The twenty eighth version of the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Competition is about to run from from July 18th via August 4th on the Concordia Corridor and J.A. de Sève cinemas in Montreal, with extra screens and occasions at Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. Final month, the pageant introduced the primary wave of titles that might be screening this yr, and now the second wave has been unveiled!
With this second wave announcement, we be taught that Dice director Vincenzo Natali has been chosen to be the recipient of the Candadian Trailblazer Awards this yr, whereas the line-up of movies contains the Elijah Wooden comedy Bookworm, the Equipment Harington werewolf film The Beast Inside, a film referred to as Scared Shitless, the 1815-set blockbuster epic The Depend of Monte-Cristo, and Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo’s The Soul Eater.
Right here’s the data on the second wave of titles (and the Canadian Trailblazer Award), courtesy of the Fantasia press launch:
OPENING FILM: ANT TIMPSON’S BOOKWORM, STARRING ELIJAH WOOD AND NELL FISHER
Fantasia’s twenty eighth version will open with a joyride into the wild, celebrating the World Premiere of Ant Timpson’s shifting and hilarious BOOKWORM. Reuniting the celebrated New Zealand filmmaker together with his COME TO DADDY star Elijah Wooden (Showtime’s Yellowjackets) – who matches through-the-roof comedian chemistry of gifted his younger co-star Nell Fisher (EVIL DEAD RISE) – BOOKWORM is as entertaining as it’s richly cinematic. Mildred (Fisher), a precocious eleven-year-old bookworm, escapes her humdrum existence by immersing herself in novels the place literary adventures abound, with a long-dreamed quest to seize proof of a mythological beast often called The Canterbury Panther. When an uncommon accident happens, Mildred’s lengthy absent father Strawn Smart (Wooden), a washed-up illusionist, flies to New Zealand to take care of a daughter he’s by no means met. When they comply with go tenting regardless of neither being the outdoorsy sort, this final take a look at in household bonding leads the duo on a string of more and more absurd and treacherous adventures. World Premiere.
A CANADIAN TRAILBLAZER AWARD FOR VINCENZO NATALI
Fantasia will bestow their 2024 Canadian Trailblazer Award to visionary filmmaker Vincenzo Natali, whose landmark 1997 debut CUBE blew open the doorways on what turned a brand new wave of particular person and provocative Canuck style works (together with John Fawcett’s GINGER SNAPS, Jen and Sylvia Soska’s AMERICAN MARY, and numerous extra) along with siring each a movie franchise and a Japanese remake. Natali went on to make the equally idiosyncratic and fairly underrated science fiction movies CYPHER and NOTHING, the latter reuniting him with CUBE stars David Hewlett, Andrew Miller, and Maurice Dean Wint. He’s had his largest hit up to now with the Frankenstein-ian SPLICE; helmed the intriguing ghost story HAUNTER’ the nightmarish Netflix Unique IN THE TALL GRASS, primarily based on the novella by Stephen King and Joe Hill; and has since been busy on blockbuster collection like NBC’s Hannibal, FX’s The Pressure, HBO’s Westworld, Starz’s American Gods, and the Netflix’s Locke & Key and Guillermo Del Toro’s Cupboard of Curiosities. Natali will obtain his award earlier than the World Premiere of the Canadian Movie Centre’s new 4K restoration of CUBE, the movie that began all of it.
AN ANIME CULT CLASSIC RETURNS WITH MONONOKE THE MOVIE: THE PHANTOM IN THE RAIN
The 2007 TV collection MONONOKE is likely one of the most singular and delightfully revolutionary works within the historical past of anime, and its devoted cult following, wistfully presuming that the paranormal escapades of the mysterious Medication Vendor have been lengthy since concluded, can rejoice. Director Kenji Nakamura (GATCHAMAN CROWDS) has revived the intricate palace intrigue and hallucinatory supernatural thrills of his signature work with a brand-new function movie, his most elaborate and opulent journey but, and it makes its grand debut at Fantasia. Visually beautiful to an nearly overwhelming diploma, it gleefully indulges within the iconography and aesthetics of Edo-era Japan, doing so with Pop Artwork panache, playful anachronism, and percussive pacing, and instantly asserts itself as a necessary anime traditional. Animation Plus Part. World Premiere.
