Festivals - Fantasia 2023: The festival announces a dazzling first wave of titles for its 27th edition

By Mulder, 11 may 2023

Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its 27th edition from July 20 to August 9, 2023 with an original, never-before-seen program of screenings, panels, workshops and launches to be presented at Concordia University's Cinéma Hall, the Cinémathèque québécoise and the Cinéma du Musée.

A look at South Korean cinema, the Canadian Pioneer Award to underground legend Larry Kent, new works by Larry Fessenden, Xavier Gens, Jenn Wexler, the Adams Family and Victor Ginzburg in world premiere, and the international premieres of Tsutomu Hanabusa's blockbusters Tokyo revengers 2 - part 1 & 2 among the first wave of titles announced for the 27th edition of Fantasia!

With the full festival program set to be unveiled in early July, the Fantasia team is thrilled and excited to unveil this first wave of titles and events.

Since the selection of Kang Je-gyu's Ginko bed in 1998, Fantasia has been one of the world's most visible festivals for South Korean cinema. Over the years, audiences have been able to discover the work of a number of now indisputable auteurs, including Bong Joon-ho (Barking dogs never bite), Park Chan-wook (Sympathy for mr. vengeance), Kim Ji-woon (The quiet family), Hwang Dong-hyuk (MISS GRANNY), Yeon Sang-ho (The king of pigs) and many others. Today, these filmmakers are lighting up the international scene and setting all kinds of distribution platforms alight.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea, the Fantasia International Film Festival is proud to celebrate this unique national cinema, in collaboration with the Korean Cultural Centre of Canada and the Cinémathèque québécoise. On this occasion, the focus will be on the vitality of current Korean works and the versatility of its creators, working in a multitude of genres ranging from action to art-house, from breathtaking thrillers to wild musicals. The festival will also feature a retrospective showcasing several landmark works that led to the revival of Korean cinema in the 2000s, a period whose effervescence has never waned. Here are some of the films selected

Take Care Of My Cat
The North American premiere of New Normal, a topical horror anthology by Jung Bum-shik (gonjiam: haunted asylum); the Canadian premiere of An Tae-jin's The Night Owl; the muscular The Roundup: no way out by Lee Sang-yong, in its Quebec premiere; as well as the 4K restoration of Jeong Jae-un's Take care of my cat (2001), starring Bae Doona in one of her first roles, and a screening of the must-see The president's last bang (2005) by master Im Sang-soo.

Lovely, dark, and deep
A superb, terrifying nightmare, Lovely, dark, and deep is the directorial debut of Teresa Sutherland, screenwriter of The Wind and one of the authors of Midnight Mass. This visually arresting film stars Georgina Campbell (Barbarian) as a forest ranger haunted by visions where the past, present and something even more sinister become entangled, as mysterious disappearances multiply in the forest. Also starring Nick Blood, Wai Ching Ho and Edgar Morais. World premiere.

Empire V
A disillusioned student (Pavel Tabakov) is invited to join the "elite" and is transformed into a vampire in this film from acclaimed Russian-American director Victor Ginzburg (Generation P). His rich visual imagination is matched by a story that reinvents virtually every aspect of the vampire myth. This is the Matrix of vampire films. Also starring Miron Fedorov, also known as the rapper Oxxxymiron, whose anti-war benefit concerts led the Russian Justice Minister to condemn him as a "foreign agent". EmpirE V has been banned in Russia, so citizens of that country may never see it. World premiere.

Tokyo Revengers
Takemichi is distraught when Mio dies once again in an accident - or was it really an accident? He travels back in time to save her and discovers that Tokyo's Majikai gang has ruined her life again. Nothing can prepare you for the amount of action, suspense and emotion packed into Tokyo revengers 2 - part 1 and Tokyo revengers 2 - Part 2! Director Tsutomu Hanabusa outdoes himself with two powerful new chapters in his record-breaking saga in Japan. Come and see this manga adapted into anime and now into live-action films. International premieres.

Aporia
Since losing her husband Mal (Edi Gathegi, For all mankind), Sophie (Judy Greer, Halloween) has been overwhelmed by grief, as well as having to care for her teenage daughter (Faithe Herman, This is us). When her husband's best friend (Payman Maadi, A Separation), a former physicist, tells her he's working on a time machine that could return her to her old life, Sophie is faced with an impossible choice. This captivating sci-fi film by Jared Moshe (The ballad of lefty brown) explores the consequences of morally difficult choices made in the name of love, and the ethical implications of technological innovation. World premiere.

Devil Roams
Dark prayers will be answered when Fantasia presents Where the devil roams, the stunning new feature from the Adams family (Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams). A family of showmen crosses America during the Great Depression in search of eternal life. Like The deeper you dig and Hellbender, which had their world premiere at Fantasia, the latest creation from this talented family of filmmakers explores the bonds of power within a family in a horrific context. Haunting, poetic, sometimes funny, often disturbing, and always deeply personal. World premiere.

Mayhem
Xavier Gens Frrontière(s), Gangs of london) is back! Sam (Nassim Lyes) is a professional boxer who leaves prison for an exotic island in Thailand. He starts a family, but a local kingpin (Olivier Gourmet) soon forces him to become a drug dealer. A roller-coaster ride of bloody revenge, Mayhem! starts slowly, then eventually becomes an explosion of tension and incredibly brutal combat the likes of which are rarely seen these days. Also starring Loryn Nounay, Vithaya Pansringarm, Mehdi Hadim and Kenneth Won. World premiere.

