Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival isn’t just the longest (the festival goes on for a marathon three weeks) or the biggest (this year’s lineup includes more than 130 feature films) genre film festival in North America, it’s also one of the oldest. Fantasia played a key role in launching the J-horror craze in North America in the late ‘90s, and this year the festival is celebrating 20 years of the phenomenon with Sadako, the latest in a series of horror films launched by Hideo Makata’s Ringu in 1998. That film will open Fantasia on Thursday, July 11, and who knows? Maybe the newest ‘90s revival trend will involve creepy ghost girls with long black hair.
Also newly announced is Ready Or Not, Fox Searchlight’s new horror flick starring Mayhem’s Samara Weaving that combines two of the hottest trends in horror right now—scary in-laws and deadly family traditions—as well as Irish director Lorcan Finnegan’s Twilight Zone-esque Vivarium, the Indonesian folk horror of Mystery Of The Night, Mayan MC’s Sarah Bolger fighting for her life in A Good Woman Is Hard To Find, the very Canadian-sounding dark comedy Homewreckers, and a film adaptation of the hit indie survival horror game DreadOut, along with full slates for the festival’s action, animation, repertory, documentary, Underground, and Camera Lucida programs.
Bliss, The Lodge, Culture Shock, Daniel Isn’t Real, and Why Don’t You Just Die!, all favorites for our critics at the Sundance, Overlook, and Cinepocalypse festivals, have also been added to the Fantasia lineup, along with events hosted by Fangoria’s Michael Gingold, House Of Psychotic Women’s Kier-la Janisse, and Joe Bob Briggs, who brings his “How Rednecks Saved Hollywood” presentation to the Great White North.
The Fantasia Film Festival kicks off in Montreal on July 11, and goes through August 1. Tickets are on sale now on the festival website. A press release from the festival with the newly added films is below; to see the full lineup, also check out our Newswire detailing the first wave of festival titles.
JAPANESE HORROR ICON SADAKO WILL OPEN FANTASIA 2019!
Twenty years ago, Fantasia celebrated the North American Premiere of Hideo Nakata’s RINGU and its sequel, which led to Dreamworks acquiring the franchise and is largely seen as having been the birth of J-Horror in the West. This Summer, the festival is proud to open its 23rd edition with the series’ latest sequel, SADAKO (North American Premiere), which also marks the return of director Nakata to his beloved franchise. One of cinema’s scariest characters is back on the big screen, and you’d better prepare yourself in case she and her young acolyte decide to crawl out of it. SADAKO cleverly respects all of the elements that made Koji Suzuki’s novels so successful, but brings in a host of new elements that will revive J-horror for an all-new generation of terrified moviegoers.
READY OR NOT… FOR THE YEAR’S BEST HORROR RIDE!
Directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin (V/H/S) and Tyler Gillett (DEVIL’S DUE), READY OR NOT follows a young bride (Samara Weaving of MAYHEM) as she joins her new husband’s (Mark O’Brien) rich, eccentric family (Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, Andie MacDowell) in a time-honored tradition that turns into a lethal game with everyone fighting for their survival. In this Special Screening from Fox Searchlight Pictures, the games that people play are the games where people slay!
FANTASIA 2019'S CLOSING FILM PROMARE BURNS THE HOUSE DOWN WITH ANIME INSANITY
Extreme heat never looked so cool! In the embers of the globe-engulfing great flame war, the maverick firefighters of Burning Rescue confront the fiery terrorists of Burnish Mad. Director Kazuki Nakashima and writer Hiroyuki Imaishi, who previously worked together on GURREN LAGANN and KILL LA KILL, are at the wheel for PROMARE (Canadian Premiere), the debut feature from edgy anime studio Trigger. A raging riot of bright colours, daring design, crazy characters, and whiplash action, this isn’t just the most thrilling anime of the year, it’s a genuine pop art masterpiece.
Preceding PROMARE is a special anime treasure – the World Premiere of Wit Studio’s short film THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, the screen debut of manga artist Nagabe’s affecting gothic fairytale!
BLOOD ON HER NAME IS A SOUTHERN GOTHIC NEO-NOIR FOR THE AGES
A sad, soulful crime drama about choice, guilt and consequence, imbued with a creeping sense of damnation that will haunt you to your core, BLOOD ON HER NAME (World Premiere) is a scorching feature debut for director and co-writer Matthew Pope. It’s an intimately powerful film centered around an extraordinary performance from Bethany Anne Lind, who reveals herself to be one of the most remarkable actors working today. Through her character’s perspective, she and Pope deliver a compelling exploration of moral compromise steeped in a tone of defeated desperation that pulls us into its world without a single false move. Also starring Will Patton and Elisabeth Rohm, this film will mark you forever.
FEAR THE MYTHICAL ASWANG IN MYSTERY OF THE NIGHT
Adolfo Alix Jr. (DARK IS THE NIGHT, MANILA, PORNO) is one of most prolific independent filmmakers of the Philippines, whose multi-genre films have graced the screens of Cannes TIFF, Rotterdam and Locarno. With MYSTERY OF THE NIGHT (World Premiere), he gleefully turns to horror with a strange, impactful, 1900s-set adaptation of Rody Vera’s play “The First Aswang”. Making great use of the classic folklore of the Aswang, Alix Jr. addresses the multi-generational horrors of Spanish colonial rule in a classic fairy tale retold with a dash of eroticism and the weird. This special, unforgettable film achieves a unique and strange aesthetic that builds to great hypnotic effect, sinking its claws into its audience, and dragging them further into the night.
