Fantasia 2018: Third and Final Wave Brings MANDY, LAPLACE’S WITCH, PUNK SAMURAI SLASH DOWN, and More
The third and final wave of films playing at Montreal’s Fantasia Fest, along with all the shorts, has been released and there are some truly exciting titles that have been revealed, including the announcement that Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy, which stars Nicolas Cage in a colorful cosmic horror blood bath.
Also confirmed to be making its world premiere is Big Brother, which stars Donnie Yen in a “mixed martial arts meet high-school intrigue” film that reunites him with director Kenji Tanigaki. Also from East Asia is Takashi Miike’s Laplace’s Witch, which will have its North American premiere. In it, “…a geochemistry professor investigating a double murder case meets a young mathematics genius with an almost supernatural level of knowledge.” Consider us very intrigued!
Gakuryu Ishii’s Punk Samurai Slash Down will also have its North American premiere and will see “…loopy weirdness and jolts of anachronistic rock ’n’ roll energy“. Erick Zonca’s adaptation of Dror Mishani’s novel The Missing File, Black Tide follows Vincent Cassel (The Crimson Rivers, Brother hood of the Wolf) as, “…an alcoholic cop, whose unkempt hair and beard reflect his tormented, equally-tousled soul. Obsessed with his case like a beast gnawing on a bone, this man-on-the-edge is determined to uncover the truth, no matter how horrible it ends up being.”
For those who want some history with their horror, there will be an incredible screening of 1911’s L’Enferno that will be live-scored by Maurizio Guarini of Goblin!
Justin McConnell’s Lifechanger will be making its world premiere and the festival promises, “…a film that’s fresh, surprising, and alive, anchored by terrific performances.” In the film, “Drew has the ability to transport from body to body, and his desire to reconnect with the woman he loves will ultimately prove to be the undoing of many – perhaps even Drew himself.”
Coming from Argentina is Demián Rugna’s Terrified, a film that is a, “…genuinely terrifying paranormal nightmare that starts with a bloody bang and never lets go.” In Kenji Katagiri’s debut feature Room Laundering, “…a shy and antisocial young girl, is a “room launderer”: a transitory occupant, with the ability to see the spirits of the deceased.” It will be having its North American premiere.
Hailing out of Fantasia’s “Camera Lucida” section will be Lisa Brühlmann’s Blue My Mind and Nicolas Pesce’s Piercing.
Additional titles in Fantasia’s 2018 line-up:
ARIZONA
USA – Dir: Jonathan Watson
Sonny (Danny McBride) lives in Arizona, and he’s a totally cool guy. He’s definitely NOT a murderer. Set against the middle-class destruction of the 2009 housing crisis, Jonathan Watson’s feature debut co-stars Rosemarie DeWitt and Luke Wilson, and plays out like the pitch black comedy we always wanted John Carpenter to make but never got. Official Selection: Sundance 2018. Canadian Premiere.
BODY MELT (New 2K Restoration from Vinegar Syndrome)
Australia – Dir: Philip Brophy
In the sleepy suburban community of Pebbles Court, residents have been receiving free samples of a new diet pill, which has been developed to help the body achieve ultimate health. However, as the townspeople eagerly gobble them down, they begin to experience some unexpected side effects. It turns out these pills transform their users into hallucinating mutants, and their bodies disintegrate, grow tentacles, explode, and melt! A gore-and-slime-filled gross-out classic from the final days of the Ozsploitation era, Philip Brophy’s BODY MELT is a truly outrageous and satirical horror comedy, proudly presented in a brand new 2K restoration!
COLD SKIN
France/UK – Dir: Xavier Gens
Struggling for survival in the Antarctic, a weather surveyor (Ray Stevenson) must choose between a madman and a legion of creatures he does not fully understand. COLD SKIN feels fresh from the pages of H.P. Lovecraft in its portrayal of the period, the monsters that populate it, and the paranoia and tension between its characters. The film’s creatures are both terrifying and astoundingly dynamic in their realism – but what less would one expect from the director of THE DIVIDE, FRONTIERE(S), and HITMAN?! Official Selection: Frightfest Glasgow 2018, Morbido 2018. Canadian Premiere.
