Neil Baker
Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 27th edition with a large and varied program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 20 through August 9, 2023, taking place at the Concordia Hall Cinema, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque Québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. Here is a small selection of the films the 27th Fantasia Festival has to offer. For more information, please visit the Fantasia International Film Festival website.
OPENING THE FESTIVAL, PASCAL PLANTE WILL BRING US INTO RED ROOMS
Coming to christen Fantasia’s 27th edition days after its Karlovy-Vary competition debut, RED ROOMS (Les chambres rouges) is the haunting third feature from celebrated Quebec filmmaker Pascal Plante (FAKE TATTOOS, NADIA, BUTTERFLY). The high-profile case of serial killer Ludovic Chevalier (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos, STANLEYVILLE) has just gone to trial, and Kelly-Anne (Juliette Gariépy, BOOST) is obsessed. When reality blurs with her morbid fantasies, she goes down a dark path to seek the final piece of the case’s puzzle. Opening Film. North American Premiere.
INSOMNIACS AFTER SCHOOL IS A BEAUTIFULLY DREAMY COMING-OF-AGE STORY WITH LOTS OF HEART
Nakami (Daiken Okudaira), an introverted young loner, takes refuge in the largely abandoned observatory at Kuyo High School, where he meets Magari (Nana Mori), an enigmatic and spontaneous student. Both suffering from chronic insomnia, they decide to revive the school’s astronomy club. INSOMNIACS AFTER SCHOOL, a magnificent adaptation of Makoto Ojiro’s popular manga masterfully directed by filmmaker Chihiro Ikeda, is a gentle immersion into the Japanese school life of a pair of endearing misfits. The luminous, moving story, portrayed with aplomb by two extremely talented actors, will stay with you long after viewing this exquisitely delicate work. International Premiere.
DOES ROMI KNOW ALL YOUR SECRETS?
In ROMI, AI takes control when a young woman hides out in a state-of-the-art smart home while evading the law. As her reality unravels, she discovers she’s not the only one with secrets. Director Robert Cuffley first explored the horrors of AI in his 2019 short of the same name, and now he’s expanded the terror to a feature-length film. Starring Alexa Barajas (YELLOWJACKETS), Juan Riedinger (EXCESS FLESH, RICEBOY SLEEPS), Pavel Kríz (MISSION IMPOSSIBLE-GHOST PROTOCOL) and Jocelyn Chugg as the omniscient ROMI, this safe house is anything but! Septentrion Shadows section. World Premiere.
NICOLAS CAGE. JOEL KINNAMAN. YUVAL ADLER. SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL.
Award-winning director Yuval Adler (BETHLEHEM) reunites with Joel Kinnaman following 2020’s THE SECRETS WE KEEP and brings Nicolas Cage on board to deliver one of the most intense performances of his career in SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL. After being forced to drive a mysterious passenger at gunpoint, a man finds himself in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse where nothing is as it seems. This riveting crime thriller will leave you breathless. International Premiere.
2023’s SCARIEST FILM IS COMING TO HAUNT CANADA: TALK TO ME
When a group of friends discover how to conjure spirits using an embalmed hand, they become hooked on the new thrill until one of them goes too far and unleashes terrifying supernatural forces. An astonishing feature debut from Australian filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou, TALK TO ME is an exhilarating roller coaster that balances imaginative scares with emotionally nuanced characters and an ingeniously original concept. It became an instant classic from the moment of its lauded Sundance premiere, and Fantasia couldn’t be prouder to host the film’s national debut. Stars Sophie Wilde, Alexandra Jensen and Miranda Otto. Canadian Premiere.
A LAVISH CZECH SCI-FI NOIR THAT COULDN’T BE MORE TOPICAL: RESTORE POINT
2041. People have a constitutional right to experience one full life. If someone dies an unnatural death, they are revived. All that’s needed is to regularly create a restore point – a backup where one’s memory is saved like a computer. Murder is nearly impossible. Nearly. A detective (Andrea Mohylová) attempts to solve the violent killing of a couple after only one of the victims (Václav Neužil, ZATOPEK) is brought back to life. The first Czech science-fiction feature in over 40 years, Robert Hloz’s RESTORE POINT is a provocative and visually sumptuous neo-Noir creation that’s already being likened to MINORITY REPORT. Official Selection: Karlovy-Vary 2023. North American Premiere.
