After 23 days of screenings, the 19th Fantasia International Film Festival closed with the World Premiere of ATTACK ON TITAN from Shinji Higuchi, and announced the names of the winners of its awards. The prizes were awarded by the juries of each category. TAG by Sion Sono (pictured above) took home the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film, along with Award for Best Actress for Reina Triendl, and a Special Mention for its “creative, surprising, and monumental opening kill sequence.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSmNYUj7oFo
Two buses filled with jubilant schoolgirls are rolling down a country road, and Mitsuko is the only one who is sitting calmly, writing poetry. When she bends down to pick up a pencil dropped by her friend, something unthinkable happens: both vehicles are cut in half by an invisible entity, lengthwise. Standing amidst dozens of severed bodies, the young girl is suddenly being chased by a homicidal wind whose clutches she barely escapes. When she finally makes it back to school after a hot pursuit, she finds herself surrounded by her fellow classmates who are acting as nothing ever happened. Was she dreaming? Hallucinating? Is Mitsuko trapped in a parallel dimension? What’s certain is that she’s at the mercy of Sion Sono’s twisted imagination! via Fantasia Film Festival
The 20th anniversary edition of The Fantasia International Film Festival will take place in Montreal from July 14 to August 2, 2016.
CHEVAL NOIR AWARD – FEATURE FILMS
The jury, presided over by Andrew Frank (VP of Sales and Acquisitions, Mongrel Media) and composed of Roxanne Benjamin (filmmaker), François Létourneau (writer and actor), Ian Rattray (co-founder, Film4 FrightFest), and Ryan Turek (director of development, Blumhouse Productions), awarded the following prizes:
Cheval Noir Award for Best Film: TAG by Sion Sono
Award for Best Director: Malik Bader for CASH ONLY
Award for Best Screenplay: Tomoe Kanno for LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM
Award for Best Actor (unanimous): Subaru Shibutani for LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM
Award for Best Actress (unanimous): Reina Triendl for TAG
Special Mention for Sion Sono’s TAG for its creative, surprising, and monumental opening kill sequence.
NEW FLESH AWARD – FIRST FEATURES
The jury, presided over by Patrick Ewald (CEO, Epic Pictures) and composed of Dave Alexander (Editor-in-Chief, Rue Morgue Magazine), Jimmy Beaulieu (comic artist), and Emico Kawai (Producer and International Sales, Nikkatsu Corporation), awarded the following prizes:
New Flesh Award for Best First Feature Film: CRUMBS by Miguel Llanso
Special Mention awarded to THE BLUE HOUR by Anucha Boonyawatana for the artist’s courage and vision
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION PRIZE
The jury, presided over by John McNaughton (filmmaker) and composed of Matthew Hays (journalist) and Francesco Simeoni (Film preservationist, director of Arrow Video), awarded the following prizes:
Award for Best International Short Film: MAURICE by François Jaros
Special Mention awarded to LA SÉANCE by Edouard de La Poëze for its atmosphere, décor, and wardrobe
SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
The jury, presided over by Benoit Godbout (filmmaker and artistic director) and composed of Marie-Josée Saint-Pierre (filmmaker) and Johanne Ste-Marie (filmmaker), awarded the following prizes:
Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Feature Film: MISS HOKUSAI by Keiichi Hara
Special Mention awarded to POSSESSED by Sam for its playful homage to horror cinema
Satoshi Kon Award for Best Animated Short Film: MISSING ONE PLAYER by Lei Lei
Special Mention awarded to GHOST CELL by Antoine Delacharlery for its technical and visual excellence
Satoshi Kon Award for Best Family Short Film: UNE HISTOIRE D’OURS by Gabriel Osorio
Special Mention awarded to LA MOUFLE by Clémentine Robach for the charm and beauty of its animation and story
BARRY CONVEX AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN FEATURE FILM
The Winner of Spectacular Optical’s 2015 Barry Convex Award for Best Canadian Feature or Co-Production is Larry Kent’s SHE WHO MUST BURN. Whether with words or imagery, Larry’s films have always been ferocious and critically engaged with the culture he creates them in. The award is accompanied by a $1000 prize, thanks to The Paul A. Ray Memorial Fund.
PRIX AQCC 2015
The jury, composed of Céline Gobert, André Lavoie, and Jean-Marie Lanlo, awarded the Prix AQCC to BRIDGEND by Jeppe Ronde.
