As supporters of the Fantasia film festival, NightmaRevue would like to take a pause to look at what this year’s iteration of the venerable Montreal film festival has to offer, thanks to the Fantasia staff’s various press…

Greetings, cinephiles! Welcome to July 2010, Fantasia style. Get your neurons sparked for the biggest, most spectacular fest we’ve mounted to date. For the next three weeks, Montreal is going to crumble under the weight of over 120 feature films and several hundred shorts, many being screened for the first time on this continent, some showing for their first time anywhere in the world. You will experience new works from living legends of world cinema and discover brilliant emerging talents from a multitude of countries. You’d better be excited, because you’re about to step into weeks of mind-altering revelations.

Fantasia Kicks Off With “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” With Jay Baruchel In Person…

What better to open the 14th edition of Fantasia than with THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, a film inspired by the legendary segment in Disney’s FANTASIA – with rising star and genre champion Jay Baruchel in person for a Q+A, no less!  Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub (the team behind the NATIONAL TREAUSE franchise) join forces again for a modern-day live-action (emphasis on action!) film that tips its hat to the most beloved sequence in Disney’s animated classic FANTASIA, and stars Nicolas Cage, Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer, Monica Bellucci and Toby Kebbell.

We’re excited to see Turtletaub’s take on this historical moment in animated film history, and extremely thrilled to be opening the festival with such a powerhouse film, tailor-made for rabid genre audiences. Our screening will be THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE’s Canadian premiere, 6 days before it opens wide across North America.

ABOUT THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE

Walt Disney Studios, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub, the team behind the NATIONAL TREASURE franchise, present THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE — an innovative and epic comedy adventure about a sorcerer and his hapless apprentice who are swept into the centre of an ancient conflict between good and evil.

Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina).  Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protégé.  The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners pit their powers against those of the fiercest—and most ruthless—villains of all time.  It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” The screenplay is by Matt Lopez and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Larry Konner & Mark Rosenthal and Matt Lopez. Disney.com/Sorcerer; like us on Facebook:  facebook.com/SorcerersApprentice; follow us on Twitter:twitter.com/DisneyPictures.

… And Closes With The Canadian Sundance Smash Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil!

Three weeks later, Fantasia will rip to a close with the Canadian instant-classic TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL, an inspired horror film satire that was a standout at Sundance, won an audience award at SXSW and was hailed by USA Today as “a laugh-yourself-stupid-movie”. Directed by Eli Craig and starring Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk and Katrina Bowden, the film is a witty horror send-up detailing the plight of loveable hicks who are mistaken for TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE-style psychos by a pack of over sheltered college kids. Absolute chaos ensues.

Bowling over audiences wherever it screens, this is perhaps the strongest horror-comedy since SHAUN OF THE DEAD – and it happens to be a Canadian co-production. Given that, what better place for it to have its Canadian premiere than the Fantasia Film Festival, where it will be screened many months before its fall theatrical release?

ABOUT TUCKER AND DALE VS EVIL

“The hillbillies from the store captured Alison!”

Tucker and Dale, two hillbillies heading to their “fixer-upper” cabin for some relaxin’, discover they ain’t alone in them woods. They encounter an SUV full of vacationing college kids, and Dale unintentionally creeps them out. But later, as he and Tucker are fishing, Dale rescues one of them—the pretty blond Alison—after she falls into the lake. Assuming she’s been captured, the indomitably preppy college kids rally to find her.

A comically macabre battle between Izods and overalls, Eli Craig’s ingenious send-up of the horror genre recounts a simple misunderstanding gone grotesquely wrong. Our hillbilly psycho killers are actually sweet as pie; it’s the judgmental college kids who have “issues.”

Craig lovingly embraces clichés, dispensing humor and gore in equal parts as we watch the educated class blunder to its demise.  “Nature, beer, and a rising body count—what better way to spend Memorial Day?” – Sundance Film Festival

THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS – A GALA EVENT AT PLACE DES ARTS

Seldom has the rediscovery of a cache of lost footage ignited widespread curiosity as did the announcement, in July 2008, that an essentially complete copy of Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS had been found.  This prompted an incredible year-long restoration project, the results of which will be unveiled for the first-time in Eastern Canada this summer, at Fantasia. Featuring over 25-minutes of new material (1,257 shots, including entire new sequences), the complete Metropolis will be screened as a special gala event at Place des Arts’s 3000-seat Wilfrid Pelletier theatre on July 28. For this special night, internationally renowned silent film composer Gabriel Thibaudeau has written a new score for the feature, which he will perform with a 13-piece orchestra live at the screening. It will be a fantastically historical night in every sense of the word!

Notes on the music for Fantasia’s METROPOLIS event by Gabriel Thibaudeau:

For the last 22 years I have been resident pianist and composer for the Cinematheque québécoise. METROPOLIS is one of the first films I played to.

Writing a new score for this film represents, for me, a long cherished dream. The film’s modern feel and visual treatment lends itself well to experimentation and is a pure joy to create sound for!

How to express musically the class struggle and dialectic that are the foundations of this work? By utilizing not one, but two chamber orchestras! Quite simply, at stage left the orchestra represents the elitist spirit of the city through a string quintet and keyboard.  At stage right a brass quintet with organ will form the second orchestra, symbol of the strength of the workers in the subterranean city. The percussion section in the centre will form a link between the two worlds/ensembles.

For this two and a half hour performance, specially commissioned by the Fantasia Film Festival, the majority of movements will be precisely written and perfectly synchronised with the images on screen. However, certain passages will be more free, created live through “Soundpainting”, a technique of improvising from coded gestures used by the conductor. – Gabriel Thibaudeau

THE COMPLETE METROPOLIS will be unveiled July 28, 7:30PM

Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, Places des Arts.

SEVERIN DOES COCTEAU’S  SANG D’UN POETE /BLOOD OF A POET (1930)

Co-presented by Le Cinéclub: The Film Society

It may not be obvious at first, but it makes perfect sense that one of the most innovative forces in alternative music would apply his talent to one of the most innovative forces in cinema. Live and in person, Steven Severin takes poetic license in presenting an avant-garde musical event steeped in the darkness and light of seductively surreal images by Jean Cocteau on screen. To properly view this Bunuel and Dali–styled work, you need to first destroy your own ideas of what a film should be.  (Worth noting are the costumes supplied by none other than Coco Chanel.)

A major influential talent in the music scene, Steven Severin formed the legendary Siouxie And The Banshees along with Siouxie Sioux in 1976. Since the mid-nineties, he has created solo albums, genre movie soundtracks, contributed to major papers as a journalist, written a collection of erotic prose/poetry and created compositions to accompany silent film. He has also collaborated on projects with Sid Vicious, Robert Smith of The Cure and graphic novelist Alan Moore of The Watchmen.

For one night only, Severin’s unique talent will grace the stage at the spectacularly nostalgic movie palace known as The Rialto Theatre where BLOOD OF A POET will flicker on-screen. Also expect an additional short silent-era film To Be Announced.  To miss this event would be to miss your last train to dreamland.

Thursday July 22^nd at 9:30 p.m. at The Rialto Theatre, 5723 ave. du Parc. Tickets $12.

RE-ANIMATOR: Still Glowin’ (Green) 25 Years Later…

2010 marks the 25h anniversary of RE-ANIMATOR, and we’re going to celebrate its quarter-century birthday with Stuart Gordon, Jeffrey Combs and Dennis Paoli, who will join us for a screening of their classic. Even more exciting, they’ll be mounting the international premiere of their acclaimed Edgar Allan Poe stage play NEVERMORE. There will be just two performances, and if you miss both, your soul will hate you. It’s that incredible…

Nevermore: An Evening With Edgar Allan Poe

INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE OF A SPECIAL LIVE THEATRE EVENT!

Directed by STUART GORDON, written by DENNIS PAOLI, starring JEFFREY COMBS.

“Mesmerizing… It’s as if Poe himself has been re-animated for this enthralling ninety-minute display” — Ben Miles, SHOWMAG

“This is Poe in his own words. Our text is taken from his letters and essays and we have based our evening on reviews and reports of his actual appearances. Our goal is to present a sense of the fascinating man behind the poetry and brilliant tales, a man who could be his own worst enemy, and whose life was even more bizarre and tragic than his strangest story.” – Director Stuart Gordon

Award-winning filmmaker Stuart Gordon, beloved for such films as RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND and STUCK will be returning to Fantasia (after gracing us for the CDN premiere of EDMOND in 2006) with his staple star Jeffrey Combs and regular writing partner Dennis Paoli to stage their acclaimed one-man play NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE, which features Combs in a breathtaking performance as the legendary author.  It should be noted that Gordon was a celebrated theater director for many years before turning to cinema. Among his many impressive credits, the future filmmaker founded Chicago’s Organic Theater in the ‘70s and was the first to stage a play by David Mamet, whom he continues to collaborate with every now and then.  A spellbinding recreation of the public recitals that Poe regularly performed in the years before his death, based on reviews and reports of his actual appearances, NEVERMORE premiered in Los Angeles in July 2009 and was originally slated to run for four weeks.  Critical raves and mass audience draws saw the run extended to nearly six months. Combs’ performance is so captivating and mercurial that many critics have championed him as “the definitive Poe”, a claim that we can fully agree with. This pair of Fantasia shows marks the first time that the play will be performed beyond U.S. borders.

NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE will be performed July 17 and 18, 8PM at the Rialto Theatre, 5723 Avenue Du Parc

Want a solid example of the extreme dynamic within the Fantasia sensibility? Look no further than the set of lifetime achievement awards that we’ll be bestowing this year:

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ken Russell

Ken Russell is one of the world’s greatest living filmmakers, a true original whose vibrant films explode with passion, wit, and invention, powerhouse performances and obsessive visual detail.  Fantasia will present Britain’s celebrated enfant terrible, the director of such one-of-a-kind classics as ALTERED STATES, TOMMY, CRIMES OF PASSION, WOMEN IN LOVE, LISZTOMANIA, GOTHIC, SALOME’S LAST DANCE, SAVAGE MESSIAH and LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM, with a lifetime achievement award in celebration of his astoundingly unique and bravely provocative visions.  On the night of this ceremony – July 19 – we will screen his legendary and still-controversial 1971 masterpiece THE DEVILS. This extraordinarily powerful film, which remains unavailable on DVD anywhere in the world, stars Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave and features surrealistic art direction by Derek Jarman.  Russell will be in town for a week and our special “Devils’ Night” award presentation will kick-off a retrospective of his work at the Cinémathèque Québècoise.

