Fantasia Film Festival 2026 Announces First Wave

The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 30th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 16 through August 2, 2026, returning to the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screenings and events at Montreal’s Cinéma du Musée.

The festival’s full lineup will be announced in early July, but in the meantime, Fantasia is excited to reveal a select first wave of its 2026 premiere titles.

Fantasia Film Fest: Elric Kane's THE DEAD THING World Premiere July 26

Yellow Veil Pictures is excited to return to the Fantasia International Film Festival for the world premiere of Elric Kane's debut solo feature, the obsessive and lust-driven thriller The Dead Thing. The Dead Thing will premiere July 26th as part of the 2024 edition of Fantasia with an encore on July 28.

The Dead Thing is directed by Elric Kane (host of the Pure Cinema podcast and Fangoria's Colors of the Dark podcast) from a script he co-wrote with Webb Wilcoxen. The film is produced by Matt Mercer (Contracted, Bliss) and Monte Yazzie, with Colors of the Dark co-host Rebekah McKendry (Glorious) serving as executive producer. Yellow Veil Pictures is handling worldwide sales.

Fantasia 2024: Spanish Sci-Fi Thriller INFINITE SUMMER to World Premiere July 27

Fantasia alum Miguel Llansó (Crumbs (2015), Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) is excited to return to the Fantasia International Film Festival for the world premiere of his latest feature, the offbeat and emotionally resonant concoction Infinite Summer. Infinite Summer will screen July 27th as part of the 2024 edition of Fantasia.

Infinite Summer is produced by Llansó alongside longtime collaborators Rain Rannu and Tõnu Hiielaid of Tallifornia and their new American partners Allison Rose Carter and Jon Read of Savage Rose Films (Everything Everywhere All At Once, Zola). The film stars Hannah Gross (Joker, "Mindhunter"), Johanna Rosin, Teele Kaljuvee-O'Brock & Ciaron Davies as Dr. Mindfulness. 

Just a Sample of FANTASIA's Mammoth Film Festival Lineup

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 24th edition as a virtual event accessible to movie lovers across Canada, with a wild assortment of scheduled screenings, panels, and workshops taking place online from August 20 through September 2, 2020. The decision to launch a digital edition of the famed genre festival was born from Fantasia’s desire to keep the health and safety of its attendees a top priority during the current global health crisis, while still offering daring, much-needed new genre entertainment to residents of Canada and supporting the breakout filmmakers of the year.

Fantasia Film Festival Unveils EVERYTHING

With today’s final wave of programming, the 2019 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival has now released its full lineup, featuring over 130 incredible features from across the globe. Of note, the festival will host the World Premieres of MYSTERY OF THE NIGHT, BLOOD ON HER NAME, STARE, 1BR, THE DEEPER YOU DIG, and HOMEWRECKER; the North American Premieres of VIVARIUM, DREADOUT, and LES PARTICULES; the Canadian Premieres of THE LODGE, PROMARE, ANOTHER CHILD, and SWALLOW; and Special Advance Screenings of READY OR NOT and A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND.
 
In addition, the festival is also very proud to announce a record number of repertory titles, its esteemed 2019 jury, a horror film location bus tour through Montreal, and exciting, one-of-a-kind live events featuring producer Edward R. Pressman, FIRST BLOOD director Ted Kotcheff, and iconic horror host Joe Bob Briggs.

Fantasia International Film Festival : July 13 - August 2nd

The unbelievable 21st edition of The Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 13 - August 2.


Highlights in our final announcement include the North American Premiere of Cannes sensation GOOD TIME, with directors in attendance; a Lifetime Achievement Award for Mexican luchador film legend Mil Máscaras; a visit from martial arts superstar Scott Adkins (who stars in two films in this year's Action! section); the International Premiere of A TAXI DRIVER (our official closing film) with director Jan Hoon in attendance; a Special Screening of ATOMIC BLONDE; Canadian Premieres of PATTI CAKE$, BUSHWICK, FASHIONISTA, MOST LOVELY ISLAND, and PREY (many with directors in attendance); the North American Premiere of TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY 3D; the World Premieres of the female-driven exploitation films BLOOD HEIST and BLOOD RIDE (both produced by James Franco); and the World Premiere of Synapse Films' long-awaited 4K restoration of Dario Argento's legendary SUSPIRIA.

