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The Overlook Film Festival returns to New Orleans on June 2 through June 5, unleashing a new lineup of horror screenings and immersive experiences.
The festival, set in one of America’s most haunted cities, recently unveiled its first wave of programming that includes Scott Derrickson‘s The Black Phone (our review) as its closing night film.
From the press release today about the second wave, “The festival will open with the North American premiere of Ana Lily Amirpour’s Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, which features a stellar cast including Jeon Jong-soo, Kate Hudson and Craig Robinson. Shot in New Orleans, this fantastical boundary-pushing tale marks the third feature from acclaimed director Amirpour (Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Bad Batch).
Additional screenings include Roger Corman, the People of Pop Cinema, with Joe Dante, Peter Bogdonavich and Ron Howard, as well Mark Meir’s feature debut, The Summoned.
The Overlook stacks its lineup with fresh discoveries and festival favorites, such as Eli Horowitz’s The Cow, starring Winona Ryder and John Gallagher Jr., legendary FX guru Phil Tippet’s visionary opus Mad God, Carlota Pereda’s striking first feature Piggy, and SXSW sensation Hypochondriac, starring Zach Villa.
The festival’s signature interactive elements have been re-imagined for the pandemic age.
Anchored by a weekend-long alternate reality game experience designed by local outfit Escape My Room, the Overlook’s immersive offerings feature installations, story boxes and a dreamy indie game set in a dystopian South Louisiana.
Here’s a breakdown of the second wave:
Cast: Jeon Jong-seo, Kate Hudson, Craig Robinson, Evan Whitten, Ed Skrein
United States, 2022; The pulsating, raucous, vibrant new fantasy from auteur Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, The Bad Batch) sees a mental asylum escapee with unusual powers setting off on a thrilling adventure through the NOLA streets as she tries to make it on her own while on the run from the cops. An incredible cast including Jeon Jong-soo, Kate Hudson and Craig Robinson make this violent, surreal, homegrown crowd-pleaser glow with the character of the city.
Cast: Winona Ryder; John Gallagher, Jr.
USA, 2022; Kath (Winona Ryder) and her boyfriend Max (John Gallagher Jr.) head off to the Redwoods for a getaway, only to discover that their Airbnb has been double booked by another couple. Out of viable options, the four decide to share the house for the night. When Kath wakes up in the morning, only to find Max has disappeared, it sends her on a dangerous and surreal journey in this creepy, twisty thriller.
Cast: Chumisa Cosa, Nosipho Mtebe
South Africa, 2021; South African director Jenna Bass ingeniously riffs on the haunted house and folk horror tropes in the chilling tale of a woman who begins to discover oppressive, supernatural echoes from the Apartheid era when she is forced to move in with her mother, a live-in servant at an affluent Cape Town estate.
Cast: Zach Villa, Devon Graye, Madeline Zima, Yumarie Morales, Marlene Forte
USA, 2022; The life of a young, gay potter begins to spin out of control when he realizes he’s losing control of his bodily functions while being haunted by an unknown presence tied to his past in this blistering, erotic spookfest.
Cast: Alex Cox, Niketa Roman, Satish Ratakonda, Harper Taylor, Brynn Taylor
USA, 2021; Legendary animator and VFX wizard Phil Tippett makes his long awaited feature directorial debut with a stop-motion, Miltonesque fever dream that follows an assassin into a labyrinthian city full of monster and creeps.
Spain/France, 2022; An awkward teenager’s uncomfortable existence of being picked on daily is thrown into ethical turmoil when a mysterious stranger begins to kidnap and kill her bullies in this brutal Spanish morality tale.
Cast: Roger Corman, Joe Dante, Peter Bogdonavich, Ron Howard
France, 2021; Told with all the heart and bluster of one of his own films, this loving documentary about the trailblazer and 2017 Overlook honoree himself bursts with endearing, incredible stories from both on and off set.
Cast: Alice Krige, Malcolm McDowell, John McCrea, Rupert Everett, Amy Manson, Johnathan Aris, Daniel Lapaine, Kota Eberhardt
UK, 2021; Already garnering awards internationally, this psychological (and often psychedelic), existential horror film follows an aging actress who, having undergone a double mastectomy, journeys to a rural Scottish healing retreat, a place where women were once burned for witchcraft. It is there that she learns the power to enact revenge in her dreams…
Directors: Hannah Barlow, Kane Senes
Cast: Aisha Dee, Hannah Barlow, Emily De Margheriti, Daniel Monks, Yerin Ha, Lucy Barrett, Shaun Martindale, Amelia Lule, April Blasdall, Camille Cumpston
Australia, 2022; When successful social media influencer Cecilia gets invited to a destination bachelorette party by her childhood best friend, she finds herself face to face with her high school bully in this grisly, inventive slasher.