DESTINY: THE TALE OF KAMAKURA
Japan – Dir: Takashi Yamazaki
Ghosts, goblins… even a charming local death god? For newlywed Akiko, the town of Kamakura will take some time getting used to. DESTINY is an enchanting, romantic fantasy adventure from director and visual effects wizard Takashi Yamazaki (PARASYTE). Don’t miss the otherworldly night market that’s a treat tailor-made for fans of Guillermo del Toro! Official Selection: Hawaii International Film Festival. Quebec Premiere.
GONJIAM: HAUNTED ASYLUM
South Korea – Dir: Jeong Beom-sik
When a YouTuber brings a group of young volunteers in for a livestream at Gonjiam‘s Namyang Mental Hospital (a real-life location, selected by CNN as “One of the Freakiest Places on the Planet”), they get way more than what his ad-based revenue stream was worth. The second-highest-grossing Korean horror movie of all time (right after A TALE OF TWO SISTERS), this found-footage scare fest lives up to its immense hype! Quebec Premiere.
HEAVY TRIP
Finland/Norway/Belgium – Dirs: Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren
Crack out the corpse paint and make an offering to Odin, because here comes the funny-as-hellfire Finnish rock ’n’ road saga that made its SXSW crowd shriek like damned souls! Rock video and TV veterans Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren’s debut feature is the feel-good, follow-that-dream, underdog rock comedy for the blast-beat bunch. Being Scandinavian, the humour in HEAVY TRIP is dry and sharp – and the black metal riffage absolutely shreds. Official Selection: Cinepocalypse 2018. Canadian Premiere.
LAUGHING UNDER THE CLOUDS
Japan – Dir: Katsuyuki Motohiro
In Restoration-era Japan, the three Kumo brothers stand guard against the return of the mythical dragon Orochi. Whirlwind thrills, eye-popping art direction, poignant drama, and swashbuckling adventure abound in this manga adaptation! Audiences who adored RUROUNI KENSHIN won’t want to miss out this one! Quebec Premiere.
MY SON
France – Dir: Christian Carion
Writer-director Christian Carion (JOYEUX NOËL) and cowriter Laure Irrmann offer up an intense thriller in the vein of PRISONERS, featuring a desperate protagonist who is ready to do anything – including torturing people and risking his own life – to get his boy back. Frenetically shot and edited, MY SON keeps its audience breathless until its final frame. Canadian Premiere.
THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD
France – Dir: Dominique Rocher
Sam wakes up to discover that Paris has been overrun by a zombified populace. This alt-zombie entry explores what it means to be human, and how to salvage it when all around you are no longer living. A project born from Frontières, Fantasia’s International Co-Production Market, THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD has been devouring fest audiences from Rotterdam to Tribeca. Canadian Premiere.
A ROUGH DRAFT
Russia – Dir: Sergey Mokritskiy
Kirill has watched his life vanish. A mysterious cabal has enlisted him as an inter-dimensional gatekeeper, opening the doors to a myriad of possible Moscows. With director Sergey Mokritskiy (BATTLE FOR SEVASTOPOL) at the helm and the writer behind NIGHT WATCH cleverly penning, it’s a given that every frame is an eyeful and every turn more twisted than the last. Canadian Premiere.
THE SCYTHIAN
Russia – Dir: Rustam Mosafir
A Christian Russian and his pagan captive/guide journey into ever more mysterious lands, and come face-to-face strange and sinister sights, and sudden, savage violence. THE SCYTHIAN is an epic historical action-fantasy that’s as beautiful as it is brutal. Official Selection: Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival 2018. North American Premiere.
TOKYO VAMPIRE HOTEL
Japan – Dir: Sion Sono
Two vampire clans battle over mortal human livestock. Swerving from massive gun orgies to gaudy scenes of baroque excess, TOKYO VAMPIRE HOTEL is a confetti cannon full of blood squibs aimed at your face, courtesy of Fantasia fave Sion Sono. Imagine Sono in the style of Yoshihiro Nishimura, with massive bloodshed, wild colors, and sumptuous art direction. Are you in? Official Selection: Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival 2017, Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival 2017. Quebec Premiere.