Plushies
When student Nanamori joins the Plushies Club, he's encouraged to confide in stuffed animals. A dream for an introvert, which seems quite natural to some... or a distraction that further isolates them for others. Adapted from a story by Ao Omae and directed by Yurina Kaneko (21ST century girl, Fantasia 2019), People who talk to plushies are kind enchants with its tenderly provocative exploration of sexuality, gender, kindness and tolerance in Japanese society. A thought-provoking portrait of youth. North American premiere. Camera Lucida section.

Blackout
Acclaimed horror filmmaker Larry Fessenden has finally realized his dream of making a werewolf movie, following his vampire film HABIT (1997) and his version of Frankenstein, Depraved (2019). As always, Fessenden tells a very human story while delivering spectacular horror. It explores socio-political themes, environmental concerns and paranoia. Starring Alex Hurt, Addison Timlin, Marshall Bell, James LeGros, Barbara Crampton and Joe Swanberg. World premiere.

Mother Land
When Krisha's mother's health worsens, the village shaman advises her to follow the North Star to the ancient forest to find its guardian, a mythical red bear. Park Jae-beom's Mother Land, the first South Korean stop-motion feature in nearly half a century, is a brilliant and moving snowy fantasy depicting the nomadic life of indigenous reindeer herders on the unforgiving Siberian tundra. North American premiere. Axis section.

What You Wish
A chef with a gambling problem (Nick Stahl) visits the South American villa of an old friend. Envy soon turns to grain baiting, then something even worse, as the chef adopts his friend's life. A Hitchcockian thriller where moral issues rub shoulders with dark humor and surprising reversals, What You Wish For is the second feature from Nicholas Tomnay (The Perfect Host). Stahl delivers the best performance of his career, surrounded by Tamsin Topolski, Randy Vasquez and Penelope Mitchell. From the producers of The Florida Project. World premiere.

Richelieu
When Stéphane (Marc-André Grondin, Les affamés, C.R.A.Z.Y.) hires Ariane (Ariane Castellanos) to interpret for his Guatemalan workers, he expects nothing more than a messenger. But when she discovers the men's horrific treatment, Ariane must choose between their lives and hers. A gripping first feature from Quebec director Pier-Philippe Chevigny, Richelieu is a shattering portrait of a system in which we may all be complicit, unless we're prepared to suffer the consequences of acting for justice. Canadian premiere.

Daughter of the sun
Hit the road with Sonny, a man with Tourette's syndrome, and his daughter Hildie, who hide a powerful secret as they join a community of nomadic outcasts whose kindness hides dark intentions. Daughter of the Sun is the sequel to director and actor Ryan Ward's award-winning debut feature, Son of the Sunshine. This deeply personal journey reflects aspects of Ward's life, and includes cosmic imagery. This deeply personal journey reflects aspects of Ward's life, and includes cosmic imagery. Superbly shot in Manitoba (the filmmaker's home province), the film includes stellar performances by Nyah Perkin and Lennox Leacock. World premiere.

Sacrifice
In 2018, Jenn Wexler gave us The ranger, a punk rock bomb. Now she's back with her second feature, The sacrifice game, an intense horror film in which killers terrorize two students at a Catholic boarding school during the Christmas vacations in the 1970s. Overflowing with gore, this period film shot in Quebec was scripted by Wexler and his partner Sean Redlitz. It features actors such as Mena Massoud (Evolving vegan, aladdin), Olivia Scott Welch (Lucky hank, the Fear street trilogy), Gus Kenworthy (American horror story), Georgia Acken, Madison Baines, and Chloë Levine (the ranger). You won't want to miss a second of The sacrifice game! World premiere co-presented by Les Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois.

Fantasia is proud to present the 2023 Canadian Trailblazer Award to our country's first legendary underground filmmaker, Larry Kent, in addition to presenting the world premiere of Canadian International Pictures' new 4K restorations of his influential Vancouver Trilogy, as well as other screenings and events. Described by David Cronenberg as a "heroic figure", Larry Kent made films so "ahead of their time" (to quote Atom Egoyan) that they eventually disappeared from official circuits. Somewhere between the independent dramas of John Cassavetes and the outrageous melodramas of Doris Wishman, Kent's films revitalized Canadian cinema, and the passage of time has made them even more fascinating. He continues to make distinctive and daring features, such as the recent exley (2011) and she who must burn (2015), both of which had their world premieres at Fantasia. The latter won Spectacular Optical's Barry Convex Award for Best Canadian Feature at the festival. Whether audiences are ready for Larry Kent's uncompromising vision or not, CIP is working on an ambitious restoration of his key films, starting with the Vancouver Trilogy: the bitter ash (1963), sweet substitute (1964) and when tomorrow dies (1965). All three films will be presented at Fantasia this summer. In each case, the original camera negative has been newly digitized in 4K and restored by CIP, giving these marginal Canadian films the chance to be discovered (and rediscovered) by adventurous cinephiles. In addition, Fantasia will present a rare 35mm print of Yesterday (1981) and a special screening of She who must burn (2015).

The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is presented by Videotron in collaboration with Desjardins, and is made possible with the financial support of the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the Gouvernement du Québec, SODEC, Telefilm Canada, Tourisme Montréal and the Ville de Montréal. A second wave of Fantasia 2023 titles will be announced in early June, and the full program will be unveiled in early July, with ticket sales beginning shortly thereafter.

(source : press release)