Cast: J. Quinton Johnson, Emma Fitzpatrick, Angela Gulner
USA, 2022; Two high profile couples learn the true price of success and inheritance when they discover just how exclusive the self-help seminar they’ve attended is in this nasty piece of evil business from newcomer Mark Meir.
Cast: Navid Pourfaraj, Pouria Rahimi Sam, Hoda Zeinolabedin, Baset Rezaei, Fereydoun Hamedi, Shaho Rostami
Iran, 2021; A military official’s skepticism gets a rude awakening when he travels to a rural village reportedly possessed by a demon in this chilling, critically acclaimed Iranian tale of the line between faith and paranoia.
Cast: Bela Lugosi, Duke Mitchell, Sammy Petrillo
USA, 1952; Marvel at the thrilling adventure that Martin Landau is said to have once called “so bad that it made Ed Wood’s films look like Gone with the Wind.” Swoon over the knock-off Martin & Lewis act of Duke Mitchell and Sammy Petrillo, whose impersonation is thought to have caused Jerry Lewis to demand the film’s destruction. Gaze in wonder at a motion picture shot in 7 days on a budget of less than $50,000 by a director famous for filming only one take. Don’t miss the experience Leonard Maltin has promised “will only cost viewers an hour and a quarter of their lives, but once seen, it will never be forgotten”.
Special Video Introduction by Leonard & Jessie Maltin
Cast: Benjamin Christensen, Clara Pontoppidan, Oscar Stribolt, Astrid Holm, Marin Pedersen
The groundbreaking silent classic featuring graphic depictions of torture, demonic orgies, and an appearance by Satan himself remains one of cinema’s boldest artistic achievements. Celebrate the centennial of this pioneer hybrid documentary in horror history with an all new live score from NOLA favorites Think Less, Hear More.
Cast: Brian Krause, Mädchen Amick, Alice Krige, Jim Haynie, Ron Perlman, Cindy Pickett
Behold the first of many collaborations between Stephen King, in his first original story written explicitly for the screen no less, and master of horror – and 2020 festival honoree – Mick Garris. Come for the finely-aged cult classic of a shape-shifting, cat-fearing, blood-sucking, incest-loving mother and son’s run in with Mädchen Amick and a slew of genre hero cameos. Stay for the live recording of THE KINGCAST with director Mick Garris immediately following the screening.
SPECIAL EVENT AND IMMERSIVE PRESENTATIONS
Presented by the University of New Orleans
A staple of the festival since its inception, this year’s re-imagined weekend long immersive storytelling experience offers a gripping story told through text messages, phone calls and real world investigations that can be played at your convenience throughout the fest, in groups or alone, in and around the festival hub. A local music historian who has uncovered a demonic connection between a series of unexplained deaths summons you to discover the truth. Will you be able to put a rest to the chaos? Or will discord continue to ring out?
It’s no trick! Everyone deserves an excellent Halloween. We lost out on our most sacred holiday in 2020, so this year we’re making it up in style with a second one in June. Costumes are mandatory: bring your masks, hoard all the candy, make contact with the beyond, watch out for pranks, and dance the night away to your favorite spooky tunes to keep the spirits at bay at this fiendish immersive gathering. Hey, it’s All Hallows Eve somewhere.
Test your fright. Shudder’s Sam Zimmerman & Midnight Madness’s Peter Kuplowsky team up to host Overlook’s annual bout of horror trivia. Prizes, drinks and four ghoulish rounds of only mildly obscure nuggets you’ll definitely know and all of those sequel subtitles you’ll definitely wish you didn’t. Scare yourself with how much you actually know about horror.
Come and see one of New Orleans’s most storied musicians, Ace Marcellin, as the world-famous yet reclusive artist plays numbers from his 1967 classic album of Horror theme reimaginings for the PoBoMoMu opening! No tubular bells here, just Ace and his clarinet taking you on a haunting jaunt down Memory Lane at the Po Boy Music Museum. For more information text (833) 451-3067.
“A masterpiece of interactive storytelling”, developers Geography of Robots and indie publisher Raw Fury present NORCO: a Southern Gothic point & click narrative adventure that immerses the player in the sinking suburbs and verdant industrial swamps of a distorted South Louisiana. In the hopes of finding your missing brother, you must follow a fugitive security android through the refineries, strip malls, and drainage ditches of suburban New Orleans. Play a demo of the winner of the Tribeca 2021 Games Award, that the LA Times has already called “the video game of 2022.”
Tired all the time? Up all night? Sun blinding your eyes? Garlic revolting? We’re here to help. Dream Video Division presents The Sharper Teeth Catalog, a cure-all multi-media installation displaying the latest in self-help products with a vampiric twist. Customers can step right up and use a special filter from the @dreamvideodivision Instagram account to scan various objects using the latest AR technology to reveal the truth behind their bloodlust.
Welcome to your new home! The moving van has just pulled away and a friendly welcome package from your neighbors is waiting on your front porch. But there is something ominous about this place. Someone needs your help. Journey into a ghost story as you unravel secrets, solve mysteries and listen in on phone conversations with this carefully crafted at-home immersive story box experience through letters, audio and found objects.
