The last round of titles has just been revealed for next month’s Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, sealing the deal that this is North America’s most exciting genre fest. Jump past the jump for all the info!
Fantasia takes place July 12-August 2, once again with the huge Concordia Hall Cinema as its key locale and additional screenings at the Cinémathèque québécoise and the McCord Museum, with the Frontières International Co-Production Market and Industry Rendez-Vous Weekend running July 19-22. We announced previous titles here and here, and the rest of the lineup includes:
- Panos Cosmatos’ furious action shocker MANDY (pictured), with Nicolas Cage playing a vengeful, chainsaw-wielding man taking on a crazed religious cult, as the closing-night film
- The world premiere of Kenji Tanigaki’s BIG BROTHER, a high-school-set fight epic starring martial arts sensation Donnie Yen
- The North American premiere of LAPLACE’S WITCH (no relation to last year’s Fantasia feature THE LAPLACE’S DEMON), the latest from Takashi Miike, a murder mystery dealing with mathematics and mysticism
The Canadian premiere of PROFILE, a terrorism thriller directed by Timur Bekmambetov done in the computer-screen style of the UNFRIENDED movies; Bekmambetov will also conduct a master class on this storytelling approach- The North American premiere of Gakuryu Ishii’s PUNK SAMURAI SLASH DOWN, a self-descriptive adaptation of punk rocker Ko Machida’s meta novel
- The North American premiere of Erick Zonca’s BLACK TIDE, a crime thriller starring Vincent Cassel as an alcoholic and obsessed detective
- A special screening of Francesco Bertolini, Adolfo Padovan and Giuseppe de Liguoro’s surreal 1911 film L’INFERNO, Italy’s first genre movie and the world’s oldest surviving feature, live-scored by Goblin’s Maurizio Guarini
- The international premiere of Joel Potrykus’ RELAXER, the odd tale of a young man who sets out to beat the record high score on Pac-Man without ever leaving his couch
- The world premiere of Koichiro Miki’s THE TRAVELING CAT CHRONICLES, a heartfelt, fantasy-tinged story of a man’s odyssey to find a new owner for his feline companion
- The world premiere of Justin McConnell’s LIFECHANGER, in which a shapeshifter who has left a trail of bodies tries to reconnect with the woman he loves
- The Canadian premiere of Demián Rugna’s TERRIFIED, the much-praised Argentinean story of paranormal researchers investigating horrible events in Buenos Aires
- The North American premiere of Kenji Katagiri’s ROOM LAUNDERING, a supernatural comedy/drama focusing on a young woman whose job is to detect the spirits of the dead in apartments for rent
- The Canadian premiere of Lisa Brühlman’s BLUE MY MIND, in which a teenage girl starts undergoing more than the usual body changes
- The Canadian premiere of Jeon Go-woon’s MICROHABITAT, a portrait of South Korean society about a transient 30something woman
- The Canadian premiere of PIERCING, from THE EYES OF MY MOTHER’s Nicolas Pesce, in which a would-be murderer finds his intended prostitute victim isn’t at all what he expected
- The North American premiere of Busifan’s DA HU FA, an animated 3D adventure concerning a fighter’s experiences in a hidden town rife with violence and corruption
- The North American premiere of Yuichi Sato’s manga adaptation KASANE, about a gifted yet disfigured actress and a talentless beauty who magically change faces
- The North American premiere of Hitoshi One’s TORNADO GIRL, a surreal and cutting-edge romantic comedy
Also on the slate:
- Jang Joon-hwan’s 1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES
- Katsuyuki Motohiro’s AJIN: DEMI-HUMAN (Canadian premiere)
- Jonathan Watson’s ARIZONA (Canadian premiere)
- Lee Hae-young’s BELIEVER (Quebec premiere)
- Joseph Kahn’s BODIED (Quebec premiere)
- Philip Brophy’s BODY MELT (new 2K restoration from Vinegar Syndrome)
- Kim Yong-wan’s CHAMPION (Quebec premiere)
- Alessandro Rak, Ivan Cappiello, Marino Guarnieri and Dario Sansone’s CINDERELLA THE CAT (Canadian premiere)
- Xavier Gens’ COLD SKIN (Canadian premiere)
- Takashi Yamazaki’s DESTINY: THE TALE OF KAMAKURA (Quebec premiere)
- Tsui Hark’s DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS (Quebec premiere)
- Walter Chung’s FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (restored 35mm print)
- Hwang Dong-hyuk’s THE FORTRESS
- Pierre-François Martin-Laval’s GASTON LAGAFFE (North American premiere)
- Jeong Beom-sik’s GONJIAM: HAUNTED ASYLUM (Quebec premiere)
- Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren’s HEAVY TRIP (Canadian premiere)
- Katsuyuki Motohiro’s LAUGHING UNDER THE CLOUDS (Quebec premiere)
- Christian Carion’s MY SON (Canadian premiere)
- Mikhail Red’s NEOMANILA (Canadian premiere)
- Dominique Rocher’s THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD (Canadian premiere)
- Isao Yukisada’s RIVER’S EDGE (Canadian premiere)
- Sergey Mokritskiy’s A ROUGH DRAFT (Canadian premiere)
- Mads Brügger’s THE SAINT BERNARD SYNDICATE (Canadian premiere)
- Rustam Mosafir’s THE SCYTHIAN (North American premiere)
- Sion Sono’s TOKYO VAMPIRE HOTEL (Quebec premiere)
- Kim Jin-mook’s TRUE FICTION (Canadian premiere)
- Lin Zhen-Hao’s UNITY OF HEROES (North American premiere)
- Park Hoon-jung’s V.I.P. (Quebec premiere)
- Lee Byeong-heon’s WHAT A MAN WANTS (Quebec premiere)
- Colin Minahan’s WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE (Quebec premiere)
Plus, there will be live events including: A live recording of Mick Garris’ popular Post Mortem podcast, with his fellow directors from NIGHTMARE CINEMA, Joe Dante, Ryuhei Kitamura and Alejandro Brugués, moderated by Tony Timpone; Michael Ironside: Live in Conversation, an hour-long talk by the iconic Canadian character actor, moderated by Heather Buckley and presented by the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies; and (full disclosure) my own AD NAUSEAM: NEWSPRINT NIGHTMARES FROM THE 1980s, a presentation of vintage horror newspaper ads from that golden decade, with a launch of the book of the same title (details here).
For more on all of Fantasia’s featured movies and events, the complete schedule and more, head over to the newly updated official website.