PREPARE TO BE TRAPPED BY THE NORTH AMERICAN PREMIERE OF VIVARIUM
Following an acclaimed launch in Critics Week at Cannes, Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan’s VIVARIUM will be making its North American debut at Fantasia 2019. It tells the story of a young couple, played with charm by Imogen Poots and Jesse Eisenberg, who check out a potential new home in a Kafkaesque suburbia, only to later discover that they’re unable to escape from the endless, empty residential neighbourhood. Featuring stellar supporting performances by Eanna Hardwicke and Jonathan Aris, this fascinating paranoid thriller is in the vein of the greatest Twilight Zone episodes: a tense science fiction fable that will imprison you in its otherworldly hold and never let go.
COVER YOUR EYES FOR THE WORLD PREMIERE OF STARE
The dead are piling up at an alarming rate, and the state in which the victims are discovered is even more shocking. Everyone seems to have died from heart attacks, visibly provoked by extreme fear – and their eyes have literally exploded. Fans of RINGU’s Sadako and THE GRUDGE’s Kayako will be thrilled to experience STARE (World Premiere)… and meet Shirai-san, an unforgettable new Eastern apparition that will haunt festivalgoers’ nightmares forever. 2019 continues to deliver on cutting edge J-horror – and there is no doubt that director, screenwriter, and author Hirotaka Adachi’s STARE will be one of the year’s biggest highlights.
1BR LEASES THE APARTMENT COMPLEX OF YOUR NIGHTMARES
The feature debut of writer/director David Marmor, 1BR (World Premiere) joins a very select group of quality horror films – including Polanski’s THE TENANT and Argento’s INFERNO – to successfully explore the terrors of apartment living, but what sets this film apart is its plausibility. It would be running into spoiler territory to divulge more, except to say it’s probably not a coincidence the story is set in Los Angeles, a city where unsuspecting people, looking to make a change, all too often have that change forced upon them against their will. Marmor’s smart script and solid cast of mostly unknowns make 1BR one of Fantasia 2019's top discoveries.
A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND, BUT THIS ONE MIGHT JUST END YOUR LIFE
Tense, well scripted, and terrifically performed, A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND (Special Advance Screening) is a compelling take on the tried-and-true “ordinary person caught in extraordinary circumstances” story. Repurposed through the prism of a vengeance thriller – and told through the perspective of a fiercely strong female lead (MAYAN MC’s Sarah Bolger) – it will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, and deliver countless surprises along the way. The stylish sophomore feature of British filmmaker Abner Pastoll (ROAD GAMES) – and featuring a career-best performance from IFTA award-winning Bolger – the film (which co-stars Edward Hogg and Edward Simpson) takes hold with frighteningly desperate situations and unexpected bursts of violence.
AMERICAN FIGHTER PROMISES NO-HOLDS, BARE KNUCKLED ACTION
In Shaun Piccinino’s AMERICAN FIGHTER (World Premiere), a wrestling champ is desperate to get his mother safely out of Iran, but this can’t be done through conventional channels. And it can’t be done cheaply. The only answer? Head-to-head fights, any style goes, for cash. Producer Ali Afshar told his own inspiring story with the 2017 sports drama AMERICAN WRESTLER: THE WIZARD, and has his alter ego Ali Jahani (George Kosturos) follow a much darker path this time. A pinch of political thriller, a helping of California coming-of-age tale, and whole lotta bare-fisted battling in the bad part of town add up to a solid win.
IT’S ALMOST A MIRACLE THAT ANYONE CAN BE THIS KIND
Fantasia favourite Yuya Ishii (THE TOKYO NIGHT SKY IS ALWAYS THE DENSEST SHADE OF BLUE) returns to Fantasia with ALMOST A MIRACLE (North American Premiere), a big-budget adaptation of Yuki Ando’s beloved manga. Nerdy Hajime Machida would be typical high-school student, were it not for an almost pathological condition that prompts him to constantly help everyone around him, often to his own detriment – an ailment that leads to a myriad of comedic complications. In keeping with his interest for loners, iconoclasts, and unique protagonists, director Ishii provides audiences with an empathetic and heartwarming portrait of an unlikely hero, in what is already one of the most crowd-pleasing and heart-warming films of the year.
THE FATHER’S SHADOW UTILIZES THE FANTASTIC TO EXPRESS ANGUISH
After her first feature, FRIENDLY BEAST, a theatrical tale of blood, sex, and the battle between social classes which world-premiered at Fantasia 2017, Gabriela Amaral Almeida returns with a second, much darker film. THE FATHER’S SHADOW (North American Premiere) was a short film written and developed in 2014 through Sundance’s Director’s Lab program, which evolved into a feature. Inspired by virtually every great master of horror, and much like her zombie-obsessed young lead, Amaral uses her fantastic imagination and ability to create visceral, haunting images in order to express the anguish of Brazilian society in decline.
THE SHACKLES OF CANADIAN POLITENESS ARE FUEL FOR NIGHTMARES IN HOMEWRECKER
Michelle (Alex Essoe) meets Linda (Precious Chong) at a yoga class. Linda’s wide-eyed enthusiasm is clearly off-putting, but Michelle’s aversion to conflict makes it difficult for her to brush off the increasingly pushy woman. Things escalate once Linda asks Michelle to redecorate her home and refuses to let her leave. Written by director Zack Gayne and the film’s two stars, Chong and Essoe (who wowed audiences with her breakthrough performance in 2014’s STARRY EYES), HOMEWRECKER (World Premiere) embraces an unusual tone informed by late 1980s pop sensibilities. With the energy of a Jane Fonda workout tape, the movie escalates into the uncanny, especially as it deals with gendered expectations surrounding femininity and romance.