Breathe, Dir. Stephen Kang, New Zealand, 2021
Jaehee is a twelve year old girl with a special yet unorthodox gift that enables her to heal those who claim to be possessed. Her uneasiness with the deception grows putting her on a collision course with her domineering father.
Chaperone, Dir. Sam Max, United States, 2021
An unnamed figure (Quinto) picks up a young man (Kahn) in his car. As the two drive together, and settle into an austere rental house in the country, the details of their arrangement become guttingly clear.
Day Trippers, Dir. Erin Broussard, United States 2021
A couple on route to a Day Trip getaway find themselves lost after taking a sudden detour that is not part of their weekend plans. What they don’t realize is that some detours lead to dead ends.
Digital Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro: The Real-World Guide to Set Up and Workflow,
Dir. Seong-Yoon Hong, South Korea, 2020
We see a scene from a typical romance film when suddenly, a horrendous error occurs.
Dystopia, Dir. Laura Ugolini, Norway, 2020
In this twisted neon fashion fantasy, a gang of women set out to create their perfect man, no matter where the body parts come from.
Everybody Goes To the Hospital, Dir. Tiffany Kimmel, United States, 2021
A stop motion animated exploration of physical, psychological, and familial trauma, telling the tale of 4-year-old Little Mata (writer/director Tiffany Kimmel’s mother) as she’s taken to the hospital in late 1963 with appendicitis.
Expectancy, Dir. Juho Fossi, Finland, 2020
Alex is left alone for the weekend to renovate a room for his and his wife’s unborn child. Soon, a baby monitor starts to transmit horrifying sounds about his future failures as a father.
Freebirth, Dir. Juan Avella, United States, 2021
A lesbian couple’s all-natural birth in the woods turns into a nightmare.
Huella, Dir. Gabriela Ortega, United States, 2022
When the death of her grandmother unleashes a generational curse, a disenchanted flamenco dancer resigned to a desk job is forced to experience the five stages of grief through a visit from her female ancestors, pushing her to finally break the cycle.
Itch, Dir. Susannah Farrugia, Malta, 2021
A novice nun develops a severe skin condition which continues to worsen along with her mental state as she struggles with her feelings for another nun.
Love You, Mama, Dir. Alexandra Magistro, Canada, 2022
After the sudden death of her father, a young woman becomes haunted by the uncertainty of the world around her.
Rated R, Dir. Reid Antin, United States, 2021
A dark-as-midnight comedy in which an 8-year-old boy plots a heist to see his first R-Rated movie…
Red is the Color of Beauty, Dir. Beck Kitsis, United States, 2021 Just before the mall closes, two women fight over a special necklace.
Smile, Dir. Joanna Tsanis, Canada, United States, 2021
When a young woman struggles to smile, her depression becomes something truly monstrous.
Spa Day, Dir. Kevin Armento, Jaki Bradley, United States, 2021
An overworked woman cashes in a groupon for an anti-aging body wrap treatment, but soon suspects this spa has nefarious intentions.
Swallow the Universe, Dir. Luis Nieto, France, 2021
The grandiloquent blood-and-thunder saga of a young child lost in Manchuria’s deep jungles. His sudden presence creates complete anarchy in the fauna’s primitive world, which was until-then perfectly organized.
Swept Under, Dir. Ethan Soo, United States, 2022
When a Cambodian adoptee receives a housewarming rug from his American sister, the dark history hidden underneath its surface is revealed.
They See You, Dir. Jared Januschka, United States, 2022
When Robin visits her paranoid sister in their family cabin, she discovers a dark secret.
They’re Here, Dir. Sid Zanforlin, Canada, 2021
A twelve-year-old girl becomes convinced that her grandmother has been invaded by an alien and will stop at nothing to prove she is right… before it’s too late.
Tistlebu, Dir. Simon Matthew Valentine, Norway, 2022
As a young urban couple on a working holiday hopes to connect with nature at Tistlebu farm, a primordial power comes into play, changing them both forever.
Under the Ice, Dir. Alvaro Rodriguez Areny, Spain, 2021
After losing his father in an accident, Edur wakes up in the middle of a nightmare. A presence will haunt him with his worst memories.
While Mortals Sleep, Dir. Alex Fofonoff, USA, 2022
When a cold case novelist’s career implodes, she seeks refuge in her friend’s remote vacation home. Upon arrival, she encounters a strange couple who claim to be the caretakers. As tensions build, a dark secret begins to emerge.
White Devil, Dir. Mariama Diallo, Benjamin Dickenson, United States, 2021
A Black woman’s quarantine experience takes a disturbing turn when the dynamic she has with her white partner is impacted by events happening outside their cozy brownstone.
