Fantaspoa 2026: Brazilian Genre Fest Announces Award Winners And Attendance Numbers
With the end of this year's edition of Fantaspoa comes news of the award winners and attendance numbers.
Throughout nineteen days the festival hosted 24 world premieres, continuing its dominance in Latin America as one of the best places to have your film seen for the first time. Awards were spread across the program with only one film receiving more than one award this year. That's just solid representation across the board.
And for the first time ever, Fantaspoa was granted the honor of awarding a Méliès Silver Award for Best European Feature Film, which grants a film access to the competition held by Sitges every year. This makes Fantaspoa the first non-European festival to receive this distinction. That award went to Paul Urkijo Alijo's Basque dark fantasy Gaua.
Fantaspoa had 15,000 in person attendees this year. The streaming platform in Brazil, Darkflix+, had 535,000 unique views of a selection of 77 shorts from the festival.
All the award winners are listed below
Porto Alegre, Brazil -- Fantaspoa, the largest film festival dedicated to fantastic cinema in Latin America, concluded its 2026 edition on Sunday, April 26th, with a lavish awards ceremony and special screening of Remanence, the new feature from Kapel Furman and Fantaspoa Produções.Over the course of its 19 days, the massive event brought together both in-person and online audiences to celebrate the best of contemporary fantastic cinema and fostered epic relationships between filmmakers, audiovisual professionals, and viewers. This year, Fantaspoa was held at five major screening venues in Porto Alegre: Cinemateca Capitólio, Cinemateca Paulo Amorim, CineBancários, Sala Redenção, and Instituto Ling, reaffirming its commitment to audience diversity and the democratization of access to cinema.In total, between in-person screenings (which brought in over 15,000 ticketholders) and Brazil's Darkflix+ streaming platform (which featured a special selection of 77 Fantaspoa shorts and reached 535,000 unique views), this year’s edition of the festival was enjoyed by over 550,000 unique spectators. The festival also welcomed more than 80 domestic and international guests and hosted 24 World Premieres, reinforcing its global relevance as an exhibition hotspot.In addition to film screenings, in-person audiences attended lively debates, informative Q&A’s, meetings with filmmakers, educational activities, and numerous special events. A focus on community helped transform the festival into a space for cultural exchange and the strengthening of independent audiovisual production.One of the major milestones of Fantaspoa's 2026 edition was the unprecedented presentation of the Méliès Silver Award for Best European Feature Film, which was awarded to Paul Urkijo Alijo's Basque dark fantasy Gaua. For the first time, Fantaspoa joined a very select group of festivals responsible for granting this immense honor and, in the process, became the first non-European festival to receive this distinction.Sunday's awards ceremony recognized the highlights of this edition across several competitive categories, celebrating productions from different countries and cinematic languages.Gaua (d. Paul Urkijo Alijo) - Méliès Silver Award WinnerCheck out the winners of the 22nd Fantaspoa below:International Competition(Presented by jurors Fernando Sanches, Matheus Marchetti, and Mauricio Chernovetzky)Best Film: Interior (dir. Pascal Schuh)Best Director: Dean Francis, for Body BlowBest Screenplay: Chris Marrs Piliero, for ApopheniacsBest Art Direction: Andy Currie, for MaramaBest Actor: Alper Kul, for The Turkish Coffee TableBest Actress: Jelena Djokić, for KarmadonnaBest Cinematography: Meekaaeel Adam, for The TrekBest Special Effects: Mag MagSpecial Mention - Scariest Film: Dead Eyes (dir. Richard E. Williams)Special Mention - Best Fever Dream: Camp (dir. Avalon Fast)Special Mention - Best Choreography: Levitating (dir. Wregas Bhanuteja)Ibero-American Competition(Presented by jurors Aleksandra Hansen, Hunter Truman, and Pascal Schuh)Best Film: Cielo (dir. Alberto Sciamma)Best Director: Tomás Pichardo Espaillat, for Olivia & the CloudsBest Screenplay: Paul Urkijo Alijo, for GauaBest Actor: Fernando Arze Echalar, for CieloBest Actress: Flora Sylvestre, for Luna Rosa: The Seventh Ascension of AtabeyShort Film Competition(Presented by jurors Christopher Faust and Fernanda Talarico)National: Contrato (dir. Deivis Horbach and Kiwi Bertola)International Animation: Praying Mantis (dir. Joe Hsieh)International Live-Action: Tainted Love (dir. Youngho Gye)Méliès Award: Glory Hole (dir. Andoni Fernandez)Special Mention: Klee (dir. Gavin Baird)Low Budget Great Films Competition(Presented by jurors Dean Francis and Lucas Abrahão)Best Film: The Peril at Pincer Point (dirs. Jake Kuhn and Noah Stratton-Twine)Special Mention: Bagworm (dir. Oliver Bernsen)Brazilian Competition(Presented by jurors Karen Lam and Kate Krol)Best Film: Covil (dir. Rodrigo Lages)Madrugadão Award(Presented by jurors James C. Williamson and Meekaaeel Adam)Mad Mask (dirs. Nagano and Katsuya Arai)Méliès Silver Award(Presented by jurors André Sigwalt and Kapel Furman)Gaua (dir. Paul Urkijo Alijo)Special Award for Best Acting EnsembleCorporate Retreat (dir. Aaron Fisher)
Do you feel this content is inappropriate or infringes upon your rights? Click here to report it, or see our DMCA policy.
