The Fantasia International Film Festival is continuing its cherished tradition of featuring emotionally and visually terrifying genre movies that will surely make viewers scream in horror – and delight – with its current slate. This summer’s 28th annual edition of the Montreal-based festival, which begins today and is running until Sunday, August 4, is sure to leave audiences shrieking in both fear and excitement over its line-up.
Screenings of the films included in the festival are taking place at several theaters across Montreal, including the Concordia Hall Cinema. Additional screens will be held at the J.A. DeSève Cinema, Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée. Tickets are now on sale on Fantasia’s official website.
Audiences are sure to love several features that are screening throughout the festival, including the fantasy dramedy, ‘Vulcanizadora.’ The movie is set to have its International Premiere tomorrow, July 19 at 9:20pm ET in the Selection 2024 screening section. The film’s second screening will then be held on Tuesday, July 23 at 4:35pm. Both screenings, which will be held at Salle J.A. De Seve, will be presented with the World Premiere of writer-director-producer Eddie Mullins’s comedy short, ‘Erection and Destruction.’
‘Vulcanizadora’ was penned, helmed and edited by Joel Potrykus. He also stars in the feature with Melissa Blanchard, Joshua Burge and Solo Potrykus.
Functioning as a spiritual sequel to scribe-director Joel Potrykus’ 2014 offbeat slacker portrait ‘Buzzard,’ ‘Vulcanizadora’ follows Derek (Potrykus), a father who would rather take a bottle rocket to the face than confront his failures, and Marty (Burge), an arsonist who’s leading the charge on the sprint toward hellfire and away from his juvenile transgressions. The best friends embark on a seemingly innocent camping trip through the Michigan woods, but their disturbing pact becomes increasingly clear as they approach the X on their map.
For more information on ‘Vulcanizadora,’ whose Fantasia screenings will be hosted by Potrykus, producers Ashley Potrykus, actor Solo Potrykus and movie team Jackson Ezinga, Jeen Na, Aida Slogar and Sasa Slogar, visit its page on the festival’s official website.
Another eagerly awaited film that’s playing during this year’s Fantasia is the sci-fi horror thriller, ‘The A-Frame.’ The movie is also set to have it International Premiere in the Selection 2024 screening section. The drama will be presented tonight, Thursday, July 18 at 9:30pm, and tomorrow, Friday, July 19 at 5pm. Both screenings will also be held at the Salle J.A. De Sève.
Calvin Reeder wrote and helmed ‘The A-Frame.’ The film stars Laketa Caston, Nik Dodani, Dana Namerode and Johnny Whitworth.
‘The A-Frame’ follows Donna (Namerode), a talented pianist, is crushed when she is diagnosed with a form of bone cancer that directly affects her hand and her ability to play the piano. Her life takes a dramatic turn when the doctor recommends amputation as the only solution to preventing the spread of the disease. This shifts her life from one filled with music, joy and friends, to a series of hospital visits, group counseling sessions and quantum physics.
After exhausting all other options, Donna is presented with a final chance to keep her hand by Sam (Whitworth), a mysterious black-market scientist. He holds the key to solving all of Donna’s problems. However, when ambitions get high and egos go unchecked, Sam’s intentions come into question.
For more information on ‘The A-Frame,’ visit the thriller’s page on the festival’s official website.
Fantasia audiences will also surely be frightened by another horror thriller, ‘In Our Blood.’ The movie is set to have its World Premiere in the Cheval Noir category. The mystery drama will be presented on Wednesday, July 31 at 7:10pm, and then on Saturday, August 3 at 3:15pm. Both screenings will be held at Salle J.A. De Sève.
Oscar-nominated documentarian Pedro Kos made his narrative feature directorial debut on ‘In Our Blood,’ which was written by Mallory Westfall. The film stars E. J. Bonilla, Krisha Fairchild, Brittany O’Grady, and Alana Ubach.
‘In Our Blood’ follows filmmaker Emily Wyland (O’Grady) as she’s making a documentary about reconnecting with her estranged mother, Sam (Ubach) after a long decade of distance. Their separation began when Emily was 13, after authorities forcibly removed her from their home due to her mother’s struggles with addiction.
Now Sam, who is clean, has reached out to reconnect with her daughter. She terribly wants to be back in Emily’s life.
With her cinematographer Danny (Bonilla) by her side, Emily heads to her hometown of Las Cruces, New Mexico, braced for anything that might come with the reopening of old wounds. They meet at Sam’s home, where she seems to be doing better. She also has so much to share.
The following day, however, Sam disappears without a trace. Emily and Danny soon learn that Las Cruces has become a place where vulnerable people regularly go missing. They desperately try to piece together a mounting multitude of disturbing clues before it may be too late.
For more information on ‘In Our Blood,’ whose Fantasia screenings will be hosted by, Kos, O’Grady, Bonilla and producer Aaron Kogan, visit its page on the festival’s official website.
Another anticipated movie that’s set to play this year’s Fantasia is the experimental comedy, ‘The Code.’ The film is set to have its World Premiere in the Underground screening section. The movie will be presented on Thursday, July 25 at 4:45pm, as well as Sunday, August 4 at 3:00pm.
Both screenings, which will be held at Salle J.A. De Sève, will be presented with ‘Hi! You Are Currently Being Recorded.’ The short thriller, which was helmed by Kyle Greenberg and Anna Maguire, is having its Canadian Premiere in the Selection 2024 screening section.
Eugene Kotlyarenko served as the director on ‘The Code.’ The film stars Dasha Nekrasova, Peter Vack, Vish Velandy and Ivy Wolk.
Blurring different cinematic mediums and balancing multiple points of view, ‘The Code’ follows the misadventures of a sexless couple, played by Vack and Nekrasova, as their relationship falls into shambles in the early part of the pandemic. The suffocating claustrophobia of their shared life gives way to a movie that embraces surveillance and performance in a dark and edgy (un)romantic comedy.
For more information on ‘The Code,’ whose Fantasia screenings will be hosted by Kotlyarenko and Vack, visit its page on the festival’s official website.
Fantasia audiences will also surely be scared by the romantic thriller, ‘Darkest Miriam.’ The film will have its Canadian Premiere this Tuesday, July 23 at 9:30pm, before having its second screening on Thursday, July 25 at 12:30pm in the Septenrion Shadows screening section.
Both screenings will both be held at Salle J.A. De Sève. They’ll be presented with the short film, ‘You Don’t Read Enough,’ which was co-penned and helmed by Noa Kozulin. The short is having its Quebec premiere in the Septenrion Shadows screening section.
Naomi Jaye scribed and directed the drama. The movie stars Sook-Yin Lee, Britt Lower, Tom Mercier and Jean Yoon.
‘Darkest Miriam’ follows the titular character, Miriam Gordon (Lower), who works in a library. Set in the middle of Toronto’s Allan Gardens, it’s a lively place filled with an array of patrons ranging from the “fainting man” and “suitcase man” to the talented young “piano girl.” Miriam and her co-workers take the unusual patrons in stride. Miriam’s days are also documented by incident reports about lost dentures and exchanges with the forgotten, marginalized populations who take refuge in the library stacks.
Solitary and patient, her head is filled with memories of her eccentric late father, who loved the Verdi opera Rigoletto. Her measured existence is disrupted by threatening letters found in books, but she also meets a handsome taxi driver and artist named Janko (Mercier). Their romance is sweet and shrouded in mystery that unravels as they become closer, but Miriam must decide what road to follow when the unexpected upends her sheltered life.
For more information on ‘Darkest Miriam,’ whose Fantasia screenings will be hosted by Jaye, visit its page on the festival’s official website.
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