Fantasia Fest 2020 – What Does a Virtual Festival Look Like? : Sonic Cinema

Fantasia Fest 2020 – What Does a Virtual Festival Look Like?

Posted by Brian Skutle Posted on Aug - 23 - 2020 0 Comment

The 2020 Fantasia Film Festival kicked off on Thursday. Mine, however, started on July 31 with my first press screener. I’ve been working through screeners of many of the movies I’ve been most interested in ever since, and with me going back to work on August 27, I’ve wanted to make sure I get as much in before my schedule gets cramped up with my day job. Normally, I would take vacation time for a film festival, but since I haven’t been working since March, it’s not really something I should do; when the Atlanta Film Festival goes in September, though, it’ll be easier to pull off. It’s easier for me to NOT take time off for Fantasia Fest for another reason…most of the screenings are geo-blocked outside of Canada. The Q&As are live on YouTube around the world, but I will admit, I like the freedom not having to schedule dozens of screenings affords me (and I can catch up with the Q&As any time, if I want). That means I’m reliant predominantly on screeners.

So, again, what does a virtual festival looks like, and how do you cover one when you cannot watch the movies live? Life, uh, finds a way. The first thing I will say is this- the people working the festival have done a fantastic job. They’ve assisted us when there have been technical issues, they’ve set up a relatively easy-to-use platform for the screenings, and put together a Discord server so that we can chat with filmmakers, other critics, and fans who are experiencing the festival this year. It’s given a sense of community and connection that makes this more than just watching screeners on a laptop.

Thursday, August 20
The beginning of the fest came with a bit of controversy. The opening film, Neil Marshall’s “The Reckoning”, got headlines for the wrong reasons before the screening, which resulted in that Q&A getting cancelled. Unfortunately, that was one of the few films I really wanted to see that was not made available to critics, so I will have to wait for the regular release, whenever that is, to watch it. The second movie of the night, though, I did get a chance to watch. Shin’ichirô Ueda’s “Special Actors” tells the story of a young man who wants to be an actor, but has a condition where he continuously passes out when stressed. One day, he sees his brother on the streets, and he tells him about an opportunity to do a unique sort of in real life acting, and he’s soon embroiled in a scheme to try and save this client’s inn from a cult looking to get it. It’s a wild blend of comedy and heist movie, and it is an absolute winner, and worth seeking out.

Friday, August 21
Friday was a busy day for both myself, and the festival, for different reasons. I continued to work through screeners, as well as conducted a couple of interview sessions, which you will get to hear in the future. For the fest, the free Special Events began, more screenings, as well as a short film block of local shorts that went out over Facebook for Canadians. (Don’t worry, you will get some short film coverage here this festival.) Of the feature screenings, the only one that I watched was Ben Hozie’s “PVT Chat”. The film stars Julia Fox (from “Uncut Gems”) as an online dominatrix who becomes the object of an online gambler’s affections. It’s fairly graphic sexually, but it’s an interesting look at co-dependency and the struggles of finding a connection with strong performances by Fox and her co–star, Peter Vack. When it becomes more readily available, you will see my full thoughts on the movie.

Saturday, August 22
In terms of the festival, I did not do a lot when it comes to moviewatching- partially because I was getting ready to go back to work- but I did get one of the “On Demand” features of the festival watched, as well as begin some of the short film blocks, before taking in a 4pm panel with the one and only John Carpenter, who was receiving the fest’s Lifetime Achievement award. That went out to people via YouTube and you can watch that below. And listen for a question about when he starts thinking about the music for his films; that one is mine. As for films playing this evening, I was hoping to have a review of “The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw” for publication right after the screening, but I am still waiting on a review link for that; when I do get to see it, I will be sure to post my thoughts. (And another movie that screened Saturday, “Class Action Park”, will be on HBOMax on Thursday 8/27; I will catch up with that there, and report my thoughts.)

Sunday, August 23
No Special Events, and no live screenings for me today, although I did watch one of the films that were screening this evening. I had two interview sessions, and watched one of the “On Demand” films available, as well as the aforementioned live screening film for today. What was this mysterious film? It is the positively bonkers documentary, “The Prophet and the Space Aliens”, about the Raelian UFO cult, and its charismatic leader, Claude Vorilhon aka Rael. Director Yoav Shamir doesn’t judge his subjects for their beliefs, and honestly, you may not either, even if you do come to the conclusion that they are full of shit. It’s an entertaining film to watch, and well worth checking out.

The “On Demand” Library
One of the ways that Fantasia Fest has run with the virtual format, while not overwhelming people with an abundance of live screenings to plan for, has been to created a selection of films that are available at any time throughout the two weeks of the festival. This is their “On Demand” selection, and it is an eclectic collection of documentaries and genre films that are as worth diving into as the scheduled screenings. Of the 26 feature films I have watched for the festival, 11 of them have been from the “On Demand” catalog, including some of the movies I most wanted to watch going in to the festival. There’s “Crazy Samurai Musashi” and its exciting 77-minute single-take action scene; the brutal satire, “The Columnist”, and its great lead performance by Katja Herbers as a columnist who’s exacting revenge against online trolls; Mickey Reece’s oddball maybe vampire film, “Climate of the Hunter”, which is also going to be at September’s Atlanta Film Festival; and Ryan Kruger’s insane alien abduction film, “Fried Barry”, which simply must be seen to be believed. The best surprises, however, have been on the documentary side, with an essential movie about the business of independent filmmaking in Justin McDonnell’s “Clapboard Jungle” and Isabel Peppard and Josie Hess’s documentary, “Morgana”, which I wrote about leading in to the festival on Wednesday, complete with a Q&A with the filmmakers and subject, adult film star Morgana Muses. The best in show, however, for the “On Demand” selection has to go to Arthur Jones’s “Feels Good Man”, which looks at how Pepe the Frog went from an empathetic reflection of its creator to a meme to a symbol for white supremacy, and the toll that took on Matt Furie, the artist who just wanted to express himself through his art. Few movies this year have had such an impact as this one did, and we’ve had some great documentaries this year.

Starting Monday, my coverage really kicks into another gear, and my experience of the virtual festival becomes more real, with panels and my one live screening, as well as reviews and interviews for some of the most compelling films of the fest. You can follow allow with the review drops on the list below, and check out several of the interviews as we go along.

2020 Fantasia International Film Festival: The Reviews
“Smiley Death Face”
“You Cannot Kill David Arquette”
“Crazy Samurai Musashi”
“A Mermaid in Paris”
“Diabla”
“Labyrinth of Cinema”
“Monster Seafood Wars”
“Sleep”
“The Oak Room”
“Hail to the Deadites”
“Sanzaru” (Review of 8/29)
“For the Sake of Vicious” (Review on 9/1)
“Morgana”
“PVT Chat”
“Fried Barry”
“The Columnist”
“Tezuka’s Barbara”
“Clapboard Jungle”
“Special Actors”
“Undergods” (Review on 8/30)
“Don’t Text Back!”
“Bleed With Me”
“Minor Premise” (Review on 8/30)
“Detention”
“Feels Good Man”
“Kriya”
“Fugitive Dreams” (Review on 8/30)
“The Paper Tigers” (Review on 8/30)
“Climate of the Hunter”
“Cosmic Candy”
“The Prophet and the Space Aliens”
“Alone”
“The Dark and the Wicked” (Review on 8/29)
“Savage State” (Review on 8/29)