Fantaspoa 2025: Brazilian Festival Announces Mammoth Lineup

Porto Alegre, Brazil - Fantaspoa, Latin America’s largest and most influential genre film festival, returns to Porto Alegre's cinemas for its 21st edition, April 9th through the 27th. This year’s festival will be held at five theatrical venues and a portion of its short film program will be available online free of charge via the Darkflix+ streaming platform, exclusively for viewers within Brazil.

 

The poster art for the 21st edition of Fantaspoa was once again created by filmmaker and illustrator Elizabeth Schuch, who also serves as the event's art director. Inspired by the 50th anniversary of Jim Sharman’s iconic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Elizabeth has developed a visual identity that perfectly captures the film's transgressive and timeless essence.

 

Fantaspoa 2025’s Opening Night Party will take place on April 11th at Workroom Bar, with a theme inspired by The Rocky Horror Picture Show. In addition, the highly anticipated Costume Boat Party, one of Fantaspoa's most popular annual events, will be held on April 26th.

 

As is tradition, the festival will kick off with a live-scored silent film screening from Argentinian musician Germán Suane, with this year’s title being Rupert Julian’s The Phantom of the Opera. Lon Chaney portrayal of Erik, the murderous phantom who haunts The Paris Opera House, is one of cinema’s most iconic characters, and the festival will use this special screening celebrate the film’s titanic 100th anniversary.

 

In a joint statement from festival directors João Fleck, João Teixeira, and Nicolas Tonsho, they state, “We could not be prouder of the program we have put together, having received over 1,300 entries for this edition. Over 90% of our entries came directly from FilmFreeway submissions and we selected 18% of all submitted films. Factors that influenced our title selection were overall quality, diversity, and cultural relevance.”

 

Fantaspoa will welcome over 80 attending guests, who will present their films, take part in Q&As and, as always, offer special workshops for the festival’s audience.

 

The full lineup for the 21st edition of Fantaspoa includes 100 features and 136 short films, with 61 countries represented at the event. Among the feature films at the festival, eleven will celebrate their World Premiere. In addition, twelve films are international premieres, 47 are Latin American premieres, nineteen are Brazilian premieres, and nine are regional premieres. Once again showcasing its international relevance and curatorial excellence, Fantaspoa 2025 will present films that have screened at some of the world's most celebrated festivals, including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam, SXSW, Tribeca, Fantastic Fest, Sitges, Karlovy Vary, Fantasia, Tallinn Black Nights, Annecy, and Mar del Plata.

 

 

 

Below is the complete list of the 100 feature films included in Fantaspoa’s 2025 lineup.

 

 

 

AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK (dir. Toby Jones, 2024, United States, International Premiere)

 

THE ALIENATED (dir. Anja Kreis, 2024, Moldova, Latin American Premiere)

 

ALOHA (dir. Evandro Scorsin, 2024, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

ASH WEDNESDAY (dir. Fabio Brasil, 2025, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

BABY ASSASSINS - NICE DAYS (dir. Yugo Sakamoto, 2024, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

BLACK HOLE, THE (dir. Moonika Siimets, 2024, Estonia, Latin American Premiere)

 

BLEEDING (dir. Andrew Bell, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

BODY ODYSSEY (dir. Grazia Tricarico, 2023, Italy, Switzerland, Latin American Premiere)

 

BURNING (dir. Radik Eshimov, 2025, Kyrgyzstan, International Premiere)

 

CATCH A KILLER (dir. Teddy Grennan, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

A CELL PHONE MOVIE (dir. Will Sterling, 2025, United States, World Premiere)

 

CHAINSAWS WERE SINGING (dir. Sander Maran, 2024, Estonia, Regional Premiere)

 

CONTACT LENS (dir. Ruiqi Lu, 2024, China, Brazilian Premiere)

 

THE CREEPS (dir. Marko Mäkilaakso, 2025, Finland, International Premiere)

 

CUADRILATERAL (dir. Daniel Rodríguez Risco, 2024, Peru, Brazilian Premiere)

 

DEAD MAIL (dirs. Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

 

DERELICT (dir. Jonathan Zaurin, 2024, United Kingdom, International Premiere)

 

