The highlight of the Balboa Theatre’s annual Godzillafest isn’t even a Godzilla movie.
A screening of “The Host,” Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon-ho’s 2006 riff on the kaiju (monster) movies popularized by Japan’s hulking city-stomper, will be hosted by Bay Area visual effects artist Webster Colcord, who served as the South Korean film’s animation supervisor.
Colcord — whose extensive resume includes visual effects work on Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” (2002), Gareth Edwards’ “Godzilla” (2014) and, this year, Jon Favreau’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” — is scheduled to present behind-the-scenes clips and photos along with a model of “The Host” creature during the program at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 18.
The three-day festival begins 2 p.m. Friday, July 17, with “Godzilla, King of the Monsters!” (1956), the dubbed Hollywood version of Japan’s original Godzilla movie, “Gojira” (1954), with inserts of American actor Raymond Burr; and ends with a 7 p.m. Sunday, July 19, screening of “Shin Godzilla: OrthoChromatic,” a black-and-white version of the 2016 hit released two years later.
Another highlight is a rare screening of 2023’s “Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color” (8 p.m. Saturday, July 18), the black-and-white version of the only Godzilla movie to win an Academy Award, for visual effects. The film’s sequel is scheduled for release on Nov. 6.
