Festivals - Fantasia 2021 : Finale Wave Of Titles & Events Announced for 25th Edition

By Mulder, 21 july 2021

The Fantasia International Film Festival announces a massive new assortment of feature films for its 25th edition, along with details on scheduled panels, talks, tributes, special events, and our esteemed juries. On top of our impressive virtual slate of films, all geo-locked to Can-ada, and in addition to our globally accessible streamed events, the upcoming festival will also feature a limited number of in-person screenings in Montreal.  

Fantasia begins August 5th with the World Premiere of Quebec zombie feature Brain freeze— following the August 4th special event screening of James Gunn’s The suicide squad in celebration of the festival— and ends on August 25th with newly an-nounced closing film, Takashi Miike’s hotly-anticipated The great yokai war - guardians.  The honor of Closing Film belongs to the great Takashi Miike (Audition, 13 Assassins), a constant yet always surprising presence in the festival’s long history.  The great yokai war - guardians, a sequel to the great yokai war, which opened Fantasia in 2006, plunges the audience into the fairy-tale world of friendly Japanese demons that overflows with creativity. With its kaiju references, unifying story, festive atmosphere, love for popular culture, and spectacular direction from the festival’s favorite filmmaker, it’s the perfect movie to close out this 25th anniversary. 

What Josiah saw (World Premiere)

In director Vincent Grashaw’s Southern Gothic nightmare What Josiah saw, an estranged family grapples with the sins of the past… yanking the skeletons right out of their closet, kicking and screaming all the way! The superlative cast includes Robert Patrick, Nick Stahl, Kelli Garner, Tony Hale, Scott Haze and Jake Weber. It’s this year’s The dark and the wicked. 

The devil’s deal (World Premiere)

In his first picture since the Cannes selection The gangster, the cop, the devil, Lee Won-tae returns with the masterfully directed The devil’s deal. What starts as a critical political satire escalates into a white-hot thriller in which corruption, insider trading, and organized crime run the show. Leading a fabulous cast, actor Cho Jin-woong (Me and Me) delivers one of the best performances of his career, portraying with disarming naturalism the multiple facets of an ambitious and tortured politician, as endearing as he is loathsome, whose life literally depends on his election. With its immersive score, captivating plot, and clever twists, The devil's deal is a must-see. 

Bull (World Premiere)

A feared gang enforcer (Neil Maskell, Kill list), vanished for ten years, returns to hunt the mobsters he once ran with in Bull, the ferocious British revenge thriller from BAFTA-winner Paul Andrew Williams (London to Brighton). A brutal and subversive work that frequently plays out like a horror film, stunningly executed and grounded by well-scripted characters, with a cast that includes Tamzin Outhwaite (Eastenders) and David Hayman (Taboo, Sid and Nancy) in a frightening turn that ranks with the strongest of British mob-ster portrayals. 

Tokyo Revenger (International Premiere)

Takemichi may just have a chance to change the future – if he can survive his own past! A jawbreaking, juvenile delinquent street fight royale combined with a high-stakes time travel thriller and dashes of adolescent angst and romantic comedy, Tokyo revengers is the live-action feature adaptation of Ken Wakui’s enormously popular award-winning manga of the same name. Director Tsutomu Hanabusa (KakeguruI 1 and 2, also at Fantasia this year) succeeds mightily at adapting this complex science-fiction story; amid a barrage of bloody, brutal hoodlum battles, he still finds room for the sweetness of first love. 

Glasshouse (World Premiere)

A memory-shredding neurochemical permeates the atmosphere like airborne dementia, but safe within an airtight glasshouse a family preserves their past through rituals of collective memory. Sensual and savage, Glasshouse weaves aspects of dystopian science fiction with notes of folk horror and perverse, brooding, Gothic melodrama to craft a taught existential tale that ultimately explores the importance of storytelling and memory. It’s a stunning feature debut from South African filmmaker Kelsey Egan, starring Adrienne Pearce, Jessica Alexander, Anja Taljaard, and Hilton Pelser. 

Follow the light (World Premiere) 

Freshly arrived from Tokyo to a fading village in the Japanese countryside, Akira becomes fascinated with an isolated girl who is obsessed with a crop circle in her grandfather's fields. This multilayered, sci-fi coming-of-age story by first-time director Yoichi Narita is a true gem with a dazzling narrative. The majestic, rich cinematography, which highlights the magnificent rural landscapes, and judicious use of music recall Shunji Iwai's masterpiece All about lily chou-chou. follow the light will leave a lasting impression with its soft visual splendour and sensitive storytelling. 

