By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The 2018 edition of Brazil’s Fantaspoa festival wrapped up this past week, and the winners of its multiple awards have been revealed, along with the launch of its genre-centric distribution arm.
The winners in both the feature and short-film categories are as follows:
Critic’s Awards
- Best Domestic Short Film: CASA CHEIA (Caco Nigro, Brazil)
- Best International Animated Short Film: DEAD HORSES (Marc Riba and Anna Solanas, Spain)
- Best International Live-Action Short Film: EX-AEQUO LA FUITE (Damien Stein, France) and THE SOUND, (Antony Petrou, UK)
Fantaspoa Jury Awards
- Best Domestic Short Film: ROSALITA (Luciano de Azevedo, Brazil)
- Best International Animated Short Film: NOCTURNE (Anne Breymann, Germany)
- Best International Live-Action Short Film: THE PLAGUE (Guillermo Carbonel, Uruguay)
Ibero-Americana Awards (films and filmmakers from Latin America, Portugal, and Spain)
- Best Film: TERRIFIED (pictured above; Demian Rugna, Argentina)
- Best Direction: Gabriela Amaral Almeida, FRIENDLY BEAST (Brazil)
- Best Screenplay: Hernan Aguilar, MADRAZA (Argentina)
- Best Actor: Gustavo Garzón, MADRAZA (Argentina)
- Best Actress (tie): Itziar Castro, KILLING GOD (Spain) and Luciana Paes, FRIENDLY BEAST (Brazil)
International Awards
- Best Film: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (Shin’ichirô Ueda, Japan)
- Best Director: Bertrand Mandico, LES GARÇONS SAUVAGES (France)
- Best Screenplay: Justin P. Lange, THE DARK (Austria/Canada)
- Best Actor: Thomas Aske Berg, VIDAR THE VAMPIRE (Norway)
- Best Actress: Luana Veliz, LUZ (Germany)
- Best Art Direction: HAGAZUSSA (Lukas Feigelfeld, Germany/Austria)
- Best Visual Effects: THE ENDLESS (Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, U.S.)
- Best Bloodbath: PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH (Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, UK/U.S.)
Honorable Mentions
- Artistic Contribution: ERREMENTARI (Paul Urkijo, Spain/France)
- Best Soundtrack: THE RANGER (Jenn Wexler, USA)
- Most Creative Film/Coolest Person: JJ Weber (THE NEXT KILL, U.S.)
The new distribution banner, FantasFilms, will team with Marcelo de Souza’s Mares Filmes to release movies curated from the festival in Brazilian theaters. The first 16 titles to be announced (the rest will be revealed at Montreal’s Fantasia festival this summer are:
- DAVE MADE A MAZE (Bill Waterson, U.S.)
- FAMILY (Veronica Kedar, Israel/Germany)
- FREDDY/EDDY (Tini Tüllmann, Germany)
- LES GARÇONS SAUVAGES (Bertrand Mandico, France)
- HYPNOS (Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, UK/Brazil)
- KYRSYÄ—TUFTLAND (Roope Olenius, Finland)
- ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (Shin’ichirô Ueda, Japan)
- MADRAZA (Hernan Aguilar, Argentina)
- MATAR A DIOS (Caye Casas, Albert Pintó, Spain)
- MOHAWK (Ted Geoghegan, U.S.)
- THE OPEN (Marc Lahore, France)
- PEDRA DA SERPENTE (Fernando Sanches, Brazil)
- PSICONAUTAS—THE FORGOTTEN CHILDREN (Pedro Rivero, Alberto Vázquez, Spain/Japan)
- THE RANGER (Jenn Wexler, U.S.)
- SNOWFLAKE (Adolfo Kolmerer and William James, Germany)
- VIDAR THE VAMPIRE (Thomas Aske Berg, Fredrik Waldeland, Norway)
In addition, Fantaspoa has a production arm called Fantaspoa Produções that has partnered with Dallas Sonnier’s Cinestate and Fangoria Films on a chiller called SKULL—THE MÁSCARA DE ANHNAGÁ, from Kapel Furman’s Infravermelho Produções. See the Fantaspoa 2018 wrap-up video below.