KIT HARINGTON BARES TEETH IN ATMOSPHERIC WEREWOLF CHILLER THE BEAST WITHIN
Phantasmagoric, gothic, and straight out of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, Equipment Harington (Jon Snow from HBO’s Sport of Thrones) stars on this nightmarish fantasy that displays on the uncanniness of childhood and the creatures that come out at night time. The narrative function debut of esteemed documentary filmmaker Alexander J. Farrel (REFUGEE), THE BEAST WITHIN – beforehand often called WHAT REMAINS OF US – follows a ten-year-old woman as she begins to query her atypical life in her household’s fortified compound in rural England, finally discovering that when a month, her father (Harington) turns right into a monster. Co-starring Caoilinn Springall (STOPMOTION), Ashleigh Cummings (AMC’s NOS4A2), and James Cosmo (BRAVEHEART). World Premiere.
CANNES SENSATION THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO COMES TO CONQUER NORTH AMERICA
Contemporary off a spectacular Cannes World Premiere that resulted in a near-12-minute standing ovation, Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte’s 1815-set blockbuster epic THE COUNT OF MONTE-CRISTO might be coming to Fantasia for its Worldwide bow. Created by Alexandre Dumas within the mid-Nineteenth century, Edmond Dantès is likely one of the most celebrated characters in French literature, and the story of his retribution has left its mark on in style tradition around the globe—the similarities between Bruce Wayne and the wrongly imprisoned, revenge-minded Dantès are apparent. This new movie adaptation subtly reappropriates that affect, hinting on the tropes and trappings of the fashionable superhero movie whereas retaining the classicism of the work via grandiose artwork course. Pierre Niney (YVES SAINT LAURENT) shines within the title position as he expresses the phases of Dantès’s evolution into Monte-Cristo with exemplary sobriety and spellbinding charisma. Additionally starring Bastien Bouillon (THE NIGHT OF THE 12TH), Anaïs Demoustier (INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE), Anamaria Vartolomei (HAPPENING), and Laurent Lafitte (ELLE). Worldwide Premiere.
A HORRIFIC VISION OF CHILDHOOD’S END – AT THE END OF THE WORLD: PÁRVULOS
Award-winning Mexican filmmaker Isaac Ezban (THE INCIDENT, PARALLEL) returns together with his fifth – and most private – function, a disturbing story that he’s spent the final seven years bringing into mild. PÁRVULOS is a dystopian coming-of-age horror story that begins with three younger brothers dwelling alone in a distant cabin, hiding a terrifying secret of their basement. The place it goes from there’ll pull the breath out of your lungs, as the youngsters’s sealed world is forcefully expanded by monstrous parts past their management. A poignant nightmare impressed by GOODNIGHT MOMMY, LORD OF THE FLIES, A QUIET PLACE, and the universes of Guillermo del Toro (an outspoken admirer of Ezban’s work), PÁRVULOS options a number of the most grotesque sensible make-up results the display screen has seen in years and is inspired by astonishing performances from actors Felix Farid, Leonardo Cervantes, Mateo Ortega, Norma Flores, Horacio Lazo, Carla Adell, Juan Carlos Remolina, and the nice Noé Hernández (WE ARE THE FLESH). From the producers of HUESERA: THE BONE WOMAN. World Premiere.
BATHROOM HUMOR AT ITS MOST IMAGINATIVE BEST: VIVIENO CALDINELLI’S SCARED SHITLESS!
Vivieno Caldinelli, identified for SEVEN STAGES TO ACHIEVE ETERNAL BLISS, the Roddy Piper brief PORTAL TO HELL, and THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, tackles the journey of everyman to hero as soon as once more together with his new function SCARED SHITLESS! Steven Ogg (DARK MATCH, AMC’s The Strolling Lifeless) and Daniel Doheny (Netflix’s Model New Cherry Taste) star as a father and son plumbing duo confronted with a disgusting dilemma: rid a constructing of a toilet-dwelling creature earlier than it unleashes itself to the remainder of the world! Co-starring Chelsea Clark (Netflix’s Ginny and Georgia, THE PROTECTOR), Mark McKinney (CBC’s The Children within the Corridor, NBC’s Superstore), and a cameo by Julian Richings (BEAU IS AFRAID; RELAX, I’M FROM THE FUTURE), there’s a great deal of gore, a incredible creature by Canadian FX legend Steve Kostanski, and sufficient laughs that you simply’ll want a change of pants! Septentrion Shadows Part. World Premiere.