Wild Bitch, Dir. Rebekka Johnson, Kate Nash, United States, 2022
A quirky thriller about a local reporter’s interview with a mousy housewife about her life-changing encounter with a coyote that leaves them forever bonded with each other… and the beast.
You’ve Never Been Completely Honest, Dir. Joey Izzo, United States, 2022
A hybrid-documentary using animation and reenactment footage to bring to life Gene Church’s never before heard audio interview, recounting the harrowing physical torture and brainwashing at a secretive 4-day leadership seminar in California, 1970
2021 Shorts – A selection of shorts previously co-programmed for Nightstream 2021
Excuse Me, Miss, Miss, Miss, Dir. Sonny Calvento, The Philippines, 2019
Ghost Dogs, Dir. Joe Cappa, United States, 2020
Guts, Dir. Chris McInroy, United States, 2021
Inheritance, Dir. Annalise Lockhart, United States, 2021
Munkie, Dir. Steven Chow, New Zealand, 2021
The Vandal, Dir. Eddie Alcazar, United States, 2021
The festival will also present the three 2020 Overlook shorts programs previously programmed for the virtual festival Nightstream.
The Black Phone, Dir. Scott Derrickson, United States, 2022 (Closing Night Film)
Deadstream, Dir. Joseph Winter, Vanessa Winter, United States, 2022
Flux Gourmet, Dir. Peter Strickland, UK, United States, Hungary, 2022
Jethica, Dir. Pete Ohs, United States, 2022
Resurrection, Dir. Andrew Semans, United States, 2022
Saloum, Dir. Jean Luc Herbulot, Senegal, 2021
Swallowed, Dir. Carter Smith, United States, 2022 (World Premiere)
Watcher, Dir. Chloe Okuno, United States, 2022
Who Invited Them?, Dir. Duncan Birmingham,United States, 2022 (World Premiere)
The Kingcast Presented by FANGORIA, Creators & Hosts: Eric Vespe, Scott Wampler
Nosfera2, Creators: Dream Video Division (Free Screening)
The Pumpkin Pie Show Presented by Quirk Books, Creator, Writer, Performer: Clay McLeod Chapman
Quintron At The Chamberlain Presented by Crescent Canna, Performer: Quintron
Horror movie fanatic who co-founded Bloody Disgusting in 2001. Producer on Southbound, V/H/S/2/3/94, SiREN, Under the Bed, and A Horrible Way to Die. Chicago-based. Horror, pizza and basketball connoisseur. Taco Bell daily. Franchise favs: Hellraiser, Child's Play, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Scream and Friday the 13th. Horror 365 days a year.
The Overlook Film Festival’s First Wave Includes ‘The Black Phone,’ Carter Smith’s ‘Swallowed,’ and More!
“Overlook”: Bad Robot Series Based on ‘The Shining’ Finding New Home After HBO Max Passes
HBO Max Orders ‘The Shining’-Based Series “Overlook” from J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot
The Fantasia International Film Festival is heading back to theaters this year, celebrating its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 14 through August 3, 2022.
While the festival’s full lineup will be announced in late June, Bloody Disgusting has the first wave of titles and a special Career Achievement Award for a hugely influential Hong Kong artist whose extraordinary work was foundational to the festival’s formation.
Here’s the press release with a first look at images from several prominent genre films…
For its 26th edition, Fantasia is proud to honour the groundbreaking Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo with a Career Achievement Award.
With a singular directorial approach, Woo reinvented the conventions of action cinema, its visual language and dramatic codes. Nobody breaks down a sequence like Woo does: his staging is complex, his camera choreographies always elaborate, his mastery of physical performance and stunts unrivaled. His brilliantly original editing patterns are instantly recognizable, as are his slow-motion sequences, employed as much for pathos as to provide poignantly counter-adrenalized flourishes. At the heart of everything, Woo’s films are deeply moral visions,
built around themes of friendship and trust with moving sincerity. Following martial arts films such as HAND OF DEATH (1976), LAST HURRAH FOR CHIVALRY (1979) and beloved comedies such as MONEY CRAZY (1977) and PLAIN JANE TO THE RESCUE (1982), Woo made his name with the groundbreaking heroic bloodshed of films such as A BETTER
TOMORROW (1986), THE KILLER (1989), BULLET IN THE HEAD (1990) and HARD BOILED (1992). Chow Yun-fat, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai and others became international stars under his watchful eye, and by crafting an action cinema – and a genre – of his own, Woo continues to astonish audiences and filmmakers alike, inspiring legions across the world. In the years following this era, Woo has worked alternately in both Hollywood and China, on further blockbuster classics such as HARD TARGET (1993), FACE/OFF (1997), MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE II (2000) and epics such as RED CLIFF I & II (2008, 2009), and THE CROSSING I & II (2014, 2015). He is currently hard at work on SILENT NIGHT, an upcoming return to American filmmaking, starring Joel Kinnaman and Kid Cudi. Fantasia is proud to honor John Woo’s legacy.