V.I.P
South Korea – Dir: Park Hoon-jung
After directing the swaggering gangster epic NEW WORLD and the swaggering man-vs-beast epic THE TIGER, the screenwriter behind Ryoo Seung-wan’s THE UNJUST and Kim Jee-woon’s I SAW THE DEVIL abandons his swagger to go very, very dark. V.I.P. will keep audiences on the edge of their seats and on the tips of their toes! Official Selection: AFI Fest 2017 – Midnight London East Asia Film Festival 2017, Filmasia Film Festival 2017. Quebec Premiere.
WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE
Canada – Dir: Colin Minihan
An intensely smart, ferocity-fueled LGBT survival thriller that smashes conventions while dropping its audience off unexpected cliffs, WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE is built upon an eviscerating pair of performances from Brittany Allen and Hannah Emily Anderson. Writer/Director Colin Minihan (IT STAINS THE SANDS RED) has made one of the most gripping thrillers of the year, one that asks the unsettling question of what you would do if the person you trusted most unconditionally suddenly turned against you. Official Selection: Overlook Film Festival 2018, SXSW 2018, Sydney Film Festival 2018. Quebec Premiere.
SPECIAL LIVE EVENTS AT FANTASIA 2018
In addition to the previously announced special happenings, Fantasia is proud to reveal the following free special live events:
Mick Garris’ POST MORTEM Live Podcast Event – The NIGHTMARE CINEMA Special
In celebration of NIGHTMARE CINEMA’s World Premiere at Fantasia, celebrated filmmaker Mick Garris (THE STAND, SLEEPWALKERS) will host a special live recording of his popular podcast, Post Mortem, dedicated to the highly-anticipated anthology and its directors – of which he is one. Joining him onstage will be Joe Dante (THE HOWLING, GREMLINS), Ryûhei Kitamura (VERSUS, DOWNRANGE), Alejandro Brugués (JUAN OF THE DEAD, ABCs OF DEATH 2) and Fantasia programmer/former Fangoria magazine editor Tony Timpone.
FREE ADMISSION – Friday July 13, 5:15PM. York Amphitheatre
The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies in association with Fantasia and Frontières Presents MICHAEL IRONSIDE: LIVE IN CONVERSATION
Moderated by Heather Buckley
In recognition of Fantasia’s screening of KNUCKLEBALL, a project birthed from its Frontières International Co-Production Market, The Miskatonic Institute is proud to present a career talk with one of the most iconic character actors of our time, and a true legend of the genre film world. Over the course of an hour-long illustrated discussion of key films, directors, and collaborators in his life, Ironside will discuss his many film roles – which include work with David Cronenberg, Claude Jutra, Jean-Claude Lord, Tony Scott, Walter Hill, James Glickenhaus, Paul Verhoeven, RKSS, and more – his origins and approach to acting, how he captures his characters, and his command of voice and physicality.
About the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies:
Founded by film writer/programmer Kier-La Janisse in 2010, The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies is an international educational community that offers classes in horror film history and theory in London, New York, and Los Angeles, as well as hosting special events worldwide.
FREE ADMISSION – Friday July 20, 5:15PM, York Amphitheatre
Michael Gingold’s AD NAUSEAM: Newsprint Nightmares from the 1980’s
Film critic Michael Gingold has been writing about genre cinema for over 30 years. Growing up in New York in the 1980s, his obsession with scary movies led him to take scissors to local newspapers to cut out and collect ads for just about every horror film he came across: mainstream, indie, arthouse, or grindhouse.
Ad Nauseam: Newsprint Nightmares From the 1980s is a year-by-year deep dive into the critic’s personal collection. Within its pages you’ll see rare alternate art for Gremlins, Child’s Play, The Blob remake and entries in the Friday the 13th and A Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. You’ll be taken back to the era of the double bill, with notices for Aliens, The Fly, Drive-in Massacre, Driller Killer, Night of the Living Dead, and The Three Stooges (!?!).
