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| Jayro Bustamente's Rita Photo: Fantasia International Film Festival |
The Fantasia International Film Festival likes to tease, and as usual, it's revealing its line-up slowly this year, with the first tranche of titles going public today. New works by Nobuhiro Yamashita (Confession), Shinji Araki (Penalty Loop) and the Adams Family (Hell Hole), it's promising to be a thrilling event.
Back at the the Concordia Hall and JA de Sève cinemas in Montreal for its 28th edition, the festival has attracted some highly anticipated films. Jayro Bustamente's Rita draws on Guatemalan myth and the tragic events at the Virgen de La Asunción children's home in 2017 (previously addressed in Oscar-nominated short Saria) to explore the wider social and existential import of the mistreatment of children. Chris Stuckmann's Shelby Oaks tells the haunting story of one woman's search for her missing sister and her gradual realisation that their childhood invisible friend might have been something real and dangerous. And Lowell Dean, the man behind WolfCop, steps into the ring with a tale of small town wrestlers making a demonic deal in Dark Match.
With other highlights including poignant time travel comedy A Samurai In Time, thrillingly unhinged South by Southwest hit Hunting Daze and lightning strike inspired erotic odyssey Electrophilia, there's a lot to look forward to. The remaining two collections of titles will be announced in early june and early July, and the festival will run from 18 July to 4 August.