THE DEVILS screens July 19 at the Concordia Hall Theatre.

Lifetime Achievement Awards: Don Bluth and Gary Oldman

We’re also going to be giving dual lifetime achievement awards to the maverick team of Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, the creative driving force behind such animation masterpieces as THE SECRET OF NIHM, AN AMERICAN TAIL, THE LAND BEFORE TIME and ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN who animated some of your favourite Disney films of the ’70s and virtually saved the credibility of animated feature films in the ’80s when they went rogue and worked outside the studio.

After several years working with the Disney studios, Bluth and Goldman started their own independent animation studio in 1979. They have collaborated with such renowned filmmakers as Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, delved into the world of video games with the DRAGON’S LAIR series and are responsible for a dozen wonderfully imaginative feature films

To celebrate, the Fantasia Film Festival will be screening a 35mm version of the prehistoric classic THE LAND BEFORE TIME, a touching tale that has endeared a generation of movie enthusiasts. Fans will also get a chance to meet the filmmakers in person during a round table discussion on animated cinema.

The ceremony honouring Don Bluth and Gary Goldman, followed by the presentation of THE LAND BEFORE TIME, will take place on July 17^th at 4:00 PM in Concordia’s Hall Theatre.

Spotlight: Subversive Serbia

Serbia’s terrifying recent history has birthed a confrontational new generation of filmmakers who are using the medium to express their wounded psyches in ways the Western World can barely get its head around. SUBVERSIVE SERBIA collects some of the strongest entries in this intelligently transgressive and politically-charged filmmaking scene. We’re also going to showcase a string of retro Serbian genre films never before screened here, programmed in association with Dejan Ognjanovic and the Belgrade Cinematheque.

Beyond the screenings, Mr. Ognjanovic will be presenting a multimedia presentation and panel discussion – AN INTRODUCTION TO SERBIAN HORROR CINEMA – where he will be joined by the makers of many of the films showcased in our spotlight.

Your eyes are about to be opened. Wide.

The voices emerging from the new wave of independent Serbian cinema are some of the rawest and most daring of any we’ve ever encountered.  This is smart, confrontational filmmaking with astounding elements of shock, armed with the intelligence and the urgency to back it up. In particular, A SERBIAN FILM and THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG are, to my mind, the CLOCKWORK ORANGEs of our generation. They push boundaries in ways that cinema rarely has the courage to do.

A SERBIAN FILM producer Nikola Pantelic issued the following statement: “To us, Canada is a very special place because it is the homeland of one of our favourite filmmakers, whose work greatly inspired us – David Cronenberg. We’re honoured to participate in the Fantasia Film Festival – a place where a majority of our favourite recent films were screened. Montreal’s Fantasia is one of the few places left on this earth where artistic freedom and unorthodox cinema thinking still mean something. Fantasia has made a Mecca for gutsy and vital cinema today. For A Serbian Film, things have come full circle.”

The new blood:

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG, Dir: Mladen Djordjevic – Montreal premiere

Hosted by director Mladen Djordjevic

This razor-sharp and often perversely comic metaphor about the social pathologies of Serbian life in the 1990s was a major hit at the Rotterdam Film Festival. A travelling “porno cabaret” journeys from village to village across rural Serbia, performing live sex acts in radical framings as a means of sexual confrontation, often provoking violent responses from the locals. Situations take a turn for the darker when the troupe are approached by a shady foreign war correspondent who makes them an offer they struggle against refusing—a ton of money in exchange for shooting actual murders, theatrically “performed” on willing, consensual victims who no longer care about living.

TEARS FOR SALE Director’s Cut Dir: Uros Stojanovic – International premiere

Hosted by screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic.

A Serbian village has been so devastated by war that virtually all the males have been killed, with only women remaining. Two girls earn their living as mourners-for-hire—they cry at other people’s funerals for money. When they inadvertently cause the death of the last remaining man in the village, the other women force them to go to Belgrade and find some fresh male flesh. They embark on the journey, followed by the ghost of their grandmother. An ambitious piece of eye-candy with a budget and visuals unprecedented in Serbian films, TEARS brings to mind a somewhat darker and more erotic Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Luscious period detail and costumes are blended with elaborate visual effects to conjure a unique fantasy environment for the fairy-tale plot, which uses the country’s tragic past as a background for an ambiguously dark romance. TEARS FOR SALE is characteristically Serbian in its mixture of tragedy and comedy, road movie and fantasy, death and romance, and myth and reality, and it represents a fresh vision which effectively merges the local with the universal. Also typically Serbian is the central conflict—obligation to society versus personal happiness, and the resulting clash between the individual and the communal, between selfishness and sacrifice. The film won raves everywhere from Tiff to Rotterdam in a highly reedited version in 2008, the original director’s cut having never been screened to audiences outside of Serbia…until now. Fantasia will be home to the international premiere of the film’s very different director’s cut.

A SERBIAN FILM Dir: Srdjan Spasojevic – Canadian premiere

Hosted by Director Srdjan Spasojevic, screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic.  & producer Nikola Pantelic

Milos, a retired adult film performer agrees to do one last film in order to sustain his impoverished family. But the first day of shooting is a bit strange. Then it gets weirder. When Milos decides to pull out, things go from bad to worse. And worse. Until they reach the unspeakable. A film firmly rooted in the frustration and despair of living in Serbia today, A SERBIAN FILM reinvents the horror genre to suit its own purpose, turning it into a powerful cinematic scream of anger and frustration. It offers a stylized version of what it feels like to grow up in a country humiliated, denigrated, impoverished, bombed-out, stripped of its territory, labeled genocidal and haunted by the spirits of war crimes. It is a scream against corrupt politics, both domestic and foreign; against limitations both internal and external; against being both metaphorically and literally f***ed. It is the ne plus ultra of shock, but this already-notorious content comprises only a small portion of the film. It’s true power lies in its furious point-of-view, its shattered performances and it’s De-Palma-esque mise-en-scene. Scripted with eloquence by Aleksandar Radivojevic…who also wrote TEARS FOR SALE!

TECHNOTISE: EDIT & I  Dir: Aleksa Gajic

Serbia’s first animated feature film. Edit is a smart, poised and exceptionally good-looking young psychology student in Belgrade in the year 2074. In addition to her studies, she works for a major scientific research firm. After failing her grueling psych exam for the sixth time, however, she decides to lower her ethical standards and have a black-market memory-booster chip implanted in her to guarantee a passing grade next time around. The chip is successful, but seems to have some strange side effects, and Edit is soon gobbling iron-supplement pills like an addict. Something is going on inside her, and whatever this mysterious condition may be, it is of great interest to the company she works for… TECHNOTISE is a feast for fans of Euro-sci-fi comics à la Métal Hurlant. No surprise, as in addition to being a well-established illustrator at home, the film’s writer/director is known across the continent for his comic books with prominent French publisher Soleil. His debut film is packed with delightfully distinctive and carefully drafted little visual details and devices.

The older blood:

VARIOLA VERA (1982) Dir: Goran Markovic

VARIOLA VERA’s title refers to the Latin name for smallpox, and it is loosely based on a real event. In 1972, in what was then Yugoslavia, an Albanian Muslim from Kosovo was infected with smallpox on his pilgrimage in the Middle East and upon his return to Serbia, caused an epidemic in the Belgrade City Hospital. In the claustrophobic environment of a quarantined hospital, a group of characters, led by Rade Serbedzija (EYES WIDE SHUT), try to survive the best way they can, and to retain their humanity in the process if at all possible. No one is safe in this bleak but also blackly humorous account of body horror infecting the body politic.

A HOLY PLACE (1990) Dir: Djordje Kadijevic

Hosted by producer Zoran Otasevic

A HOLY PLACE remains a hidden gem of psycho-supernatural horror which audiences outside of Serbia have yet to discover. Since the film is not available on DVD, this is the only chance you’ll ever get to see it with subtitles and on the big screen that its imagery deserves. This is the version of Nikolai Gogol’s short story “Viy” that foreign audiences have barely ever seen—most have probably never heard of it. Unlike the rather benign Russian fantasy VIY (1967), the Serbian version is definitively for adults. The story is still about a reluctant theology student forced to spend three nights in a row locked in a spooky church, reading the Psalms over the (un)dead girl. All the while, supernatural forces are trying to grab him from the holy circle drawn on the floor. Gogol’s half-humorous story is enriched into a more complex one, whose intensity is unique among other, tamer Slavic attempts at producing fear

T.T. SYNDROME (2002) Dir: Dejan Zecevic

A group of young people in Belgrade are out to score some weed. They go to the Turkish baths within an ancient fortress to meet their dealer, but end up trapped there and mercilessly killed one by one by a mysterious murderer clad in black leather. It all seems to have some connection with the strange and very rare illness “T. T. Syndrome”. With elements of Dario Argento and John Carpenter, T.T. was the first Serbian horror film that didn’t feel obliged to justify itself with elements of more respectable genres. It does not imply a political allegory—although placing (and killing off) its youthful cast entirely in a public toilet might have been a statement about the dashed hopes of post-Milosevic Serbia, after all! But above everything else, the movie uses motifs and style of the slasher film, plain and simple, to scare its audience. It has attained cult status in Serbia.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SERBIAN HORROR CINEMA (a special multimedia presentation and panel discussion)

July 14, 6PM, EV Building, 1515 St. Catherine W.

Serbian contribution to the horror film universe is relatively small. And yet, what Serbian horror cinema lacks in terms of quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. It can be argued that more than a dozen existing Serbian horror titles belong among the most original works made in this nation’s cinema in the past decades, and they deserve to be wider known.

The panel devoted to Serbian horror films will be opened by Dejan Ognjanovic, film critic and author of the book In the Hills, the Horrors: Serbian Horror Cinema. He will provide the historical context and cultural background for the emergence of fantastic and horrific elements in Serbian films, with exclusive clips from rare titles barely (or never) shown outside of Serbia, like: THE SHE-BUTTERFLY, THE DAMNED THING, STRANGLER VS STRANGLER, DÉJÀ VU aka REFLECTIONS, etc.

