The Fantasia Festival have been very good to us over the last few years. Not only have they weathered the storm of the pandemic and provided us with some amazing content online, they’ve continued to secure amazing debuts and midnight madness from around the world.
This year is no exception. For the 25th edition of the genre festival there’s an impressive array of titles, from the World Premiere of Julien Knafo’s Brain Freeze through to a special presentation of James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad. It’s safe to say that if it plays at Fantasia, it’s going to be a cult hit in the future.
As we’ve been covering Fantasia for the last few years for Asia in Focus, we’re always impressed with the dozens of films from Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and beyond. From the sequel to the film version of Kakegurui, there’s the truly weird Wonderful Paradise, the screenlife saga of The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8 and the Taiwanese fantasy film Hello Tapir. Here we’ve put together a collection of all the Asian cinema announced (so far*) at the festival.
The 25th Fantasia Festival will take place as a virtual event from 5 August to 25 August. Programs and tickets can be found at the festival website.
*UPDATED: 22 July 2021 with the release of the complete program.
JAPAN
Kakegurui 2: Ultimate Russian Roulette
A few years ago, the first live action feature adaptation of Kakegurui — based on the manga by Homura Kawamoto and Tōru Naomura and subsequent TV series — came to our screens. In this sequel, director Tsutomu Hanabusa (Project Dreams) continues the life and death stajkes of a group of high school students who take their card games very seriously. The first film will also be playing on demand at the festival.
Remain In Twilight
From the terrific Daigo Matsui (Our Huff and Puff Journey, Japanese Girls Never Die) comes another film about the endurance of high school friendships, this time from a male perspective. Six friends — played by Ryo Narita, Ryuya Wakaba, Kenta Hamano, Kisetsu Fujiwara, Rikki Metsugi, and Kengo Kora — who hung out together during high school get again after 5 years for a friend’s wedding.
Wonderful Paradise
Wonderful and weird go hand-in-hand in this truly bizarre film that just keeps getting stranger – and that’s just one of the things to love about it. It begins with a series of random arrivals at mansion in the process of being packed up for sale and a quirky series of family members. The part becomes a festival, complete with food stalls and activities. Yet nothing can really prepare you for the back half of this film. From a child transforming into a stick through to a mutant coffee bean growing out of control, the script is equal parts midsummer sex comedy and pure train of thought. Read our full review.
Caution, Hazardous Wife
Certainly a winner if there was an award for a film with the dubiously best title. Set after the drama series of the same name, it stars Haruka Ayase (Color Me True) as the titular hazardous wife, a special agent who has hid her job from her husband (Voices in the Wind‘s Hidetoshi Nishijima). Clearly required viewing for fans of the NTV series, especially if you’ve been hanging out since 2017 for a resolution.
Not Quite Dead Yet
Shochiku’s chaotic horror comedy makes its way to Fantasia. Starring Suzu Hirose (who you’ve seen in Kore-eda’s Our Little Sister and The Third Murder, along with the popular Chihayafuru series) as the estranged daughter of a drug company CEO (The Fable‘s Shinichi Tsutsumi) who has a crazy plot to find out who is messing with his company. Taking an experimental drug that is meant to kill him and bring him back to life days later, he instead returns as a ghost. Hilarity ensues.
Art Kabuki
As difficult as it has been as a cinema goer over the last 18 months, live theatre has taken a real hit. Kabuki-actor Kazutaro Nakamura — who choreographed the shrine maiden’s ceremonial dance in the animated film Your Name (2016) — brings us this filmed performance of ‘Play, Beauty and Life.’ If you’ve never experienced a live kabuki performance, or you miss the intimacy of live theatre, then this will be a must-see.
Beyond The Infinite Two Minutes
Does two minutes count as time travel? Junta Yamaguchi’s film say that is does. As a Covid-era screenlife film, it starts as an experimental iPhone-shot film in which a group of friends try to make sense of a two-minute time loop that allows them to predict a very small slice of the near future via a TV screen. Written by Makoto Ueda, the founder of performance troupe Europe Kikaku, it marks Yamaguchi’s feature debut. Familiar faces like Aki Asakura (Whistleblower, Summer Blooms) pepper the cast.
The 12 Day Tale Of The Monster That Died In 8
If ever there was a film that lived up to its title, then it’s this. Expanding on the screenlife antics of Iwai Shunji and Takumi Saito’s 2020 web series – part of the Kaiju Defeat COVID online challenge started by Shinji Higuchi – it’s wedded to its format. As such it’s a short and sweet nod to both kaiju history and the solidarity of lockdown. Kaiju fans will love the many references to past creatures, from Windom to Balloonga. The final evolution of the capsule kaiju is a sweet nod to the real-world monster killers, and a welcome message of hope after the last year. Read our full review.