DISCORDIA (dir. Matthieu Reynaert, 2025, Belgium, World Premiere)

 

DOCTOR BRAIN (dir. Pablo Parés, 2024, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

DON’T LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE (dir. Emilio Portes, 2025, Mexico, Latin American Premiere)

 

EBONY AND IVORY (dir. Jim Hosking, 2024, United Kingdom, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE EDITORIAL OFFICE (dir. Roman Bondarchuk, 2024, Ukraine, Germany, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Regional Premiere)

 

THE EMBODIMENT (dir. Julio Cesar Napoli, 2025, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

EVIL WITHIN (dir. Rodrigo Aragão, 2024, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

EXORCISM (dir. Alberto Sedano, 2024, Spain, Regional Premiere)

 

A FISHERMEN’S TALE (dir. Edgar Nito Arreche, 2024, Mexico, Brazilian Premiere)

 

FOIBLES (dir. Ryan Oksenberg, 2025, Canada, World Premiere)

 

FRANKIE FREAKO (dir. Steven Kostanski, 2024, Canada, Brazilian Premiere)

 

 

FUCKTOYS (dir. Annapurna Sriram, 2025, United States, International Premiere)

 

THE GESUIDOUZ (dir. Kenichi Ugana, 2024, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

A GHOST (dir. John Farrelly, 2024, Ireland, Brazilian Premiere)

 

GHOST KILLER (dir. Kensuke Sonomura, 2024, Japan, Brazilian Premiere)

 

GIRL AMERICA (dir. Viktor Tauš, 2024, Czech Republic, Latin American Premiere)

 

GOOD NIGHT (dir. Matías Szulanski, 2024, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

GUNMAN (dir. Cris Tapia Marchiori, 2024, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

HERESY (dir. Didier Konings, 2024, Netherlands, Latin American Premiere)

 

HOT SANDWICH (dir. Manuel Facal, 2024, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

HUNTING MATTHEW NICHOLS (dir. Markian Tarasiuk, 2024, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE HYPERBOREANS (dirs. Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, 2024, Chile, Regional Premiere)

 

I KNOW CATHERINE, THE LOG LADY (dir. Richard Green, 2025, United States, International Premiere)

 

IN VITRO (dirs. Tom McKeith and Will Howarth, 2024, Australia, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE INSTINCT (dir. Juan Albarracín, 2024, Spain, Latin American Premiere)

 

INFINITE SUMMER (dir. Miguel Llansó, 2024, Estonia, Spain, Latin American Premiere)

 

IT FEEDS (dir. Chad Archibald, 2025, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

IT NEEDS EYES (dirs. Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano, 2025, United States, World Premiere)

 

JIMMY AND STIGGS (dir. Joe Begos, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE KILLER GOLDFISH (dir. Yukihiko Tsutsumi, 2024, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE KILLGRIN (dir. Joanna Tsanis, 2024, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

KING BABY (dirs. Kit Redstone and Arran Shearing, 2024, United Kingdom, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE LONELY MUSKETEER (dir. Nicolai Schumann, 2023, United Kingdom, Germany, Latin American Premiere)

 

LOTUS (dir. Signe Birkova, 2024, Latvia, Lithuania, Latin American Premiere)

 

MALDIVES (dir. Daniel Bolda, 2024, Greece, International Premiere)

 

MASSACRE IN THE DELTA (dir. Facundo Nuble, 2024, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

NIGHT SILENCE (dir. Bartosz M. Kowalski, 2024, Poland, Latin American Premiere)

 

OLD TEETH (dir. Armando Fonseca, 2025, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

THE OTHER (dir. Paul Etheredge, 2025, United States, World Premiere)

 

THE OTHER PEOPLE (dir. Chad McClarnon, 2025, United States, International Premiere)

 

PARALLEL CONSEQUENCES (dirs. Gabriel França and CD Vallada, 2025, Brazil, Brazilian Premiere)

 

PÁRVULOS (dir. Isaac Ezban, 2024, Mexico, Regional Premiere)

 

PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT (dir. Christopher Bickel, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (dir. Rupert Julian, 1925, United States, Repertory screening)

 

PIG THAT SURVIVED FOOT-AND-MOUTH DISEASE (dir. Bum-Wook Hur, 2024, South Korea, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE PLANET (dir. Mikhail Arkhipov, 2025, Russia, International Premiere)