For this special Fantasia book launch event, Michael Gingold will be conducting a slideshow presentation illustrating highlights from his collection, highlighted with his own personal recollections and commentary.
FREE ADMISSION – Sunday July 22, 4:00PM. York Amphitheatre
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Fantasia Shorts
The AFROMENTUM 2018 short-film showcase celebrates Black cinema of the imagination
It’s undeniable that the time has come for Black cinema of the imagination to step into the spotlight. This summer, Fantasia introduces AFROMENTUM 2018, a showcase of short films from Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the Americas.
Whether reflections on the past, visions of the future, or invocations of the bizarre amid the familiar present, these films bring forth Black experiences that challenge the cycle of oppression and resistance, and reach far beyond it.
From Nigeria comes HELLO, RAIN (North American Premiere, dir.: C.J. “Fiery” Obasi), a wild ride of sorcery, science, sisterhood and supervillainy, based on a short story by award-winning author Nnedi Okorafor. This will be Obasi’s second spin on the Fantasia screen, following the festival’s 2015 showing of his atypical zombie feature OJUJU. There’s also the World Premiere of BATTLEDREAM CHRONICLES: A NEW BEGINNING, the animated series pilot from Martinique’s Alain Bidard; the compact techno-thriller THE DROP IN from Toronto’s Naledi Jackson (Quebec Premiere); and MAKE IT SOUL (North American Premiere), a moment in music history animated by France’s Jean-Charles Mbotti-Malolo.
BORN OF WOMAN 2018
Fantasia’s annual showcase of personal auteur genre visions returns to celebrate the unconventional gaze, with nine extraordinary works from eight countries that will take your breath away.
A lonely woman allows a man to transform her into a puppet in Finnish filmmaker Hanna Bergholm’s PUPPET MASTER (International Premiere), a visually sumptuous fever dream of experimental fantasy that addresses objectifying relationships and the fears of letting go in boldly theatrical ways. South Korea’s Jiwon Moon plays for lacerating keeps with NOSE NOSE NOSE EYES! (Canadian Premiere). Best you not know a thing before going in, just be assured that you’ll be encountering Grand Guignol horror of the highest order, ferociously well directed and guaranteed to leave marks. Australian filmmaker Kate Dolan’s CATCALLS (North American Premiere) is a tightly executed, monsteriffic “Fuck You” to street harassers that recently won Best Short at the Young Director’s Awards. VOYAGER (Quebec Premiere), from Norway’s Kjersti Helen Rasmussen, is a stunning exercise in atmosphere and fear reminiscent of early John Carpenter, set at a global seed vault deep in the Arctic island of Svalbard. France’s Manon Alirol and Léo Hardt stun with PETITE AVARIE (World Premiere), in which a young woman comes home to her particularly unhelpful boyfriend after being diagnosed with breast cancer. It’s one of the smartest, blackest comedies you’re ever likely to experience.
From the USA, Ida Joglar’s THE GAZE (World Premiere) is as potent as it is pertinent, telling the tale of a young scientist discovering unknown supernatural powers from within after her prestigious boss sexually assaults her. Chelsea Lupkin’s LUCY’S TALE (World Premiere) is a fantastical coming-of-age horror/drama in which a high school girl struggles with an intensifying realization that she’s fundamentally different from everyone around her. It’s a sorrowful wonder of a film electric with dark imagination. THE OLD WOMAN WHO HID HER FEAR UNDER THE STAIRS (Canadian Premiere), from Britain’s Faye Jackson, will quicken your pulse in no small way. An isolated old woman who’s grown increasingly frightened of the world discovers a way to remove her fear and stash it beneath her staircase. As her newfound freedom gives her a second lease on life, the terrible thing in the box becomes increasingly difficult to ignore… A trombone player’s encounters with mold, history, and gravity itself wreak havoc on his evening plans in WHO’S WHO IN MYCOLOGY (Canadian Premiere), from Czech filmmaker Marie Dvorakova. This inventively staged masterpiece of comedic surrealism won a Student Academy Award and has been shown everywhere from Telluride to Karlovy Vary.