We've also got "Paperbacks from Hell", a hotly-anticipated multimedia presentation by best-selling author Grady Hendrix that ties into his new novel; Spectrumfest, an amazing new short film block made completely by youth on the Autism spectrum; a sneak peek at the TV series Untold Horror, which chronicles unmade genre films throughout the years; and Claymation Horror, an in-person appearance by the UK-based stop-motion animator Lee Hardcastle, who will take audiences on a journey through his incredible process. Read on for the newly-announced attractions, and visit fantasiafestival.com to browse the festival’s complete programming, consisting of over 150 features and more than 300 shorts.

Fantasia Announces 1st Guests and Titles for 20th Anniversary

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 20th Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 14-August 2, with its Frontiéres international co-production market and Industry Rendez-Vous weekend being held July 21-24. The full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced July 5th. In the meantime, the festival is excited to announce a selected first wave of titles, along with several special happenings.

The 2015 Fantasia International Film Festival Reveals Its Final Monstrous Form

The Fantasia International Film Festival is about to throttle the city of Montreal for its 19th edition from July 14 – August 4, 2015. Over the festival’s three-week run, 135 features will be unveiled, along with nearly 300 short films, an eclectic kaleidoscope of fantastic visions from 36 countries, many showing for the first time in this part of the world – and a good number screening for the first time anywhere!

We've got the North American Premiere of Keiichi Hara's MISS HOKUSAI lined up for our Opening Night film and closing the festival will be the Canadian Premiere of Shinji Higuchi's massively-anticipated live-action ATTACK ON TITAN (!!!). We've also got the World Premieres of Paz Brothers' JERUZALEM, bloody Indian horror LUDO, David Arquette-starring ORION, and the seasonably festive TALES OF HALLOWEEN and A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY. In total we've got 22 World Premieres in our program of 137 feature films. We'll also be hosting the first-ever international edition of director Larry Fessenden's buzzed-about live radio drama, Tales from Beyond the Pale, Canadian Premiere of COP CAR with actor Kevin Bacon and director Jon Watts in attendance, and new dynamic panels. Click HERE for the full lineup of films, events, ticket info and more!

The festival has already announced roughly 75% of its film lineup across two previous waves of press releases, and today, is pleased to reveal the rest of what’s in store – including more films, live events, our full celebrity guest list, and the full details on the 2015 Frontières Industry Rendez-Vous!

Let’s get started!

A Condensed Run Through of the Fantasia Film Festival

These days, there is no shortage of news to run for those who look. There are conventions every weekend, and even if you aren't near enough to attend, SOMEONE with a camera is and they'd love to share. What I'm saying is...my geek world is exploding with awesome and between work (the work I hope to be doing for the rest of my life), "real work" (the work I do to feed myself and keep my bills paid) and the little experiment called Idle Hands, there is seldom a second to spare. It's when time is not abundant that we utilize a tool every news writer embraces to give thanks and praise to films that deserve it, a scratch of the head at those that don't and wrap it all up in a neat, QUICK little package. IT'S MINI REVIEW TIME!!

We love indie movies here at Idle Hands, so we cover film fest whenever able, and so we present this nice stack of mini reviews in with hopes you'll discover some titles you'll want to track down when available. Let's get to it...

FANTASIA Announces It's First Wave of 2014 Programming

The 18th annual Fantasia International Film Festival is gearing up to take Montreal by storm with three weeks of inspiration and excitement starting July 17 until August 5, 2014. Our full 2014 lineup of programming and special events will be revealed shortly, but in the meantime, here’s an early First Wave Announcement of several selected highlights and info to whet your appetite.
 