He will be joined by the directors Mladen Djordjevic (THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG) and Srdjan Spasojevic (A SERBIAN FILM), screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic (A SERBIAN FILM, TEARS FOR SALE) and producers Nikola Pantelic (A SERBIAN FILM) and Zoran Otasevic (A HOLY PLACE) to discuss the currents trends, potentials and plans for the new face(s) of Serbian horror cinema.

Spotlight: Between Death And The Devil

Recent times and crimes have seen extraordinary levels of disillusionment with organized religion, and filmmakers have mirrored this anger with startling impact. In the face of this, we’re mounting a spotlight focused on the abuse of faith, the horrors of ideology and the corruption of Godliness: BETWEEN DEATH AND THE DEVIL. Several of these films will absolutely stagger you.

BLACK DEATH (UK) Dir: Christopher Smith – North American premiere

Hosted by Director Christopher Smith

With the Black Death sweeping across England, a witch-hunting knight (Sean Bean) leads a pack of mercenaries across the country in search of a village that has somehow been spared the plague, allegedly due to the inhabitants practicing satanic rituals. BLACK DEATH is a nightmarish morality play that frequently shifts concepts of right and wrong as good characters do inexcusable things, bad characters do good, acts of violence are at once justifiable and indefensible, and ideals give way to instinct, then back again. It is an incredible film, one of the strongest horror entries of 2010.

THE DEVILS (UK) Dir: Ken Russell – Special screening

Hosted by Director Ken Russell

The bravest, most powerful, most ferociously confrontational film ever to lay assault on the criminal opportunism and hypocrisies of the Church, THE DEVILS remains one of the most widely banned and controversial pictures ever made. Starring Oliver Reed and Vanessa Redgrave, directed with theatricality, wit and rage by the great Ken Russell, this is an utterly terrifying, wholly unforgettable masterpiece unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It was an ironic winner of the award for Best Director-Foreign Film at the 1971 Venice Film Festival, despite being banned in the country.

HEARTLESS (UK) Dir: Phillip Ridley – North American premiere

Philip Ridley, iconoclastic director of THE REFLECTING SKIN, is back with his first film in 14 years, a satanic odyssey whose tones settle somewhere between the haunted universes of Clive Barker and David Lynch, filtered through the horrific truths that have spiked every work in his filmography. Jamie Morgan (Jim Sturgess) was born disfigured with a heart-shaped birthmark pulling across one side of his face. Taunted and alone, he agrees to do some very grisly favours for the Mephistophelian “Pappa B,” who promises to remove his birthmark in exchange for…we’ll say no more!

THE LAST EXORCISM (USA) Dir: Daniel Stamm – Canadian premiere

A celebrity priest who also happens to be a fraud of an exorcist has a massive crisis in ideals when he comes across a genuine case of demonic possession in this eerie, subjectively shot shocker by Daniel (A NECESSARY DEATH) Stamm, co-produced by Eli Roth. This is a tight, effective indie horror film that writhes with hair-raising sights and sounds, built on the foundation of a compelling spiritual conflict. It will creep you out. It may well haunt your soul.

POSSESSED (South Korea) Dir: Lee Yong-ju – Canadian premiere

Big sister Hee-jin is trying desperately to find her missing sister. According to inhabitants of the apartment block, the girl is possessed by spirits. Meanwhile, her evangelical mother believes her to be the chosen one. When several neighbours commit suicide, it gets increasingly difficult to stay rational. Staged with precision and loaded with strong performances, POSSESSED arrives like a fresh gust of wind across the South Korean horror scene, instantly infusing hope and maturity into a genre that was believed to be at death’s door. A major hit at Tribeca and Rotterdam.

THE SHRINE (Canada) Dir: Jon Knautz – World premiere

Hosted by director Jon Knautz & actor/co-producer Trevor Matthews

The cruelty of religion and the horrors of the supernatural combine to ignite a powder keg of punishment in this harrowing nail-biter from the maverick writing/acting/producing/directing team behind JACK BROOKS MONSTER SLAYER. Turning completely away from the comedy-horror sensibilities that made his previous film an international cult hit, Knautz and his pack have crafted a diabolically effective, deadly-serious shocker of pagan practices and ritual murder in a forgotten Polish village.

From Asia with Love – Overview of the Asian Programming of Fantasia 2010

For its fourteenth edition, the Fantasia Film Festival is proud to present over 50 titles from Asia. Once again, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong and the People’s Republic of China are widely represented, demonstrating the great quality and diversity of their industries. And, as always, the programming team is also dedicated to exposing several hidden gems hailing from emerging national cinemas. Through these, audiences can discover new visions and new sensibilities. Therefore, the public will be privy to works hailing from Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and – a first for the festival – Indonesia. The filmic multicultural feast prepared by the 2010 Fantasia Film Festival promises to satisfy film lovers of all kinds.

The Asian film selection brought forth by Fantasia 2010 will allow spectators to experience a variety of Asian cultures, all while enjoying a wide range of cinematic genres that will inspire every possible emotion. From musicals to thrillers to war films and horror flicks, Asian filmmakers often use genre cinema as means of painting a portrait of their nation, highlighting certain social preoccupations, or examining historical events that have impacted that corner of the globe. This reality is strongly represented in the Asian film selection at this year’s Fantasia Film Festival.

In order to paint an accurate picture of the national cinemas presented in our program, attention will also be given to certain key works that have helped shape the contemporary cinematic landscape of these countries. Therefore, Fantasia will offer an excellent selection of classic films, so that audiences may discover the inspiration behind the artists that shake up the screen year after year.

When in Japan, Anything Can Happen

The annual selection of Japanese films at Fantasia 2010 is a testimonial to the vitality of a film industry that is still amongst the finest nations of the seventh art, due in no small part to its boundless imagination, an incomparable narrative and visual originality, as well as the flawless capacity to produce first-class work, all of this regardless of the budget allotted to the director. Japanese animation is making a strong Fantasia comeback this year with eight feature films.

For the entire family, OBLIVION ISLAND: HARUKA AND THE MAGIC MIRROR (Canadian premiere), a digital animation film offering a visually sumptuous fairylike universe that will be preceded by JE T’AIME (North American premiere), a short by the master Mamoru Oshii (GHOST IN THE SHELL), and MAI MAI MIRACLE (Canadian premiere), a poetic piece worthy of Hayao Miyazaki (SPIRITED AWAY), will create magical moments for children big and small. We are also screening one of last year’s landmark animations, Mamoru Hosoda’s (THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME) magnificent SUMMER WARS.

Film adaptations of mangas and animated series are also on the program with screenings of GINTAMA: THE MOVIE (International premiere), SPACE BATTLESHIP YAMATO: RESURRECTION (International premiere) and EVANGELION 2.0: YOU CAN (NOT) ADVANCE. KING OF THORN (Canadian premiere), a fantastic fable set in a post-apocalyptic universe, and FIRST SQUAD: THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, a studio 4’C picture with an arcane twist set during WW II, close things off.

If the transposition of manga’s creativity to the big screen can be represented this year by works such as BOYS ON THE RUN (Canadian premiere), HIGANJIMA (Canadian premiere) and Takashi Miike`s CROWS ZERO 2 (Canadian premiere), the adaptation of novels are equally prominent in Japan, a tendency noticeable through pictures like FISH STORY, and GOLDEN SLUMBER (Canadian premiere), presented at Berlin, both taken from the writings of Kotaro Isaka (ACCURACY OF DEATH) and directed by eclectic, pop-culture obsessed filmmaker Yoshihiro Nakamura. For the first time, Fantasia is honoured to present a feature film by the great Hirokazu Kore-eda (NOBODY KNOWS) who pays a visit to the fantastic with the sumptuous AIR DOLL, selected at Cannes 2009 for ‘Un certain regard’.

In the same poetic vein, two films starring a strong female protagonist come from Japan: RINCO’S RESTAURANT (North American premiere hosted by director Mai Tominaga who directed WOOL 100%) and SAWAKO DECIDES (Canadian premiere), two pictures which feature Hikari Mitsushima, last year’s best actress winner at Fantasia for LOVE EXPOSURE. The unique sense of humour of Japanese comic actor Hitoshi Matsumoto (BIG MAN JAPAN) is deployed in all its splendour with SYMBOL, a symbolically rich comedy that uniquely illustrates how our smallest gestures can lead to the biggest of consequences.

Deranged horror comedies are also on the program with MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD (Canadian premiere with co-director Yoshihiro Nishimura and producer Yoshinori Chiba attending) and ALIEN VS NINJA (Canadian premiere with producer Yoshinori Chiba attending). Finally, the punk-rock-ish comedy BRASS KNUCKLE BOYS and the comedy RAISE THE CASTLE (Canadian premiere), as well as the classics KURONEKO (presented in collaboration with Panorama-cinéma) and BATTLE FROM OUTER SPACE (presented by author Ed Godziszewski) conclude the Japanese line-up for Fantasia 2010.

Perpetual Rebirth of Korean New Wave

This year, Cine-Asie and Fantasia are collaborating to highlight programming emanating from the Republic of Korea. This spotlight presents an extremely diverse selection that is rich in emotions. A LITTLE POND (Canadian premiere), a poignant, poetic and intensively documented drama that explores the massacre at Nogunri, will be shown in honour of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.

The festival celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Korean classic THE HOUSEMAID (1960), the remake of which was in competition at Cannes this year. Directed by Kim Ki-young (who is recognized as one of South Korea’s greatest filmmakers) this film’s realistic approach and mise-en-scene revolutionized the peninsula’s cinema. Martin Scorsese once wrote “that this intensely, even passionately claustrophobic film is known only to the most devoted film lovers in the west is one of the great accidents of film history…” And former Cahier du Cinema film critic Jean Michel Frodon refers to the director, Kim, as “a brother of Luis Bunuel in Korea!”

There are several epic films on the schedule. BLADES OF BLOOD (Canadian premiere), based on a famous Korean comic, follows the destinies of four characters as they navigate the clatter of blades in revolutionary times. A FROZEN FLOWER (Canadian premiere) examines a love triangle between the queen, the king and one of his guards in a picture that is both sumptuous and intense.  In a more playful spirit, WOOCHI (Canadian premiere) transports the folkloric hero Jeon Woo-chi to contemporary Seoul, where he’ll need all of his magical powers to fight the forces of evil.

Culinary-driven dramatic comedies will also be in order, represented by the appetizing THE NAKED KITCHEN (North American premiere), an epicurean romantic comedy by a female director Hong Ji-Young, and starring Shin Min-ah and Joo Ji Hoon; Korea’s top stars at the moment. LE GRAND CHEF 2: KIMCHI BATTLE (Canadian premiere), tells the story of a chefs tournament that is designed to protect the heritage of Korea’s national dish.