Love, Life and Goldfish
Described as a “colourful J-pop musical manga adaption,” Yukinori Makabe’s latest film is inspired by the Noriko Otani manga of the same name. It follows elite bank clerk Makoto Kashiba (Matsuya Onoe) who is accidentally demoted to a rural branch due to a clerical error. Yet his fate changes when he falls in love at first site with Yoshino Ikoma (Kanako Momota), who runs a goldfish scooping store. Sure, we’re in.
Poupelle of Chimney Town
It’s very easy to describe something as ‘Ghibli-esque’ when dealing with Japanese animation – so that’s exactly what I’m going to do. Based on the 2016 children’s picture book by Akihiro Nishino, this is a high concept piece that starts with an intriguing premise. In a city full of chimneys that has never seen the sky, the stars are something of legend. Young Lubicchi (voiced by Mana Ashida) is, like his father before him, the last of the true believers. After an encounter with Poupelle (Masataka Kubota), a person made of trash who comes to life on Halloween night, he sets out to prove the existence of the true sky. Read the full review.
Fortune Favours Lady Nikuko
Ayumu Watanabe, who delivered festival favourite Children of the Sea back in 2019, returns with a new water-based anime. Based on a book by Kanako Nishi (Yellow Elephant, Sakura), it’s an observational comedy/drama that follows the titular Nikuko and her son Kikuko as they live out their days on a boat.
Yakuza Princess
Directed by Vicente Amorim and adapted from Danilo Beyruth’s graphic novel Shiro, Yakuza Princess is Asia in Focus adjacent. The Brazilian production stars MASUMI as a women who discovers that she’s the heir to a yakuza empire. She also finds out that Shiro (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) who has been protecting her may have actually been sent to kill her. Also joining the cast are Tsuyoshi Ihara and Kenny Leu.
It’s A Summer Film
Is it? It is! Soshi Matsumoto’s feature debut, following a career in commercial and short work, it’s a sci-fi film of sorts that sees a group of school friends attempting to make a samurai film, but discover one of their number is a time traveller from the future. We’ve all been there, right? It would be the most Daigo Matsui film if Matsui didn’t already have a film on the festival program.
Jigoku-No-Hanazono ~Office Royale~
Even if you’re working from home right now, you’ll know that office politics can be murder. (Just as a sidebar, I don’t like the way that kettle has been looking at me). Seki Kazuaki’s film takes the concept to its logical extreme, with cliques of female officer workers occasionally breaking into all out war. The director has previously worked on OK Go’s ‘I Won’t Let You Down‘ music video, so you know they have a distinctive visual approach.
Sakura
You can always bank on a Japanese film involving a dog. Like Fortune Favours Lady Nikuku, this one is also based on a book by Kanako Nishi. Directed by Hitoshi Yazaki (Still Life of Memories), the film takes its title from the name of the family dog. The nuanced family drama follows the unit as they deal with the death of their son.
Pompo: The Cinéphile
Originally due out last year, but delayed due to the pandemic, this feature-length adaptation of the manga Shogo Sugitani comes to us from animation studio CLAP (LIP×LIP FILM×LIVE). It’s a film for film lovers, on how films get made and what makes them so enduring.
Satoshi Kon: The Illusionist
Animator Satoshi Kon died in 2010 following a brief battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 46. In this brief time, he left us with some of the most revered animated films of the last few decades: Perfect Blue (1997), Millennium Actress (2001), Tokyo Godfathers (2003), and Paprika (2006). French documentarian Pascal-Alex Vincent explores his life and career in this documentary
Junk Head
Takahide Hori’s one-man stop-motion film debuted at international festivals in 2017, and then took another four years to make it into Japanese cinemas. In that elongated window, it took on something of a cult glow. It arrives at Fantasia in a leaner cut that is sure to win over a whole new audience.
Georama Boy Panorama Girl
The title alone should hook you in. That and the fact that it’s based on the manga by Kyoko Okazaki, the mind behind Helter Skelter (made into a stylish film by Mika Ninagawa in 2012) and River’s Edge (adapted in 2018 by Isao Yukisada). It’s a coming-of-age drama about a studious boy and an alleged femme fatale, brought to life with the expert touch of Natsuki Seta (A Liar and a Broken Girl).
Hold Me Back
Director Akiko Ohku (Tremble All You Want) has been a festival staple for a few years now. In this latest film from the filmmaker, Mitsuko Kuroda (the singularly named Non) has always followed the salesperson inside of her head, at least until she meets someone that she thinks she’s falling in love with.