ONLINE GAMING REUNITES FAMILIES IN BRAVE FATHER ONLINE
Recalling his fondest childhood memories – bonding with his workaholic dad over 8-bit victories in the earliest Final Fantasy games – Akio hatches a plan. He’ll convince his father to take up gaming, befriend him anonymously within the online world, and rebuild their connection. Directorial tag team of Teruo Noguchi and Kiyoshi Yamamoto have created something special with BRAVE FATHER ONLINE – OUR STORY OF FINAL FANTASY XIV (International Premiere), the former overseeing the film’s live-action scenes, the latter commanding a squad of online players in an inspired combination of virtual combat and animated melodrama. The two outdo themselves with a clever, thoughtful, and flat-out great-looking film that is not to be missed.
SATOR IS A TERRIFYING SUPERNATURAL CREATION
A malevolent spirit menaces a family already frayed at the edges in SATOR (World Premiere), an exercise in horror minimalism that draws you in, holds you captive, and then freezes your blood with freakish visions and unflinching violence. Basing the story on his own family’s experiences, Jordan Graham weaves a moody tale of physical and emotional isolation and dysfunction, exacerbated by the growing threat of the supernatural. As signaled by the handwritten opening credits, this was a true do-it-yourself project for Graham, who wrote, directed, produced, shot, edited, and did pretty much everything else on SATOR, a passion project which has taken him five years to complete.
ACCLAIMED ACTOR KIM YOON-SEOK DELIVERS AS DIRECTOR IN ANOTHER CHILD
Kim Yoon-seok is one of South Korea’s most respected actors. Whether he’s a sympathetic antihero in THE CHASER or a terrifying antagonist in 1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES, he’s always managed to capture audiences’ attention with his immense talent. With ANOTHER CHILD (Canadian Premiere), Kim goes behind the camera as director and co-writer to impress us once again, this time by imbuing his fundamentally feminist directorial debut with a finesse and sensitivity that highlights its narrative richness. This delicately crafted coming of age film relies not only on a beautiful story, but on the absolutely mind-blowing performances of four majestic actresses.
BLOCKBUSTER DIRECTOR SHINSUKE SATO GOES TO WAR WITH KINGDOM
Fearless, headstrong, and furious, Shin is determined to avenge his friend and help the exiled monarch of the Qin Dynasty win back his throne, unaware of the larger than life opponents he will have to face. After having masterfully handled horror (I AM A HERO), the superhero film (INUYASHIKI), and many other genres, Shinsuke Sato (BLEACH) breathlessly takes us to China’s pre-imperial era of feuding warlords in KINGDOM (Canadian Premiere). This spectacular fantastic-historical epic bursts with gripping, carefully choreographed battles, while Sato mixes perfect amounts of action, humour, violence, and drama to create one of the best films of his career.
DREADOUT: THE VIDEO GAME ADAPTATION YOU’VE BEEN WAITING FOR
In an attempt to boost their online popularity, a group of friends obsessed with their social media exposure decide to broadcast their clandestine visit into an abandoned building that was last used by a cult, and end up opening a portal to an alternate dimension. Writer-director-producer Kimo Stamboel of the Mo Brothers (MACABRE) demonstrates impressive efficiency and creativity with his first solo feature DREADOUT (North American Premiere), adapted from the popular video game. If DETECTIVE PIKACHU gave gamers a cuteness overdose, DREADOUT is the remedy – an ample serving of the undead with a shot of demonic possession on the side.
THE CAMERA LUCIDA SECTION – DECICATED TO BOUNDARY-PUSHING, AUTEUR-DRIVEN GENRE WORKS – UNVEILS ITS FULL LINE-UP!
Blaise Harrison’s enigmatic LES PARTICULES – hot off its bow in the Director’s Fortnight in Cannes – joins the rich tradition of coming-of-age films tinged with the supernatural, mixing the tropes of science-fiction and adolescent drama to better insinuate the otherworldly. P.A., a shy teenager, finds his place with a tight-knit group of friends. One hundred metres below their feet, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) roars. A huge and spectacular machine with cosmic designs. As adolescence and life itself accelerates, one wonders: Is something strange happening… or is this simply what growing up is like?
Nao Yoshigai, one of the most exciting Japanese filmmakers to emerge in recent years, has steadfastly developed a unique, personal, and remarkably coherent universe. Trained as a choreographer and dancer, her films function as fantastical microcosms of mounting intensity, in which the often violent, daring and surprising impulses of the human body and the natural world provide many surprises. NAO YOSHIGAI X 4: OF BLOOMING FLOWERS AND DEAD SKIN – the first retrospective program of her work anywhere in the world – will showcase “Hottamaru Days” (International Premiere), “The Pear and the Fang” (International Premiere), “Stories Floating in the Wind” (Canadian Premiere), and “Grand Bouquet” (Canadian Premiere).
NIGHT GOD. Kazakhstan – Dir. Adilkhan Yerzhanov. Smothered in darkness, the world is slowly descending into chaos. Violent and absurd, crepuscular and hypnotizing, the acclaimed Kazakh auteur’s fifth feature is the assured vision of a waking nightmare. North American Premiere.
AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING. Japan – Dir. Sho Miyake. Tasuku Emoto, Shizuka Ishibashi, and Shota Sometani star in this breezy and languorous coming-of-age film, capturing the strange, uncertain beauty of sleepless nights and restless days in Hakodate, Japan. Canadian Premiere.
LETTERS TO PAUL MORRISSEY. Spain – Dirs. Armand Rovira and Saida Benzal. Five characters in crisis confide in avant-garde master Paul Morrissey, with each segment in this hypnotic collection of black-and-white 16mm filmic correspondences being wildly unique: from druggy and horrific to very intimate. Canadian Premiere.
KOKO-DI KOKO-DA. Sweden – Dir. Johannes Nyholm. What once was is now lost, and Elin and Tobias must relive the same nightmarish events, as that day and the horrors they experienced repeat themselves infinitely. As beautiful as it is horrible: the film portrays grief as a life of its own. Canadian Premiere.
JESSICA FOREVER. France – Dirs. Caroline Poggi and Jonathan Vinel. In a dystopian Neverland, Jessica prepares her tribe of lost boys for love and death. Directors Poggi and Vinel, promising paragons of alternative French cinema, unleash a brutal and poised feature debut. Quebec Premiere.
Previously announced titles include Jesus Shows You The Way to the Highway (Spain/Ethiopia/Estonia), dir. Miguel Llanso; Knives and Skin (US), dir. Jennifer Reeder; Ode to Nothing (Philippines), dir. Dwein Ruedas Baltazar; and Maggie (South Korea), dir. Yi Okseop.
All titles will compete for the AQCC-Camera Lucida prize, awarded by a jury of critics from the Québec’s Critics Association (AQCC), member of the FIPRESCI.
FANTASIA UNDERGROUND REVEALS FOUR AMAZING INDIE DISCOVERIES
Fantasia’s section dedicated to unconventional outsider visions returns with four left-field works that must be seen to be believed.
The shackles of grief are overwhelming in the dreamy DIY supernatural thriller THE DEEPER YOU DIG (World Premiere). The line between the living and the dead collapses for a mother, daughter, and stranger in the aftermath of a roadside accident. A family affair, the movie was written, directed, and produced by John Adams, Toby Poser, and their daughter, Zelda. They also star, shoot, and compose the film’s score. The intimacy of the production is felt in the immediacy of the performances and the depth of ideas. This journey into the underworld crawls under your skin and draws you into your deepest, darkest nightmares.
At a small New York theatre, an aging magician (Ronald Guttman) comes up with a devilish plan to save his piece of old New York by invoking real black magic. Harsh realities and fantastic illusions come together in BLACK MAGIC FOR WHITE BOYS (International Premiere), SUMMER OF BLOOD / CATFIGHT director Onur Tukel’s latest film is a bizarre comic adventure about gentrification, race, and bodily autonomy in The Big Apple. With over 50 minutes of new footage, Tukel has completely reworked a project initially presented in 2017 as a four-episode series at Tribeca into a gnarly and charmingly weird dark comedy, balancing edgy misanthropy with a strain of silly sweetness. Co-starring Leah Shore and Jamie Block, and shot by TOAD ROAD / FELT director Jason Banker.
Becca rushes to rescue her down-and-out, suicidal brother, Richard, only to find him… and an apartment full of corpses that look just like him. A fun and fearless microbudget feature debut from Montreal-based duo Chris Bavota and Lee Paula Springer (the 2017 short EVEN THE DARKNESS HAS ARMS) DEAD DICKS (World Premiere) is not what it seems. Beneath its gross outs and absurd humour, the film is a sincere reflection on familial drama, dependency, and mental health.
What if SpongeBob had been directed by Canadian experimental master Guy Maddin? The answer lies with director Ryland Brickson Cole Tews and his microbudget creature feature, LAKE MICHIGAN MONSTER (International Premiere). Made with great inventiveness and a love for ’50s B-movies and monster flicks, this is everything indie cinema should be and more. With gritty black-and-white photography, special effects galore, hand-crafted sets and costumes, and jaw-dropping hallucinatory sequences, this charmer won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Ensemble in a Feature, and the Audience Award for Best Feature at 2019’s Milwaukee Twisted Dreams Film Festival.
WHAT DO FEARLESS PHOTOJOURNALISM, AL ADAMSON, AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS HAVE IN COMMON? DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE!
In addition to the previously announced World Premiere of PHANTOM OF WINNIPEG, Fantasia is proud to announce a trio of extraordinary new features for its Documentaries from the Edge section.
Since she first pointed her lens at the broken remains of a mob victim, Sicilian photojournalist Letizia Battaglia has been waging a decades-long battle with the mafia. An official selection at Sundance, Berlin, and Hot Docs, Kim Longinotto’s SHOOTING THE MAFIA (Quebec Premiere) is a moving and inspirational portrait of bravery and self-determination, the story of an ultimate outsider hero who never met a bully she wouldn’t stand up to and whose art remains a finely-honed weapon.
The hilarious history of the Church of the SubGenius, an early-’80s mock religion that challenged the mores and mendacities of its moment, and in no few ways predicted the existential insanity of our own, is explored in Sandy K. Boone’s J.R. “BOB” DOBBS AND THE CHURCH OF THE SUBGENIUS (Canadian Premiere). Featuring mad, mad vintage footage and ample contributions from founders Reverend Ivan Stang, Philo Drummond, and numerous SubGenius participants and devotees, including Richard Linklater, Nick Offerman, Penn Jillette, and Devo’s Gerald Casale.