SATOSHI MIKI’S UNIQUE CREATIVITY SHOWCASED AT FANTASIA 2022 WITH THE WORLD PREMIERE OF CONVENIENCE STORY AND THE CANADIAN PREMIERE OF WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?
Outstanding filmmaker Satoshi Miki (ADRIFT IN TOKYO) brings us his latest otherworldly adventure. Kato (Ryo Narita, JUST REMEMBERING) is a struggling screenwriter who, one day when stepping out to buy dog food, stumbles into a mysterious convenience store where he discovers he can find anything his heart desires. Satoshi Miki’s CONVENIENCE STORY, which was pitched at the Frontières Co-Production Market, comes full circle with its World Premiere and marks Japan Times film critic Mark Schilling’s debut as a screenwriter.
Miki’s gently eccentric sense of humour further illuminates the festival’s screens with the Canadian Premiere of WHAT TO DO WITH THE DEAD KAIJU?, a sci-fi comedy that brings the Japanese giant-monster genre to a human scale. When a humongous creature dies in a river, authorities choose to use the rotting carcass as a tourist attraction rather than clean up the potential ecological disaster. This political satire in the spirit of DON’T LOOK UP takes a funny and pertinent look at our indifference towards environmental crises. North American Premiere.
Ryan Kwanten (TRUE BLOOD) and J.K. Simmons (WHIPLASH) star in veteran genre journalist, filmmaker, and podcaster Rebekah McKendry’s wickedly funny, mind-bending mix of comedy, horror, sci-fi and gloriously indescribable weirdness. In GLORIOUS, After a breakup, Wes (Kwanten) ends up at a remote rest stop and finds himself locked inside the bathroom with a mysterious figure speaking from an adjacent stall. Soon Wes realizes he has found himself in a nightmare scenario more terrible than he could ever imagine. World Premiere.
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF RODRIGO GUDIÑO’S THE BREACH INAUGURATES FANTASIA’S “SEPTENTRION SHADOWS” SECTION!
Fantasia is proud to announce a new section in the festival’s programming: SEPTENTRION SHADOWS, dedicated to showcasing Canadian cinema that captures the weird, the dangerous, things full of wonder, and (almost) everything in between. Curated by programmer, critic and podcaster Carolyn Mauricette, the section will be launched this summer with the World Premiere of Rodrigo Gudiño’s THE BREACH.
As the founder and president of Rue Morgue Magazine, Rodrigo Gudiño has lived a life immersed in the horror genre. After many years in publishing, he began directing in 2006 and made his debut feature, THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF ROSALIND LEIGH, in 2013.
Now, In Fantasia’s 26th year, he’s back with THE BREACH. This adaptation of Canadian horror author Nick Cutter’s novel, who co-wrote the screenplay with Ian Weir, tells of a mysterious and gruesome death in the forests of Northern Ontario and the chaos that follows. Starring Allan Hawco (REPUBLIC OF DOYLE) and Emily Alatalo (SPARE PARTS), audiences can expect tension, plenty of prosthetic gore, and a score by GUNS N’ ROSES guitar great—and the film’s executive producer— Slash. World Premiere.
Monique (Gabby Beans, HOUSE OF CARDS) leaves her family quarantine to help a friend who’s suffering from terrible nightmares – but she learns too late that the bad dreams are contagious, along with the demon behind them. Award-winning Writer/Director Andy Mitton (THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW, WE GO ON) returns with his unique brand of empathetic supernatural horror. Deeply sad, deeply scary and all-out stunning in its power to probe collective trauma, THE HARBINGER bursts with occult imagination, exploring the anxiety and disorientation of the last few years in ways that only Mitton could. World Premiere.
The dynamic duo of the great Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER) and the brilliant screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (TOO YOUNG TO DIE!) elevate the adventures of the ostentatious mole Reiji to unprecedented levels when the Machiavellian yakuza clan he infiltrated tries to import pasta made entirely of methamphetamines: speed-a-ronis. THE MOLE SONG: FINAL masterfully recreates the extravagant universe of Noboru Takahashi’s manga, with endangered kawaii puppets, dirty jokes, larger-than-life characters, and an unforgettable finale. The stellar cast is led by Tomas Ikuta (GRASSHOPPER), who outdoes himself with an absolutely hilarious physical performance. North American Premiere
George Jones (Ben Hall, MINARI) invites country music superstar Troyal Brooks (Mickey Reece) out on the town in Nashville in 1994 – the night before George is to be cryogenically frozen. At once hilarious and deeply affecting, COUNTRY GOLD is the 29th feature of Oklahoma indie maverick Mickey Reece (CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER, AGNES), reuniting the filmmaker with Hall, who’s never been better. A heartfelt outsider rumination on legacy and what it means to reach the age where one has more to reflect on than to look forward to. World Premiere.
