blog (NAQB)
Founded in August 2014 by Joe Godoy Gonzalez, Non Aprite Questo Blog (NAQB) is now one of Italy's leading horror websites. Through YouTube, Instagram, X, Twitch, Facebook, Telegram, and Discord, it delivers daily news, in-depth features, and exclusive interviews covering films, TV series, books, comics, and video games.
In 2021, together with filmmaker Chiara Natalini, NAQB also founded Drag Me To Fest, a festival dedicated to independent horror cinema.
"Photos by Shyla Nicodemi - IG shyla_enne":