Years in the making, BLOOD & FLESH: THE REEL LIFE AND GHASTLY DEATH OF AL ADAMSON (World Premiere), by Severin Films founder and filmmaker David Gregory (LOST SOUL: THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY’S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU), goes beyond detailing the uncommon life and unthinkable murder of the legendary no-budget exploitation filmmaker. It beautifully captures the worlds of outsider moviemaking communities that existed in California in the ’70s, and the weird ways they intersected with Hollywood mainstream and union indies. On Adamson shoots, regular Orson Welles crew and cinematographers like Gary Graver, Vilmos Szigmond, and Lazlo Kovaks worked alongside John Carradine, Bud Cardos – and at one point – Charles Manson! This is the story of a resourceful band of outsiders, creatives, and hustlers during a unique period of filmmaking opportunity.
ANIME IN ABUNDANCE IN FANTASIA’S AXIS SECTION THIS SUMMER!
It’s a bumper-crop year for eye-catching anime features from Japan, and Fantasia’s Axis is proud to be presenting many of the very best, most for the first time on North American shores!
From the lively, liberated imagination of Masaaki Yuasa (LU OVER THE WALL, Netflix’s DEVILMAN CRYBABY, the masterful MIND GAME) comes RIDE YOUR WAVE, a film about losing love, leaning on friends, and learning how to find oneself. Yuasa plays with the very elements here: fire, and especially water, are fluid and amorphous… and almost alive. North American Premiere.
Teenager Akane and her daffy aunt Chii step down into the basement — and out of this world! — in THE WONDERLAND, a fantastical anime adventure bursting with imagination, from Keiichi Hara, award-winning director of COLORFUL and MISS HOKUSAI. North American Premiere.
Teenage romance, ontological science fiction, and fierce, acrobatic mecha battles collide in THE RELATIVE WORLDS, the dazzlengly intense feature-film rebuild of his own successful web animation series by digital animator Yuhei Sakuragi (the INGRESS anime, NEON GENESIS IMPACTS). North American Premiere.
Overseen by Katsuyuki Motohiro, a veteran of the FLCL and PSYCHO-PASS franchises, and directed by Fuminori Kizaki (AFRO SAMURAI), HUMAN LOST is a gripping cyberpunk anime thriller, packed with political intrigue, philosophical challenges, savage techno-horror, and exciting action! Canadian Premiere.
Ten years after Atsuya Uki’s amazing half-hour short CENCOROLL World Premiered at Fantasia 2009, the idiosyncratic, surrealist sci-fi teen drama is back with a sequel, making up the feature-length bundle CENCOROLL CONNECT. Casually uncanny and uncommonly cool, this is a true event for fans of offbeat and original anime. Canadian Premiere.
Imbuing the prosaic with something a bit like magic, Yutaka Yamamoto’s crowdfunded indie teen-romance mini-feature TWILIGHT is a postcard from Fukushima Prefecture, with love, laughs, tears, and the occasional perfect moment. International Premiere.
THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE EAST ASSEMBLES SPOOKY ASIAN ANIMATED SHORTS!
Fill your pockets with pujok, omamori, and fu talismans for THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE EAST! It’s Fantasia’s shivery short-film showcase, eleven Asian animated tales of spooks, spirits, monsters, and mystery — a mixed bag of the magical and macabre created through a multitude of techniques, from Japan, China, Taiwan, and South Korea. World Premieres include SHISHIGARI, a calling card (with music by the legendary Kenji Kawai) for the new, independent Studio Durian of Japan’s Kiyotaka Oshiyama.
AN INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE AND MASTER CLASS WITH TOKUSATSU ICON KEITA AMEMIYA
Since the 1980s, Keita Amemiya (ZEIRAM, TWEENY WITCHES) has left his mark in countless corners of the universe of tokusatsu — Japanese science-fantasy cinema and TV. Amemiya-san visits Fantasia this summer to present GARO – UNDER THE MOONBOW, the latest entry his ongoing chronicle of otherworldly conflict. International Premiere.
A prolific director, Amemiya is equally celebrated as a renowned designer of uncanny characters, creatures, and costumes, never lacking for surprising innovation and a self-aware flair that stands out in his field. For his special Fantasia Master Class, Keita Amemiya takes a look at the masks, monsters, and marvels of his imagination!
FANTASIA UNVEILS ITS INCREDIBLE 2019 LIVE EVENTS – FEATURING TALKS, TOURS, CONCERTS, AND MORE!
In addition to its incredible film lineup, Fantasia 2019 is proud to host a number of cinema-centric live events, headlined by a special appearance from legendary film critic and horror host Joe Bob Briggs, a conversation with producer Edward R. Pressman, a bus tour of Montreal’s horror film history, and much more!
Previously announced was a special event by Montreal’s Orchestre à Vents de Musiques de Films, performing a live orchestral concert celebrating music from a wide variety of Studio Ghibli classics.
Joe Bob Briggs, who currently hosts The Last Drive-In, will blow the roof of Fantasia’s trailer park with Shudder Presents Joe Bob Briggs Live: How Rednecks Saved Hollywood: an energetic live performance which rockets audiences through decades of gory, sleazy, and just plain awesome exploitation cinema via rapid-fire photos, video clips, and hilarious, informative commentary from America’s favourite horror host.