Ida Red (North American Premiere)

Midwest filmmaker John Swab (Let me make you a martyr) returns to Fantasia with Ida Red, a propulsive, gripping, crime thriller that escalates his career to the big leagues. Cast-as-criminals Josh Hartnett, Frank Grillo, and Melissa Leo (as a modern Ma Barker) have never been better.

The Sadness (North american Premiere)

In an alternate version of Taiwan, a rapidly spreading pandemic suddenly mutates into a rabies-like affliction, and the infected find themselves unable to control their id. A nightmare vision steeped in unspeakably upsetting moments of violence, Rob Jabbaz’s The sadness plays like a return to the no-holds-barred shock sensibilities of ’90s Hong Kong Category III films. Electrified with an existential fear that punches spikes of panic energy straight into your nervous system, and told with incredible style, THE SADNESS is a force to be reckoned with. Fantasia is proud to be bringing this extreme horror rollercoaster to North American shores, hot off its bow at Locarno..

The deer-King (North American Premiere)

Follow-ing its world premiere at Annecy, and ahead of theatrical release in Japan, comes the highly an-ticipated The deer king, co-directed by anime veterans Masashi Ando and Masayuki Miyaji. Based on the books by bestselling Japanese fantasy author Nahoko Uehashi, the epic saga of the legendary warrior Broken Antler Van comes to life with the peerless standards of quality we expect from the studios of Production I.G (Ghost in the shell, Neon genesis evangelion). Elegant and exacting design and animation seamlessly pair with Uehashi’s sturdy world-building and compelling conflicts to create a transporting animated otherworldly tale. 

Don’t say its name (World Premiere)

When an environmental activist is called back to the world of the living after a suspicious accident takes her life, an ancient spirit is reborn outside a small northern town. With a wealth of Indigenous talent both in front of and behind the camera, Don’t say its name, the eerie feature debut from director/co-writer Rueben Martell, builds its chills with compellingly real characters and strong performances from Madison Walsh (Something undone), Sera-Lys McArthur (Outlander), Samuel Marty (Godless), Carla Fox, and Julian Black-Antelope (Hold the dark). 

Grand blue dreaming (North American Premiere)

Stuck in a surreal, nudist loop somewhere between Groundhog day and Memento, two young men end up trapped in a scuba diving club full of muscular party animals and pretty girls with a temper. Based on a popular manga series, Grand blue dreaming, by Tsutomu Hanabusa (Tokyo revengers), is as weird as it is hilarious. Astonishingly fast-paced and loaded with politically incorrect humor, this wild comedy also finds moments of calmness with beautiful and relaxing underwater shots.

The Deep house (North American Premiere)

Two daredevil Youtubers with a passion for abandoned urban edifices film themselves as they take a deep dive into the bottom of a lake where there lies a mysterious house with a sinister past. Award-winning French genre maestros Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury (Inside, Kandisha) display numerous filmic skills with this intelligent found footage style feature. The immersive darkness, the floating strangeness, The deep house takes us down and further down, from mere unfamiliar discomfort to absolute and unfathomable terror. 

Midnight (Canadian Premiere)

A wave of murders hits the city and, lurking in the shadows, a killer has just identified his new prey – a deaf woman. South Korea has become the go-to source for fans of dark, intense, un-predictable thrillers that deliver cutthroat tension, and Kwon Oh-seung's debut feature Midnight follows in this tradition. A breathless tale boasting hallucinatory sound design that relishes in testing the nerves of even the most seasoned viewers. 

When i consume you (World Premiere)

A brother and sister face off against a mysterious force responsible for years of devastating mis-fortunes in When i consume you, a haunting new work from award-winning indie filmmaker Perry Blackshear. Reuniting with Evan Dumouchel, MacLeod Andrews, and Margaret Ying Drake, the core acting trio of his previous films They look like people and The siren, Blackshear and his team dole out powerful blows of tragedy, devastation, and personal struggle while a demonic figure looms just out of focus, yellow eyes burning in the background. 

