Festival Fantasia

Date night at fantasia will never be forgotten! We went to one of the closing shows (Dark Spaces) and although there was a huge line and we started barely after on-​time, everyone was giving off the best vibe! The movie’s verbal introduction skipped straight to the point and as the commentator walk off an audience member meowed at him, and he meowed back! The next 2 minutes saw at least 90% of the theatre meow, and when we all quieted down for the start of the film, the production company’s emblem was a lion! So, naturally one person in the theatre meowed and everyone else lost it laughing. An unforgettable moment paired with a great film, easy to purchase tickets, well organized and sooooo worth going to support :)

À mon humble avis, voici le meilleur festival de cinéma du grand Montréal et probablement l’un des meilleurs festivals du genre au monde. Oui, j’ai bien dit au monde ! Année après année, j’y découvre des films d’horreur, de science-​fiction et d’action venant d’un peu partout. Comparé au triste et misérable festival des films du Monde de Montréal, le FFM, Fantasia est une bouffée de fraicheur cinématographique lorsqu’arrive la saison estivale sur notre belle métropole.
Le véritable passionné du genre y fera des trouvailles impossibles à visionner dans les salles de projection commerciales. Au fil des années, Fantasia m’a fait découvrir des bijoux de film tel que: REC I et II (Espagne), Dead Snow I et II (Norvège), The World End (Angleterre), The Grudge (version original japonaise), Martyr (France) et j’en oublie beaucoup trop. 10 $ par projection, 9 $ si vous acheter un carnet de 10 billets.
Les festivaliers sont géniaux. Les soirs de premières, l’ambiance est survoltée. Que de beaux souvenirs ai-​je vécus au fils des années depuis que j’assiste à ce festival. Depuis peu, les salles de projection de l’université Concordia ont été rénovées au grand bonheur des festivaliers et permettent maintenant d’assister aux films en tout confort.
Un must.

I’m proud to count myself a supporter of the FanTasia Festival since its humble origins at the Imperial Theatre in the late ‘90s. In the early days I recall catching great Asian actioners like High Risk and Drunken Master and Italian giallo horror like Deep Red (I was there when Karim Hussain, one of the festival organizers, apologized for a missing reel of the latter in front of the audience, then proceeded to act it out for everyone to provide context).
In the years since it’s moved to Concordia, I’ve been privileged to be introduced to so many other great films as world, North American, or Canadian premieres — bigger titles include Haute Tension, Shaun of the Dead, Ju-​On, Undead, One Missed Call, Cabin Fever, Big Bad Wolves, and on and on, not to mention dozens of smaller titles that are equally remarkable. That many screenings feature Q&As afterward with cast or crew is just gravy.
After a brief return to the Imperial in 2013 as the Concordia theaters underwent some much-​needed renovations, FanTasia is back home and better than ever, with more comfortable seating but the same enthusiastic yet respectful and no-​attitude crowds.
All hail FanTasia and longtime organizer Mitch Davis! Forget best film festival… this is the city’s best festival, period.

I’ve been to a few movie festivals in Europe, and this was my first one in north america: One of the best by far.
Montréal rocks, Fantasia ROCKS HARD

This is my favorite film festival. I appreciate the films that are played at this festival. Alot of the films come from the far east. Some of them are thrillers, fantasy, horror, and/​or martial arts.
There are english language movies here as well, but they will not be mainstream ones.

This festival is fantastic. World cinema unfurls for a full three weeks every July, and the programming team does a phenomenal job of procuring films that you might never see otherwise. Strange Serbian films, Shaw Brothers classics, Russian obscurities, amazing guests, and sometimes live performances make this fest a world leader in the fantastic and weird in cinema.
Jeffrey Combs just put on a one-​act play here called Nevermore in which he portrayed a spot-​on Edgar Allen Poe to a packed house at the gorgeous Rialto Theater. The HP Lovecraft master class conducted by horror director Stuart Gordon and screenwriter Dennis Paoli was sheer awesomeness.
Head here for a daily blog and online film descriptions!
Also, this is one of the only places you can catch the new, restored footage of Metropolis with a live orchestra!
Fantasia, may you live a long and weird, weird life!
Love,
Your fans