THE RAMAYANA RE-IMAGINED IN MANTRA WARRIOR: THE LEGEND OF THE EIGHT MOONS
Following final summer time’s Fantasia screening of the restored anime model of the Ramayana, it’s now Thailand’s flip to impress and amaze with an animated reimagining of this mighty, historic mythological epic. Director Veerapatra Jinanavin and the staff at Bangkok-based Riff Studio not solely carry a Thai aesthetic to the titanic story of Ram, Sita, Hanuman, and their foes, they’ve rebooted it as a cyberpunk house opera punctuated with powerhouse mecha battles. MANTRA WARRIOR: THE LEGEND OF THE EIGHT MOONS is the primary installment of Riff Studio’s thrilling new franchise, one positive to thrill followers of incredible sci-fi whereas cementing Thailand as a producer of world-class animation with international attraction. Animation Plus Part. North American Premiere.
AN EERIE, UNFORGETTABLE HAZE BECKONS
A younger journalist (Cole Doman, MUTT) returns house to analyze unsolved deaths at a psychiatric heart. As he dances with the shadows of his previous, his household historical past and the city’s secrets and techniques start to converge. A somber, queer horror drama steeped in deeply-rooted trauma that haunts with eerie, richly-intentional visuals, HAZE is the unforgettable sophomore function from filmmaker Matthew Fifer (CICADA). Co-starring David Pittu (FX’s Damages) and Brian J. Smith (Syfy’s Stargate Universe). Worldwide Premiere.
THE MAKERS OF INSIDE AND THE DEEP HOUSE CARVE NEW PATHS: THE SOUL EATER
Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the acclaimed filmmaking staff behind INSIDE, LIVID, and THE DEEP HOUSE, have adopted the favored French novel by Alexis Laipsker to create a contemporary flip of their distinctive filmography. A morbid procedural thriller with excessive horror flashpoints, THE SOUL EATER turned heads when it premiered on the Rotterdam Worldwide Movie Competition earlier this yr. As violent and grotesque deaths plague a small mountain village, an previous legend a few malevolent creature resurfaces. Two cops with completely different strategies are compelled to affix forces and uncover a sinister plot involving the disappearance of native youngsters. Starring Virginie Ledoyen (8 FEMMES), Paul Hamy (DESPITE THE NIGHT), and Sandrine Bonnaire (VAGABOND). North American Premiere.
A FIRST LOOK AT THIS YEAR’S UNDERGROUND SECTION WITH LOVE, DEMONS, AND THE END OF THE WORLD
EVIL DEAD MEETS KAMEN RIDER IN PORTUGAL WITH THE OLD MAN AND THE DEMON SWORD
Within the distant Portuguese mountain village of Pé da Serra, a monk arrives wielding a demonic sword. Earlier than lengthy, the magical weapon results in the palms of the city drunk António da Luz (enjoying himself). Now, the drunkard and the sword must be taught to battle an encroaching evil collectively. That includes beginner actors and the unimaginable voice work of João Loy, the voice of Vegeta from the long-lasting Portuguese dub of Dragon Ball Z, Fábio Powers’ THE OLD MAN AND THE DEMON SWORD is a heartfelt and unlikely retelling of the hero’s journey. Underground Part. World Premiere.
LOVE, LONGING, AND SITUATIONSHIPS IN ME AND MY VICTIM
Blurring the road between fiction and nonfiction, ME AND MY VICTIM is about co-directors and topics, Maurane and Billy Pedlow, who should not fairly mates and never fairly lovers and the true, messy, and kind-of-fucked-up story about how they met. A messy, whirlwind, imperfect, orgasmic, meme-inflected, bounce into the rabbit gap of their on-again, off-again situationship, their ultra-micro-budget (the movie was made for lower than $1000 US) confession playfully captures the humanity of affection and lust within the twenty first Century. Underground Part. World Premiere.
IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT IN ANIMALIA PARADOXA
An amphibious humanoid searches for water in a labyrinthine, post-apocalyptic panorama, from the thoughts of filmmaker Niles Atalah (REY), the co-founder of the boundary-pushing Chilean manufacturing firm Diluvio with artists Joaquin Cociña and Cristóbal Leon (LA CASA LOBO). Style and arthouse cinema meld to create a singular collage-like invention that may defy all expectations with ANIMALIA PARADOXA. A hybrid of kinds and strategies, this surreal journey combines reside motion, dance, sculpture, and stop-motion animation in a dreamlike construction, reimagining the top of the world such as you’ve by no means seen. Underground Part, co-presented with Animation Plus. North American Premiere.
ADDITIONAL SECOND WAVE TITLES:
100 YARDS (China) – Dirs. Xu Haofeng and Xu Junfeng
Household secrets and techniques, demimonde politics, and romantic entanglements complicate the rivalry between two expert martial artists within the Nineteen Twenties. The most recent from masterful style auteur Xu Haofeng (THE SWORD IDENTITY, THE FINAL MASTER), co-directed by his personal brother, as soon as once more reconciles authenticity and inventiveness, and rewards its attentive viewers 100 occasions over. Quebec Premiere.
AZRAEL (USA) – Dir. E.L Katz
In a post-apocalyptic world, Azrael (Samara Weaving, READY OR NOT) should battle tooth and nail to rescue her associate from a cult of mute non secular fanatics within the yr’s most vicious story of revenge. From the acclaimed director of CHEAP THRILLS and the screenwriter of YOU’RE NEXT and this yr’s GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE, this relentless thriller additionally stars Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (FEMME), Sebastian Bull (SONS), and Victoria Carmen Sonne (HOLIDAY). Winner of Greatest Function, Greatest Actress, and Greatest FX Viewers Awards at Panic Fest 2024. Canadian Premiere.
BRAVE CITIZEN (South Korea) – Dir. Park Jin-pyo
A former boxer, now a part-time instructor, dons a masks and offers with highschool bullying the exhausting means. Based mostly on the favored webtoon, BRAVE CITIZEN is a stylishly entertaining Korean motion flick from the director of VOICE OF A MURDERER and YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE, with nice characters and intense battle scenes. Canadian Premiere.
BRUSH OF THE GOD (Japan) – Dir. Keizo Murase
Two teenagers should save the world from a many-headed, mythological dragon on this generously self-referential giant-monster film from 88-year-old grasp tokusatsu artisan Keizo Murase, who makes his directorial debut following a lifetime crafting monster fits for all of Japan’s best-known kaiju movies. Canadian Premiere.
CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS (Australia) – Dir Alice Maio Mackay
Alice Maio Mackay (T-BLOCKERS) returns to Fantasia with an early Christmas current (with some assist from THE PEOPLE’S JOKER’s Vera Drew, on enhancing responsibility). Bloody, ironic, and uproarious, CARNAGE FOR CHRISTMAS tells the story of true-crime podcaster Lola who returns to her hometown at Christmas for the very first time since operating away and transitioning – in the meantime, the vengeful ghost of a historic assassin and concrete legend seemingly arises to kill once more! Official Choice: Salem Horror Fest, Inside Out Toronto. Underground Part. Quebec Premiere.
DARKEST MIRIAM (Canada) – Dir: Naomi Jaye
Following her debut function THE PIN, Naomi Jaye now adapts the Giller Prize short-listed novel ‘The Incident Report’ by writer Martha Baillie as DARKEST MIRIAM. In it, Miriam (Britt Decrease of AppleTV’s Severance) is a library employee coping with her father’s dying, threatening letters at work, and an sudden lover, all of which threaten to vary her solitary life without end. Starring Tom Mercier (THE ANIMAL KINGDOM), Sook-Yin Lee (SHORTBUS), and Jean Yoon (CBC’s Kim’s Comfort), and govt produced by Academy Award-winner Charlie Kaufman (ADAPTATION). Septentrion Shadows Part. Canadian Premiere.