Prolific filmmaker Karim Ouelhaj, Méliès d’Or winner for THE FROZEN EYE (2016), brings us his fourth feature and by far his most savage. His sharp examination of societal anguish blends into this genre-adoring film that no horror devotee would dare miss. Carried by the breathtaking performance of lead actor Eline Schumacher and her descent into insanity, MEGALOMANIAC digs deep into the sordid true story of Belgian serial killer, The Butcher of Mons. MEGALOMANIAC is a nightmare of mystical violence anchored in the reality of female persecution and gendered abuse. World Premiere.
KAPPEI BRINGS JAPANESE COMEDY TO A NEW LEVEL OF PURE APOCALYPTIC FUN
Nostradamus predicted that the world would end in 1999, but he royally screwed up. In 2022, Kappei and his fellow doomsday warriors, isolated and trained since their childhood, must learn to live a “normal” life with great supernatural powers – but no social skills whatsoever. In his feature directorial debut KAPPEI, Takashi Hirano (producer of KAMIKAZE GIRLS) creates a wonderfully whimsical coming-of-age action-comedy with the help of screenwriter Yuichi Tokunaga (FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA) and a devilishly funny performance from Actor Hideaki Ito (LESSON OF THE EVIL, TOKYO VICE). North American Premiere.
MOLOCH is the hotly anticipated feature debut from acclaimed Dutch filmmaker Nico van den Brink. This is his follow-up to his award-winning shorts THE BURDEN (currently being adapted into a feature film co-produced by James Wan and Sam Raimi) and SWEET TOOTH, both of which premiered at Fantasia. Drenched in creeping dread, MOLOCH tells the story of 38-year-old Betriek (Sallie Harmsen, BLADE RUNNER 2049) who lives at the edge of a peat bog in the Northern Netherlands. As inexplicable horrors mount, she gradually becomes convinced that she is being hunted by something ancient. International Premiere.
Vying for ANIME SUPREMACY! is no small feat. The anime industry of Japan is enormous, with 200 new TV shows and two trillion yen in revenue each year. Soft-spoken yet strong-willed anime director Hitomi Saito (Riho Yoshioka) has climbed the ranks, and is now set to direct a series of her own. Meanwhile, the difficult but undeniably brilliant director Chiharu Oji (Tomoya Nakamura) is gunning for his big comeback… and there can be only one number-one! This heartfelt, hilarious and thoroughly researched comedy-drama shows the struggle of making it to the top without compromising on vision, from director and CG animator Kohei Yoshino. North American Premiere.
Otherworldly demons and magical bloodlines threaten to reshape the world in LEGION, an ingenious Argentinian folk horror powder keg by Fabian Forte (DEAD MAN TELLS HIS OWN TALE). While evil forces descend on Argentina, humanity’s best hope, a once-legendary shaman (Germán De Silva, WILD TALES), is confined to an insane asylum, powerless to avert the demonic resurrection. This outlandishly fun horror/comedy is reminiscent of early Álex de la Iglesia, steeped in cultural vibrancy, ritual magic and a cavalcade of creatures. Canadian Premiere.
Chan-woo is on his fifth attempt to get into the police academy, when his friends make him a strange offer to pay the registration fee in exchange for just one drink at the bar. The next morning, he wakes up hungover in his loud neighbour’s apartment with a corpse lying face down in a pool of blood. With a meticulous script that rewards an observant viewer and an inspired comedic performance by lead actor Oh Dong-min (KINGDOM), writer/director Yeom Ji-ho’s impressive first feature NEXT DOOR delivers an engaging, claustrophobic black comedy reminiscent of Sabu’s classic MONDAY set in a single location. North American Premiere.
A microbudget flick with a vastly creative design and twisted story, Alex Philipp’s debut feature ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS is a squirmy trip into the depths of arthouse horror cinema. A cavalcade of upcoming performers, as flamboyant and daring as John Waters’ dreamlanders, bring a vibrating excess to their wormhead characters. Inspired by Cassavetes and Hennenlotter, Philips delivers a wriggling, drug-induced creature feature nightmare, TRAINSPOTTING meets BRAIN DAMAGE with a dash of VIDEODROME. Underground filmmaking at its best for a ride to hell. Become one with the dirt! Realise your full potential! Nothing is real and everything is permitted. World Premiere.
An abrasive homegrown genre-adjacent film that mines West Island alienation for all its worth, THE DIABETIC is the latest low-fi fiction from Mitchell Stafiej (A, THE DEVIL’S TRAP) about how dark and dirty a desperate diabetic’s desolate night out can turn. Shot in 16mm, edited on VHS, only to be converted back to 16mm, Stafiej crafts a grimy underground film the likes of which the West Island has never seen. Co-presented by Les Fantastiques weekends du Cinema QC. World Premiere.
Named one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine, Tyler Taormina and Jonathan Davies’s LA-based Omnes Films collective unveils two personal fantasias in the Camera Lucida section — dedicated to films at the intersection of genre and arthouse.
