26TH EDITION OF FANTASIA ANNOUNCES FULL LIST OF AWARD WINNERS

MEGALOMANIAC takes top honours, nabs fest’s coveted Cheval Noir Award for Best Feature

25 July 2023 - Montreal, Canada - The 2023 Fantasia International Film Festival, now entering its third week, is immensely proud to announce the award winners for its monumental back-in-person 26th edition. Award winners were selected after jury deliberation and were announced at a live ceremony on July 24th, 2023.

Select statements from Fantasia juries are included alongside announcements, with all unedited jury declarations noted in full at the end of this release.

► CHEVAL NOIR COMPETITION – Feature Films

The jury, presided over by C. Robert Cargill (screenwriter, author, critic, co-founder of CROOKED HIGHWAY), and comprised of Charles Bramesco (author, critic), Elza Kephart (director, screenwriter), Maitland McDonagh (author, critic, publisher, founder of 120 Days of Books), and Heather O’Neill (author, essayist), awarded the following prizes:

Best Feature: MEGALOMANIAC (Belgium, d. Karim Ouelhaj)

In a statement, the jury called it, “the very sort of film that festivals exist to share,” describing it as “an astonishing, brutal piece of art that challenges the audience while simultaneously saying something deeply profound.”

Best Director: July Jung (NEXT SOHEE, South Korea)

Best Screenwriter: Kosuke Mukai, Yuki Tanada (MY BROKEN MARIKO, Japan, d.Yuki Tanada)

Best Score (The Sandro Forte Award): Alexandre Desplat (COUPEZ!, France, d. Michel Hazanavicius)

Best Cinematographer: Daniel Katz (HOUSE OF DARKNESS, USA, d. Neil LaBute)

Outstanding Performance: Zorion Eguileor (THE ELDERLY, Spain, d. Raúl Cerezo, Fernando González Gómez)

Outstanding Performance: Eline Schumacher (MEGALOMANIAC, Belgium, d. Karim Ouelhaj)

Special Mention: SPECIAL DELIVERY (South Korea, d. Park Dae-min)

In a statement, the jury said, “this film contains one jaw-dropping moment which unanimously had the jury go WOOOOOOAH!”

► NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE – Debut Films

The New Flesh Jury, presided over by Jenn Wexler (director, screenwriter, producer), and comprised of Justyna Koronkiewicz (international sales agent, Media Move), Eric Lavallée (producer, critic, founder of IONCINEMA), Tim Molloy (journalist, critic, editor of MovieMaker Magazine), and Katie Rife (writer, critic, programmer), awarded the following prizes:

Best First Feature: KAPPEI (Japan, d. Takashi Hirano)

The jury noted in a statement their desire to recognize “its playful embrace of smart-dumb comedy, [its] lovable ensemble of kooky characters, its eye-popping cartoon visuals, its ability to successfully marry and mock genres.”

Special Mention: THE FIFTH THORACIC VERTEBRA (South Korea, d. Syeyoung Park)

Special Mention: ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS (USA, d. Alex Phillips)

► INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

The Short Film Jury, presided over by Adam Koehler (manager, acquisitions & productions, IFC Films) and comprised of Valerie Barnhart (director, animator, screenwriter, visual artist), Celine Gobert (critic, journalist) and David Gregory (director, producer, co-founder / CEO of Severin Films) awarded the following prizes:

Best Short Film: FROM.BEYOND (Norway, d. Fredrik S. Hana)

The jury unanimously agreed on the pick and “were impressed with the creative risk coupled with disturbing imagery and engaging worldbuilding.”