This year also marks the strong return of South Korean horror cinema with POSSESSED (Canadian premiere), a cerebral fright flick that deals with religious fervour, and THE NEIGHBOR ZOMBIE (North American premiere with co-director Jang Yoon-jung attending), an innovative collective that pits us right in the middle of a zombie invasion.

THE EXECUTIONER (North American premiere) a staggering drama, will no doubt disrupt Fantasia audiences and spark animated discussions regarding the death penalty. The animated feature WHAT IS NOT ROMANCE? (International premiere) takes us through the memories of a typical Korean family, and proves that an animated film can illustrate the daily lives of endearing characters in an intelligent and realistic fashion. Korean comedies have always been well-received at Fantasia, and this year, we are showing three comedies that are sure to please the audience. Earning praise wherever it’s screened, CASTAWAY ON THE MOON stars Jung Jae-young (GOING BY THE BOOK) as a man trapped on a desert island in the very heart of Seoul. SCANDAL MAKERS (Canadian premiere), is a cheerful comedy that found tremendous domestic success, and that may potentially be in line for a Hollywood remake. Co-produced with China, SOPHIE’S REVENGE (Canadian premiere) recalls LE FABULEUX DESTIN D’AMELIE POULAIN and stars renowned Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi (2046) and Korean actor So Ji-sub (ROUGH CUT). Finally, director Jang Hun (ROUGH CUT) returns with SECRET REUNION (Canadian premiere), an energetic mixture of suspense, comedy and action in which the excellent Song Kang-ho (THIRST) and the rising star Gang Dong-won (WOOCHI) respectively portray a South Korean agent and a North Korean spy who treat themselves to a surprising and captivating joust involving a brutal communist assassin.

Legendary Lethal Weapons of China

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada) is once again sponsoring the Hong Kong cinema programming this year, a listing that promises to be extraordinarily sweeping and spectacular. Following IP MAN’s success last year, we can expect a full house for every screening filled with festival-goers enthusiastic for IP MAN 2 (Canadian premiere). Donnie Yen reprises his role as Bruce Lee’s celebrated master who this time must deal with martial arts cinema legend Sammo Hung (PROJECT A).

Yen is also part of the prestigious cast for BODYGUARDS AND ASSASSINS (Canadian premiere), an epic historical fresco filled with fantastic battles set in the middle of the Chinese revolution.

Another Kung Fu legend proves his worth in LITTLE BIG SOLDIER (Canadian premiere). Jackie Chan, Hong Kong cinema’s ambassador par-excellence in the West, delivers a nuanced performance in light of his persona recently displayed in KARATE KID.

Bruce Leung (KUNG FU HUSTLE) and Chen Kuan Tai will delight fans of traditional Kung Fu with the hilarious martial arts comedy GALLANTS (Canadian premiere), one of the wonderful surprises to emerge from Hong Kong this year. In recognition of his past contributions to martial arts films, a special award will be given to Bruce Leung. Best remembered by western audiences as the Beast from Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle, his legacy goes back to the 70s where he began his career playing supporting characters and working as an action-director.  For the next twenty years, he thrilled audiences.  After a fifteen-year absence he returned in 2004. In Gallants he appears as an aging student whose past glories are behind him. Also in attendance at the screening will be co-director Clement Cheng.

Johnny To returns as a producer for the acclaimed thriller ACCIDENT where a hit-man and his team conjure up fake accidents to eliminate their victims. Long-time To collaborator, Wai Ka-Fai, offers WRITTEN BY, an elliptical fantasy drama in the vein of a Charlie Kaufman script, starring Lau Ching-Wan, who also plays in this year’s suspenseful OVERHEARD, an engaging and original cat-and-mouse game in which a surveillance team gets tempted with fiscal fraud. Another festival favourite, Pang-Ho Cheung, returns with two pictures that demonstrate once again his capacity to take ordinary premises and transform them into something extraordinary, all of it sprinkled with shady social satire. LOVE IN A PUFF (International premiere) is a comedy in which smoking prohibition leads to laughs, swearing and close camaraderie, whereas the horrific comedy DREAM HOME (Canadian premiere) deals with a woman willing to kill to acquire her dream dwelling. Finally, from Mainland China, THE MESSAGE (Canadian premiere) crosses genres by offering an intense espionage suspense thriller set during World War II.

Rise of Southeast Asian Cinéma

Three films represent Thailand this year. First off, RAGING PHOENIX (Canadian premiere) is a martial arts film that mixes muay thai, drunken boxing and breakdance and in which Jeeja Yanin (CHOCOLATE) solidifies her place amongst the rising stars of the international action scene. Then comes PHOBIA 2 (North American premiere) which, following 4BIA’s presentation at Fantasia 2008, offers a horror collective conceived by the top Thai craftsmen, including the creators of SHUTTER Banjong Pisanthankun and Parpoom Wongpoom.

Finally, presented in collaboration with the Cinemathèque francaise, LES HOMMES D’UNE AUTRE PLANETE, the “classic” kaiju film with a singular history, not to mention surrealist slant, will create waves of laughter with its approximate French translation and ugly monsters.The team behind THE REBEL, screened at Fantasia 2008, returns with THE CLASH (Canadian premiere), an explosive Vietnamese martial arts picture in which Johnny Nguyen (THE PROTECTOR with Tony Jaa) and Veronica Ngo give us more than an eyeful. This year, Fantasia presents its first Indonesian film, MERENTAU (Canadian premiere), a halting full-length feature displaying the ancient art of silat harimau, an impressive technique of Indonesian combat. Finally, a musical from Malaysia, SELL OUT!, will offer Fantasia audiences surrealist musical numbers worthy of Monty Python. Yeo Joon Han’s first feature is assuredly one of the most lucid and corrosive critiques of reality television and the corporate mentality.

Occidental Eruptions

Fantasia’s 2010 occidental lineup of World Cinema is once again on fire with an astounding kaleidoscope of styles and sensibilities. Walk with us as we highlight by country-of-origin what we’re bringing to Montreal in July. Ready… steady… GO!

From the US, we have a multitude of treats and feats: Edgar Wright’s hotly anticipated SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD (Canadian premiere) is a lunatic comedy/fantasy that sees Michael Cera battling an increasingly outrageous onslaught of his girlfriend’s evil ex’s.  Steven R. Monroe’s I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE (World premiere) updates Meir Zarchi’s seminal 1978 exploitation epic to contemporary times, sparing none of the original’s shock and ferocity while bringing extra helpings of rage to the proceedings. With THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE (Official Opening Film – Canadian premiere), Producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Jon Turteltaub join forces again for a modern-day live-action (emphasis on action!) film that tips its hat to the most beloved sequence in Disney’s animated classic FANTASIA.

Matt Osterman’s PHASMA EX MACHINA (World premiere) is an intelligent, emotionally moving chiller that sees a grieving young man build an electrical device that can bring back the dead. Daniel Stamm’s Eli Roth-produced THE LAST EXORCISM (Canadian premiere) is an eerie, subjectively-shot shocker concerning a celebrity priest famous for his (fake) skills as an exorcist, encountering an actual case of demonic possession.

John Stalberg Jr.’s HIGH SCHOOL (International premiere) is a radical, counter-culture stoner comedy featuring up-for-anything-cool Oscar-winner Adrian Brody that created all manor of buzz at Sundance.  The Butcher Brothers’s demonically outrageous genre-twisting THE VIOLENT KIND (Canadian premiere) is another Fantasia pick that drew first blood at Sundance, leaving its audience in a daze. Also making its CDN bow after wowing audiences at Sundance is Nick Tomnay’s phenomenal reverse home invasion thriller THE PERFECT HOST, featuring David Hyde Pierce in the most against-type performance imaginable!

Kerry Prior’s delirious THE REVENANT is an inspired comedy/horror about an undead soldier that feels like Henenlotter fused with Gordon and has won countless awards on the international festival circuit.  James Nguyen’s no-budget jaw-dropper BIRDEMIC (Montreal premiere), a “romantic thriller” allegedly shot in homage to Hitchcock, has become a so-bad-it’s-good phenomenon, with such mainstream outlets as BBC, CNN and the New York Times hailing it as the most entertainingly awful film ever made. Steven Calcote & Stuart J. Levy’s VAN VON HUNTER (Canadian premiere) is a mockumentary comedy about a crime fighter-cum-celebrity, starring cult voice actor Yuri Lowenthal in the titular role. Daniel Erickson’s EVE’S NECKLACE (Canadian premiere) reinvents the Film Noir thriller in a unique new light – with a cast of mannequins!

On the documentary front, we have HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE (World premiere) is an affectionate portrait of HG Lewis, pioneer of the gore film, co-directed by Frank Henenlotter (a genre film legend in his own right!) and Jimmy Maslon, and featuring appearances from the likes of John Waters, Bunny Yeagher and Joe Bob Briggs.  Similarly, Greg Olliver & Wes Orshoski’s LEMMY (International premiere) is a pounding, rollicking profile of Motorhead’s one-of-a-kind frontman Lemmy Kilmister, featuring appearances by everyone from Metallica and The Damned to Dave Grohl, Joan Jett, Ozzy Osbourne and Billy Bob Thornton!  A stunner of a different kind is Marc D. Levitz’s shattering and award-winning FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION: THE OTERO FAMILY MURDERS (Canadian premiere), a film about a man struggling to mend a life has been in pieces since the time that, at age 15, he came home to find his entire family murdered by a stranger who was later revealed to be the BTK killer. This is a film of extraordinary emotional force, and it will have you in tears.

France brings us a pair of genre oddities, both coming here fresh from their launches in Cannes. Part zombie film, part backwoods terror pic, Franck Richard’s LA MEUTE (North American premiere) is an atmospheric genre hybrid starring Émilie Dequenne, Philippe Nahon and Yolande Moreau. Spinning out from the warped mind of Quentin Dupieux (AKA electro house musician Mr Oizo), RUBBER (International premiere) is the story of Robert, who happens to be an angry, psychic…tire. An all season tire, to be specific. Yes.