HAPPER’S COMET pulls us in with a muddy cob of corn; a sound recorder extended out a window; a stalled car and rollerblades attached to Converses. As we peek into the late night routines of various mysterious characters, time and place creeps in, coalescing around familiar fragments of Americana. Tyler Taormina follows 2018’s askew coming of age film HAM ON RYE with a foreboding midnight mosaic; evoking nocturnal loneliness, drifting uncertainty, and a pang of hope in the darkness. Canadian Premiere.
In TOPOLOGY OF SIRENS, Cas (Courtney Stephens), an academic and amateur musician, moves into her aunt’s old home. The discovery of a mysterious hurdy-gurdy prompts another find: microcassette tapes nestled in the instrument, labeled with cryptic symbols and containing abstract soundscapes. Cas’ detective story begins against the backdrop of a lush California town populated by audiophiles, experimentalists, tinkerers, VJs and collectors. This fantastical, shimmering debut from Jonathan Davies, operates like an airy, sun-kissed subversion of traditional L.A. noirs. Canadian Premiere.
Amanda Kramer invites us to a subversive Primetime Double Feature Spectacular, subverting Beatnik culture and variety shows in one swift, cinematic motion.
In Amanda Kramer’s PLEASE BABY PLEASE, newlyweds Suze (Andrea Riseborough, MANDY) and Arthur (Harry Melling, THE QUEEN’S GAMBIT) are a picture-perfect Beatnik couple. Proud bohemians, they go through life with the certainty of their convictions… until they encounter the Young Gents – a leather-clad gang of greasers that terrorizes their neighborhood with pocket knives and genderbending ways. Soon, our central couple begins questioning their sexuality, and ultimately their relationship. Co-starring Karl Glusman (LOVE) and Demi Moore (GHOST). Canadian Premiere.
Sissy St. Claire (Sophie Von Haselberg) has one dream: making it big! In GIVE ME PITY! she hosts an extravagant variety show, full of gossip, glamour, vanity, and a creeping sense of disillusionment. To top it all off, a hooded man lurks in the wings, threatening to shut it all down. Amanda Kramer’s delightful horror-tinged cringe comedy, is a satirical send-up of American television, propelled by the spectacular performance at its center. North American Premiere. ***
In JUST REMEMBERING, Teruo (Sosuke Ikematsu, SHOPLIFTERS), a former dancer, is turning 34. Yo (Sairi Ito, ASAKO I & II), his ex-lover, makes a living as a cab driver in a COVID-stricken Tokyo. When she catches a glimpse of her ex on stage, memories flood back in. Inspired by Jarmusch’s classic NIGHT ON EARTH, director Daigo Matsui unspools rom-com conventions and beautifully depicts the ways we construct relationships and process memories. It’s a perfect match for the upset and melancholy of these past few years on Earth. Audience Award, Tokyo IFF 2021. North American Premiere.
In FAST & FEEL LOVE, we meet Kao (Nat Kitcharit), a 30-year-old who has devoted his entire life to the competitive sport of… cup stacking! But as adulthood looms, his girlfriend Jay (Urassaya Sperbund) dumps him and he finds himself at a crossroads. Following HEART ATTACK (Fantasia 2016), Thai iconoclast Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit returns to the festival with his first “action film.” Quirky and satirical (structured around nods to various blockbuster hits, from FAST & FURIOUS to PARASITE) FAST & FEEL LOVE is a playful, surprising comedy about “competitive adulting!” Canadian Premiere.
Alexandre O. Philippe dissects film history like no other documentarian before him. From Monument Valley’s depiction in westerns in THE TAKING, to Hitchcock’s shower scene in 78/52 through Philippe’s lens, every detail is explored and expanded upon for a meditation on Cinema itself. In his latest work, LYNCH/OZ, featuring interviews with film fetishists such as John Waters, David Lowery and Rodney Ascher, Philippe leads us through a maze where the green emerald city and blue velvet curtain intertwine. Over the rainbow and underneath the surface, the story of David Lynch and THE WIZARD OF OZ. Canadian Premiere.
In Bryan Storkel (FIGHT CHURCH) and Amy Bandlien’s new film THE PEZ OUTLAW, the filmmakers explore the adventures of the International Pez Smuggler Steve Glew. This stranger-than-fiction tale of espionage and Wonka-esque whimsy follows the lovable underdog who managed to elude (and royally annoy) the powerful corporation for years and invites us into the heart of the Pez community: an eclectic band of passionate hobbyists that will feel all-too-familiar to most of us festival goers. Who knew true crime documentaries could be this sweet? International Premiere.
AXIS: ACCENT ON ANIMATION FROM ASIA
Fantasia’s Animation Section Looks East, For Anime And More
Already explored in literature, comics, and documentary film, the story of Chun Tae-Il, whose ultimate sacrifice galvanized the labour-rights movement in South Korea, is one that still reverberates half a century later. Director Hong Jun-pyo’s historical biography CHUN TAE-IL: A FLAME THAT LIVES ON honours its subject with emotionally charged storytelling and splendid visual craft, mixing tragedy and hope in this South Korean animated feature that will appeal to all age groups. North American Premiere.
