25th International Fantasia Film Festival
August 5 to 25
THE SUICIDE SQUAD by James Gunn in pre-opening Wednesday, August 4
The Quebec film BRAIN FREEZE by Julien Knafo
opening film on Thursday, August 5
The Fantasia International Film Festival is very pleased to mark the launch of its 25th edition that will take place online and in theaters from August 5 to 25. For its quarter of a century, Fantasia returns to the Imperial Cinema, the cradle of the festival, where several titles will be presented as premieres. Starting tomorrow, the public will be able to discover The SUICIDE SQUAD by James Gunn, a new film in the DC Comics franchise presented in premiere and pre-opening at the Imperial Cinema at 7 pm. On Thursday, August 5, it will be the turn of Quebec director Julien Knafo and the entire BRAIN FREEZE team to launch with great pomp the festivities of this 25th anniversary at 6:30 pm at the Imperial Cinema.
For its 25th anniversary, Fantasia thinks big!
As part of the festivities that will surround its 25th Anniversary, Fantasia will present THE SUICIDE SQUAD on August 4th at the Imperial Cinema before its theatrical release on August 6th. Directed by James Gunn, a long-time friend of the Festival where he notably presented GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY in 2014, this new supervillain film from the DC Comics franchise is produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba and Jared Leto. Then on August 5, it is the apocalyptic zombie film BRAIN FREEZE by Julien Knafo which will officially kick off this edition. Presented for its world premiere, the feature film features an impressive line-up of Quebec actors including Roy Dupuis, Iani Bédard, Marianne Fortier, Simon-Olivier Fecteau, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Stéphane Crête, Claudia Ferri, Louis-Georges Girard, Mahée Paiement, Mylène Mackay and Marie-Lyne Joncas.
In addition, in parallel with the opening night on August 5, les Fantastiques weekends du cinéma québécois will present a free and outdoor short film program at Place de la Paix, on the same day at 9 p.m.
A rain of early birds for the first weekend
Starting this week, Fantasia invites festival-goers to discover several films which will enjoy their premiere. Thus, from Friday, August 6, viewers will be able to discover the thriller BULL by British director Paul Andrew Williams, presented online from 9:30 pm, in which a hardened criminal thirsty for revenge returns to hunt down his colleagues 10 years after his disappearance. Then, on August 8 at the Cinéma du Musée, the festival will present the dance film DREAMS ON FIRE, directed by Philippe McKie, a Montreal expatriate living in Japan for a decade, in which a young girl tries to break into the Tokyo alternative scene. On the same day, the audience will be able to discover the eccentric comedy KING KNIGHT by Richard Bates Jr. starring Matthew Gray Gubler as the high priest of a circle of wizards who sees his darkest secret revealed and is forced to reconnect with his hometown.
Les Fantastiques Weekends du cinéma québécois back in theaters and online
Fantasia is also pleased to celebrate the return of the Fantastiques Weekends du cinéma québécois, which will take place for the fifteenth consecutive year. The section aims to promote Quebec’s talents by highlighting strong voices and unique aesthetic signatures, giving a great place to genre cinema. Les Fantastiques Week-ends will present this year 5 premieres of Quebec feature films, more than 90 short films, as well as the Quebec feature film FINALLY… by Richard Martin (1971) restored by Éléphant. The films of the section will be presented in cinemas, at the Cinema de la Musee but also online and outdoors at the Place de la Paix. In addition, once again this year, a jury will award nearly $40,000 in cash and services to short film filmmakers from the section. The awards ceremony will take place live on Fantasia’s social media on August 22, 2021.
The full list of titles from the 2021 edition is available at https://fantasiafestival.com/. The 25th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will take place from August 5 to 25, 2021, and will be available online across Canada. Some performances will take place indoors in Montreal. Moviegoers are invited to purchase their tickets online on the festival’s website now.