Best Director: Arati Kadav (THE ASTRONAUT AND HIS PARROT, India)

Best Screenwriter: Marc Philip Ginolas (TILL, Germany, d. Marc Philip Ginolas)

Outstanding Performance: Erin Carroll (MARA, USA/Germany, d. Catharina Schürenberg)

Outstanding Performance: Marie-France Marcotte (LA GUÊPE, Quebec, d. Marc Beaupré)

Special Mention: BLACKBEAR (Canada, d. Bryce Hodgson)

Special Mention: DARKER (Belgium/Netherlands, d. Frank Van den Bogaart)

► AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION

The Axis Jury, presided over by Mina Lee (studio manager and content specialist, E.D. FOLM) and comprised of Stephen Melagrano (head of animation, Steamroller Animation) and Jay Stephens (Comic artist, animator) awarded the following prizes:

Best Animated Feature: INU-OH (Japan/China, d. Masaaki Yuasa)

In a statement, the jury stated they called the film, “infectious,” and noted that it makes you “feel like you are right at the edge of the stage,” with visuals that are “stunning, loud, and over the top.”

Special Mention: SUMMER GHOST (Japan, d. Loundraw)

Best Animated Short Film - Gold: AMEN A MAN (South Korea d. Kim Kyeongbae)

The jury noted, “the film successfully presented its criticism on a society’s paradoxical understanding of charity as well as on Korean Christianity.”

Best Animated Short Film - Silver: THINGS THAT DISAPPEAR (South Korea, d. Kim Changsoo)

Best Animated Short Film - Bronze: AURORA (Brazil d. Radhi Meron)

► AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA

The AQCC-Camera Lucida Jury, comprised of Samy Benammar (film critic, photographer, filmmaker), Pascal Grenier (film critic, programmer), and Jérôme Michaud (film critic, programmer) awarded the AQCC-Camera Lucida Award to Daigo Matsui for JUST REMEMBERING, they unanimously selected the title, which they praised for its “structure [...] brilliance” and ability to “give long term meaning to everyday objects.”

► POULAIN NOIR COMPETITION

The jury, consisting of Kim St-Pierre (director, screenwriter), Nicolas Léger (producer), Martin Dubreuil (actor, singer and musician) and Sophie Cadieux (actress), awarded the following prizes:

Poulain d’Or: COCORICA (France, d. Claire Auvin, Kesia Caprice-Lucien, Maxence Delaforge, Diane Feixas, Marine Hergault, Sarah Siadoux)

In a statement, the jury called it a “dynamic and colorful animation [that] has charmed young and old, while conveying an important message on equality between women and men.“

Poulain d’Argent: NOUNOURS (Canada/Québec, d. Lou Rigoudy)

Poulain de Bronze: MIST (NIEBLA) (Colombia, d. Leonardo Romero Zarza)

Special mention: YOU CAN FLY! (South Korea, d. Park Sungbae)

The jury wanted to highlight the “beauty of this work,” and its “final image that still inhabits us.”

About FANTASIA

Tickets for the 26th edition of The Fantasia International Film Festival will be sold at the Concordia University box office (1455 Maisonneuve Boulevard West) and on the Ticketpro network. Individual tickets purchased at the box office will be sold at the cost of $11 (taxes and fees included). Booklets of 10 and 20 tickets are available at the cost of $100 and $180 respectively (taxes and fees included).

This year, The Fantasia International Film Festival is taking place across four different venues:, the Hall cinema, the J.A. DeSeve Cinema and with select screenings at the Cinema du Musée, and Cinémathèque québécoise.

To view the festival’s full program, visit fantasiafestival.com

The festival will run until August 3rd, and the Audience Award will be announced at the end of the festival.

Full Fantasia 2022 Jury Statements

► CHEVAL NOIR COMPETITION – Feature Films

Best Film
MEGALOMANIAC (Belgium, d. Karim Ouelhaj)

“Megalomaniac is an astonishing, brutal piece of art that challenges the audience while simultaneously saying something deeply profound. It is a lush piece of cinema whose intent is to disturb and it succeeds at every turn. It is the very sort of film that festivals exist to share.”

Best Director
July Jung (NEXT SOHEE, South Korea)

“With a procedural's grim accumulation of detail, July Jung's direction portrays a cruel yet frighteningly efficient system that uses up and casts aside the teenage girls making it go. Her case study in the disastrous effects of capitalism gives life and specificity to one of its casualties, while making the title's sobering suggestion that she can be replaced with an identical laborer in a heartbeat.”

