The Fantasia International Film Festival is back for it’s 27th edition in Montreal this year. Running from 20 July through 9 August, the first wave of titles is already announced.
We’re always glad to see that Fantasia (like The Reel Bits) has Asia in Focus, and this year is even more special with their spotlight on South Korean cinema.
The festival’s full lineup, which includes genre highlights from all around the world, will be announced in early July on the official Fantasia website. All of our past and future coverage right here.
As accredited media, we’re looking forward to bringing you coverage all throughout the festival as usual. Here’s what we’ve seen from their Asian line-up so far.
New Normal
A few years ago, director Jung Bum-shik brought up Gonjiam: Haunted Asylum. Now Fantasia is hosting the North American premiere of this “one-man horror anthology.” It features six interconnected tales of love and murder in this horror-comedy set in social media-obsessed, post-pandemic Seoul. Sounds a little bit universal, doesn’t it?
The Roundup: No Way Out
The third entry in the Crime City saga, set seven years after the events in The Roundup (itself a sequel to The Outlaws), involves Ma Seok-Do (played by Ma Dong-Seok, aka Don Lee), hunting down Riki, a yakuza-hired hitman and a dirty cop named Joo-seong cheol, who are vying control of the city.
The Night Owl
Ahn Tae-jin makes their directorial debut with this period thriller starring starring Ryu Jun-yeol (The Battle: Roar to Victory) and Yoo Hae-jin (Space Sweepers). Set in the time of the Joseon Dynasty, specifically the mid-17th century, it’s based on the mystery surrounding the death of Crown Prince Sohyeon.
Retrospectives: Take Care of My Cat + The President’s Last Bang
Celebrating 60 years of diplomatic relations between Canada and the Republic of Korea, some of the program is dedicated to looking back at South Korea’s film history. This includes a 4K restoration of Jeong Jae-un’s coming-of-age film TAKE CARE OF MY CAT (2001) and a special screening of the THE PRESIDENT’S LAST BANG (2005) by Im Sang-soo. More titles will be announced in coming waves.
Tokyo Revengers 2 Part 1 and 2
Meanwhile in Japan…. A couple of years ago, we said of the first Tokyo Revengers (Fantasia 2021) that it “manages to convey its complex tale in a a self-contained package. Indeed, if this is your first experience with the franchise, you might even be tempted to explore the world a little further.” Well, now’s the chance. Fantasia presents not one but two new entries in the saga as Takemichi must go back in time to save Mio (again), and find out how his involvement with the Tokyo Maji Gang ruined his real life once more.
People Who Talk to Plushies Are Kind
Following several short and mid-length films, and a contribution to anthology 21st Century Girl, director Yurina Kaneko makes her feature length debut. Set in a “Plushies circle” at a university in Kyoto, this film adapts a novella from Ao Omae and explores introversion, sexuality, gender, and broader notions of tolerance. It really does sound like people who talk to plushies are kind.
Mother Land
The first South Korean stop-motion feature film in almost half a century, director Park Jae-beom’s animated adventure follows a young girl as she follows the North Star to the Ancient Forest and find its guardian and master, the great red bear of legend in an attempt to save her ailing mother.