Also from France, we have both of Jean-François Richet’s mass award-winning crime thrillers based on the law-smashing life of Jacques Mesrine: MESRINE: L’INSTINCT DE MORT and MESRINE: L’ENNEMI PUBLIC NO. 1, starring the great Vincent Cassel in the titular role.  We will be screening both features back to back for en epic MESRINE soiree, to be hosted by co-star Roy Dupuis!

Mexico’s WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (North American premiere), directed by Jorge Michel Grau, is an innovative and savage cannibal drama that was one of the most buzzed-about films at Cannes this year.

Russia’s BLACK LIGHTNING (North American premiere), directed by Dmitriy Kiselev & Aleksandr Voytinskiy is a joyous, teen comedy/action film about a misfit who rises above his obstacles – literally – when he accidentally takes possession of a flying car and uses it to fight crime!

The UK edge of our lineup features some of this year’s strongest revelations: Christopher Smith’s BLACK DEATH (North American premiere), a medieval tale of plague and necromancy is one of the smartest and most frightening horror films of the year. Simon Rumley returns to Fantasia with his ingeniously executed, white hot vengeance thriller RED WHITE & BLUE, a huge critical success at Rotterdam and SXSW. Philip Ridley’s startling and poignant HEARTLESS (North American premiere) is a satanic urban fairytale that stars Jim Sturgess and marks the visionary REFLECTING SKIN filmmaker’s return to cinema after a 14-year absence. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ALICE CREED (Montreal premiere) is a tense kidnapping thriller that had many hailing its young director as the most exciting British breakout since Danny Boyle when it screened at Tribeca a few months ago.

Neil Marshall’s CENTURION (Canadian premiere) is a breathtaking medieval siege rollercoaster starring Michael Fassbender and Olga Kurylenko that will blow you out the back wall of the theatre – exactly what you were hoping for when you learned that the maker of THE DESCENT was undertaking a big budget action epic. Jake West’s splatstick DOGHOUSE (Canadian premiere) turns sexism on its head when a boorish group of men on a getaway weekend find themselves in a town populated by demonically possessed women ready to tear them limb from limb. DOWN TERRACE, the feature debut from acclaimed BBC comedy writer Ben Wheatley is a brilliantly black comedy/thriller about a family of criminals turning against each other while living under one roof.

Spain’s [REC] 2 (Montreal premiere) reunites the original film’s celebrated co-directing team of Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero to create an absolute nightmare onscreen, resuming immediately from the final moments of the first film.

From New Zealand we have David Blyth’s controversial WOUND (International premiere), a Lynchian BDSM-tinged fever dream that writhes with sweat and dread. Another kiwi curio, Sean Byrne’s much-buzzed-about THE LOVED ONES (Montreal premiere), is a teen coming of age horror/thriller/comedy from hell that won an audience award at Tiff and is sure to see mega love at the Fantasia prom.

Greece brings us the super kinetic screwball zombie actioneer EVIL: IN THE TIME OF HEROES (North American premiere), a highly unusual detour in the realm of Greek film culture.

Belgium represents with Vincent Lannoo’s VAMPIRES (North American premiere), a wickedly droll mockumentary concerning a bourgeois family of vampires who find themselves excommunicated to Montreal, Quebec!

Scandinavia and Eastern Europe have birthed a strongly compelling crop of cinema in recent months. Behold:

From Denmark comes a trio of hugely unconventional gems: the outrageous action/comedy AT WORLD’S END (North American premiere), scripted by the great Anders Thomas Jensen (ADAM’S APPLES, AFTER THE WEDDING), directed by Tomas Villum Jensen and starring Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, is funny, funny stuff, about a flower named “Hedvig” that promises eternal life – and the many lives bloodily ended in search of it! Ole Bornedal’s multiple award-winning DELIVER US FROM EVIL (Montreal premiere) is a compelling, frightening thriller about small-town xenophobia and small-minded brutality that’s found itself upon many a top-ten list. INTO ETERNITY (Montreal premiere), directed by Michael Madsen (the other one!), is a poetic and hypnotic documentary about the dilemma of long-term storage of nuclear waste – precisely, how to prevent a population 10,000 years down the road from going near these toxic places – that plays in part like an unusual science fiction tale.

Norway’s FATSO (North American premiere), directed by Arild Fröhlich, is a surprising, hysterical grossout teen comedy that, markedly unlike its North American contemporaries, boasts as much heart and soul as it does tits and ass.

Hailing from the Netherlands, Tom Six’s HUMAN CENTIPEDE (Canadian premiere) is an already-legendary, scientifically accurate (!), award-winning Grand Guignol shocker with a premise too revolting to be described here. Just trust us on that.

Hungary’s ingenious “1” (North American premiere), directed by Pater Sparrow, details a bookshop whose shelves of rare editions are all replaced with mass copies of a mysterious almanac that describes what will happen to all of humanity over the course of one minute.

Serbia’s powerhouse new generation of filmmakers will be showcased with four unforgettable new selections (and 3 retro picks): Mladen Djordjevic’s blacker than black comedy THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG is reminiscent of early Almodovar-by-way-of-Miike and is in ways the CLOCKWORK ORANGE of Serbia. Uros Stojanovic’s visually-sumptuous whimsical fantasy TEARS FOR SALE won raves everywhere from Tiff to Rotterdam in a highly reedited version, the original director’s cut having never been screened to audiences outside of Serbia…until now. Fantasia will be home to the international premiere of the film’s very different director’s cut! Srdjan Spasojevic’s politically-charged, DePalma-esque A SERBIAN FILM had heads spinning at its recent launch at SXSW, where it was greeted with startled accolades.  Aleksa Gajic’s TECHNOTISE: EDIT & I (Montreal premiere) is Serbia’s first animated feature film, set in Belgrade, 2074, whose plot concerns a student implanting a memory chip in her head after failing one exam too many, with very unexpected consequences.

Canada delivers the goods in spades with a wealth of standouts: Jon Knautz’s THE SHRINE (World premiere) is an eerie supernatural thriller set in a forgotten Polish town – a major change of pace from the man behind the international cult sensation JACK BROOKS MONSTER SLAYER, who this time is playing his scares dead serious. A hit at Sundance and an audience prize winner at SXSW, Eli Craig’s outrageous TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL (Official Closing Film – Canadian premiere) is one of the best comedy/horrors in years, about a loveable pair of hillbillies accidentally mistaken for DELIVERANCE style killers by camping college kids.  Chad Archibald’s NEVERLOST (World premiere) is an inspired thriller taking place largely inside an addict’s mind as he escapes from a toxic real-world to solve the crime that murdered his past. Chris Pickle’s disturbing SAVING GRACE (World premiere) sees a young mother kidnapped from her hospital bed and waking up in the hands of her captor, who insists to her that a nuclear disaster has rendered the outside world deadly. Frédérick Maheux’s startling THEORIE DE LA RELIGION (World premiere) is an experimental nightmare, a film of transgressive beauty that no synopsis could properly summarize.

Jephté Bastien’s SORTIE 67 (special work-in-progress screening) is Quebec’s first-ever production to deal explicitly with local street gangs, and the results are equally smart and explosive. Steve Villeneuve’s UNDER THE SCARES (Canadian premiere) offers us a ground zero primer on the production and distribution of an independent horror film, with tips from the likes of Lloyd Kaufman, HG Lewis, Tony Timpone, Rodrigo Gudino, Maurice Devereaux and Debbie Rochon.

Phillip Carrer’s IF A TREE FALLS (World premiere) takes ‘70s exploitation film aesthetics to glorious heights/depths in a modern-yet-retro reinvention of yesterday’s stalked-in-the-woods horror epics, with a freakish twist. Patrick Downing’s charming I HEART DOOMSDAY (Montreal premiere) is a romantic sci-fi comedy about love, loss and…robots. Blaine Thurier’s comedic slacker crime flick A GUN TO THE HEAD (Montreal premiere) finally makes it to Montreal after tearing up Tiff and the Calgary Underground, Whistler and Atlantic film festivals. FRANKENSTEIN UNLIMITED is an inventive indie anthology film presenting six eccentric tales inspired by Mary Shelley’s creation, coming from the minds of Matthew Saliba, King-Wei Chu, Matthew Forbes, Maude Michaud, Peter James and Martin Gauthier. Corey Adams & Alex Craig’s oddball skater comedy MACHOTAILDROP (Montreal premiere) kind of needs to be seen to be believed, and if you can believe it, you can be it. Rob Stefaniuk’s SUCK (Montreal premiere) is a slamming comedy/horror/musical about a rock band turning into vampires on tour, starring Stefaniuk and Jessica Paré, featuring appearances by Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop, Moby and Henry Rollins. Dominique Adams’s TWISTED SEDUCTION (world premiere) is, as the title implies, a twisted romance with black humour where a would-be seducer traps a woman in an apartment, hoping to keep her captive until she falls in love with him.

On the retro side of the lineup, Fantasia will be doing big screen resurrections of numerous landmarks of the genre – Fritz Lang’s METROPOLIS (newly restored with 25 minutes of previously lost footage, to be screened with live orchestral accompaniment performing a new score by Gabriel Thibaudeau – the first time it will ever be heard), Ken Russell’s THE DEVILS, Jean Cocteau’s LE SANG D’UN POETE (with live musical accompaniment by Siouxsie and the Banshees co-founder Steven Severin!), Stuart Gordon’s RE-ANIMATOR, HG Lewis’s BLOOD FEAST, Camil Adam’s MANETTE: LA FOLLE ET LES DIEUX DE CARTON, Don Bluth & Gary Goldman’s THE LAND BEFORE TIME and Jean-Claude Lord’s PARLEZ NOUS D’AMOUR. We’ll also be bringing in a string of retro Serbian genre films long overdue for discovery by a Western audience – Goran Markovic’s smallpox quarantine nightmare VARIOLA VERA, Dejan Zecevic’s revisionist slasher T.T. SYNDROME and Djordje Kadijevic’s daring and Bava-esque adaptation of Gogol’s “Viy”, A HOLY PLACE.

Documentaries From The Edge

The Fantasia Film Festival is proud to announce the return of DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE for an outstanding fourth edition. Throughout the years, this series dedicated to thought-provoking and remarkable documentaries has earned the praise of both critics and the general public alike and has established itself as one of the backbones of the festival. This year, fans will get a chance to see five feature films each with its own unique view on some truly captivating topics.

