Fantasia 2018: It's a Wrap on Montreal's Wonderful Summer Camp for Genre Fans

What was your favourite film of the festival?

Kurt Halfyard - NEOMANILA

I have always had a thing for Fantasia's Filipino programming, and this year did not disappoint with Mikhail Red's smoldering, character driven take on Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs in The Philippines. Like a low-key, guerrilla version of Denis Villeneuve's Sicario, the film sneaks up on you. The lurid neon and poverty colour palette is remarkable it its own right, but the two leads and their eventual complex surrogate mother-son relationship is what makes this film spectacular.

Shelagh Rowan-Legg - CHAINED FOR LIFE

What a dark, funny, witty, clever, and strange film. I never knew quite what was going on, but it’s twists and turns were both thought-provoking and entertaining. A treasure of an indie film from a unique voice.

Michele "Izzy" Galgana - THE TRAVELING CAT CHRONICLES & THE WITCH IN THE WINDOW

I am going to pick two, because they are radically different films. The Traveling Cat Chronicles was a well-made and touching look at friendship, love, and the bond between a pet and its owner. It made so many people in the packed theatre cry, and it was very funny at times, too. Plus, the cat "actor" ("cactor?") was awesome. The Witch in the Window from Andy Mitton was a surprising, slow burn indie horror that rose above a likely limited budget and managed to give me legit chills.

Josh Hurtado - THE OUTLAWS

This is a very difficult question. I saw a ton of films that I loved, but it was probably this Korean gangster film that had me cheering most often. It's nothing particularly new, it doesn't have anything fresh to say about cinema or even the genre it's a part of, but it is executed so perfectly with the luminous Don Lee in the lead that I have to give it major kudos.

What was your biggest discovery of the festival?

Michele "Izzy" Galgana - LUZ

A stylish and confident first feature from director/writer Tilman Singer. At first, I was not sure where the story was going or if it was going to be too pretentious. The cast and direction won me over. Luz is like a supernatural-tinged Giallo set in the '70s staged in mostly one location with a heavy dose of that Lynchian vibe.

Josh Hurtado - VIOLENCE VOYAGER

This was the very last film that I saw while on the ground in Montreal, and it almost missed out to a screening of Joseph Kahn's Bodied across the street, but boy am I glad I saw this instead. I had not seen Ujicha's previous work, so his style was completely new to me, and anyone looking to expand their definition of what cinema can be needs to see this bizarro masterpiece at the first opportunity.

Shelagh Rowan-Legg - AMIKO

It was not on my radar, but I am glad I was encouraged to see it. It is amazing to see what a new, outsider filmmaker can do, changing the game on how we view young people, especially from other countries, and how (like Chained For Life) the indie spirit can yield the best results on changing how film conveys a story.

Kurt Halfyard - MICROHABITAT

I always come to Fantasia to see what 'minor key' Asian dramas they decide to tuck into a quiet corner of the festival. This year it was a gentle comedy of friendship and the crushing financial burden of living in Seoul won me over completely. Im Pil-sung's understated performance, full of smoking and drinking and cooking might feel at home in a Hong Sang-Soo or even a Kim Ki-Duk picture, but Jeon Go-woon's positive melancholy strikes a different tone from those more famous South Korean art-house filmmakers. I can't wait to see what she does next.

What was your biggest disappointment of the festival?

Shelagh Rowan-Legg - UNFRIENDED: DARK WEB

Maybe these films simply are not for me. I am finding these incredible complicated high-concept film to be a waste of my time. The method, thus far, sets aside too much of the human story for the structural complication which is just too many logical assumptions for me to get past.

Josh Hurtado - THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT

A disappointment because it wastes the legendary Sam Elliott in a film with a great concept, and even a great angle from which to approach its subject, but awkward, amateurish execution.

Kurt Halfyard - BUFFALO BOYS

After being completely blown away by the Indonesian arthouse neo-western, Marlina The Murderer In Four Acts last year, I was excited for this more traditional 'guns a blazing' style adventure on the evils of Dutch colonialism. And I am willing to overlook the standard tropes of the genre, because with the Western, it comes with many, and that is part of the fun. However, the cinematography in this movie is so flat that it undermines the entire picture, which is as blunt and overkill in its storytelling as the lighting is so over-lit as to resemble a sitcom. This was unfortunate, as it appears that a lot of money and talent were invested in this project, that could have benefited from some criticism on its look and tone earlier in the process.

Michele "Izzy" Galgana

Not being able to see everything, as is always the case of a festival so large with so many features, shorts, events and project development opportunities!

What was your favourite Fantasia Event?

Josh Hurtado - FRONTIÈRES

I am pretty new to markets, but over the last ten months I have now been to three on three different continents, and Frontieres is as good as or better than any of them. Seeing budding, sometimes veteran filmmakers, approaching these events with infectious enthusiasm is heartening. Cinema will never die as long as people like the organizers and participants in market events like this are around.

Shelagh Rowan-Legg - FRONTIÈRES

This was my first time attending the market, and as both a festival programmer and a filmmaker, it is wonderful to see so much support and enthusiasm for new genre film, and the team puts together a great program to help filmmakers reach producers.

Michele "Izzy" Galgana - AN EVENING WITH MICHAEL IRONSIDE

The lengthy talk with Michael Ironside hosted by producer Heather Buckley was eye opening. He discussed having telekinesis in addition to his film roles, and it was fascinating to hear all of the details of such a lengthy and curious career in a packed auditorium with an intent audience.

Kurt Halfyard - TIMUR BEKMAMBETOV'S SCREEN-LIFE CLASS

The ubiquitous Kazakhstanian director/producer gave a full hands on over-view of his 'Screen-Life' film making philosophy and editing grammar (and software toolkit) to a sparse but engaged audience.

Citing examples and the ambitions of cinema that takes place entirely on a computer screen (he had three films at the festival he produced, Profile, Unfriended: Dark Web, and Searching playing Fantasia, the former of which he also directed) that also included documentaries (the interesting 1968 project for Buzzfeed) and other genres that screen life can easily adapt to.

Bekmambetov even had the audience make a short film right then and there, using the recording and editing suite peoples own mobile devices and a one page script.