Septet: the story of Hong Kong (Quebec Premiere)

A sifu hardens his students with “Exercise” in Sammo Hung’s evocation of childhood. Ann Hui stages a stirring tribute to Hong Kong educators in “Headmaster.” Patrick Tam Kar-Ming depicts the emigration of Hong Kongers by way of an impressionistic love story, “Tender is the Night.” Master action choreographer and director Yuen Woo-ping addresses generational divides in the 90s with “Homecoming.” Johnnie To details the city’s capitalistic hustle in “Bonanza.” The ex-panding harbour opens the floodgates of memory in Ringo Lam’s posthumous film “Astray,” and the decade to come is evoked by Tsui Hark’s futuristic, tongue-in-cheek closer “Conversation in Depth.” An exceptional omnibus comes to us at a crucial time in Hong Kong history, Septet: the story of Hong Kong reunites seven legendary Hong Kong directors for a heartfelt project composed of personal, resonant stories. 

Catch the fair one (International Premiere)

A mixed Indigenous ex-boxer infiltrates the sex trafficking world in search of her missing sister in this ferocious thriller propelled by a commanding performance from WBA Super Lightweight Champion Kali “K.O. Mequinonoag” Reis. Pulverizing with fury and grief, Catch the fair one is the culmination of a four-year collaboration with director Josef Kubota Wladyka (Manos sucias), who co-wrote with his star. As much a hard-hitting revenge thriller as it is a personal interpretation of true crimes, the film addresses North America’s horrific crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women with urgency. Co-produced by Darren Aronofsky and 2021 Oscar-winner Mollye Asher (Nomadland) and winner of the Audience Award for Best Nar-rative Feature at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival. 

On the 3rd day (International Premiere)

 The latest from Argentinean director Daniel de la Vega (White coffin) and production house Del Toro Films (South America’s answer to Hammer Studios), On the 3rd day follows an an-guished mother (Mariana Anghileri) trying to find her missing son, and the missing memory of what happened on the night of a terrible car accident. 

The night house (Canadian Premiere)

From director David Bruckner (The ritual, The signal) comes The night house. Reeling from the unexpected death of her husband, Beth (Rebecca Hall) is left alone in the lakeside home he built for her. She tries as best she can to keep it together – but then nightmares come. Disturbing visions of a presence in the house calling to her, beckoning her with a ghostly allure. Against the advice of her friends, she begins digging into her husband’s belongings, yearn-ing for answers. What she finds are secrets both strange and disturbing – a mystery she’s deter-mined to unravel. The night house stars Rebecca Hall (Godzilla vs. Kong), Sarah Goldberg (Barry, Elementary), Vondie Curtis Hall (Die hard 2, Eve’s bayou), Evan Jonigkeit (Togetherish, Sweetbitter), and Stacy Martin (Vox lux, Nymphomaniac). 

Midnight in a perfect world (North American Premiere)

Near-future Manila is now a “perfect” world; the powerful forces keep it so, thoroughly hidden from view yet pressing down subconsciously and oppressively on the citizens. With rumoured blackouts happening around the city past midnight, the only refuge becomes government-sanctioned “safe houses'' scattered around Manila. While many believe them to be a hoax, the truth of what they cover up may be something far worse. Taking its title from a DJ Shadow cut, and unfolding with an air of Philip K. Dickian strangeness, Dodo Dayao’s (Violator) long-awaited sophomore effort Midnight in a perfect world is, like his previous film, a uniquely savvy and nightmarish trip befitting the world’s ongoing dystopian situation, and one that cements Dayao’s unique voice in independent Filipino cinema. 

Coming home in the dark (New Zealand) (Quebec Premiere)

Dir. James Ashcroft 
This extraordinary neo-noir is a blisteringly tense road movie into hell that plays like a home-invasion thriller set largely in a moving car. Based on the 1995 short story by award-winning New Zealand author Owen Marshall, described by David Hill as “one of the most harrowing nar-ratives in our literature.” Official Selection: Sundance 2021, Calgary Underground Film Festival 2021. 

The feast (UK) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Lee Haven Jones 
Shot entirely in the Welsh language and crafted with intelligence and cruelty, The Feast plays like a modern fairy tale for greed-fueled end-times. It’s a striking feature debut from BAFTA-winning director Lee Haven Jones (35 DAYS, DOCTOR WHO) dripping with atmosphere, this grotesque shocker is a standout in cinema’s current folk horror revival. Official Selection: SXSW 2021. 

