By JESSICA BUCK
Emulating its weather-system namesake, FOGFEST slowly rolled out its top picks as 2024 came to a close:
Best Feature: Dark Match
Best Short: Voyager
Best Director (Feature): Aurélia Mengin for Scarlet Blue
Best Acting (Feature): Ayisha Issa in Dark Match
Best Director (Short): Kyle Marchen for Heap
Best Acting (Short): Luke Barnett for The Crossing Over Express
Best Writing: Rats!
Best Score & Sound Design: Ari Ann Wire for Sincopat
Best Cinematography: Karim Hussain of Lowell Dean’s Dark Match
Best Production Design: Impossible Maladies
Best Special Effects: Scared Shitless
Best Atlantic Canadian Short: Bedlamer
Golden Guts Award: Sugar Rot
Audience Choice
Best Short: Bath Bomb
Best Feature: Puppet Killer
If you’re making your travel plans for 2025, here are a few reasons why you should swing by St. John’s, Newfoundland, for FOGFEST V, coming in November.
RUE MORGUE executive editor Andrea Subissati on stage with “MY BLOODY VALENTINE” director George Mihalka at 2024’s FOGFEST
World-Class Programming
While this is still a small, up-and-coming festival, it manages to pull in all the hot titles on the North American circuit – along with uber-creative international selections. This year, audiences were treated to two films featuring the genius of Steven Kostanski: his directorial love letter to ’80s critter movies, Frankie Freako, and his gross-out SFX in Vivieno Caldinelli’s Scared Shitless. Two of the hottest topics of the 1980s, wrestling and the Satanic panic, came together in Dark Match, while Puppet Killer, and Rats! showcased just how funny horror can be. CanCon enthusiasts were treated with an extended cut of the East Coast classic My Bloody Valentine on the big screen, with director George Mihalka in attendance. In a post-show Q&A, Mihalka professed that the version was the closest to his original vision that he’d ever seen, as extra footage for almost every kill had been reinstated, including the infamous shower scene.
Stop motion and puppetry were popular his time around, and several gorgeous entries, including Les Bêtes, Pocket Princess, Impossible Maladies and The Outsider, prompted audiences to ask, “Just how did they do that?” With films from more than ten countries, Spain came out swinging with three incredible movies: Body horror Sincopat demonstrated the dangers of embedded technology, Voyager explored parallel worlds, and Bookworm warned that fantasies are not always what they promise.
Eastern Focus
While FOGFEST welcomes programming from all over the world, it retains a focus on films from Canada’s East Coast, particularly stories from (and about) Newfoundland. This year there were a number of entries focusing on local lore and lifestyle such as Pearls, which concerns a group of loggers in the remote wilderness. Always Going Never Gone delves into banshee lore, featuring the haunting St. John’s actress Rhiannon Morgan, who coincidentally, also stars in Bedlamer, a folk tale about beasts from the sea.
New this year was the Bell Fibe TV 1 Spooky Showcase which featured episodes from a variety of shows being filmed in the East, including a new episode of Grind Mind’s Hag (which debuted at the fest last year), and an episode of Only the Night Knows featuring the legendary Mary Walsh (This Hour Has 22 Minutes).
FOG is family!
Family Feel
Each year the audience ratio of locals to “come-from-aways” changes, with more and more filmmakers and fans coming in from all over North America to partake in the festivities. Despite constant growth, FOGFEST retains its small-town charm, staying true to its roots as a festival by Newfoundlanders, for Newfoundlanders. Shane Mills, John Carter, Justin “Buddha” Wiseman, Mike Hickey, Francois Van Zyl and Paul Warford all have a hand in the festival. Still, none are ever too busy to take in a meal with their visiting friends or catch up over drinks at the unofficial afterparty locale, the Embassy Pub. “Fog is Family” is the refrain heard around the festival, and creating community is of more importance than clout chasing.
Hag captivated FOGFEST 2024 with a witchy performance
Not Just Movies
While FOGFEST is primarily a film festival, there are plenty of things to do outside of a dark theatre while still staying within the confines of the Fog. The opening party starts things off with a horror trivia contest, followed by a now-annual performance by local horror punk legends The Satans. This year. Hag also graced the stage and had audience members raving for days about their witchy performance.
Horror drag troupe The Phlegm Fatales returned to the stage with a vengeance for the third year in a row, this time in the form of a dating show that culminated in an intense (and timely) rendition of No Doubt’s “Just a Girl.”
New this year was an offsite spooky market and sideshow, with performers demonstrating their sword, flame, dance, and stunt skills. For the industry-minded, each day also featured roundtable talks for filmmakers, distributors, actors and promoters.
Drag troupe The Phlegm Fatales
Between screenings and events, enough time is afforded for visitors to break out and do some sightseeing. Signal Hill, The Battery, Quidi Vidi and Cape Spear (the most eastern point of North America) are all within a few minutes drive of FOGFEST HQ at the Majestic Theatre. Not to mention, there are plenty of pubs along George Street where one can get “screeched in,” try some moose, cod or maybe even an authentic Jiggs dinner. All in all, a quick trip to The Rock is the perfect palate cleanser for those weary of the corporate takeover of arts festivals in North America.