Just like a documentary, the year’s selection does not follow a script. In fact we cannot even outline a general theme as all the movies featured in DOCUMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE have their own very personal vision and feel. From an intimate portrait of a living rock legend, to a letter written for the generations to come, to the memories of a cult movie director, each feature is wildly distinct from the next. This lack of unity is nonetheless to be valued as it mirrors the rich diversity of the modern documentary filmmaker.

A hit at South by Southwest and Hot Docs, Jeff Malmberg’s MARWENCOL paints a deeply intimate picture of Mark Hogancamp, a man who after being left with no memory due to a vicious attack created his very own world of miniatures. Filmed over four years, this disturbing and fascinating movie follows every step of a tormented man’s struggle to regain some sense of his life through outsider art.

Also lauded on the international festival circuit, Michael Madsen’s INTO ETERNITY plunges us five kilometres under Finland where tons of radioactive waste is buried daily. Somewhere between poetic documentary and science fiction, the Danish director asks a difficult and sensitive question: how can we warn future generations of an evil their ancestors have worked so hard to keep hidden?

Going in a completely different direction with LEMMY, Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski bring us an evocative and hilarious portrait of Motörhead’s lead singer, a man considered to be one of the founding fathers of heavy metal.

Sure to shock, Marc D. Levitz’s FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION : THE OTERO FAMILY MURDERS thrusts us into the world of an ordinary man who must confront his tragic past years after his family’s brutal murder at the hands of the BTK serial killer.

Finally, HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS – THE GODFATHER OF GORE exposes the career of one of the most influential directors in the exploitation genre. Through numerous interviews, testimonials and stock footage, Frank Henenlotter, of BASKET CASE and BAD BIOLOGY fame, and Jimmy Malson paint a detailed picture of the controversial visionary Herschell Gordon Lewis.

Wes Orshoki, Frank Hennenlotter, Jimmy Malson, producer Mike Vraney and Herschell Gordon Lewis will all be present at the screenings of their respective movies.

Short Films From Around The World

Each year, in addition to an impressive selection of feature-length films, the Fantasia Film Festival screens an impressive number of short movies from the world over. On the menu this year are more than 225 shorts, more than half of which are from right here in Quebec and the rest hailing from such places as England, Belgium, Brazil, China, Denmark, France, Japan, Pakistan and Serbia.

Although many shorts are being screened as opening acts for feature presentations, most of them will be part of the various theme programs such as:

• BEYOND ANIMATION (international animated shorts)

• CELLULOID EXPERIMENTS (international experimental shorts)

• DJ XL5’S SMASHIN’ ZAPPIN’ PARTY (humourous and zany shorts)

• SMALL GAUGE TRAUMA (annual collection of eccentric, audacious and disturbing international shorts)

• QUEBEC SHORTS (11 programs dedicated to Quebec short films).

Interestingly, most of our short movie programs were completely sold out in past years. This proves that fans of the festival are not only interested in short cinema but are curious and open to new narrative and artistic structures.

Finally, don’t miss DJ XL5’S BOLLYWOOD ZAPPIN’ PARTY. A veritable love letter celebrating the beauty, richness, endearing awkwardness and kitsch of Indian cinema. This program includes commercials, musical numbers and clips from over 40 Bollywood movies.

THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS is one of the most important events for the Quebec short movie scene. Three years ago the entire event was made up of barely 80 short films. This year we have over 130 movies split among 11 programs and shown at the magnificent Imperial Cinema.

THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS is a great introduction to the world of short-length cinema or a good way to keep up with the current trends: one can find just about anything, from fledgling first efforts to true gems crafted by renowned filmmakers; from big budget blockbusters to modestly funded little projects that nonetheless never fail to please.  Each program collects a variety of titles both francophone and Anglophone, DIY, big budget, etc…

This year’s selection is centred on novelty and entertainment. Movie lovers will be able to enjoy a bit of everything, be it comedy, drama, science-fiction, mockumentary and so much more.  THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND is proud to present Pedro Pires’ Danse macabre, Hélène Florent’s Léger problème, Danny Gilmore’s L’offre et la demande, La nuit du silence, the first film by Pierre-Luc Lafontaine, Normand Daneau’s Love & Volts and Melissa auf der Maur’s Out of Our Minds, to name but a few.

Those better versed in the field will also recognize names such as Simon Lacroix, Carnior, Géraldine Charbonneau, Handfield and Vadeboncoeur, Beans and Bueller, Igor Simonnet, Sandra Coppola, Jules Saulnier, Lawrence Côté-Collins and the list goes on.

As you have probably noticed, THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS has its very own poster now. Our thanks go out to Donald Caron who has perfectly captured the event’s open and playful spirit.

The artists involved with THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND would like recognize the great enthusiasm and collaboration shown by filmmakers, and further thank some of our new sponsors who will be handing out prizes: SODEC, Téléfilm, l’ARRQ, Entreprise vidéo service, L’atelier la moufette mauve, la SARTEQ, Spirafilm et Umen Technologies. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Of course we couldn’t overlook all of Marc Lamothe’s hard work not only in seeking out new partners but also for organizing all four conferences with the help of the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.

THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS Conferences

A series of panels aimed at those working in the film industry or interested in exploring it will be held in the days leading up to THE FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS. These conferences will take place in the EV pavilion of the Concordia University Amphitheatre, EV-01.615, 1515 St. Catherine West.

Monday, July 19, 2010 at 6 :00 PM

HOW TO MAKE A CHEAP MOVIE THAT WILL BE SEEN BY MILLIONS ON THE INTERNET

Patrick Boivin, Carnior and Eddie 69

A light-hearted discussion between three ex-members of the group Phylactère Cola, whose movies were an Internet sensation. Brought to you by the ARRQ  in association with Téléfilm Canada.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at 6 :00 PM

SPECIAL EFFECTS IN QUEBEC CINEMA

Véronique Dumas, Érik Gosselin, Adrien Morot and Éric Thivierge

A heated dialogue with four special effects professionals intended as much for movie makers of all sorts as for those simply interested by the subject. Presented by l’Atelier de la moufette mauve in association with Téléfilm Canada.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 at 6:00 PM

THE CHALLENGES OF SCREEN WRITING

Simon-Olivier Fecteau, Ian Lauzon and Patrick Senécal

Three passionate screen writers share their experiences as well as the tricks and tips they’ve picked up over the years. Presented by SARTEC and Téléfilm Canada.

Thursday, July 22, 2010 at 6 :00 PM

PRÉPARER SON PREMIER LONG MÉTRAGE

Nicole Robert and Éric Tessier

These two collaborators walk us through the steps leading up to the release of SUR LE SEUIL. Brought to you by the ARRQ, in association with Téléfilm Canada.

Some Fascinating Panels

In addition to the numerous conferences presented as part of the FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS, this year, the Fantasia Film Festival will be hosting a series of panels aimed at people working in the film industry or those interested in exploring it.

AN INTRODUCTION TO SERBIAN HORROR CINEMA

Wednesday July 14th at 6 pm

EV building, 1515 Ste-Catherine W, EV-01.615 amphitheatre

Free admission

Serbian contribution to the horror film universe is relatively small. And yet, what Serbian horror cinema lacks in terms of quantity, it more than makes up for in quality. It can be argued that more than a dozen of existing Serbian horror titles belong among the most original works made in the nation’s cinema in the past decades, and they deserve to be more widely known.

The panel devoted to Serbian horror films will be headlined by Dejan Ognjanović, film critic and author of the book In the Hills, the Horrors: Serbian Horror Cinema. He will provide the historical context and cultural background for the emergence of fantastic and horrific elements in Serbian films, with exclusive clips from rare titles barely (or never) shown outside of Serbia, like: THE SHE-BUTTERFLY, THE DAMNED THING, STRANGLER VS STRANGLER, DÉJÀ VU aka REFLECTIONS, etc.

He will be joined by directors Mladen Djordjevic (THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG) and Srdjan Spasojevic (A SERBIAN FILM), screenwriter Aleksandar Radivojevic (A SERBIAN FILM, TEARS FOR SALE) and producers Nikola Pantelic (A SERBIAN FILM) and Zoran Otasevic (A HOLY PLACE) to discuss current trends, and the future of the new face(s) of Serbian horror cinema.

THE CURRENT AND FUTURE STATE OF TRADITIONAL ANIMATION CINEMA: DEATH, COMEBACK AND RESURRECTION

Sunday July 18th at 1 pm

EV building, 1515 Ste-Catherine W, EV-01.615 amphitheatre

Free admission

This round table discussion will feature Don Bluth and Gary Goldman (directors and producers, THE LAND BEFORE TIME), Gerald Potterton (director, HEAVY METAL) and Luc Chamberland (director and teacher).

Shortly after the release of HOME ON THE RANGE in 2004, Disney announced the closing of their traditional animation studios in order to focus on the production of feature films using 3D animation techniques. Not only did they close an important chapter in the history of American film studios, they also provoked concern for the future of so-called classic animation. Building on the ever-present menace fuelled by hybrid animation films mixing traditional animation and computer generated images, this decision also confirmed the risky future of this kind of animation.

Today, given the almost non-existence of 2D films in North-American cinemas, many claim that traditional animation is dead. A few exceptions have been released, one of them being THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, ironically an attempt by Disney to get back to its roots. Sadly, these releases seem more like a comeback than a resurrection of the genre. The current fragile state and uncertain future of the classic animated film will be discussed from an aesthetic, economic and historical point of view, as part of this round table discussion with three of the most prominent animation filmmakers and specialists of the genre.

ADAPTING H.P. LOVECRAFT FOR THE SCREEN: A MASTER CLASS WITH STUART GORDON AND DENNIS PAOLI

Sunday July 18th, 2pm-4pm at BLUE SUNSHINE – 3660 St. Laurent, 3rd Floor

Admission $15.00 – Tickets are available at the door (cash only) or online via paypal at www.miskatonicinstitute.com or www.blue-sunshine.com

The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies recently found a permanent home in Montreal, and who better to christen the new pad than the writing/directing team behind the most beloved HP Lovecraft film adaptations of all time? Stuart Gordon and Dennis Paoli (RE-ANIMATOR, FROM BEYOND, DAGON) will be the inaugural instructors at Miskatonic’s new home, and will be delivering a two-hour masterclass on adapting Lovecraft to the screen – the challenges, the  techniques and some insight as to why their films stand out amidst a sea of historically troubled counterparts. The class will include film clips and be followed by a Q&A period.  Seating is limited as Blue Sunshine is a 50-seat venue, so it is a rare chance to be in an intimate environment with some of the genre’s leading stars!

