By MICHAEL GINGOLD
The 2018 Fantasia International Film Festival came to a close August 2 (with the sold-out Canadian premiere of Panos Cosmatos’ MANDY), and a new round of award-winners from among the event’s many movies has just been announced.
For the sixth year in a row, nearly 100,000 fans thronged Fantasia, resulting in more than 80 screenings selling out—a record for the fest. Other highlights included Netflix’s acquisition of the Fantasia world premiere CAM and the launching of new sales company Yellow Veil Pictures during Fantasia. In addition, MEET JIMMY, a project showcased at the Frontières Co-Production Market, was snapped up by Paramount; Michael and Shawn Rasmussen, at Frontières with another project called TERRORBIT, came aboard to co-script. Director David-Jan Bronsgeest and co-writer/co-producer Tim Koomen say, “Frontières has been such a blast for us. From the moment we arrived it felt like family. Because of the warm connection we met a lot of other interesting genre fanatics and with the Rasmussen Brothers we clicked directly. When we realized that we shared the same passion for this idea, everything went so insanely fast. With the Rasmussens’ writing expertise and our strong personal connection we’ll bring this scary Fantasia creation to the world!”
The Rasmussens add, “When we first saw Tim and Dave’s MEET JIMMY presentation this year, we knew the project was a winner and approached them wanting to get involved. The idea of a haunted true-crime podcast really spoke to us. Their short was awesome and unsettling, not to mention extremely cinematic. We’re thrilled to be working with them on this exciting project. It simply would not have happened without the Frontières market and its amazing team which brings together genre filmmakers and professionals to network, share their experience, and support one another.”
With the close of the fest comes the revealing of the Audience Awards in numerous categories, and a few juried prizes, joining the honors previously announced here:
Best Asian Feature
- Gold: 1987: WHEN THE DAY COMES (South Korea, Dir: Jang Joon-hwan)
- Silver: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD (Japan, Dir: Shinichiro Ueda)
- Bronze: THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES (Japan, Dir: Kôichirô Miki)
Best European, North-South American Feature
- Gold: TERRIFIED (Argentina, Dir: Demián Rugna)
- Silver: HEAVY TRIP (Belgium-Finland-Norway, Dir: Jukka Vidgren, Juuso Laatio)
- Bronze: SEARCHING (U.S., Dir: Aneesh Chaganty)
Best Canadian or Quebec Feature
- Gold: MONTREAL DEAD END (Canada, Dir: Various)
- Silver: LE NID (Canada, Dir: David Paradis)
- Bronze: KNUCKLEBALL (Canada, Dir: Michael Peterson)
Best Animated Feature
- Gold: PENGUIN HIGHWAY (Japan, Dir: Hiroyasu Ishida)
- Silver: CRISIS JUNG (France, Dir: Baptiste Gaubert, Jérémie Hoarau)
- Bronze: VIOLENCE VOYAGER (Japan, Dir: Ujicha)
Guru Prize—Best Action Feature
- Gold: CHUCK STEEL: NIGHT OF THE TRAMPIRES (UK, Dir: Mike Mort; review) https://rue-morgue.com/fantasia-18-review-chuck-steel-night-of-the-trampires-is-an-80s-homaging-puppet-splattering-blast/
- Silver: THE WITCH: PART 1. THE SUBVERSION (South Korea, Dir: Park Hoon-jung)
- Bronze: BELIEVER (South Korea, Dir: Lee Hae-young)
Best Documentary
- Gold: BOILED ANGELS: THE TRAIL OF MIKE DIANA (USA, Dir: Frank Henenlotter)
Best Short Film
- Gold: FIRE IN CARDBOARD CITY (New Zealand, Dir: Phil Brough)
- Silver: EAU DE JÉSUS (Canada, Dir: Mat Rich)
- Bronze: ENTROPIA (U.S., Dir: Marinah Janello)
The Action! Jury Award went to BELIEVER (South Korea, Dir: Lee Hae-young), with a special mention to CHUCK STEEL: NIGHT OF THE TRAMPIRES. The Séquences Jury Prize was given to BODIED (USA, Dir: Joseph Kahn), the L’Écran Fantastique Award was won by MAQUIA: WHEN THE PROMISED FLOWER BLOOMS (Japan, Dir: Mari Okada), and the following films won the My First Fantasia Award:
- Gold: WISHING BOX (U.S., Dir: Lizzie Zhang)
- Silver: MADE IN FRANCE (France, Dir: Various)
- Bronze: DROLE DE POISSON (France-Switzerland, Dir: Krishna Chandran A. Nair)
Congratulations to all the winners, and we’re already looking forward to the 23rd edition of Fantasia, which takes place July 11-August 1, 2019. See the fest’s official website here.