ANIME HIT THE FIRST SLAM DUNK SHOOTS AND SCORES
Basketball has always given Ryota and his teammates a sense of purpose, and they’ll do whatever it takes to win the championship in THE FIRST SLAM DUNK, the first new feature-length film from the globally cherished franchise in 33 years. An incredibly dynamic, electrifying underdog story loaded with inspiring moments, it’s the latest entry to Takehiko Inoue’s iconic franchise that’s had a huge impact in Japan. Written and directed by Inoue himself, making his directorial debut, his love for basketball is evident from start to finish through the stunning mix of CG and hand-drawn animation. THE FIRST SLAM DUNK not only made history at the Japanese box office as one of the Top 10 highest-grossing anime films of all time but also won the Japan Academy Film Prize for Best Animation of the Year. Axis Section. Canadian Premiere
T BLOCKERS PROVES WHY YOU DON’T MESS WITH QUEER FILMMAKERS
Though just eighteen years old, Alice Maio Mackay (SO VAM) is a fearless heir to the Queer Horror Canon. T BLOCKERS, her third feature, is an unapologetically trans homage to INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS brimming with youthful energy and a punk attitude. Equal parts gross-out comic horror and heartwarming coming of age, T BLOCKERS is about a young trans filmmaker obsessed with a thought-to-be long-lost film and the spread of a violent infectious parasite. Mackay channels Gregg Araki and John Waters in this playful and defiant sci-fi horror. Canadian Premiere.
A TENSE UKRAINIAN SCREENLIFE THRILLER SHOT AGAINST THE RUSSIAN INVASION WILL COMPEL YOU TO STAY ONLINE
An urgent Ukrainian screenlife film that will have your heart in your throat. Shot against the actual Russian invasion, STAY ONLINE is the gripping feature debut from Eva Strelnikova. Katya (Liza Zaitseva), a volunteer from Kyiv fighting against the invasion of Ukraine, uses a laptop donated to the resistance and comes into contact with the young son of the computer’s original owner, who is desperately in search of his missing parents. Her attempts to help the child will see her risk all she holds dear. Being the festival where screenlife storytelling was first introduced to audiences with Unfriended in 2014, Fantasia is especially proud to be World Premiering this landmark film, an intimately human thriller about war, made in war. World Premiere.
NOIR MEETS NOSTALGIA IN ANIME STEAMPUNK ADVENTURE KURAYUKABA
Equal parts crazy cartoon caper, shadowy film noir, nostalgic escapade, and steampunk fantasy, KURAYUKABA is a retro-flavoured anime reimagining of the freewheeling Taisho era, Japan’s equivalent of the Roaring Twenties. It’s the long-awaited personal project of director Shigeyoshi Tsukahara, whose resume includes stage design for adventurous pop-rock superstars Sekai no Owari. Preceded by a pair of rare short films by Tsukahara, Fantasia’s world premiere of KURAYUKABA is a chance to discover a distinctive emerging talent in the anime field. World Premiere.
LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (Australia) – Dirs: Colin and Cameron Cairnes
A career-best performance by David Dastmalchian headlines this innovative and nightmarish horror treat in which a live television broadcast in 1977 goes horribly wrong, unleashing evil into the nation’s living rooms. Accurately hailed by Stephen King as “absolutely brilliant”. Official Selection: SXSW 2023. Overlook 2023. Canadian Premiere.
MY ANIMAL (Canada) – Dir: Jacqueline Castel
First pitched at the Frontieres Market in 2019, this transformative queer horror drama flips the script of GINGER SNAPS, giving the slow-burn lycanthropic love story at its core some serious bite. Stars Bobbie Salvör Menuez and Amandla Stenberg, with Stephen. McHattie, Scott MacDonald and Heidi von Palleske top off Castel’s stunning feature debut about young lovers and a cursed family legacy. Official Selection: Sundance 2023. Septentrion Shadows section. Canadian Premiere.
WITH LOVE AND A MAJOR ORGAN (Canada) – Dir: Kim Albright
In a world where our hearts are removable objects and we’re ruled by an app, it’s tricky to find authentic love. Anabel refuses to live via tech and falls for the emotionless George, impulsively ripping her heart out for him and turning her world upside down. This darkly funny fantasy with quirky charm stars Anna Maguire (VIOLATION), Hamza Haq (TRANSPLANT) and Veena Sood (CHILDREN RUIN EVERYTHING). Official Selection: SXSW 2023. Septentrion Shadows section. Canadian Premiere
#MANHOLE (Japan) – Dir. Kazuyoshi Kumakiri
Successful salesman Shunsuke falls into a concrete manhole with no way out in this clever, gory nailbiter. A tale with more twists than a corkscrew factory and an elegant balance of black humour, social satire, and nerve-wracking tension. Official Selection: Berlinale 2023. Canadian Premiere.
The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is presented by Videotron in collaboration with Desjardins and is made possible thanks to the financial contributions of the City of Montreal, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the Government of Quebec, SODEC, Telefilm Canada and Tourisme Montréal.
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