24th edition
In order to comply with government and public health guidelines, and to ensure the safety of festival-goers and its team, Fantasia announces its decision to hold its 24th edition online in the form of a virtual festival from August 20 to September 2. The Festival will be available on the new platform put online by Festival Scope and Shift 72, recently used by some international festivals of great renown and using the best safety standards of the industry.
The Festival’s programming will be composed as usual of world premieres and international premieres of many highly anticipated international titles, including films selected at the SXSW and Tribeca festivals, whose editions have had to be cancelled and whose work Fantasia will highlight. The selections of feature films and short films as well as the various awards awarded by the Festival annually in its competitive sections will remain in place.
By choosing the Festival Scope/Shift 72 platform, Fantasia will be able to recreate the experience of live events accessible from anywhere, with introductions from directors to the presentation of their films, question and answer sessions with the public, workshops and conferences.
“We are saddened not to be able to present the Festival in its physical form as planned this year, but we are also very excited to be working with Festival Scope and Shift 72 for this unique virtual edition,” said Mitch Davis, Fantasia’s Artistic Director. “They enthusiastically handled each of the challenges we have presented them with to make Fantasia the unifying event that is particularly familiar with issues of real-time screenings and live events instead of the usual online outreach approach. This will allow us to keep intact the feeling of exclusivity of the screenings at the Festival but also the electric and unique atmosphere of the experience while being online. »
Alessandro Raja, co-founder and President of the Festival Scope platform said: “We are delighted to add Fantasia to the list of our virtual festival partners and are really excited about their new ideas for the platform. This online edition will undoubtedly be very exciting for the public who will be able to attend exclusive premieres instead of physical events, in order to maintain a strong sense of belonging and group. »
The service will be geo-located and reserved for the Canadian public, allowing the many moviegoers across the country to enjoy the Festival.
The online edition of Fantasia will take place from August 20 to September 2, 2020 while the Frontières co-production market will take place online from July 23 to 26, as previously announced. The first selected titles will be announced in May.