Iconic producer Edward R. Pressman, who’s created incredible films with everyone from Terrence Malick and Sam Raimi to Zhang Yimou and Brian De Palma, will take part in Edward R. Pressman: Live in Conversation, an intimate onstage interview with critic and professor Donato Totaro, chronicling his career – from CONAN THE BARBARIAN to BAD LIEUTENANT, and everything in-between!
By popular demand, House of Psychotic Women author Kier-La Janisse and Fangoria’s Michael Gingold will host Spectacular Optical and The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies’ Horror Express: The Fantasia Edition: an epic afternoon bus tour of Montreal’s most famous and infamous horror film locations, stopping at ten incredible locales around the city. Expect a day of unforgettable photo ops and amazing horror history from two of the genre’s most brilliant minds.
Gingold, whose Ad Nauseum presentation as last year’s Fantasia was one of the festival’s hottest live events, will also host the book launch for his latest tome, Ad Astra: 20 Years of Newspaper Ads for Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films. Join the journalist that Guillermo del Toro called “the torch carrier for the original spirit of a generation of horror, fantasy, and science fiction aficionados” as he takes you through the history of 1980s and ‘90s sci-fi and fantasy – with the book for sale immediately following the presentation.
Join David Gregory (Severin Films), Nora Mehenni (Arrow Video) and Joe Rubin (Vinegar Syndrome) for Returning Life to the Departed: Adventures in Genre Cinema Restoration, a very special discussion about the trials, thrills, and rewards of digitally restoring everything from obscure treasures to cinematic holy grails – and what it takes to create a film’s definitive home video release.
FANTASIA RETRO UNVEILS GENRE CLASSICS ON THE BIG SCREEN
Fantasia is proud to present a new section in its lineup, dedicated to special screenings of major genre film restorations, in addition to showings of rare 35mm and 16mm prints.
Restoration Premieres to include:
DECODER (Germany, 1984) – Dir: Muscha
New 2K Restoration from Vinegar Syndrome. World Premiere.
DRACULA VS. FRANKENSTEIN (USA, 1971) – Dir: Al Adamson
New Restoration by Severin Films. World Premiere.
THE LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE (Spain, 1974) – Dir: Jorge Grau
New 4K Restoration by Synapse Films. World Premiere.
SATAN’S SLAVE (Indonesia, 1982) – Dir: Sisworo Gautama Putra
New 2K Restoration by Severin Films. International Premiere.
SON OF THE WHITE MARE (Hungary, 1981) – Dir: Marcell Jankovics
New 4K Restoration by Arbelos Films. World Premiere.
LEGEND OF THE STARDUST BROTHERS (Japan, 1981) – Dir. Makoto Tezuka
New 2K Restoration from Third Window Films. Canadian Premiere.
A 35mm showing of the Shaw Bros classic THE BOXER’S OMEN (Hong Kong, 1983) – Dir. Kuei Chih-Hung.
The Montreal Film Society will present a special 16mm screening of Sam O’Steen’s made-for-television sequel LOOK WHAT’S HAPPENED TO ROSEMARY’S BABY (USA, 1976), hosted by actor Stephen McHattie.
Further, the Action! Lineup will be showing a rare 35mm print of Ringo Lam’s FULL CONTACT (Hong Kong, 1992) and StudioCanal’s recent restoration of Ted Kotcheff’s legendary, dramatic first chapter in the Rambo franchise, FIRST BLOOD (USA, 1982).
FANTASIA TO BESTOW ITS INAUGRAL CANADIAN TRAILBLAZER AWARD TO DIRECTOR TED KOTCHEFF
“I am not the judge of my characters. I am their best witness.” – Ted Kotcheff
Fantasia will bestow its inaugural Canadian Trailblazer Award to director Ted Kotcheff, a singular filmmaker who has worked across genres and mediums to tell bold, vivid stories with strong points-of-view. Born in Toronto in 1931, he began directing at the CBC at age 24 and was, at the time, the youngest director ever at the station. His filmography includes the Outback thriller WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971), the quintessentiel Montreal film THE APPRENTICEHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ (1974), WHO IS KILLING THE GREAT CHEFS OF EUROPE? (1978), NORTH DALLAS FORTY (1979), the Stallone-starring blockbuster FIRST BLOOD (1982), UNCOMMON VALOUR (1983), JOSHUA THEN AND NOW (1985), ‘80s comedy staple WEEKEND AT BERNIE’S (1989), and THE SHOOTER (1995).
Mr Kotcheff will be presented his award at a special screening of the Canadian Film Centre’s restoration of THE APPRENTICESHIP OF DUDDY KRAVITZ.
Fantasia will also be screening StudioCanal’s recent restoration of FIRST BLOOD, with Kotcheff in attendance, as part of the festival’s Action! Section lineup.
ADDITIONAL 2019 PREMIERE TITLES INCLUDE:
ALIEN CRYSTAL PALACE. France – Dir. Arielle Dombasle.
A crazy scientist is on a quest to create a new, immaculate, androgynous being. Parisian nightlife icon Arielle Dombasle has made a psychotronic big-screen erotic fantasy, a kitsch and camp kaleidoscope, generous, absurd, and genuinely endearing. Co-starring Jean-Pierre Léaud and Asia Argento. North American Premiere.
THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE. USA – Dir: Riley Stearns
After being mugged, meek accountant Casey (Jesse Eisenberg) joins a karate school — and his life takes a strange and dark turn. FAULTS director Riley Stearns’ sophomore feature is a twisted tale of the dangers of toxic masculinity. Co-starring Imogen Poots. Official Selection: SXSW 2019. Quebec Premiere.