Hong’s feature is just part of a special Korean Animation Spotlight at Fantasia 2022. Long overlooked as little more than a factory for Japanese and American cartoons, South Korea has steadily built a national animation community whose films are now among the world’s best, both technically and artistically. Fantasia’s spotlight showcases a slate of brand-new short films as well as retrospectives, a children’s program, and a masterclass with Kim Kangmin, director of the award-winning short KKUM.
A dark and monstrous creature becomes the guardian of an innocent human child in the affecting gothic anime fairytale THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, co-directed by rising talents Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya. The pair world-premiered their short film adaptation of Nagabe’s cult manga at Fantasia 2019, and with this feature they bring the elegant, enigmatic tale of Shiva and Teacher to the screen once again. Canadian Premiere.
Bristling with energy and inspiration, INU-OH, the new feature film from anime radical Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME, DEVILMAN CRYBABY) is an absolute tour-de-force. Ancient Japanese history is reimagined as a riotous rock opera, rendered all the more feverish and fantastical by Yuasa’s storytelling panache and astonishing inventiveness, not to mention Taiyo Matsumoto’s amazing character designs. Quebec Premiere.
A mystical kingdom is eternally blessed with life and abundance, but should the princess Opal’s joy be lost and sadness take hold of her heart, darkness and ruin will blight the realm. OPAL, the second feature film from Martinique’s Alain Bidard (BATTLEDREAM CHRONICLE, 2015), is a sumptuous animated fairy tale, filled with a rich Afro-Caribbean sensibility and profound psychological undercurrents, and has already scooped up awards at festivals around the world. Canadian Premiere.
BABY ASSASSINS (Japan) – Dir: Yugo Sakamoto
Two teenage assassins adjust to being roommates and search for menial part-time jobs while battling a psychopathic yakuza boss and his bratty son and daughter. A double-barrelled blast of action-comedy that teams up stage musical star Akari Takaishi and stuntwoman Ayaori Izawa. Quebec Premiere.
DEADSTREAM (USA) – Dirs: Vanessa Winter, Joseph Winter
Disgraced and demonetized after a public controversy, a washed up Internet personality tries to win back his followers by livestreaming himself spending one night alone in an abandoned haunted house. Unfortunately, he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit. A wild, splatstick cross between EVIL DEAD and the most ill-fated livestream imaginable. Official Selection: SXSW 2022. Canadian Premiere.
EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH (Belgium) – Dir: Véronique Jadin
From the absurd to the heartbreaking, Véronique Jadin covers it all in her darkly comedic and surprisingly bloody look at sexism in office culture. The cast pulls out all the stops with its number of insane and nail-biting moments. Official Selection: Tribeca 2022. Canadian Premiere.
INCREDIBLE BUT TRUE (France) – Dir: Quentin Dupieux
Alain and Marie move to a quiet suburb. A mysterious tunnel in the cellar of their new home will turn their lives upside down. An inspired burst of lunacy from Quentin Dupieux (MANDIBLES,
DEERSKIN, WRONG), starring Alain Chabat, Léa Drucker, Benoît Magimel and Anaïs Demoustier. Official Selection: Berlin International Film Festival 2022. North American Premiere.
ON THE LINE (South Korea) – Dir: Kim Sun, Kim Gok
Rarely has an action film managed to generate as much excitement and anxiety as this timely dive into the maze of voice phishing scams, where an ex-detective embarks on a dangerous mission to infiltrate and dismantle a huge cartel of invisible fraudsters. Canadian Premiere.
RESURRECTION (USA) – Dir: Andrew Semans
Rebecca Hall, Tim Roth and Grace Kaufman star in this fiercely absorbing work of psychological horror that explores the twisting emotions of unresolved trauma. You will be shocked. You will be devastated. You will be left frozen in an absolute daze. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SHARP STICK (USA) – Dir: Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham’s return to feature filmmaking is an honest, boundary-pushing comedy of sexual discovery that entertains and surprises with its unique tone. Vibrant, with a pitch-perfect cast that includes Kristine Froseth, Taylour Paige, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jon Bernthal, Scott Speedman and the writer/director herself. Official Selection: Sundance 2022. Canadian Premiere.
SPEAK NO EVIL (Denmark) – Dir: Christian Tafdrup
The Danish shocker that pulverized Sundance is coming to Canada. Equal parts smart, dark social satire and a masterclass of dread-building, this singularly squirm-inducing nightmare is going to stay with you for years. Official Selection: Göteborg Film Festival 2022. Canadian Premiere.
A second wave of Fantasia 2022 titles will be announced in early June with the full lineup to be revealed in late June, ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards. For more information, visit our website www.fantasiafestival.com
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