TheFantasia International Film Festival, also known asFantasia Fest or simplyFantasia, is an annualfilm festival founded in 1996 and held primarily inMontreal, Canada. It specializes in genre films, includingfantasy,horror,science fiction, andcult cinema, and draws over 100,000 attendees each year.[1][2]
Fantasia is frequently cited as the leading genre film festival inNorth America, and is considered one of the top three genre festivals worldwide, alongsideSitges andFantastic Fest.[3][4][5][6][7] Its mission is to promote genre, anti-Hollywood cinema and assist independent filmmakers, having launched the careers of many modernauteurs throughout the years.
Fantasia focuses on niche, low-budget films of various genres, from horror to science fiction, most of themnon-PG. It grew from the Asian Film scene in Montreal and still has a significant shift to Asian cinema.[10]
Fantasia flagship section is namedCheval Noir, the winners are awarded with the festival's mascot statuette, a mighty blackpegasus.[11] Apart fromCheval Noir, the festival includesNew Flesh,Séquences,Camera Lucida,Satoshi Kon prize, and several other sections, while in the wrap of the event the audience. Every year, the program offers master-classes and special screenings, as well as world and American premieres, press-conferences and meetings with actors and directors.[12][13][3] In 2016, a new sectionDocumentaries From the Edge was established.[14]
Since 1997, Mitch Davis has been the festival's creative director. According to Davis,Fantasia's mission is to open niche, genre, noncommercial movies from independent auteurs to the audience, and give them deserved attention.[14]Guillermo del Toro callsFantasia a shrine to all geeks and a feast for those who love things completely unlovable to the most.[15]Bill Plympton treasures its anti-Hollywood atmosphere.[16] The audience atFantasia is considered to be open-minded people with a good sense of humor and good, albeit somewhat unconventional, taste. Festival regulars say that audiences always meow loudly before the screening of feature films, a tradition that is still alive today.[17]
The fest has only two indoor locations, lots of events are held in usual cafes, restaurants, and karaoke-bars. The atmosphere is famous for its informal vibe, the screenings are open, no VIP zones are secluded and even the world famous directors and actors freely blend in the crowd.[14][18][19] By 2020,Fantasia had already been recognized as one of the most important cinema fests in North America. Founded by cinephiles and initially based on sheer enthusiasm, it was supported only with private money for more than a decade. Only when its audience surpassed that ofWWF andFNC, it attracted governmental attention and further funding.[20][21]
New Flesh section is now considered "one of the world's premier launching pads for new voices in genre cinema".[3][22]
In 2012,Fantasia foundedFrontières platform to promote genre films and help promising projects. For its first season, 12 projects were selected and then presented to producers and distributors. In 2013,Frontières was invited to host a European section at theBrussels International Fantastic Film Festival.[23][24] In 2016,Frontières announced joint program with theCannes'sMarché du Film: together they are to select and present promising projects to potential partners.Frontières was also offered to host its section of genre cinema at theCannes Film Festival.[24][25][26][27]
In its more than two decades of history, Fantasia has made a significant contribution to Canadian film culture, built its audience and helped arthouse cinema emerge from the underground. In cinematic circles they talk about an outstandingFantasia Generation of creators, who grew with the festival. For example,Roadkill Superstars were among the very first visitors. They even confess to forging documents to attend non-PG movies. TheirTurbo Kid was funded and produced thanks to theFrontières.[28][29] Similarly,Fantasia and theFrontières helpedAstron-6 and financedThe Void,Radius,The Ranger, and many more.[30]
Fant-Asia 1996 was launched by "three Hong Kong new wave fanboys" Martin Sauvageau, André Dubois and Pierre Corbeil, who felt a growing local interest in Asian films and the desire to watch them on the big screen. The 1996 edition of the festival lasted for a whole month and featured six months worth of entirely Asian fantasy and action movies with a significant prevalence ofChow Yun-fat andJet Li retrospectives.[31][13][32][33]
2002 became the missed year for Fantasia due to problems with the main venue, Imperial Cinema. Only four months before the event, the theater announced cancellation because of the broken air conditioning system. Indeed, the theater was not repaired until 2004. Alternate bookings were not available. The lack of assurance for the 2003 festival meant a change in venue and so, Fantasia 2003 movedConcordia University.[36]
Fantasia 2003 was held for the first time on theConcordia University campus,[36] using thede Sève Cinema andHenry F. Hall Alumni Auditorium. This was also the first year that a DVD filled with movie trailers of movies shown at the festival was available for purchase with the festival guide book.
