Fantaspoa 2022: Brazilian Genre Fest Returns In-Person, Announces First Wave

After two years of successful online editions, the 18th edition of the beloved Brazilian genre festival Fantaspoa will return to the cinemas from April 15th through May 1st. This year, attendees will discover a very different Fantaspoa from its last on-site edition (a very distant 2019): instead of its usual two venues, the fest will take place simultaneously in five cinemas, with part of its program also being available online, geo-blocked for viewers within Brazil.

 

The poster for this year’s festival was conceived by the festival’s art director Thalles Mourão, with the drawing from local artist Fernanda Moreira. The striking image is a mashup of two centenary anniversaries: The Modern Art Week, one of Brazil’s greatest art movements, and F. W. Murnau’s 1922 masterpiece of cinema, NOSFERATU: A SYMPHONY OF HORROR.

 

NOSFERATU will also have a very special screening on the opening night of the festival, with musician Carlos Ferreira performing a brand new soundtrack to Murnau’s classic. The closing night film will be the world premiere of Andre Sigwalt and Augusto Soares’ kung-fu stoner comedy THE SMOKE MASTER.

 

According to João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, the festival directors, this was the most difficult program to put assemble in the eighteen years of their festival: “In 2020 and 2021, film entries had been decreasing and, for this edition, we saw a significant increase - both in entry numbers and the overall quality of the projects. We are very proud to say that over 80% of our program has come directly from FilmFreeway entries, pointing toward a growing interest by the industry in screening at Fantaspoa.”

 

Confirmed guests currently include Sylvia Caminer  (FOLLOW HER),  Kirill Sokolov (NO LOOKING BACK), Chadd Harbold (PRIVATE PROPERTY), Jorge Sanders (BROTHER, KEPT), Vincent Grashaw (WHAT JOSIAH SAW), Maxwell Gold (FANGA), Vinicius Coelho (THE EYES BELOW),  Lucas Abrahão (UPURGA), Ethan Maquis (LEMONADE), Mariana Alom (BLUE HEART), Fabián Forte (LEGIONS), Andre Sigwalt and Augusto Soares (THE SMOKE MASTER), Sérgio Marone (JESUS KID), Priscyla Bettim and Renato Coelho (THE CITY OF ABYSSES) and Leo Falcão (SUBJECT).

 

The festival’s initial wave of 40 feature films contains seven World Premieres, five International Premieres, 19 Latin American Premieres, and seven Brazilian Premieres. These films represent a total of 26 countries and have played prestige festivals such as Annecy, Berlinale, Cannes, Rotterdam, TIFF, Moscow, Sitges, Sundance, and Tallin Black Nights.

 

Below are the first 40 feature films to be announced for the 2022 edition of Fantaspoa.

 

 

ALPHA MALE (d. Igor Priwieziencew and Katarzyna Priwieziencew, 2022, Poland, Latin American Premiere)

 

ARC (d. Kei Ishikawa, 2021, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

BABY ASSASSINS (d. Yugo Sakamoto, 2021, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

BASHIRA (d. Fong Nickson, 2021, United States, Brazilian Premiere)

 

BLUE HEART  (d. Miguel Coyula, 2021, Cuba, Brazilian Premiere)

 

BROTHER, KEPT (d. Jorge Sanders, 2022, Mexico, World Premiere)

 

CAPTAIN WITTS (d. Filipe Gontijo, 2022, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

CHICKEN OF THE MOUND (d. Xi Chen, 2021, Germany/China, Latin American Premiere)

 

CINEMA OF SLEEP (d. Jeffrey St. Jules, 2021, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

CLIMBING (d. Kim Hye-mi, 2020, South Korea, Latin American Premiere)

 

CRABS! (d. Pierce Berolzheimer, 2021, United States, Brazilian Premiere)

 

DOWNTOWN (d. Flip Van der Kuil, 2021, Netherlands, International Premiere)

 

FANGA (d. Max Gold, 2022, Iceland, International Premiere)

 

FOLLOW HER (d. Sylvia Caminer, 2022, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

FOLLOW THE DEAD (d. Adam William Cahill, 2020, Ireland, Latin American Premiere)

 

GOD'S PETTING YOU (d. Jamie Patterson, 2022, United Kingdom, International Premiere)

 

HOTEL POSEIDON (d. Stefan Lernous, 2021, Netherlands, Brazilian Premiere)

 

JACINTO (d. Javi Camino, 2021, Spain, Brazilian Premiere)

 

JESUS KID (d. Aly Muritiba, 2021, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

KILLING THE EUNUCH KHAN (d. Abed Abest, 2021, Iran, Latin American Premiere)

 

LEGIONS (d. Fabián Forte, 2022, Argentina, World Premiere)

 

LEMONADE (d.Ethan Maniquis, 2022, Dominican Republic, International Premiere)

 

MOON HEART (d. Aldo Salvini, 2021, Peru, Brazilian Premiere)

 

NEPTUNE FROST (d. Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman, 2021, United States/Rwanda, Latin American Premiere)

 

NO LOOKING BACK (d. Kirill Sokolov,  2021, Russia, Latin American Premiere)

 

OX-HEAD VILLAGE (d. Takashi Shimizu, 2022, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

POMPO: THE CINEPHILE (d. Takayuki Hirao, 2021, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

PRIVATE PROPERTY (d. Chadd Harbold, 2022, United States, World Premiere)

 

SOME LIKE IT RARE (d. Fabrice Eboué, 2021, France, Latin American Premiere)

 

SOULPARK (d. Illés Horváth and Róbert Odegnál, 2022, Hungary, Latin American Premiere)

 

SUBJECT (d. Leo Falcão, 2022, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

THE BEACH AT THE END OF THE WORLD (d. Petrus Cariry, 2021, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

THE BETA TEST (d. Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe, 2021, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE CITY OF ABYSSES (d. Priscyla Bettim and Renato Coelho, 2021, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

THE EYES BELOW (d. Alexis Bruchon, 2022, France, World Premiere)

 

THE SMOKE MASTER (d. Andre Sigwalt and Augusto Soares, 2022, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

THE TIMEKEEPERS OF ETERNITY (d. Aristotelis Maragkos, 2021, Greece, Latin American Premiere)

 

UPURGA (d. Uģis Olte, 2021, Latvia, International Premiere)

 

WHAT JOSIAH SAW (d. Vincent Grashaw, 2021, United States/United Kingdom, Latin American Premiere)

 

YELLOW DRAGON’S VILLAGE (d. Yugo Sakamoto, 2021, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

ZERIA (d. Harry Cleven, 2021, Belgium, Brazilian Premiere)