BLISS. USA – Dir: Joe Begos
A drug-fueled night out in LA transforms a young artist into something otherworldly, but is it due to the vampiric ménage à trois she took part in or the cocaine-like “bliss” she’s been snorting? ALMOST HUMAN/THE MIND’S EYE director Joe Begos deliver a stunning heavy metal head-trip that’s equal parts blissful euphoria and horrifying bloodbath. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019, Cinepocalypse 2019. Canadian Premiere.
CULTURE SHOCK. USA – Dir: Gigi Saul Guerrero
Blumhouse’s Into the Dark delivers its most impressive film to date, with Gigi Saul Guerrero’s scathing takedown of The United States’ treatment of Mexican dreamers, where “The Land of the Free” is far from the truth. Featuring Martha Higareda, Shawn Ashmore, and a spine-tingling performance from Fantasia fave Barbara Crampton. Official Selection: Cinepocalypse 2019, Etheria Film Night 2019. International Premiere.
DANCE WITH ME. Japan – Dir. Shinobu Yaguchi
Have you ever imagined a musical number spontaneously occurring in real life? Ambitious financier Shizuka has accidentally been hypnotized. Now, a ringing phone or radio jingle will set her off on a Gene Kelly-like rampage… A sassy send-up of musical comedies from Shinobu Yaguchi (SWING GIRLS, ROBO-G) with genuinely catchy, impressive song-and-dance numbers! Official Selection: Shanghai International Film Festival 2019, NY Japan Cuts 2019. Quebec Premiere.
DANIEL ISN’T REAL. USA – Dir: Adam Egypt Mortimer
A childhood friend reappearing after a decade seems like it should be cause for celebration… but what happens if it’s a troublemaking – and possibly deadly – imaginary friend? This is the conundrum in Adam Egypt Mortimer’s clever, violent thriller, whose title isn’t as cut and dry as one might first think. Official Selection: South by Southwest 2019, Sydney International Film Festival 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
DARE TO STOP US. Japan – Dir. Kazuya Shiraishi
The surprising and utterly unexpected biopic of a legend of Japanese countercultural cinema: Koji Wakamatsu! A film that takes the pulse of a transgressive cinematographic heritage in which sex, violence and revolutionary thought rubbed shoulders on screen. Canadian Premiere.
DAY AND NIGHT. Japan – Dir. Michihito Fujii
When Koji, son of a whistleblower driven to suicide, steps outside the law in his quest for justice, the thin line that separates good from evil begins to fray. A suspenseful drama about the tragic fate reserved to whistleblowers that offers a necessary reflection on justice. Official Selection: Japan Filmfest Hamburg 2019. Canadian Premiere.
THE DUDE IN ME. South Korea – Dir. Kang Hyo-jin
After an overweight teenager literally falls on him, a gangster realizes to his great dismay that they have swapped bodies. Packed with outlandish twists and turns, this fantasy comedy skilfully juggles gags, action, and emotion! Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
FREAKS. Canada – Dirs: Zach Lipovsky and Adam B. Stein
Bruce Dern, Emile Hirsch, and Amanda Crew headline this mind-bending mystery box of a thriller about a young girl (newcomer Lexy Kolker) whose father has convinced her that leaving their suburban home will spell her doom… and when she finally does step outside, she discovers a world unlike anything she – or this film’s viewers – would ever believe. Official Selection: Toronto International Film Festival 2018. WINNER: Prix Public, Best Feature, Les Utopiales 2018, Audience Award, Best Film, What the Fest…?! 2019. Quebec Premiere.
GINTAMA 2: RULES ARE MADE TO BE BROKEN. Japan – Dir. Yuichi Fukuda
The silver-haired samurai Gintoki and his odd-job agency associates are back for this second manga adaptation, with no less loopy lunacy, swashbuckling swordfights, gratuitous anime references, and costume design to die for. Official Selection: Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2019. North American Premiere.
HARD-CORE. Japan – Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita
Ukon and Ushiyama discover a discarded robot, unaware of the extent of its potential, in this bizarre science-fiction comedy drama. If you are looking for unusual cinema that makes you laugh without knowing why, you’ve just found it. Never before has the concept of WTF seemed so natural. Official Selection: Golden Horse Fantastic Film Festival 2019, Udine Far East Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
HARPOON. Canada – Dir: Rob Grant
When a troubled trio of young friends find themselves marooned on a yacht in the middle of the ocean, suspicions and anger bubble to the surface as their faith in each other sinks like a shipwreck. Writer/director Rob Grant returns to Fantasia with thrilling, seafaring suspense film that takes absolutely no prisoners. Starring TURBO KID’s Munro Chambers. Official Selection: Rotterdam International Film Festival 2019, Chattanooga Film Festival 2019, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2019, Fantaspoa 2019, BIFAN 2019. Quebec Premiere.
HIS BAD BLOOD. Japan – Dir. Koichiro Oyama
A despicable con artist left the tightly knitted village the day his wife gave birth. 30 years later, his traumatized son is chased because of him. They both end up sheltering in a church, knowing nothing about each other. HIS BAD BLOOD is proof that independent Japanese cinema remains creatively fertile. WINNER: Audience Award, Yubari Fantastic Film Festival 2019. International Premiere.
