The Fantasia Film Festival ended its 25th edition last weekend, and after almost a month of witnesing some of the most intersting fantasy, horror, and mystery titles of the season it is time to share a final view of the event.
The Cheval Noir award for Best Film, the biggest award in the Fantasia Film Festival, was for South Korean film Voice of Silence (2020), directed by Hong Eui-jeong. Other notable awards were the following.
BEST DIRECTOR: Igor Legarreta for All The Moons (2020), (Spain/France)
BEST SCREENPLAY: Mark O’Brien for The Righteous (2021), (Canada)
BEST SCORE: John Adams for Hellbender (2021), (USA)
BEST ACTOR: Yoo Ah-in for Voice of Silence (2020) (South Korea)
BEST ACTRESS: Zelda Adams for Hellbender (2021), (USA)
JURY SPECIAL MENTION – CINEMATOGRAPHY: Imanol Nabea for All The Moons (2020) (Spain/France)
JURY SPECIAL MENTION – RISING STAR: Sienna Sayer for Martyrs Lane (2021), (UK)
JURY SPECIAL MENTION – SOUND DESIGN: Stef Lernous for Hotel Poseidon (2021), (Belgium)
The New Flesh jury, which awards debut feature films and their creators, awarded the following.
BEST FILM: The Sadness (2021) (Taiwan, d. Rob Jabbaz)
SPECIAL JURY MENTION: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021), (Japan, d. Junta Yamaguchi)
SPECIAL JURY MENTION: Office Royale (2021) (Japan, d. Kazuaki Seki)
And the Audience Awards, one of the most significant in an audience film festival went to the following:
BEST ASIAN FEATURE – GOLD: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2021) (Japan, by Junta Yamaguchi)
BEST ASIAN FEATURE – SILVER: Midnight (2021) (South Korea, by Kwon Oh-seung)
BEST ASIAN FEATURE – BRONZE: The Sadness (2021) (Taiwan, by Rob Jabbaz)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE – GOLD: All The Moons (2020) (Spain/France, by Igor Legarreta)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE – SILVER: Ultrasound (2021) (USA, by Rob Schroeder)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE – BRONZE: King Knight (2021) (USA, by Richard Bates, Jr.)
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE – GOLD: Dreams on Fire (2021) (Canada/Japan, by Philippe McKie)
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE – SILVER: The Righteous (2021) (Canada, by Mark O’Brien)
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE – BRONZE: Brain Freeze (2021) (Canada, by Julien Knafo)
BEST DOCUMENTARY – GOLD: Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021) (USA, by Kier-La Janisse)
BEST DOCUMENTARY – SILVER: Alien on Stage (2020) (UK, by Lucy Harvey & Danielle Kummer)
BEST DOCUMENTARY – BRONZE: Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist (2021) (France/Japan, by Pascal-Alex Vincent)
BEST ANIMATED FILM – GOLD: Mad God (2021) (USA, by Phil Tippett)
BEST ANIMATED FILM – SILVER: Hayop Ka! (2020) (Philippines, by Avid Liongoren)
BEST ANIMATED FILM – BRONZE: The Deer King (2021) (Japan, by Masashi Ando & Miyaji Masayuki)
MOST GROUNDBREAKING FILM OF THE FESTIVAL: Mad God (2021) (USA, by Phil Tippett)
In addition to this, the team of Ganiveta who attended to the online version of the festival, has chosen the following as the top5 films in the Fantasia Film Festival 2021:
1st place: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (aka Droste no hate de bokura) (2021), Japan [review]
2nd place: Hellbender (2021), USA [review]
3rd place: #Blue_Whale (2021), Russia [review]
4th place: King Car (aka Carro Rei) (2021), Brazil [review]
5th place: All The Moons (aka Ilargi Guztiak) (2020), Spain, France [review]
And, of course, especial mention to the astonishing documentaries Alien on Stage (2020) and Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror (2021) that I don’t include them in the ranking since they are not fiction, but they must be very high on the list.