Fantasia’s animated short-film showcase returns as CIRCO ANIMATO 2018
Fantasia’s annual animated short film program returns with a new name and some very, very new movies. Of the dozen shorts on the menu, four are World Premieres, and another five are screening in North America for the first time. The moments here range from the melancholic, the morbid, and the meditative to the hallucinatory and the hilarious – these are cartoons, after all! Making their World Premieres at CIRCO ANIMATO 2018 are a pair from South Korea – Park Yena’s LOVELY GIRL (an internal affair, of sorts), and Seo Ji-hyeong’s snarky mash-up of hand-drawn and 8-bit animation, CRAZY CAT. As well, from the U.S., filmmaker Winnie Cheung presents ALBATROSS SOUP, a dizzying descent into deductive reasoning, animated from illustrations by celebrated Toronto artist Fiona Smyth. And from right here in Montreal, enfants terribles of the underground art scene Rick Trembles and Raph Bard get you in on the ground floor of BUILDING 108: BARNACLE BILL THE TAILOR.
Over on the North American Premiere side of things, Toon Loenders and Paul Driessen (Belgium, Netherlands) unleash their riotous THE ORIGIN OF SOUND, a showcase of 20-plus animators. China’s Lei Lei lets loose with freeform doodling and a vicious rap attack in I DON’T LIKE THE COMICS YOU DREW. South Korea’s Kim JiHyeon drops us ashore at her creepy ISLAND OF THE DECEASED. Toronto’s Samuel Bradley takes us even further with his sci-fi fable SPACE BETWEEN STARS (with music by Jim Guthrie), and THE VOICE OVER, from Belgium’s Claudia Cortés Espejo, Lora D’Addazio, Mathilde Remy, will really get inside your head. From Belgium as well, SIMBIOSIS CARNAL, a rhapsody in red and blue by Rocío Álvarez, makes its Canadian Premiere. American-Chinese studio Taiko’s ONE SMALL STEP, from directors Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas, will leave stars – and maybe a tear or two – in your eyes. Wrapping things up is THE RICOCHET SPLENDID, from Argentina’s Pablo Gostanian – the most awesomest opening ever, for the greatest anime TV show never.
DJ XL5’S OUTTASIGHT ZAPPIN’ PARTY
For his fifteenth program of short films, DJ XL5 has selected a cornucopia of intriguing gems and inserted them amid a mix of old TV ads, film snippets, and bursts of static to simulate a productive evening of channel surfing with the gang at home. In total, there are 17 shorts, including two World Premieres and many Montreal premieres.
This crystal anniversary celebrates the return of many regular participants in DJ XL5’s parties. Simon Tofield’s SIMON’S CAT is obviously back, with three new shorts, one of which highlights the ten years of the Fantasia crowd’s favourite cat. On the menu, POLISHED PAWS, PURRTHDAY CAKE (A 10TH BIRTHDAY SPECIAL), and KITTEN CRAZY TIME. The eccentric Lee Hardcastle is back with two decidedly gory stop-motions animation — Hardcastle’s THE SIMPSONS COUCH GAG (RESERVOIR DOGS) and RICK AND MORTY GO TO THE MOVIES (THE NON-CANONICAL ADVENTURES). From the U.S., Chris McInroy (DEATH METAL and BAD GUY #2) presents the gleefully gooey WE SUMMONED A DEMON (Montreal Premiere) this year. After working last year on the feature film FEUILLES MORTES, Carnior (aka Steve Landry) goes back to his roots with an ingenious, intimate science-fiction short. Quebec animator François Mercier rolls out two short films, one an array of cult-film pastiches of and the other, a crazy allegory on America the heavily armed. Daphne Leduc-Laprise returns for the third consecutive year with a colourful dose of potassium called 135 BANANAS (World Premiere).
