Back in June, I announced that I would be covering this year’s virtual Fantasia International Film Festival, which will run from August 20-September 2. As we have gotten closer to the dates, I’ve gotten more excited about what this is going to look like, and more importantly, the films that will be featured at the festival.
The first wave of announcements had some really compelling titles, including “The Reckoning”, a thriller set during the Great Plague from director Neil Marshall; “The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw”, a gothic horror thriller; “Tezuka’s Barbara”, an adaptation of a manga from the author of Astro Boy; “Steep”, a horror movie about a mother and daughter from Germany; and “Labyrinth of Cinema”, the haunting, epic final film from director Nobuhiko Obayashi.
There is one more wave of announcements to go, but from the second wave, these are some of the titles I am most intrigued by:
=“The Dark & the Wicked”, a horror movie about a family that comes together to mourn a dying man, and how things begin to get scary at night.
=“A Mermaid in Paris”, a charming, romantic French fantasy directed by pop musician Mathias Malzieu.
=“Crazy Samurai Musashi”, a wildly fun single-take martial arts film starring Tak Sakaguchi.
=“The Columnist”, a dark comedy about a journalist whose reaction to cyberbullying extends beyond the internet.
=“Savage State”, a western about a French family who must return to Paris after the American Civil War.
=“Fugitive Dreams”, a road movie about two people (April Matthis and Robbie Tann) who are travelling through America, and struggling through issues of lonliness.
There’s one more wave to announce, short films to check out, and a whole lot more, but right now, you can expect these films, at least, to make my coverage of the festival. In addition, a short film I watched at this year’s Women in Horror Film Festival, “Diabla”, will also be playing at the festival; I plan on doing filmmaker interviews with the creators of that short as part of my coverage.
Press access to screeners for some of the films has already begun, and so, I have already started to screen films playing at the festival. Those that I have watched are listed below, although the reviews will not be available until the respective embargos are lifted during the festival.
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival: The Reviews
“Crazy Samurai Musashi” (Review on 8/16)
“A Mermaid in Paris” (Review on 8/27)
“Labyrinth of Cinema” (Review on 8/25)
“Monster Seafood Wars” (Review on 8/18)
“Sleep” (Review on 8/13)
“The Oak Room” (Review on 8/25)
2020 Fantasia International Film Festival
The Announcement
Thanks for listening,
Brian Skutle
www.sonic-cinema.com