VOICE OVER, VOICE ACTOR:  Yuri Lowenthal & Tara Platt

Sunday July 18th at 3 pm

EV building, 1515 Ste-Catherine W, EV-01.615 amphitheatre

Free admission

Interested in pursuing a career in Voice Over? Get a taste of what it’s like behind the studio mic from two working pros who started from scratch.

Yuri Lowenthal is a prolific and respected voice actor for anime, feature films, TV series, and games.  His credits include: VAN VON HUNTER (Fantasia 2010), CODE GEASS, NARUTO, BLEACH, BEN 10 as well as the video games X-MEN, SPIDERMAN and HALO 2. Tara Platt’s credits include; NARUTO, BUSO RENKIN and the SHIN MEGAMI TENSEI: PERSONA series. She can be seen in the upcoming live action films THE ARCADIAN and A GIRL A GUY A SPACE HELMET.

Together, this L.A.-based dynamic duo have co-authored Voice Over Voice Actor, the definitive book on Voice Over which has had rave reviews from industry leaders. A limited number of signed copies of their book will be available after the conference. So please drop by for a peek into their mysterious and exciting world!

Camera Lucida

What is the current state of genre cinema? The innovation that is CAMERA LUCIDA attempts to answer this question. Although the cinematic landscape today is marked by the arrival of undeniable and unclassifiable hybrids, some even being directed by known auteurs, the definition of “genre cinema” is seemingly becoming more and more elusive. In trying to clarify this, the idea of a platform dedicated to this contemporary filmic phenomenon was created by the Fantasia Film Festival. Yet, instead of offering a clear answer to the question that led to the project, the films being presented in this category only add to its complexity. Even though they proudly adhere to a specific genre, from animation to science fiction, on through to musical, each drastically redefines it by confronting it with new perspectives, by proposing new reflections on its past and certainly, by revolutionizing it. Here is, in its most radical and uncommon state, genre cinema as presented to the modern cinephile.

Just weeks after having stirred things up at Cannes, the honour of opening the proceedings goes to the crazy film RUBBER by French director Quentin Dupieux. A ludicrous slasher flick, this brilliant pastiche of Z-movies with a Brechtian touch, gives the lead role to none other than a serial-killing car tire.

The first feature from Malaysian director Yeo Joon Han is the hilarious musical comedy SELL OUT! With touches of black comedy, it irreverently mocks, Reality TV, corporations and auteur cinema. In capturing a realist sweet-and-sour portrait of a South Korean family among others, the charming animated drama WHAT IS NOT ROMANCE? by Hong Eun-ji, Park Jae-ok and Soo Kyoung, sides itself much more with the likes of Mizoguchi rather than Oshii. Mashing film noir and romance with a meticulous mise-en-scène, NEVERLOST by Canadian Chad Archibald straddles themes of madness in exploring the personal labyrinth of a failed screenwriter confronted with his inner demons.

With AIR DOLL, the master of contemporary cinema, Hirokazu Kore-eda, returns to the fantasy world of AFTER LIFE and creates a poetic meditation wherein magic realism allows him to illustrate society’s ills. “1” from Hungarian director Pater Sparrow is a demented film, an existentialist science fiction puzzle that, on top of perfectly capturing the spirit of the novels by the late José Saramago, propels us into a surrealist universe where any philosophical idea shatters under the weight of delirium. Straight from the abattoir, the experimental film THÉORIE DE LA RELIGION by Frédérick Maheux closes the CAMERA LUCIDA chapter with the transgressive spectacle of a man who finds in a mannequin an obscure object of desire that allows him to live out his fantasies.

Chad Archibald and Frédérick Maheux will be present at the world premieres of their respective films.

Fantasia Under The Stars

As part of the 14th edition of the festival, SCENE, the first and only entertainment rewards program in Canada presents Fantasia Under the Stars, a series of  special outdoor screenings at the Parc de la Paix (on St-Laurent boulevard between St-Catherine and René-Lévesque). Come celebrate with us during two weeks and enjoy our ten free outdoors screenings at the SCENE Screen!

Screenings will start at 9pm and will be preceded by musical and visual performances by Jocool, Taxi nouveau,  Liberty, this is not design (tind), Victortronic,  Pink Rubber Lady and Guillaume B, courtesy of the Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT) Mix Sessions.  Visit www.fantasiafestival.com for the complete VJs and DJs’ schedule and a complete description of the films.   Cancellation in the event of rain.

WEEK 1

Tuesday July 13th

BLACK (Pierre Laffargue, France, 2009, 115 min.)

Courtesy of Evokative Films

In French with English subtitles

Wednesday July 14th

EXECUTIVE KOALA (Minoru Kawasaki, Japan 2005, 85 min.)

Courtesy of Synapse Films

In Japanese with English Subtitles

Thursday July 15th

WILD HUNT (Alexandre Franchi, Canada, 2010, 96 min.)

Courtesy of TVA Films

In English with French Subtitles

Friday July 16th

REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA (Darren Lynn Bousman, USA, 2008, 98 min.)

Courtesy of Maple Pictures

In English with French subtitles

Saturday July 17th

IP MAN (Wilson Yip, Hong Kong, 2008, 107 min)

In Cantonese, Mandarin and Japanese with English subtitles

WEEK 2

Tuesday July 20^th

DJ XL5’s Razzle Dazzle Zappin’ Party (compile by DJ XL5, International, 2009, 90 min.)

In French and in English

Wednesday July 21st

SANS DESSEIN (Caroline Labrèche et Steeve Léonard, Quebec, 2009, 110 min)

In English with English Subtitles

Thursday July 22nd

I SELL THE DEAD (Glenn McQuaid, USA, 2009, min)

Courtesy of Anchor Bay Canada

In English

Friday July 23rd

POWER KIDS (Krissanapong Rachata, Thailand, 2008, 95 min.)

Courtesy of Métropole Films

In Thai with English Subtitles

Saturday July 23rd

PANIQUE AU VILLAGE (Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Belgium, 2009, 79 minutes)

Courtesy of Métropole Films

In French

Special Guests From Across The World

Fans of the Fantasia Film Festival know that the festival always goes out of its way to bring filmmakers to Montreal to present their films to a very enthusiastic crowd. But this year goes farther than ever before, with 63 special guests from here and around the world, from fresh faces in the genre film scene to established craftsmen and living legends. Guests are listed in order of screening date:

Frank Hennenlotter (USA) – Co-Director – HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE – World Premiere July 9^th. Available for interviews July 9^th.

Jimmy Maslon (USA) – Co-Director – HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE – World Premiere July 9^th. Available for interviews July 9^th.

Herschell Gordon Lewis (USA) – Subject – HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE – World Premiere July 9^th. Available for interviews July 9^th.

Mike Vraney (USA) – Producer – HERSCHELL GORDON LEWIS: THE GODFATHER OF GORE – World Premiere July 9^th. Available for interviews July 8^th 9^th.

Ben Wheatley (UK) – Director / Writer / Executive Producer – DOWN TERRACE – Canadian Premiere July 9^th and 11^th. Available for interviews July 9^th to 13^th.

Yoshihiro Nishimura (Japan) – Co-Director – MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD – Canadian Premiere July 10^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Jean-François Rauger (France) – Director of Programming of the Cinémathèque française – Introducing LES HOMMES D’UNE AUTRE PLANÈTE – July 10th. Available for interviews July 9^th to 17^th.

Yoshinori Chiba (Japan) – Director – ALIEN VS NINJA (also Producer – MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD) – Canadian Premiere July 11^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Clement Chen (Hong Kong) – Director – GALLANTS – Canadian Premiere July 10^th and 11^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Chen Kuai Tai (China) – Actor – GALLANTS – Canadian Premiere July 10^th and 11^th. Available for interviews July 9^th to 12^th.

Bruce Leung (China) – Actor – GALLANTS – Canadian Premiere July 10^th and 11^th. Available for interviews July 9^th to 12^th.

Mladen Gjordjevic (Serbia) – Director – LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG – Montreal Premiere July 10^th and 12^th. Available for interviews July 9^th to 14^th.

Steven R. Monroe (USA) – Director – I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE – World Premiere July 11^th. Available for interviews July 11^th.

Sarah Butler (USA) – Actress – I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE – World Premiere July 11^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Meir Zarchi (USA) – Executive Producer / Director of the original film – I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE – World Premiere July 11^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Lisa Hansen (USA) – Producer – I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE – World Premiere July 11^th. Available for interviews July 10^th and 11^th.

Tomas Villum Jensen (Denmark) – Director – AT WORLD’S END – North-American Premiere July 12^th. Available for interviews July 11^th to 14^th.

Kerry Prior (USA) – Director – THE REVENANT – Montreal Premiere July 12^th. Available for interviews July 11^th and 12^th.

Patrick Downing (Canada) – Director / Writer – I HEART DOOMSDAY – Montreal Première July 12^th and 16^th. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Dejan Ognjanovic (Serbia) – Serbian Film Critic and author, co-programmer of the Serbian retrospective – Available for interviews July 9^th to the 19^th.

Dominique Adams (Canada) – Director / Writer / Producer – TWISTED SEDUCTION – World Premiere July 14^th and 15^th. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Tom Broadwell (Canada) – Actor / Editor / Co-Producer – TWISTED SEDUCTION – World Premiere July 14^th and 15^th. Available for interviews July 13^th to 15^th.

Caroline Brassard (Canada) – Actress – TWISTED SEDUCTION – World Premiere July 14^th and 15^th. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Wes Orshoski (USA) – Co-Director – LEMMY – Canadian Premiere July 15^th. Available for interviews July 15^th and 16^th.

Ed Godziszewski (USA) – Editor of Japanese Giants magazine and co-author of an upcoming biography of director Ishiro Honda – Introducing BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE – Available for interviews July 16^th to 18^th.

Srdjan Spasojevic (Serbia) – Director / Co-Writer / Producer – A SERBIAN FILM – Canadian Premiere July 16^th and 19^th. Available for interviews July 14^th to 20^th.

Aleksandar Radivojavic (Serbia) – Co-Writer – A SERBIAN FILM (also Writer – TEARS FOR SALE) – Canadian Premiere July 16^th and 19^th. Available for interviews July 14^th to 20^th.

Nikola Pantelic (Serbia) – Executive Producer – A SERBIAN FILM – Canadian Premiere July 16^th and 19^th. Available for interviews July 14^th to 20^th.

