There is never a dull moment at this world renowned genre film festival. Each year you think that it has reached its ceiling in regards to attendance and box office, but it continues to surpass itself. This year at Fantasia over the 22 days the festival ran 109,000 people attended. A jump of over 7,000 from last year’s edition. The sky seems to be the limit for Fantasia.
You can tell that it is an important festival on everyone’s calendar. Besides the ticket buyers, over 250 members of the film industry and over 200 members of the media were there. Coverage was extensive and comprehensive. Why not? The interest is obviously there. I have likened the growth in number, importance and relevance of the festival to what happened with Comic-Con. At first Fantasia was thought to be the meeting place of the fringe film goer who only liked anime or horror. Nothing could be further from the truth now. Fans of all different genres and ages attend Fantasia and as a result it has begun to attract bigger films and stars.
This year well-known actors like Matthew McConaughey, Selma Hayak, Simon Pegg, Mark Hamill, and AnnaLynne McCord all had films here. Plus future wide-release films like ParaNorman (Chris Butler and Sam Fell), Sushi Girl (Kern Saxton) and Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal (Montreal’s Boris Rodriguez) were screened.
List of Prizes Awarded:
Cheval Noir Award for Best Film: DOOMSDAY BOOK by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung
Best Director: Jason Banker, TOAD ROAD
Best Screenplay: Alberto Marini, SLEEP TIGHT
Best Actor: James Davidson, TOAD ROAD
Best Actress: Majiana Jankovic, BEAST
–Special Mention: AnnaLynne McCord, EXCISION
New Flesh Award for Best First Feature: CRAVE by Charles de Lauzirika
-Special Mention: THE KING OF PIGS by Yeon Sang-ho
Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation: THE KING OF PIGS by Yeon Sang-ho
Best Animated Short Film: IT’S SUCH A BEAUTIFUL DAY by Don Hertzfeldt
Special Award for Technical Accomplishment: BYDLO by Patrick Bouchard
Best International Short: VIDEOBOY by Stian Kristiansen
–Special Mention: LEYENDA by Pau Teixidor