UNVEILING OUR 2014 POSTER ART: FANTASIA PAYS TRIBUTE TO THREE LEGENDARY FIGURES OF THE FANTASTIC

Fantasia 2013: Mini Reviews Part 2: Go Down Death, Return to Nuke Em High, Missionary & More

Marching on with Emilie Noetzel's barrage of mini reviews from the amazing line up at Fantasia 2013!

Go Down Death

Based on the works of folklorist Jonathan Mallory Sinus, whose entire work is 6 pages long, this movie works to fill in the voids and does so very well.  It is an oddity in black and white with songs and great acting.  The least you know about this one going the better I believe.  It is weird, it is enjoyable and it is a must see if you can find it.

Fantasia 2013: Mini Reviews Part 1: Big Ass Spider, Helter Skelter, Big Bad Wolves, Saving General Yang & More

Amid the flurry of San Diego Comic-Con and just before the oncoming storm of Disney's D23 Expo, there was the film festival gem of the north we call Fantasia. How do we cover all these events? Well, if you are a regular reader, you know the answer is ...slowly. Guy's gotta make a buck in between all this geekiness!! The better answer (but not as funny) is, with a lot of help from some excellent people. Emilie Noetzel went straight from the floor at SDCC over to the streets of Canada to take in as many excellent films as she possibly could and give us the heads up on what we should be demanding get a wide release and what we should just slowly slide away from and pretend never happened...as is sometimes the case. Dive in!

Curse Of Chucky Wins Best International Feature at Fantasia Film Festival

CURSE OF CHUCKY made its North American debut at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Quebec, at a sold out screening for over 800 fans on Friday, July 31, 2013, and just won the festival’s Audience Award for Best International Feature today.

The screening was followed by a Q and A with Chucky creator/director Don Manicini, along with the film’s stars Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti and Chantal Quesnelle. The panel was moderated by Fangoria’s Tony Timpone. The evening also included an autograph signing where dozens of fans brought their Chucky dolls, posters and even a Chucky jacket to be signed.

Fantasia 2013: Raze Reviewed

A group of women wake up in small metal cells and are forced to beat each other down with their bare hands til death. TWO CHICKS ENTER…ONE CHICK LEAVE! As you might expect, these fights are live broadcast for the entertainment of rich assholes dining somewhere in the distance. To drive these ladies to murder, their hosts provide live feeds of their loved ones, under constant surveillance and gunpoint. Should a lady lose a fight, her family dies with her. The majority of the film takes place below ground (we assume) with these women in peril and a forced connection between some of them as they scream through the walls. The challenge for the film makers becomes creating new situations and dialogue on a very small stage and not have it become repetitive, boring…or in the case of the beat downs…excessive. Luckily, they’ve got a very likable cast.

Fantasia's 1st Wave of Films Announced

The Fantasia Film Festival is coming back, and coming soon. From July 18 – August 6, Montreal will be home to a showcase of over 100 feature films from around the world, along with a wealth of special events, conferences, and parties. Audiences can look forward to discovering numerous World and International premieres, as well as the Canadian debuts of some of the most acclaimed genre works from this year’s Cannes, Sundance, SXSW, Berlin, and Tribeca film festivals.

Our full lineup will be announced shortly. For now, we are pleased to reveal a small sampling of highlights to whet proverbial whistles.

Without further ado, let’s begin… with the end.

Noboru Iguchi's Dead Sushi to Premiere at Fantasia Film Fest

Walker Pictures and Nishimura Eizo have announced that DEAD SUSHI, the latest horror/comedy from acclaimed Japanese director Noboru Iguchi, will World Premiere at Montreal’s prestigious Fantasia International Film Festival on July 22nd, followed shortly thereafter by its Asian Premiere at the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival (PiFan).

Iguchi, best-known for his high-octane 2008 action/comedy The Machine Girl, has become an international sensation with jaw-dropping, boundary-pushing films such as RoboGeisha, Karate-Robo Zaborgar, and Zombie Ass: Toilet of the Dead.