Jepthé Bastien (Canada) – Director / Writer – SORTIE 67 – Special Presentation July 16th and 19^th. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Don Bluth (USA) – Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award (also Director / Producer – THE LAND BEFORE TIME) on July 17^th. Available for interviews July 16^th to 18^th.

Gary Goldman (USA) – Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award (also Producer – THE LAND BEFORE TIME) on July 17^th. Available for interviews July 16^th to 18^th.

James Nguyen (USA) – Director / Writer / Executive Producer – BIRDEMIC – Montreal Premiere July 17^th. Available for interviews July 17^th.

Daniel Erickson (USA) – Director / Writer – EVE’S NECKLACE – International Premiere July 17^th. Available for interviews July 18^th and 19^th.

Stu Levy (USA) – Co-Director – VAN VON HUNTER – Canadian Premiere July 17^th. Available for interviews July 17^th and 18^th.

Yuri Lowenthal (USA) – Actor – VAN VON HUNTER – Canadian Premiere July 17^th. Available for interviews July 17^th and 18^th.

Stuart Gordon (USA) – Director – NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE (also Director – RE-ANIMATOR) – International Premiere July 17^th and 18^th. Available for interviews July 15^th to 18^th.

Jeffrey Combs (USA) – Actor – NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE (also Actor – RE-ANIMATOR) – International Premiere July 17^th and 18^th. Available for interviews July 15^th to 18^th.

Dennis Paoli (USA) – Writer – NEVERMORE: AN EVENING WITH EDGAR ALLAN POE (also Writer – RE-ANIMATOR) – International Premiere July 17^th and 18^th. Available for interviews July 17^th and 18^th.

Ken Russell (UK) – Recipient of Lifetime Achievement Award (also Director / Writer – THE DEVILS) on July 19^th. Available for interviews July 19^th.

Chris Pickle (Canada) – Director / Writer – SAVING GRACE – World Premiere July 19^th and 20^th. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Chad Archibald (Canada) – Director / Writer – NEVERLOST – World Premiere July 20^th and 22^nd. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Simon Rumley (UK) – Director / Writer – RED, WHITE & BLUE – Canadian Premiere July 21^st. Available for interviews July 21^st to 25^th.

Dennison Ramalho (Brazil) – Director / Writer – NINJAS (short) – World Premiere July 21^st. Available for interviews July 19^th to 23^rd.

Steven Severin (UK) – Live musical accompaniment of LE SANG D’UN POÈTE – July 22^nd. Available for interviews July 21^st to 26^th.

CHOI Dong-hoon (South Korea) – Director / Writer – WOOCHI – Canadian Premiere July 22^nd and 24^th. Available for interview July 21^st to 24^th.

Oliver Lindsey (Canada) – Producer – A GUN TO THE HEAD (also Executive Producer – MACHOTAILDROP) – Montreal Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 23^rd and 24^th.

Katherine Hazen (Canada) – Co-Producer – A GUN TO THE HEAD – Montreal Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 23^rd and 24^th.

Christopher Smith (UK) – Director – BLACK DEATH – North-American Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 22^nd to 24^th.

Philip Robertson (UK) – Producer – BLACK DEATH – North-American Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 22^nd to 24^th.

John Stalberg Jr. (USA) – Director / Co-Writer – HIGH SCHOOL – International Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 23^rd and 24^th.

Stephen Susco (USA) – Co-Writer – HIGH SCHOOL – International Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 19^th to 24^th.

Mitchell Altieri & Phil Flores (The Butcher Brothers) (USA) – Co-Directors – THE VIOLENT KIND – Canadian Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 20^th to 24^th.

Corey Adams (Canada) – Co-Director / Writer / Co-Editor – MACHOTAILDROP – Montreal Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 23^rd and 24^th.

Alex Craig (Canada) – Co-Director / Producer / Co-Editor – MACHOTAILDROP – Montreal Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews July 23^rd and 24^th.

Frédérick Maheux (Canada) – Director / Writer / Producer – THÉORIE DE LA RELIGION – World Premiere July 23^rd. Available for interviews in flexible dates.

Neil Marshall (UK) – Director – CENTURION – Canadian Premiere July 24^th. Available for interviews July 22^nd to 25^th.

Axelle Carolyn (UK) – Actress – CENTURION – Canadian Premiere July 24^th. Available for interviews July 22^nd to 25^th.

Rob Stefaniuk (Canada) – Director / Actor / Writer – SUCK– Montreal Premiere July 24^th. Available for interviews July 24^th and 25^th.

JANG Yoon-jung (South Korea) – Co-Director / Co-Writer – THE NEIGHBOR ZOMBIE – North-American Premiere July 25^th. Available for interviews July 24^th to 27^th.

Mai Tominaga (Japan) – Director – RINCO’S RESTAURANT – North-American Premiere July 25^th. Available for interviews July 25^th to 28^th.

David Blyth (New Zealand) – Director / Writer – WOUND – International Premiere July 26^th and 27^th. Available for interviews July 23^rd to 28^th.

Eli Craig (Canada) – Director – TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL – Canadian Premiere July 27^th. Available for interviews July 26^th and 27^th.

Tyler Labine (Canada) – Actor– TUCKER & DALE VS EVIL – Canadian Premiere July 27^th. Available for interviews July 26^th and 27^th.

Scène PrEsentS Fantasia 2010:

The Prestigious Jury

The International Fantasia Film Festival is extremely proud to reveal  our 2010 jury. Once again this year we will award prizes in the feature length, first feature, international shorts, Quebec shorts and Quebec DIY (which stands for Do it Yourself and is aimed at independent Quebec shorts) categories as well as a brand new prize for best international animation (either short or feature length).

Please see below the members of our various juries. A short bio of each member is available in the official guide as well as on our website at www.fantasiafestival.com.

FEATURE FILM JURY

JEAN-CLAUDE LORD (Jury President), director, screen writer, sand builder and producer

IAN LAUZON, screen writer and director

DON LOBEL producer, programmer

PAWA UP FIRST, Quebec band

ÉRIC TESSIER, Quebec director

FIRST FEATURE JURY

STEVEN SEVERIN (Jury president), musician, composer

SUSAN CURRAN – Director of acquisitions, ANCHOR BAY CANADA

BRAD MISKA – cofounder and editor in chief, BLOODY-DISGUSTING.COM

TOM QUINN – Senior Vice-President, MAGNOLIA PICTURES

BASIL TSIOKOS – producer, festival programmer, journalist, INDIEWIRE

INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM JURY

MAURICE G. DANTEC (Jury president), author

JEAN-FRANÇOIS CAISSY, director

KURT HALFYARD, cinema critic

CAROLINA LUCCHESI LAVOIE, short film specialist

JEAN-FRANÇOIS RAUGER, Programming director of the Cinématheque française

Sponsors And Official Partners

Funding an event such as Fantasia is made possible partly through successful ticket sales of course, but also thanks to the invaluable support of public institutions and our faithful sponsors, several of whom have been with us for years.

Firstly, we are proud to welcome some new sponsors this year. SCÈNE^TM is Canada’s first and only entertainment rewards plan. It was created further to a partnership between Scotia Bank and Cineplex Entertainment, two well-established Canadian companies.  Not only is SCÈNE bringing you the 14^th edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, but they are also the official sponsor of all our outdoor screenings which will be projected on the SCÈNE screen.

Ciné-Asie is a Montreal-based non-profit organisation that aims to explore and develop the unique character of Asian-Canadian artists and media. Its goal is to create an auspicious platform to introduce the Canadian public to Asian culture and genre cinema. As part of Fantasia Film Festival 2010, Ciné-Asie brings us “An overview of South Korean cinema,” a selection of Korean films presented in association with the Korean Consulate in Montreal and the Korean Film Council.

Dusk and the Sundance Channel are joining us as media partners this year. Additionally, DUSK, a channel specialised in the thriller, suspense and supernatural genres, is the official sponsor of the 2010 Fantasia Film Festival launch party.

Fantasia is also happy to have Globex Courrier International, Umen Digital, copy, duplication (pressing) and digital printing services, and Warner Home Video as partners and sponsors.

Ubisoft Entertainment and Sympatico.ca are back this year as associate sponsors.

We are also proud to welcome back the following partners and sponsors: STM, HMV, SuperClub Vidéotron, Burger King, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Canada), Anchor Bay Canada, PepsiCo Breuvages Canada, Les Brasseries McAuslan, Guru, Ottawa International Film Festival, Entreprise Vidéo Service, Concept Audio Visuel, la Société des arts technologiques (SAT), Messenger Plus! Live, Irish Embassy, le Saphir, le réseau Admission, CBS Affichage, New Ad, MusiquePlus, Z Télé and CJLO.

Several institutions have actually increased their financial support to the Festival this year. Namely, Telefilm Canada as part of the « Du talent à l’écran » initiative have raised their contribution from $35,000 to $93,000 this year. $8,000 of this generous amount has been set aside for the creation of a series of conferences aimed at film industry professionals as well as members of the general public interested in the filmmaking process.

The Ministère des Affaires municipales et des Régions have also increased their financial support from $35,000 to $50 000 this year in line with their Metropolitan Development Fund. This sum will be invested in solidifying the Fantasia Film Festival’s presence on the international circuit.

Tourism Québec’s support for the development and promotion of tourism program (PSDPT)- Financial aid to Festivals and Special Events section, seeks to increase the number of out-of-town participants at our festival. This year their contribution has grown from $25,000 to $35,000.

The Town of Montreal’s Festival and Cultural Event Office has raised their support form $10,000 in 2009 to $15,000 in 2010 as part of the Support to Festivals and Cultural Events program. This program aims to consolidate the promotion of the numerous festivals and cultural events which take place on the island of Montreal each year.

It’s a true honour for us to announce that Tourism Montréal as part of the Support for Montreal Tourism program and the Conseil des Arts de Montréal as part of their Aid to Annual Function and Support to Festivals and Events program, are sponsoring Fantasia for the first time this year with respective investments of $5,000 and $4,000.

Finally, we are happy to confirm that the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC) will be back this year as part of their Aid to Festivals and Films initiative. SODEC is proud to support the Fantasia Film Festival which has contributed to bringing attention to both cinematography and talented up-and-coming filmmakers.

We see all this support as a vote of confidence from our partners and sponsors, who have helped to increase the Fantasia Film Festival’s artistic and touristic impact.