First Fantasia 2021 titles announced

King Knight and The Righteous among highlights

by Jennie Kermode

A parasitologist fighting a pandemic finds herself trapped in Tin Can
A parasitologist fighting a pandemic finds herself trapped in Tin Can Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival

Following the announcement last month that this year's Fantasia International Film Festival will open with Julien Knafo’s Brain Freeze, the first tranche of titles for the popular Montreal-based event has been revealed. They include Richard Bates' King Knight, which focuses on witchcraft in sunny California, and Mark O'Brien's The Righteous, which charts the impact of a stranger's arrival on a small Newfoundland community.

as usual, there are some treats in store for fans of Japanese cinema, including stylish sequel Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette, Masashi Yamamoto's inventively surreal Wonderful Paradise and Shunji Iwai’s tale of kaiju versus Covid, The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8. Spanish-Basque fable All The Moons brings a touch of class to the vampire genre and those who were seriously creeped out by Rainer Sarnet's November will really get the chills from Estonian horror thriller Kratt.

This year's festival will be presented by Videotron in collaboration with Desjardins, and will run from 5 to 25 August. Further titles will be announced in July.

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A dangerous woman Rebecca De Mornay on finding characters' truth and making The Gentleman Thief

Divine transformation Eriko Katagiri on the itako tradition and When You Open The Door

Learning to let go Gloria Mercer and Bethany Brown on filming sex, drugs and A Safe Distance

Framing a feature Michele Fiascaris on expanding his short Rain Catcher into a rain-slicked noir thriller

A heroine of the people Avid Liongoren on the Filipino animation industry and Zsazsa Zaturnnah

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