Fantaspoa 2020: Virtual Edition Concludes, Setting Records, Giving Out Awards

Editor, News; Toronto, Canada (@Mack_SAnarchy)
Fantaspoa 2020: Virtual Edition Concludes, Setting Records, Giving Out Awards
Everyone has faced their challenges this year and our friends at Fantaspoa were no exception. To recap, they started the year off with no outside sponsorship and the festival was forced to launch a crowdfunding campaign to finance this year's planned live edition at the end of May. 
 
Then the World went tits up and Brazil said, 'Hold my cachaca'. 
 
The pandemic hit and the festival was planning to postpone until the end of this year. Brazil drank too much cachaca. Way too much. And after a series of livestream screenings to help with the lockdowns and shutins Fantaspoa announced they were going virtual and would stream all feature and short film through Brazilian streaming platform Darkflix at the end of July. 
 
Having faced adversity and given it the middle finger Fantaspoa ran without a hitch and set an attendance record of sorts with an amazing 67,000 virtual attendees in Brazil. Amazing. 
 
So the event has come and gone. Our friends at Fantaspoa only have to refocus on looking after their health and loved ones as their country's leaders are still under the impression that the pendemic is a competition. 
 
'Hold my cachaca'. 
 
With the end of the event comes the announcement of the award winners. Argentine dark satire Rock, Paper and Scissors, a terrific film from Macarena García Lenz and Martín Blousson that more people should be talking about cleaned up on the IberoAmerican side, winning four of five awards. 
 
Our friends from Panamanian horror flick Diablo Rojo PTY got the honorable mention. The international awards were evenly spread out among all competitors. The always important Audience Award went to Two Heads Creek
 
Before we go to the press release we were happy to see that Ugandan filmmaker IGG Nabwana was given the career achievement award for his DIY action films through his Wakaliwood studio. 
 
Here is to the hope that we will be able to see our Fantaspoa family in person in 2021. 
 
The sixteenth edition of Fantaspoa was a landmark moment for the long-running genre festival. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, South America's largest genre film festival marked its first-ever online edition, with free access to all festival content in Brazil. In total, 138 films were exhibited: 49 features and 89 shorts from over 40 countries. The massive virtual event took place from July 24th until August 2nd on the Brazilian streaming platform, Darfklix, and the festival presented two masterclasses along with 21 Q&A’s with filmmakers from around the globe.
 
According to festival directors and producers João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, this was certainly the most challenging edition of the festival. After nine years being funded, Fantaspoa received no outside sponsorship for its 2020 edition, forcing its expenses to be covered by a mix of self-investment and crowdfunding. However, in spite of this harsh scenario, having a free online festival resulted in the largest audience in its sixteen year history: with a record-breaking 67,000 virtual attendees in Brazil.
 
The career achievement award of the festival's 2020 edition was presented to Ugandan filmmaker, IGG Nabwana and his studio, Wakaliwood, which has achieved worldwide fame for its unique, ultra-low budget action films, made with limitless heart, creativity and, humor – and featuring a good portion of the community of Wakaliga, a slum in Kampala, Uganda.
 
Fantaspoa 2020’s winners are as follows:
 
Short Films (Critics’ Award Jury members – Juliana Costa, Roger Lerina, and Rodrigo de Oliveira)
 
Official Awards:
 
Best Brazilian Short Film: As Viajantes (Davi Mello)
Best International Animated Short Film: And Then The Bear (Agnès Patron)
Best International Live Short Film: Lili (Yfke van Berckelaer)
 
Honorable Mention:
 
O Evangelho Segundo Tauba e Primal (Márcia Deretti and Márcio Junior) - "For its inventiveness and experimental immersion concept."
 
 
Ibero-American Competition (Jury members – Getro Guimarães, William Mansque, and Dane Taranha)
 
Official Awards:
 
Best Actor: Samir Hauaji (Cabrito, directed by Luciano de Azevedo)
Best Actress: Valeria Giorcelli (Rock, Papers and Scissors)
Best Screenplay: Macarena García Lenz and Martín Blousson (Rock, Paper and Scissors)
Best Direction: Macarena García Lenz and Martín Blousson (Rock, Paper and Scissors)
Best Feature: Rock, Paper and Scissors (Macarena García Lenz and Martín Blousson)
 
Honorable Mention:
 
Diablo Rojo PTY (Sol Moreno and J. Oskura Nájera) - "For being truly fantastic. It’s a fun, pioneering work that is also a great encouragement for genre production in Panama."
 
International Competition (Jury members – Kapel Furman, Samuel Galli, and Fernando Sanches)
 
Official Awards:
 
Best Actor: Garry Green (Fried Barry)
Best Actress: Adriana Matoshi (Zana)
Best Digital Special Effects: The Wanting Mare (Nicholas Ashe Bateman)
Best Art Direction: Stranger (Dmitriy Tomashpolskiy)
Best Screenplay: Avi Heikkinen (Gone)
Best Direction: Jordan Graham (Sator)
Best Film: Comrade Drakulich (Márk Bodzsár)
 
Honorable Mentions
 
Butt Boy, Tyler Cornack: Best representation of hell
The Berlin Bride, Michael Bartlett: Best edition
Being Natural, Tadashi Nagayama: Best diegetic bongo music in film
 
 
Audience Award (Jury members – Andrew Fagundes, Patty Fang, André LDC, Carolina Müller Moreira, Dedé Rei, and Wender Zanon)
 
Best National Short Film: Caranguejo Rei (Enock Carvalho and Matheus Farias)
Best International Animated Short Film: Rebooted (Michael Shanks)
Best International Live Action Short Film: Logan Lee & The Rise of Purple Dawn (Raymond C. Lai)
Best Feature Film: Two Heads Creek (Jesse O'Brien)
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