Best Screenwriter
Kosuke Mukai, Yuki Tanada (MY BROKEN MARIKO, Japan, d.Yuki Tanada)

“Kôsuke Mukai and Yuki Tanada's take on the popular manga by Waka Hirako doesn't go easy on the heartstrings, coaxing out all the pathos from the bond between an ordinary Japanese girl and the friend who has just taken her own life. Expertly skirting the maudlin, their writing nonetheless reveals the tenderness shared between two women knocked around by family and fate, their identification with one another both sweet and tragic — as if one can't be had without the other.”

Outstanding Performance
Zorion Eguileor (THE ELDERLY, Spain, d. Raúl Cerezo, Fernando González Gómez)

“Eguileor Zorion for his unsparing, visceral depiction of the brutal loss of dignity, agency, and sense of purpose inflicted by age and social institutions regarding the needs and desires of men stripped of their core identities. A truly unflinching performance.”

Outstanding Performance
Eline Schumacher (MEGALOMANIAC, Belgium, d. Karim Ouelhaj)

“In a brutal tour de force, Eline Schumacher, internalizes the violence of the men around her, and then vomits it back up, in a twisted fable of femininity and the role of women in patriarchal structures of abuse. Her performance is nuanced, with hints of compassion and beauty, that highlight the monstrosity of who she has become.”

Special Mention
SPECIAL DELIVERY (South Korea, d. Park Dae-min)

“Because this film contains one jaw-dropping moment which unanimously had the jury go WOOOOOOAH and several others that had us on the edge of our seats in awe of its brilliant craftsmanship, we’re happy to give the special jury prize for Best Stunts to Special Delivery.”

► NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE – Debut Films

New Flesh Award for Best First Feature
KAPPEI (Japan, d. Takashi Hirano)

"For its playful embrace of smart-dumb comedy, for its lovable ensemble of kooky characters, its eye-popping cartoon visuals, its ability to successfully marry and mock genres.”

Special Mention
THE FIFTH THORACIC VERTEBRA (South Korea, d. Syeyoung Park)

“In our next film to receive a special mention, a fungus teaches us what it means to be human. THE FIFTH THORACIC VERTEBRA is a different kind of monster movie, in which the most powerful set pieces are small moments of hard conversations about life, love and death.”

Special Mention
ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS (USA, d. Alex Phillips)

“The fearless team behind our first special mention played for the first time anywhere at FANTASIA. There were moments when I thought the theater might be raided and we might all be arrested. Instead, Fantasia being Fantasia, they earned rapturous applause. Congratulations to ALL JACKED UP AND FULL OF WORMS.”

► INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION

Best Short Film
FROM.BEYOND (Norway, d. Fredrik S. Hana)

“We were impressed with the creative risk coupled with disturbing imagery and engaging worldbuilding. Unanimously we agreed the best film is ‘From Beyond.’”

Best Director
Arati Kadav (THE ASTRONAUT AND HIS PARROT, India)

“We were impressed with the director that had limited resources and managed to create compelling characters that allowed us to develop a deep connection to a very human moment. Directing animals was a risk that paid off. This director made us feel something.”

Best Screenwriter
Marc Philip Ginolas (TILL, Germany, d. Marc Philip Ginolas)

“The sophisticated writing handles the complexity of grief and loss in a compelling and sensitive way.”

Outstanding Performance
Erin Carroll (MARA, USA/Germany, d. Catharina Schürenberg)

“We love the vulnerability in the performance and bravery it takes to give justice to a true story.”

Outstanding Performance
Marie-France Marcotte (LA GUÊPE, Quebec, d. Marc Beaupré)

“This actress created a level of tension and paranoia through her fascinating performance. We unanimously agree for Marie-France Marcotte.”

Special Mention
BLACKBEAR (Canada, d. Bryce Hodgson)

“Creative storytelling from a youthful perspective balanced the darker themes to create an impressive and astonishing film.”

Special Mention
DARKER (Belgium/Netherlands, d. Frank Van den Bogaart)

“Atmospheric cinematography and sound design combined to create absolute dread.”

► AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION

Best Animated Feature Film
INU-OH (Japan/China, d. Masaaki Yuasa)

“Inu-Oh has so much energy it’s infectious. Both of the film's protagonists, unapologetic outcasts intent on carving their own path are the epitome of rock and roll. The music is fantastic, the visuals are stunning, loud, and over the top. You feel like you are right there at the edge of the stage. It blurs the lines between being a movie with its own captivating story to tell and a big budget spectacle music video.”

Special Mention (Short Film)
SUMMER GHOST (Japan, d. Loundraw)

“Each story of three struggling teens and a ghost was told beautifully in a not too angsty way unlike any other teen movies. Wide-angle images charmingly present spacious backgrounds where our ‘ghosts’ break free.”

Best Animated Short Film - Gold
AMEN A MAN (South Korea, d. Kim Kyeongbae)

“The film successfully presented its criticism on a society’s paradoxical understanding of charity as well as on Korean Christianity. Strong colour palettes, clear lines and sharp transitions in animation perfectly get along with the movie’s powerful story.”

Best Animated Short Film - Silver
THINGS THAT DISAPPEAR (South Korea, d. Kim Changsoo)

“Things That Disappear is quiet and lovely. It can be sad but also a reminder of how we keep things around in stories and in memories. Things that disappear slowly take you through each moment, giving you the time to take it all in. You are right there with the protagonist as she cleans her recently passed cat, just as she did each time before. It’s a quiet film that lets you think and reflect. The story opens up around you, in a comforting way that lets you explore the canvas and take in all the details.”

Best Animated Short Film - Bronze
AURORA (Brazil, d. Radhi Meron)

“Story of Land and Humanity, this intimate and undetachable relationship was presented through a narrative in a friendly and light tone with humour. Various animation techniques, different scenes and texture of images by each historical moment are another charm of this film!”

► AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA

Camera Lucida Award
JUST REMEMBERING (Japan d. Daigo Matsui)

“For its reverse structure which is perfectly calibrated and most stimulating. For its brilliance to give meaning in the long term to everyday objects. For his accuracy in the selection of moments to make us feel the major stages of a love journey. For his strength to embark us in his universe and to touch us. The AQCC jury unanimously awards its prize to Just Remembering by Daigo Matsui.”

► POULAIN NOIR COMPETITION

Poulain d’Or
COCORICA (France, d. Claire Auvin, Kesia Caprice-Lucien, Maxence Delaforge, Diane Feixas, Marine Hergault, Sarah Siadoux)

The jury awards the Poulain d’Or to a film that by its humor, its catchy music and its dynamic and colorful animation has charmed young and old, while conveying an important message on equality between women and men, a most important subject, brought into this film in an original way. For all these reasons, the Jury is proud to announce Cocorica as the recipient of this award.

Poulain d’Argent
NOUNOURS (Canada/Québec, d. Lou Rigoudy)

“The Jury awards the Silver Poulain to a timeless film, whose scenario has touched the emotional attachment and that has resonated the family legacy in each of our families. The making of this short film stands out for its technique that lets us guess the process, a choice quite consistent with the evolutionary aspect of the subject. We were also impressed using transitions in multiple ellipses that reinvent and surprise each other. We are proud to present the award to a film produced at home, Nounours!”

Poulain de Bronze
MIST (NIEBLA) (Colombia, d. Leonardo Romero Zarza)

“For its beautifully realistic and subdued style, for the beauty of the images, for the atmosphere, as well as for its script, its editing, and its sound work, Niebla won the Bronze Poulain”

Special mention
YOU CAN FLY! (South Korea, d. Park Sungbae)

“We are also giving a special mention to a short film whose finesse of animation we appreciated in several small details such as the movement of the feathers and the eyes of the characters. But it is above all the power of the story of a parent who wants the best for his child, whether from blood or not, and of the final image that still inhabits us. For the beauty of this work, for the thrills, for the moment of cinema, the jury awards a special mention to You Can Fly!”

-- The festival will continue to screen new films until August 3rd. The Fantasia Audience Awards will be announced at the end of the fest.