IT COMES. Japan – Dir. Tetsuya Nakashima
Convinced that a supernatural force is threatening his family, Hideki reaches out to a writer specializing in the occult, and his clairvoyant girlfriend to rid himself of the entity. To tell you anything more about this completely bonkers horror tale would ruin the many surprises waiting within. Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival 2019, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
JUDY AND PUNCH. Australia – Dir: Mirrah Foulkes
Village puppeteers Judy (Mia Wasikowska) and Punch (Damon Herriman) are at the eye of this whirlwind of black comedy, filled with slapstick violence and, amid the theatricality of the marionette show, gripping drama. An old morality play with a modern twist. Official Selection: Sundance 2019. Canadian Premiere.
THE LODGE. UK/USA – Dirs: Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala
Hailed at Sundance as “the next great horror film,” this nerve-shredding story of inexplicable, terrifying things happening to a snowed-in family stars Riley Keough, Richard Armitage, and Alicia Silverstone. This is a film whose horrors are both intellectual and deeply visceral, with imagery that will have your heart in your throat. From the makers of GOODNIGHT MOMMY. Official Selection: Sundance 2019, Karlovy Vary 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
MIRACLE OF THE SARGASSO SEA. Greece/Germany/Netherlands/Switzerland – Dir: Syllas Tzoumerkas
After a shocking death rocks a sun-bleached village, two women’s destinies interlock and their grip on reality start to slip. This work of New Weird Greek Wave cinema, starring Angeliki Papoulia (DOGTOOTH, ALPS), blends the blood-spattered real world and the troubling nightmares of legend. Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
MISS AND MRS. COPS. South Korea – Dir. Jung Da-won
There are a lot of badass lady cops in Seoul, and they’re all ready to prove their worth and kick some scumbag ass! Remember the buddy cop movie? Writer-director Jung Da-won has magically resurrected it in fantastic fashion. Quebec Premiere.
MISSBEHAVIOR. Hong Kong – Dir. Pang Ho-Cheung
A terrible mistake reunites a gang of estranged drama queens in search of human breast milk throughout Hong Kong! An utterly ridiculous, hilarious, and politically incorrect comedy caper from Pang Ho-Cheung (VULGARIA, DREAM HOME). Official Selection: Osaka Asian Film Festival 2019. Quebec Premiere.
THE ODD FAMILY: ZOMBIE ON SALE. South Korea – Dir. Lee Min-jae
The eccentric Park family captures Zzongbie, a harmless living corpse who also happens to be a walking dose of Viagra. This South Korean Zom-com has a ball reanimating the done-to-death conventions of the zombie flick. Official Selection: Udine Far East Film Festival 2019, New York Asian Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
PARADISE HILLS. Spain – Dir: Alice Waddington
Amid rapturous production design, Emma Roberts, Awkwafina, Eiza González, and Danielle Macdonald gather under the cold eye of headmistress Milla Jovovich in this genre-bending allegory about femininity and social norms. With shades of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and THE HANDMAID’S TALE, this soft and beguiling nightmare is about the cost of living the life you choose, rather than the life that is expected. Official Selection: Sundance 2019. Canadian Premiere.
PORNO. USA – Dir: Keola Racela
Trapped in a cinema late at night, five sex-starved religious teens are easy prey for a succubus with lust and murder in mind, but these Bible-thumpers won’t give up without a fight… even when this ‘90s-set retro riot has their balls literally to the wall. Official Selection: South by Southwest 2019, Overlook Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
THE PURITY OF VENGEANCE. Denmark – Dir: Christoffer Boe
Packed with crime, sex, and revenge – as well as being the highest-grossing film in Danish cinema history – this uber-blockbuster based on the book by Jussi Adler-Olsen finds two detectives trying to unravel a violent, decades-old murder mystery as they struggle with their own fraught relationship. From the director of BEAST and OFFSCREEN. Official Selection: Sitges 2018, Transylvania International Film Festival 2019, Palm Springs International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
SWALLOW. USA – Dir: Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Meek housewife Hunter (an utterly terrific Haley Bennett) struggles to find purpose and meaning – until she begins swallowing a variety of household objects. A film that will pique anxieties and turn stomachs, this is a surprisingly tender look at the echoes of abuse. See this one at all costs or miss one of the most potent works of the year. Official Selection: Tribeca Film Festival 2019, Neuchâtel International Film Festival 2019. Canadian Premiere.
TOKYO GHOUL ‘S’. Japan – Dir. Kazuhiko Hiramaki
Another round of blood and black leather on the midnight streets of Tokyo’s Ward 20! Moody intrigue and twisted terror take hold again in the second live-action adaptation of the immensely popular urban-horror manga. Official Selection: Los Angeles Anime Expo 2019. Canadian Premiere.
WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!. Russia – Dir: Kirill Sokolov
All holy household hell breaks loose in a single, ever-more-battle-scarred Moscow apartment. Kirill Sokolov’s attention-grabbing debut feature is a sure-footed synthesis of suspense, dark comedy, and deranged, detail-oriented ultraviolence. Sokolov is ruthlessly deliberate in his decisions, be it the pressure-cooker dialogue, the cunning camera work, or the piquant colour scheme. Official Selection: Tallinn Black Nights 2018, What the Fest…?! 2019, Cinepocalypse 2019. Canadian Premiere.
THE WRATH. South Korea – Dir. Yoo Young-seon
A powerful family’s lineage is threatened by the spirit of a wailing woman haunting their lands. This straight-up horror film set in medieval Korea recalls the glory days of VHS, dishing out enough jump scares to rouse the dead. Canadian Premiere.