Genre cinema is back on the big screen as Montreal’s Fantasia film fest celebrates 30th edition

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival kicked off its 30th edition on Thursday, with a program celebrating local and international genre filmmaking through groundbreaking works from established directors and emerging local talent. Running until Aug. 2, the festival’s lineup includes over 125 features and 200 shorts, with screenings, events and workshops held at Concordia University’s Hall [...] The post Genre cinema is back on the big screen as Montreal’s Fantasia film fest celebrates 30th edition appeared first on CityNews Montreal .

Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival kicked off its 30th edition on Thursday, with a program celebrating local and international genre filmmaking through groundbreaking works from established directors and emerging local talent. Running until Aug. 2, the festival’s lineup includes over 125 features and 200 shorts, with screenings, events and workshops held at Concordia University’s Hall Building and J.A. DeSève cinemas, as well as select showings and activities at Montreal’s Cinéma du Musée. Notable features and achievement award winners Opening this year’s edition is the Canadian premiere of Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Her Private Hell,” a sensorial and transgressive film starring Sophie Thatcher, Havana Rose Liu and Charles Melton.

Prior to the screening, the Danish director is also set to receive a Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award for his transformative body of work, which includes the Pusher Trilogy and the 2011 action drama “Drive.” Japanese director Takashi Shimizu is also set to receive a Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award at this year’s ceremony for his continuing contribution to the horror genre, with the World Premiere of “Village of Eight Gravestones” and the North American Premiere of “The Mouths” being prominent features of this year’s festival. Other notable screenings including Jane Schoenbrun’s “Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma,” Bob Colaers’ “Attack on Paradise” and the closing film, Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s “Freaks Part II.”

Workshops and events The longstanding showcase Fantasia Retro will allow attendees to witness an assortment of classic film restorations and rare 35mm screenings, including works from Takashi Miike, Paul Morrissey and Marcela Fernández Violante. Special events include a sold-out masterclass with Refn at Cinéma du Musée, a panel featuring Schoenbrun, Hannah Einbinder and Alice Maio Mackay, as well as a conversation between Canadian Screen Award winners Matt Johnson and Grace Glowicki. Fantasia also offers festival-goers a number of free activities including masterclasses with renown filmmakers and various screenings of family-friendly short films in both French and English.

For movie buffs looking to test out their film knowledge, the festival is also hosting a free movie trivia presented by Hollywood Suite at Reggie’s Bar on Saturday. Flagship competitions and additional awards Fantasia’s flagship juried competition Cheval Noir includes two Canadian titles, “Freaks Part II” and Wiebke Von Carolsfeld’s “Someone’s Daughter,” as well as 12 other boundary-pushing international features who have made their mark on genre cinema. The New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature and the International Short film Competition will showcase local and international works from the next wave of genre filmmakers.

The Jury Awards Ceremony will be held on July 25 at Cinéma du Musée and other notable award recipients include Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt, Canadian filmmaker Bruce McDonald, as well as Robert Lepage and Louise Portal who are both set to receive the Denis-Héroux Award. A 30th birthday for the ages With a collection of films spanning horror, science-fiction, action and fantasy, the festival continues to cement its place in international genre filmmaking through its boundary pushing programming and juried competitions. To celebrate the 30 years of Fantasia, the Cinémathèque québécoise and the festival will present the retrospective screening series Fantasia: 30 Years of Exhilaration from Aug. 7 to Sept. 19 showcasing a mix of works from Fantasia’s history.

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