 

PORTRAITS OF THE APOCALYPSE (dirs. Nicanor Loreti, Fabian Forte, and Luca Castello, 2024, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

PSYCHONAUT (dir. Thijs Meuwese, 2024, Netherlands, Latin American Premiere)

 

PYRAMIDS (dir. Alex Buck, 2025, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

RICH FLU (dir. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, 2024, Spain, Chile, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

RITA (dir. Jayro Bustamante, 2024, Guatemala, Brazilian Premiere)

 

THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (dir. Jim Sharman, 1975, United Kingdom, United States, Repertory screening)

 

SALT ALONG THE TONGUE (dir. Parish Malfitano, 2024, Australia, International Premiere)

 

A SAMURAI IN TIME (dir. Junichi Yasuda, 2024, Japan, Brazilian Premiere)

 

 

SCARED SHITLESS (dir. Vivieno Caldinelli, 2024, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

SÉANCE (dir. Vivian Kerr, 2024, United States, International Premiere)

 

THE SEVERED SUN (dir. Dean Puckett, 2024, United Kingdom, Latin American Premiere)

 

SHADOW OF GOD (dir. Michael Peterson, 2025, Canada, World Premiere)

 

SHAMAN (dir. Antonio Negret, 2024, Ecuador, United States, Brazilian Premiere)

 

SHE LOVED BLOSSOMS MORE (dir. Yannis Veslemes, 2024, Greece, France, Latin American Premiere)

 

THE SILENT PLANET (dir. Jeffrey St. Jules, 2024, Canada, Regional Premiere)

 

A SIP OF HELL (dirs. Mariano Asseff and Pilar Boyle, 2024, Argentina, Latin American Premiere)

 

SOLVENT (dir. Johannes Grenzfurthner, 2024, Austria, Latin American Premiere)

 

SOULCATCHER (dirs. Nelson Botter Jr. and Fernando Alonso, 2025, Brazil, World Premiere)

 

STILL LIFE WITH GHOSTS (dir. Enrique Buleo, 2024, Spain, Serbia, Latin American Premiere)

 

STRAIGHT ON TILL MORNING (dir. Craig Ouellette, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

STRANGE HARVEST: OCCULT MURDER IN THE INLAND EMPIRE (dir. Stuart Ortiz, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

SUCCUBUS (dir. R.J. Daniel Hanna, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

SUÇUARANA (dirs. Clarissa Campolina and Sérgio Borges, 2024, Brazil, Regional Premiere)

 

SUMMER HIT (dir. Pablo Stoll, 2024, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Brazilian Premiere)

 

SUN (dir. Dominic Lahiff, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

THIS TOO SHALL PASS (dir. Rob Grant, 2024, Canada, Latin American Premiere)

 

THREE (dir. Nayla Al Khaja, 2024, United Arab Emirates, Latin American Premiere)

 

THROUGH THE DEEPENING NIGHT (dir. Davide Montecchi, 2025, Italy, International Premiere)

 

TIME TRAVEL IS DANGEROUS (dir. Chris Reading, 2024, United Kingdom, Latin American Premiere)

 

TRANSCENDING DIMENSIONS (dir. Toshiaki Toyoda, 2025, Japan, Latin American Premiere)

 

TRAUMATIKA (dir. Pierre Tsigaridis, 2024, United States, Latin American Premiere)

 

TRIZOMBIE (dir. Bob Colaers, 2024, Belgium, Latin American Premiere)

 

UNIVERSE 25 (dir. Richard Vartan Melkonian, 2025, United Kingdom, Romania, Latin American Premiere)

 

UNSPEAKABLE: BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEEP (dir. Chad Ferrin, 2024, United States, Brazilian Premiere)

 

VAMPIRE ZOMBIES... FROM SPACE! (dir. Michael Stasko, 2024, Canada, Brazilian Premiere)

 

A WHALE (dir. Pablo Hernando, 2024, Spain, Italy, Latin American Premiere)

 

 

WORKING CLASS GOES TO HELL (dir. Mladen Djordjevic, 2023, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Greece, Montenegro, Croatia, Latin American Premiere)