Ora, Ora, Be Goin’ Alone
Look, if Yu Aoi is in a film, just go and see it. Here she plays the younger version of Momoko (the legendary Yuko Tanaka), a 75-year-old widow who is reflecting back to her life in 1964. It’s helmed by director Shuichi Okita, whose films The Mohican Comes Home and Mori, The Artist’s Habitat have been turning up at festivals regularly over the last few years.
Prisoners of the Ghostland
The incomparable Sino Sono meets the immovable Nicolas Cage and the results are exactly as expected. Although ‘expected’ is not a word you’d readily apply in this situation. As Sono slows down to a respectable two or three films a year, partly thanks to the emergency heart surgery he underwent during production, the now 59-year-old filmmaker shows no signs of letting up on his creativity. It’s a great example of how his voice can successfully transition with something resembling western aesthetics. Read the full review.
The Deer King
Co-directed by Masashi Ando (who worked on Studio Gibli films like Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke) and Masayuki Miyaji (Attack on Titan), this adaptation of Nahoko Uehashi’s novel series Shika no Ō is from the legendary Production I.G. A must-see for animation fans everywhere.
Dreams on Fire
This Canadian/Japanese co-production follows Yume (Bambi Nake) as she tries to break into the world of Japanese dance. Director Philippe McKie has lived in Japan for the last decade, and this beautifully shot film — combining McKie’s background in fashion and DJing — marks their first feature following a string of Fantasia shorts.
Follow the Light
In the tradition of Shunji Iwai — who has several films playing in the retro section of the festival — comes this youth drama. The debut from director and co-writer Yoichi Narita, the small town genre gets infused with subtle hints of sci-fi.
Grand Blue Dreaming
Directed and co-written by the prolific Tsutomu Hanabusa, and screening alongside his two Kakegurai films, this live action adaptation follows the manga and anime of the same name. It’s set a pair of hapless fools who find themselves at a diving club with a seemingly endless part.
The Great Yokai War – Guardians
It wouldn’t be a genre festival without Miike Takeshi on the bill. A sequel to the 2005 The Great Yokai War, this is one hell of a closing night film for the festival this year. It’s also said to include the title character from the 1966 Daiei film series Daimajin!
Sexual Drive
Bringing together Japan’s twin histories in cinematic erotic and the glorification of food, Kōta Yoshida’s anthology may make you reassess your relationship with at least three food groups. Read our full review from IFFR.
Tokyo Revengers
If they can’t save Tokyo, they can sure as hell revenge it. Or something. Another manga adaptation, this one is sourced from Ken Wakui\s serialised series from Kodansha’s Weekly Shōnen Magazine. It’s also directed by Tsutomu Hanabusa, making it one of four films he’s got on the Fantasia bill this year.
Under the Open Sky
Miwa Nishikawa’s drama stars the excellent Kôji Yakusho (The Blood of Wolves) as an ex yakuza who is released from prison after doing a stint for muder and struggles to adjust to life on the outside. This one has been doing the festival rounds but its well worth a look if you haven’t seen it.
Japan has an impressive range of short films on offer as well. Animated shorts include Aya Yamasaki and Jason Brown’s HAKKORI, Anna Yamamoto’s MEDAMA – EYE BALL, veteran Naoki Matsuura’s handsomely rendered FIRE CRAFT, and Shinobu Soejima’s stop-motion BLINK IN THE DESERT. Six directors, from South Korea, France, and Japan, pass along their perspectives on eco-friendly actions in UPCLYCLING.
Yoko Yamanaka’s BORN PISCES leads Japan’s live action shorts. The Amiko director crafts a warming coming-of-age tale in lush 35mm. There’s also Chisaka Takuya’s cheekily titled SCHOOL RADIO TO MAJOR TOM, Daigo Hariya and Yôsuke Kobayashi’s sci-fi VIEWERS:1, director/screenwriter Eiji Tanigawa’s VULNERABILITY and Emi Yasumura’s cosmic teenage daydream, WAO
SOUTH KOREA
Voice of Silence
The premise of Hong Eui-jeong’s debut feature is simplicity itself: a pair of crime scene cleaners must look after a kidnapped child. Indeed, the screenplay was selected as one of the top 12 projects at Venice Biennale College-Cinema 2016/2017 in 2016. Of course, if Korean thrillers has taught us anything, it’s to expect the unexpected. Not least of which is star Yoo Ah-in (Burning, #Alive), who apparently gives a completely silent performance for the bulk of the picture.