Fighter (South Korea) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Jéro Yun 
Life is a constant struggle for Jina, a North Korean refugee, but she finds her path in boxing. Director Jéro Yun judiciously uses close-up shots highlighting the glances and silences that say much more than words, thanks to near-surgical editing, displaying a transcendent presence by actress Lim Seong-mi. Official Selection: Berlinale 2021, Busan International Film Festival 2021. 

Hand Rolled cigarette (Hong Kong) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Chan Kin-Long 
Triad intrigue involving turtles, smuggled drugs, and instant noodles in the underbelly of neon HK in this refreshing film noir action that recently won the White Mulberry Award for best de-but feature at the Udine Far East Film Festival. 

Josee  (South Korea) 

Dir. Kim Jeong-kwan 
After an incident that leaves her electric wheelchair disabled, Josée is rescued by Young-seok, who she then brings in to discover her unique imaginary world. A beautiful, moving, charming, and visually polished film by Kim Jeong-kwan faithfully adapted from the popular novel Josee, the Tiger and the Fish. Official Selection: Busan International Film Festival 2021. 

One second champion (Hong Kong) (Canadian Premiere)

Hong Kong – Dir. Chiu Sin-Hang 
With the power to see one second into the future, loser Chow becomes a winner in the ring. It’s Rocky with a high concept and loaded with more humor and high-pressure fun— Hong Kong style, from one of the directors of Fantasia 2017’s Vampire cleanup department. Official Selection: Udine Far East Film Festival 2021. 

Opération luchador (Quebec) (North American Premiere)

dir. Alain Vézina 
Mexican wrestler L’Ange Doré is back, and he's confronting the dark designs of the Third Reich. Film teacher and documentarian Alain Vézina (LES SOEURS DE NAGASAKI, 2018) embrac-es the mockumentary genre wholeheartedly with his latest joyous delirium. 

Seobok (South Korea) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Lee Yong-joo 
A former secret service agent (GongYoo, TRAIN TO BUSAN) struggling with a brain tumor must return to duty for a mission of the utmost importance: protecting Seobok (Park Bo-gum, COIN LOCKER GIRL), the first human clone who has unnatural powers. Few mainstream films integrate ethical reflection with breathtaking, high-octane entertainment to this incredible extent. 

Sweetie, you won’t believe it (Kazakhstan) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Yernar Nurgaliyev 
Seasoned Kazakh comedy director Yernar Nurgaliyev plunges into horror-comedy for the first time, serving us a fresh, dynamic mix of genres while spicing it with Kazakh flair in this award-winning film. Imagine texas chainsaw massacre meets The hangover. 

Under the open sky (Japan) (Quebec Premiere)

Dir. Miwa Nishikawa 
A former driver for the yakuza has just spent 13 years behind bars. Determined to reintegrate into society, he discovers a hostile and changing Japan that he struggles to recognize. Miwa Nishikawa's (The long excuse) gripping Under the open sky features Koji Yakusho (Tokyo Sonata) in one of his most moving roles. Official Selection: TIFF 2020. 

Wild men (Denmark) (Canadian Premiere)

Dir. Thomas Daneskov 
Armed only with a bow and an ensemble of animal skins, Martin (Rasmus Bjerg, All for one) sets off into the forest in a misguided attempt to overcome his midlife crisis. A chance meeting with a fugitive named Musa (Zaki Youssef, Sons of Denmark) leads to a twisted trip through the fjords with police, drug runners, and Martin’s family not far behind. Those who have any doubt that the funniest movies being made today come from Denmark need not look any further. Official Selection: Tribeca 2021. 

The Camera Lucida section adds this final title to its competition, along with the following selection of short and medium-length films: Aquatic bird (China – Dir. Zhang Nan); Born pisces (Japan – Dir. Yoko Yamanaka); Death valley (United States – Dir. Grace Sloan); Double helix (China – Dir. Qiu Sheng); Noses on the run (South Korea - Dir. Kim Boram) and Taipei suicide story (Taiwan – Dir. KEFF).

The festival passport is already on sale online and individual tickets, for both virtual and theatrical screenings, will go on sale Friday, July 23rd at 1PM EDT.

The 25th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will be presented by Videotron in collaboration with Desjardins, and will be made possible thanks to the financial assistance of the Government of Quebec, SODEC, Telefilm Canada, the City of Montreal, the Conseil des arts of Montreal and Tourisme Montréal. A final wave of Fantasia 2021 titles will be announced in late July, with ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards.

For more information, visit us on the web at www.fantasiafestival.com

(Source : press release)