If you’re the type who gets anxious about flying, you’ll love GREGORY (World Pemiere) by American filmmaker John William Ross. Discover the burning world of New Zealand’s Phil Brough animated short FIRE IN CARDBOARD CITY (Canadian Premiere), a recent award-winner at Tribeca. T.T.A. (Canadian Premiere), from Travis O’Neill (U.S.), confirms that alcoholics should not have access to time machines. If you are among those suspicious of the elderly, you will shudder before the massacres in GRANNY (Canadian Premiere), made with humour by Australia’s David Burrowes. Rémi Fréchette makes a remarkable debut among the DJ XL5 family with A NIGHT OF SWEAT (World Premiere), a crazy parody entirely taken from PERFECT and sports dramas of the ’80s. And to top it off, Quebec’s Mat Rich imagines Jesus having his own perfume, blessed with a not-so-divine ad campaign. DJ XL5 is the only Fantasia programmer who gets things started 20 minutes ahead of showtime. Wild trailers and musical oddities await those wise enough to arrive early!
INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE-FICTION SHORT FILM SHOWCASE 2018
Fantasia’s annual showcase of provocative sci-fi works returns with eight films from five countries that confront and amaze.
From Canada, David Jermyn’s striking BE MY GUEST (World Premiere) is set in the near future, where loving couple Tim and Claire make their supplemental income in a novel way: Tim uses grey market mind-transference technology to rent his body out to paying clients… who then sleep with Claire. On to the USA, Andrea Ashton’s unsettling GREATER GOOD (International Premiere) sees a pregnant woman receiving a visit from a pair of strangers, who give her an unthinkable choice to make. In Joe Lueben’s haunting ONE DAY THE SUN TURNED BLACK (International Premiere), people are forced to pigment themselves in order to survive the sun’s rays after it permanently blackens in the sky. Travis Bible’s EXIT STRATEGY (Canadian Premiere) was a standout at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival and ranks among the most compelling genre works of 2018. Two brothers who have fallen out of touch reunite around their father’s passing and find themselves in a desperate time loop navigating a series of events to prevent a calamity from occurring.
THE FLAPPING OF THE HUMMINGBIRD (North American Premiere) from Spain’s Meritxell A. Valls is a sweet, sad film about the intersection between free will and fate, in which a car accident affords a man an opportunity to step back in time. THEY WAIT FOR US (Canadian Premiere), from British filmmakers Lukas Schrank and George Thomson, is a haunting mini-masterpiece in which an introverted worker at a futureworld end-of-life facility loses his grip on reality when he becomes convinced that a comatose patient is urgently trying to communicate with him. France brings the goods with Leticia Belliccini’s SPIN (International Premiere), where a man finds himself in an intensifying loop of events, as the witness, victim and perpetrator of an assault. In Magali Magistry’s EXHALE (Canadian Premiere), a toxic fog has blanketed the earth, forcing humans and animals to live in confined spaces. A stunning film with unforgettable imagery that won the Méliès d’or for Best European Fantastic Short.
SMALL GAUGE TRAUMA 2018
Fantasia’s annual showcase of cutting-edge genre works returns with nine strains of nightmares from five countries.
Award-winning Australian filmmaker Heidi Lee Douglas’s DEVIL WOMAN (World Premiere) is set in the Tasmanian forest, where a confrontation is escalating between a group of activist women and local loggers. An endangered animal’s bite alters the course of things in this propulsive eco-horror scream. Checking in from the Netherlands, Marcos Mereles’ THE DEAD MAN SPEAKS (Canadian Premiere) is a compelling experimental interlude that reminds us that the dead vastly outnumber the living on our increasingly cluttered planet. Spain’s Mateo Márquez strikes an urgent chord with THE INVADERS (Canadian Premiere), in which a young Muslim girl realizes that she’s being followed on her way home. It is a fraught descent into fear that uses the prism of genre to boldly address the dangers of anti-Muslim sentiments that are creeping across the West.
France brings a trio of standouts. A sixteen-year-old girl realizes that her finger has supernatural skin-piercing abilities in writer/director Mael Le Mée’s unforgettable AURORE (North American Premiere). In Aurélien Digard’s inventive and flesh-tearingly funny BESOIN DEAD (North American Premiere), a bride and her groom’s wedding-day plans are thrown a blood-soaked curveball when a zombie outbreak grips their town. Co-starring the great Philippe Nahon. Joséphine Hopkins’s tense and tragic THE DAY MY MOTHER BECAME A MONSTER (Canadian Premiere) is the story of a young girl getting ready to celebrate her ninth birthday in the shadow of her parents’ recent divorce. As the day comes nearer, she notices some deeply unsettling behavior from her mother, whose very physicality is beginning to change.