The Slug
Playing as part of the Camera Lucida section — dedicated to “boundary-pushing, auteur-driven works at the intersection of genre and arthouse cinema” — South Korea’s The Slug stars Microhabitat‘s Kang Jin-ah as a reclusive woman who starts manifesting a younger version of herself after being struck by lightning.
Collectors
With an elevator pitch of ‘Ocean’s Eleven meets Raiders of the Lost Ark,’ you know we’re going to sit up and pay attention. Park Jung-bae directs a cast led by Lee Je-hoon in this South Korean historical adventure/crime thriller. We’re in!
The Devil’s Deal
From Lee Won-Tae, the director of the slick The Gangster, the Cop and the Devil, comes another historical throwback. Set in 1992, it follows congressional candidate Jeon Hae-woong (Cho Jin-woong) on the eve of an election. It’s a world premiere, so get in early so you can say you did.
Fighter
Documentarian and narrative feature filmmaker Jéro Yun follows films like Beautiful Days and Mrs. B, a North Korean Woman with another story of a North Korean defector trying to restart her life. Jin-ah (played by Full Moon‘s Lim Sung-mi) begins work as a cleaner in a boxing dojo before finding herself at a crossroads.
Josée
If you caught the anime of Josée, The Tiger and The Fish during its brief theatrical run this year, you may know that it’s based on Seiko Tanabe. Already brought to the screen several times in its native Japan, this version comes from South Korean filmmaker Kim Jong-kwan.
Midnight
It’s murder in the city! Compared with The Chaser, this shows us why South Korean cinema tends to export grisly thrillers. Director Kwon Oh-seung delivers a debut piece with a sound design described as “hallucinatory.”
Seobok
Director and screenwriter Lee Yong-ju (Possessed) brings us a film led by Gong Yoo (Train to Busan). A thriller with sci-fi leanings, it sees the former secret agent coming out of retirement to protect the first human clone, the titular Seobok (Park Bo-gum).
Digital Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro: The Real-World Guide to Set Up and Workflow
Ostensibly listed as a short, this 40 minute film with a deceptive title is Hong Seong-yoon’s film about a mysterious ghost that keeps appearing in the shots of a film as it’s being cut, causing its editor and director to bicker to death. Yes, it’s a screenlife horror comedy.
There’s a whopping 16 Korean shorts on display at Fantasia this year! Experimental and animated approaches can be found in Jeon Da-young, Kim Min-gyung, and Han Seo-a’s BE BIG, Choi Jinuk’s CG animated BEYOND THE LINE, Seo Sae-rom’s nightmarish visit to a theme park in CARNIVOROUS BEAN SPROUT and Kim Ilhyun’s GOOD FOR YOU. Ha Seung-eun conjures classic animation in THE GREEN BETWEEN, Kim Tae-woo brings Korean folklore to life in HUH, Kim Eun-seo crafts meticulous backgrounds in MEGALOMANIA and has a sweet tooth in MÉNAGE À TROIS: FLOUR, EGGS AND SUGAR. Lee Sasha reminds us MISERY LOVES COMPANY, Cho Hyun-a takes A SIP OF WATER and there’s also the aforementioned UPCYCLING.
On the live action front, Kim Boram tries to catch NOSES ON THE RUN in this unique sci-fi. Actor Cho Jin-woong gets behind the camera for RYUK-SA, a possible teaser for a feature film. Jeon Joonhyun explores the toxic work relationships women must endure in STOCK. Finally, people with a fear of the dentist are advised to stay away from Hong Won-ki URBAN MYTHS: TOOTH WORMS.
TAIWAN
Hello Tapir
The titular Tapir has the body of a pig, the trunk of an elephant, the ears of a horse, and the feet of a rhinoceros — and it eats nightmares. Referred to as “Taiwan’s first live-action/animation fantasy film,” Kethsvin Chee’s feature follows the eight-year-old Ah Keat asks the beast for help.
The Sadness
“Fantasia rarely gives trigger warnings,” says the official blurb, “but this film warrants all of them. Proceed with caution.” It’s set in an alternate Taiwan where an unchecked pandemic has left people with an uncontrollable rage. It sounds like 28 Days Later meets, well, the real world right now.
Then on the short film front, you’ll find Shi-Rou Huang’s animated GIRL IN THE WATER, Chun-Chien Lien and Pohan Lee’s INSIDE, Joe Hsieh’s monkey-fuelled NIGHT BUS and KEFF’s TAIPEI SUICIDE STORY.
