3 weeks! A huge festival with a large program. Even the promotional program ($5 and it is essential) and DVD are huge!  The minds behind this festival live and die behind the motto “Go big or go home”.  The festival began in 1996 with 60 films and has grown in leaps and bounds.

The 15th edition of Fantasia opens soon and it has become an important festival with rabid and loyal supporters.  The fact that its press conference was packed is an indication of its importance.  Another is the length of the festival.  Don’t go thinking it is excessive, though.  It is 25 days in order to get through all the great stuff they have planned.  There are 126 feature films, 240 shorts and 104 guests.

It all gets off with a bang with the opening party.  Held at 1234 de la Montagne, it will feature music by Triggered Response and The Hypnophones, DJs Mr. Black and Plastik Patrik, and visuals by TIND.  The party takes place Thursday, July 14 beginning at 9:00 p.m.

Filmwise Fantasia will kick off with Kevin Smith’s latest, Red State.  It is a film about a bunch of teenagers who receive an online invitation for sex.  Excited they accept, but what they get is a group of fundamentalists who have sinister intentions towards them.  The film stars Oscar Award winner Melissa Leo and John Goodman.

A spotlight on the work of filmmaker Adam Wingard will happen within the festival.  Screenings of Pop Skull, A Horrible Way to Die and the world premiere of his latest What Fun We Were Having: 4 Stories About Date Rape will be a part of it.  Wingard will be at all screenings of his features.

Country by Country, Station to Station will feature films from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Canada, The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Denmark, Germany, Finland, Italy, Spain, Sweden, UK, and USA.

Asian films have always been an integral part of Fantasia and this year is no exception.  The Asian section will once again feature an diverse selection of films from drama to oddball comedies.  An important component is Japan with 21 films, but there are also films from South Korea, Hong Kong, China, and Thailand.

Documentaries from the Edge features films with topics as varied as the gradual disappearance of our personal privacy and member of metal band Pentagram and heavy metal pioneer, Bobby Liebling.

My First Fantasia is a section of the festival that is geared towards young children from 8-12 years old.  They are all French-language or wordless short films.  It will occur on July 19, 27 and August 3.

Fantasia Under the Stars takes place at La Place de la Paix near the Quartier des Spectacles. Located right next to SAT on St. Laurent in between Ste. Catherine and Rene Levesque.  On July 7 Temps Mort will be screened, July 9 DJ XL5’s Bollywood Zappin’ Party and on July 10 Trailer.

One of the highlights of the festival will be the Cine-Concert featuring the 1925 version of The Phantom of the Opera starring Lon Chaney.  It will be screened on August 6 + 7 at Theatre Maisonneuve and accompanied by a musical score composed and conducted live by Gabriel Thibaudeau.  Fans of horror will love this classic of the silent era.

All this plus master classes, panels, discussions, lifetime achievement award ceremonies, lectures, book launches, East Asian calligraphy workshops, Phantom Beat-Off: The FP Arcade After-Party at Pepsi Forum’s game centre on July 30 at midnight, and a traditional Korean 5 drums performance.

Just because it is a genre festival don’t think that means that it is made up of “small” films.  In this year’s Fantasia there are films starring the likes of Thandie Newton, Jamie Bell, Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Dominic Cooper, Dane Cook, Elias Koteas, Sam Shephard, Stellan Skarsgard, Paul Giamatti, Brian Cox, Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Kevin Bacon.  As you can see there is plenty of (big) star power.  Guests like director Douglas Buck, director Karin Hussain, actor Udo Kier, director Ted Kotcheff, director John Landis, actor Robert Charlebois, director/writer Jean Leloup, and Guillermo Del Toro will make appearances at the festival.

The closing film is the Canadian premiere of the Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth) scripted and produced “Don’t be Afraid of the Dark”.  It is a remake of the classic 1973 TV-movie.  It is the feature debut of Canadian director Troy Nixey and stars Guy Pearce and Katie Holmes.

Additional Information:
-Website:  www.fantasiafestival.com
-Ticket Purchase:  www.admission.com or Fantasia ticket office (Concordia Hall Theatre)
-Ticket Prices:  Single ticket:  $9.00
10 tickets:  $80.00
Phantom of the Opera:  $20.00
Voltaire:  $15.00