Fantasia's 10th anniversary and 10th edition, the 2006 edition, is the first to feature free outdoor shows. The outdoors shows are atParc de la Paix and are free. Outdoor projections included films from the previous editions:Kamikaze Girls, the last four episodes ofGoldorak,Night of the Living Dorks andAttack the Gas Station. The indoor shows use the sameConcordia University facilities as since the move to Concordia. The outdoor shows are several kilometres away from the indoor shows. The main prize was won byBlood Curse. With its 10th anniversary, Fantasia helped to launch an associated but separate Toronto festivalToronto After Dark Film Festival.[37]
This edition was held from July 5 to July 23 at theConcordia University. In addition to the Hall hall and DeSeve hall, a third screening room has been added at theD.B. Clarke Theatre. There were, however, no outdoor shows this year. Montreal filmFlutter received the award for best Quebec short feature.[38]Memories of Matsuko was selected as the best Asian feature film, in European program won theHatchet. In animation the main prize went toWe Are the Strange. A total of more than 81,000 tickets were sold for Fantasia 2007. Mitch Davis signed a first-look production deal withParamount's Blumhouse Prods. to scout for new projects and foreign movies for potential remakes.[39]
Fantasia 2011 held 19 world premieres and a lineup of 134 movies from 25 countries.[49] The festival opened with the Canadian Premiere ofRed State, other premieres includedFinal Destination 5. Also notable was the world premiere of the Swedishhorror filmMarianne.[50][51]
Premier ofAlter Egos at Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal July 24, 2012
In 2012, Fantasia was held from 19 July to 7 August.[23] Its 90,000 audience exceededWFF's, the festival was extensively covered in the world media.[53][54]
Fantasia-2015 had 22 world premieres, includingMomentum. For the first time the festival introduced the VR-section. This year program featuredAnguish,Wild City,Goodnight Mommy, and many more.[19][65]
Just a Breath Away won the main prize, however, some criticized that decision and mentioned that many other movies that year were better made, while inJust a Breath Away the leading cast lacked genuine emotions and delivered poorly.Nosipho Dumisa was awarded the Best Director prize for hisNumber 37.Cam won in theNew Flesh section, its creatorIsa Mazzei also was awarded withCheval Noir Best Screenplay.Kim Da-mi became the Best Actress for her role inThe Witch: Part 1. The Subversion.Microhabitat won inCamera Lucida section.[77][78]
Best Asian Feature went toSpecial Actors by Shinichiro Ueda,Best European/North-South American Feature – toThe Mortuary Collection.Come True was honoured as the Most Groundbreaking film of the festival.[89]
The 25th anniversary edition featured 25 feature film world premieres, 12 international and 34 North American premieres. Opening film:Brain Freeze.[91]
The 26th edition of the festival was held from 14 July to 3 August 2022. In the festival over 130 features and 200 shorts were screened. The highlight of the festival was honouringJohn Woo, the Hong Kong-based filmmaker, with the Career Achievement Award.[92][93]
Audience Award, International Feature:The Artifice Girl, Franklin Ritch (gold);La Pieta, Eduardo Casanova (silver);Deadstream, Joseph and Vanessa Winter (bronze).[97]