DON’T CALL IT MYSTERY (Japan) – Dir. Hiroaki Matsuyama
On this compelling whodunit tailored from a well-liked, award-winning manga and subsequent hit TV collection, school pupil Totonou (Masaki Suda of THE BOY AND THE HERON), identified for his sharp statement abilities, turns into entangled in an advanced household feud involving mysterious deaths. Canadian Premiere.
FAQ (South Korea) – Dir. Kim Da-min
A stressed-out elementary-school pupil secretly befriends a bottle of rice wine that may talk via Morse Code. Director Kim Da-min’s debut function is a heartwarming sci-fi/coming-of-age story assured to make you smile. Canadian Premiere.
KRYPTIC (Canada, U.Okay.) – Dir. Kourtney Roy
Part of XYZ Movies’ New Visions with a World Premiere at SXSW 2024 and Canadian Premiere at CUFF, Kourtney Roy’s debut function KRYPTIC follows Kay (Chloe Pirrie of THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT and HANNA), a lady on a mysterious quest. An odd forest encounter leads her to seek for a lacking cryptozoologist – who bears a putting resemblance to Kay – and the monster she was searching. KRYPTIC is a doppelganger story of self-discovery and empowerment, and a must-see for audiences wanting a vibrant spectacle that defies style with unusual, gooey interludes and atmospheric landscapes. Septentrion Shadows Part. Quebec Premiere.
THE MISSING (Philippines) – Dir. Carl Joseph Papa
The dying of Eric’s uncle triggers a suppressed childhood reminiscence – and the return of his alien abductor – in director Carl Joseph Papa’s third animated function: a queer, surreal hybrid of romance, drama, and sci-fi embracing digital rotoscope animation and that includes internationally famend Filipino actress Dolly De Leon (TRIANGLE OF SADNESS). Animation Plus Part. Canadian Premiere.
NOT FRIENDS (Thailand) – Dir. Atta Hemwadee
Hoping to win a short-film competitors, Pae decides to direct a tear-jerking tribute to former classmate Joe, who tragically handed away, despite the fact that they weren’t really mates. Atta Hemwadee’s function debut was Thailand’s entry within the Greatest Worldwide Function class for this yr’s Academy Awards. Canadian Premiere.
ODDITY (Eire) – Dir. Damian McCarthy
A blind medium (Carolyn Bracken, YOU ARE NOT MY MOTHER) uncovers the reality behind her sister’s dying with the assistance of a daunting wood model. One of many scariest and most imaginative movies you’ll see wherever this yr. Winner of the Midnighter Viewers Award at SXSW 2024. Quebec Premiere.
WAKE UP (Canada / France) – Dirs. François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell
This tense, gore-soaked new shocker from homegrown Fantasia favorites RKSS (TURBO KID, SUMMER OF ’84, WE ARE ZOMBIES) pits a gang of Gen Z activists towards a hulking safety guard murderously defending the big-box retailer they’ve invaded after hours. Official Choice: Improbable Fest 2023, Sitges 2023. Canadian Premiere.
YIN YANG MASTER ZERO (Japan) – Dir. Shimako Sato
A wily apprentice sorcerer and his dim however good-hearted greatest good friend (Kento Yamazaki of KINGDOM and Shota Sometani of PARASYTE) confront darkish forces in Heian-era Japan. Dealt with with panache by writer-director Shimako Sato (EKO EKO AZARAK, Okay-20: LEGEND OF THE MASK), the favored historical-fantasy franchise returns to the large display screen. Canadian Premiere.
The twenty eighth version of the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Competition is introduced by Videotron and is made doable with the monetary contributions of Telefilm Canada, la Société́ de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), le gouvernement du Québec, the town of Montréal, le Conseil des arts de Montréal, Tourisme Montréal, and the Administrators Guild of Canada (DGC). The pageant’s full lineup might be introduced on July third, and ticket gross sales will start shortly afterwards.
Will you be attending the Fantasia Worldwide Movie Competition this yr? What do you consider the second wave of titles? Tell us by leaving a remark beneath.