From the USA, Mike Marrero and Jonathan Rhoads’ haunting RILEY WAS HERE (World Premiere) tells a tale in which a horrific pandemic destroyed a large part of the world’s population. Today, a man will knock on the door of a woman who lost her child to the disease, having sought her out to explore a very particular need. A viscerally dramatic and ghastly film that chillingly addresses the unusual ways we cope with loss. In Ryan Oksenberg’s DAMAGE CONTROL, a man surprises his fiancée when he shows her a newly inherited property, but is in turn the one surprised when a mysterious visitor forces him to be accountable for past actions. In Marinah Janello’s ENTROPIA (Quebec Premiere), a lonely older woman undergoes a series of grisly self-care regimens in an attempt to find happiness. A poetically grotesque film packing equal measures of shock value and soul, ENTROPIA is reminiscent of early Jörg Buttgereit and has already won several awards on the international fest circuit.
Additional short film selections that will screen in front of features:
42 COUNTS
(Quebec Premiere) – USA – Dir: Jill Gevargizian
Screens with THE RANGER
A/S/L
(Canadian Premiere) – USA – Dir: Benjamin Swicker
Screens with THE DARK
BACKSTORE
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Valérie Leclair
Screens with HEAVY TRIP
BLOOM
(World Premiere) – Australia – Dir: Kieran Wheeler
Screens with BROTHER’S NEST
CLEAN BLOOD
(International Premiere) – USA – Dir: Jordan Michael Blake
Screens with PIERCING
CRYING BITCH
(Canadian Premiere) – Japan – Dir: Reiki Tsuno
Screens with ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
END TIMES
(International Premiere) – USA – Dir: Bobby Miller
Screens with ARIZONA
FAUVE
Canada – Dir: Jérémy Comte
Screens with SUMMER OF ‘84
FLORIDA-MONTRÉAL
Canada – Dir: Renaud Lessard
Screens with MON GARÇON (My Son)
GARDIENNAGE DE L’ENFER
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Frank Appache
Screens with LES DOUTEUX
THE GREAT HAND AND THE BULGASARI
(North American Premiere) – South Korea – Dir: Kim Minhye
Screens with TRUE FICTION
LE OTTO DITA DELLA MORTE
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Frédéric Chalté
Screens with BLOOD AND BLACK LACE
HOOLIGANS
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Adam-Gabriel Belley-Côté
Screens with LÔI BÁO
MEET JIMMY
(International Premiere) – Netherlands – Dir: Tim Koomen
Screens with PUPPET MASTER: THE LITTLEST REICH
MILK
(Montreal Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Santiago Menghini
Screens with DANS LA BRUME (Just a Breath Away)
THE MONSTER WITHIN
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Ghislain Ouellet
Screens with THE NIGHT EATS THE WORLD
NETFLIX & CHILL
(Canadian Premiere) – Netherlands – Dir: Michael Middelkoop
Screens with ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE
NO ONE WILL EVER BELIEVE YOU
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Frédéric Chalté
Screens with DETECTIVE DEE: THE FOUR HEAVENLY KINGS
POISSON DE MARS
Canada – Dir: Pierre-Marc Drouin
Screens with WHAT A MAN WANTS
SPACE/TIME CONUNDRUM
(International Premiere) – USA – Dir: Fernando Lopez
Screens with PARALLEL
SUCK
(World Premiere) – USA – Dir: Anthony Sneed
Screens with RONDO
THIRD WHEEL
(Montreal Premiere) – USA – Dir: Daniel DelPurgatorio
Screens with PLEDGE
TICK
(World Premiere) – Canada – Dir: Ashlea Wessel
Screens with LA QUINCEANERA
URCHIN
(North American Premiere) – USA – Dir: Anna Mastro
Screens with BUYBUST
WALKING MEAT
(North American Premiere) – Japan – Dir: Shinya Sugai
Screens with ARAGNE: SIGN OF VERMILLION
Categorized:News