Audience Award, Animated Feature:Princess Dragon, Anthony Roux and Jean-Jacques Denis (gold);Inu-Oh,Masaaki Yuasa (silver);Chun Tae-il: A Flame That Lives On, Jun-pyo Hong (bronze).[97]
Audience Award, Documentary:The Pez Outlaw, Amy Bandlien Storkel and Bryan Storkel (gold);Que le fan soit avec toi, Marc Joly-Corcoran (silver);Out in the Ring, Ry Levey (bronze).[97]
The 27th edition of Fantasia was held July 20 – August 9.[98] Juried award winners were announced on July 30,[99] and Audience Award winners were announced on August 14.[100]
International Short — Gold:Get Away (USA, Michael Gabriele); Silver:Lollygag (USA, Tij D'oyen); Bronze:Dead Enders (USA, Fidel Ruiz-Healy & Tyler Walker)
Quebec Short — Gold:Sacred Premonitions of the Celestial Light (Vic Caputo); Silver:If (Didier Charette); Bronze:Beat It (Thomas Lorber)
Asian Feature — Gold:The Roundup: No Way Out (South Korea, Lee Sang-yong); Silver:River (Japan, Junta Yamaguchi); Bronze:Phantom (South Korea, Lee Hae-young)
Asian Short — Gold:Foreigners Only (Bangladesh, Nuhash Humayun); Silver:Shoulder (South Korea, Kim Jaehyung); Bronze:Night of the Bride (India, Virat Pal)
Animated Feature — Gold:Kurayukaba (Japan, Shigeyoshi Tsukahara); Silver:The Concierge (Japan, Yoshimi Itazu); Bronze:The First Slam Dunk (Japan, Takehiko Inoue)
Animated Short — Gold:Hermit Island (Hungary, Gábor Mariai); Silver:Architect A (South Korea, Lee Jonghoon); Bronze:Jelly (Canada, Robin Budd)
Prix L'écran fantastique:Restore Point (Czech Republic, Robert Hloz)
Prix Mon Premier Fantasia — Gold:La Colline aux cailloux (Sweden/France, Marjolaine Perreten); Silver:Que se passe-t-il avec le ciel? (Spain, Irene Iborra); Bronze:Lost in the Laundry (Canada, Salem Preusse); Special Mention:Bedtime Story (Mexico/Russia, Nadia Samarina)
A special Trailblazer Award was presented to Canadian filmmakerVincenzo Natali, the director of the influential science fiction thriller filmCube, which also received a special screening of a new4K restoration on July 30, 2024.[104]
The29th edition of Fantasia was held from July 17 to August 3.[105] The festival opened with American neo-Western black comedy filmEddington, byAri Aster, and the Canadian Trailblazer Award was presented to Hungarian-born Canadian filmmakerGeorge Mihalka, the director of the 1981 slasher filmMy Bloody Valentine.[106] Announced on July 26, the jury awarded prizes in seven of the competition’s eight categories, with the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film going toMother of Flies, a horror–fantasy film by John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Posner. This marks the first time a U.S. production has received the prestigious award.[107]
Small Gauge Trauma is the name of the film shorts component of Fantasia. A DVD anthology of various shorts shown over various editions of Fantasia has been published.
Fantasia has published a subtitled VHS version of the Hong Kong filmRun and Kill, for release in Quebec.
Jackie Chan's Greatest Stunts
Fantasia has published a subtitled VHS version of the Hong Kong action scenes compilationJackie Chan's Greatest Stunts Volumes 1 & 2, for release in Quebec.
^Bae Hyo-Joo (August 26, 2021)."'소리도 없이' 판타지아 국제영화제 작품상·유아인 남우주연상 "열광"[공식]" [Silent' Fantasia International Film Festival Best Picture, Yoo Ah-in Best Actor "Enthusiasm" [Official]].Newsen (in Korean).Archived from the original on 2021-08-26. RetrievedAugust 26, 2021.