CHINA
Back to the Wharf
Chinese director Li Xiaofeng (Ash, Nezha) follows an escaped convict who was imprisoned for negligent homicide returning to his hometown after 15 years, only to get mixed up in a scheme involving the daughter of his victim. Fantasia says it’s a “sharp reflection on how China’s modernization can transform a family.”
From the Chinese short film selection, you’ll also find Zhang Nan’s AQUATIC BIRD, Hoanan Wang’s BUBBLE, Qiu Sheng’s DOUBLE HELIX, Lei Lei Xia’s animated short THE HORSE GUESSING GAME, Shengwei Zhou’s stop-motion LET’S FALL IN LOVE and Shicong Zhu’s dramatic SNAKE TRAIL.
MALAYASIA
The Story of the Southern Islet
The winner of Best New Director and the FIPRESCI Prize at Golden Horse Film Festival, Chong Keat Aun’s feature is the lone Malaysian entry at Fantasia 2021 — so far. Set in 1987, this beautifully shot film is inspired by the filmmaker’s childhood.
HONG KONG
Time
This might be Ricky Ko’s debut feature, but in every other way it’s got the look and feel of a throwback to Hong Kong’s past cinema greats — not least of which is the 84-year-old former matinee idol Patrick Tse. He plays a killer for hire who now takes on euthanasia cases. Sometimes an odd blend of tones, but ultimately the core performances and the slick action carries this ‘grandpa assassin with a heart of gold’ through to the end. Read the full review.
Septet:The Story of Hong Kong
Ann Hui, Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo-Ping, Ringo Lam and Patrick Tam Look at that list of filmmakers! Almost six years ago, Jonnie To initiated this project as Eight and a Half with John Woo attached. Now he’s about the only person from the who’s who of Hong Kong cinema not attached to this series of vignettes that contemplates the city-state and its future. Each director tells a tale spanning from the 1950s to today, where the eyes of the world are on Hong Kong.
Hand Rolled Cigarette
Debut direct Can Kin-long delivers a throwback Hong Kong thriller of Triad intrigue involving smuggled turtles, a stolen million and a cup of instant noodles is afoot in Hong Kong. Starring Johnnie To regular Gordon Lam, it’s a neon-lit genre pic filmed entirely during the pandemic.
One Second Champion
That doesn’t sound like something you want to be called on a dating app. “Imagine a high-concept Rocky and Creed with a more developed funny-bone and dangerously high-pressure fun,” says Fantasia of this film from director Chiu Sin-Hang and action direction of Leung Pok Yan (Enter the Fat Dragon). For those of us who are suckers for a boxing film even if we never watch the actual sport.
You’ll also find Ivan Li’s animated FRUIT in the shorts programming.
SINGAPORE
Tiong Bahru Social Club
The lone Singaporean feature film comes from Tan Bee Thiam. It follows an office worker who leaves his job to become a happiness ambassador for a gated community that algorithmically creates the ‘world’s happiest suburb.’ Of course, all isn’t as it seems.
There are two Singaporean shorts playing in addition to this feature: HENCHMEN, Alistair Quak’s tale of two unmotivated bodyguards, and Russell Morton’s experimental documentary SAUDADE.
CLASSICS
In addition to the new releases, the 25th anniversary of Fantasia means that some classics will be shown on demand as well. As mentioned above, the first KAKEGURAI will play alongside its newly released sequel.
Shunji Iwai has a retro triple feature of APRIL STORY (1998), starring actor and singer Takako Matsu, and the fan favourite ALL ABOUT LILY CHOU CHOU (2001), a coming of age story that shows the impact of the titular singers. Of course, his most famous film — the made for TV FIREWORKS, SHOULD WE SEE IT FROM THE SIDE OR THE BOTTOM? (1993) — will play as part of the shorts program.
If you like Wonderful Paradise, then Fantasia have dug deep into their well for some proper surrealism: Shunichiro Miki’s infamous cult films FUNKY FOREST: THE FIRST CONTACT (2005) and THE WARPED FOREST (2011), a film I was not kind to on release but suspect I would enjoy the hell out of it now.
Going further back, UZUMAKI (SPIRAL) is Higuchinsky’s lesser seen adaptation of Junji Ito’s cult classic. Coming from a time when J-horror was the most influential style around the world, it’s worth revisiting now that the film can legally drink in the US.
Then there’s a proper deep dive in a Hong Kong classic. Tony Lou Chun-Ku’s RETURN OF THE BASTARD SWORDSMAN (1984) will be available for your streaming pleasure. The Shaw Brothers classic is there for the wuxia lovers and it should be high on all martial arts fans lists this year.