PRIX SÉQUENCES
The jury, composed of Pascal Grenier, Maxime Labrecque, and Mathieu Séguin-Tétreault, awarded the Prix Séquences to MISS HOKUSAI by Keiichi Hara, with a Special Mention for THE BLUE HOURby Anucha Boonyawatana.
PRIX L’ÉCRAN FANTASTIQUE
The Prix L’Écran fantastique, judged by Yves Rivard, was awarded to SYNCHRONICITY by Jacob Gentry.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Best Asian Feature:
Gold Prize – LOVE & PEACE by Sion Sono
Silver Prize – Poison Berry in My Brain / A Hard Day (TIE)
Bronze Prize – Robbery
Best European, North American, or South American Feature:
Gold Prize – THERAPY FOR A VAMPIRE by David Ruhm
Silver Prize – Marshland
Bronze Prize – Børning / Turbo Kid / Shamer’s Daughter (THREE-WAY TIE)
Best Canadian or Quebec Feature:
Gold Prize – TURBO KID by Anouk Whissell, François Simard, and Yoann-Karl Whissell
Silver Prize – Bite / Demolisher (TIE)
Bronze Prize – Limoilou
Best Animated Feature:
Gold Prize – MISS HOKUSAI by Keiichi Hara
Silver Prize – Possessed
Bronze Prize – The Case of Hanna and Alice
Best Documentary:
I AM THOR by Ryan Wise
Guru Prize for Best Action Feature:
BIG MATCH by Choi Ho
AddikTV Prize for Best Thriller or Suspense Film:
MARSHLAND by Alberto Rodriguez
Most Innovative Short or Feature:
THEY LOOK LIKE PEOPLE by Perry Blackshear
Best Short Film:
Gold Prize – GOLD FISH by Michael Konyves
Silver Prize – Fools Day
Bronze Prize – Iris
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The 2015 New York Asian Film Festival (NYAFF), is back for its 14th edition and will run from June 26 to July 11. The festival takes place from June 26 to July 8 at the Film Society and July 9 to 11 at SVA Theatre . Initial details include notable awards to be presented to director Ringo Lam, superstar Aaron Kwok, and actor Shota Sometani. The festival will also host a slew of North American film premieres, as well as spotlight the works of Korean female directors and honor the memory of Japanese legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara with a joint tribute.
Hong Kong’s legendary director Ringo Lam (City on Fire) will receive the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award. One of Hong Kong’s most influential directors, Lam was directing comedies when City on Fire was released in 1987, fusing the social-protest movie with kinetic action filmmaking. It was followed by the massive hit Prison on Fire later that year, and thenSchool on Fire, a movie so unblinking that nervous Hong Kong censors sliced it to ribbons. Lam became one of the city’s best action filmmakers, and one of the few local directors to be so deeply concerned with the price of progress, the corrosive influence of money on human relationships, and the lives of the little people crushed beneath the wheels of change. In 2003, he directed what was to be his final feature and went into semi-retirement, only to be lured out again in 2015 with Wild City, in which Lam’s tooth-and-claw vision of modern urban living remains untamed.
Hong Kong’s superstar actor-singer Aaron Kwok (Divergence, After This Our Exile, Cold War) will receive the festival’s 2015 Star Asia Award onJune 26. One of Hong Kong’s Four Heavenly Kings of Cantopop, Kwok has won dozens of awards for his chart-topping albums. For over 30 years, he has performed steadily both on television and in movies and is respected for his box-office star power as well as his outstanding acting chops. Kwok has worked with some of Hong Kong’s finest directors, like Johnnie To, Jacob Cheung, Andrew Lau, and Patrick Tam. His self-described Method acting was rewarded in 2005 and 2006 when he won back-to-back Golden Horse awards for Best Actor, a feat previously achieved only by Jackie Chan. Kwok was awarded his first Best Actor prize was for his performance in 2005’s Divergence, but it was his work in the 2006 After This Our Exile, for which he won his second award, that blew audiences away. In that film, Kwok’s fearless portrayal of a gambling addict exhibited a serious commitment to his craft as well as a complete lack of vanity. He then went on to give a series of startling performances in films like Yim Ho’s Floating City, the blockbuster Cold War, as well as his upcoming tour de force, Port of Call.
Japanese actor Shota Sometani will attend the festival on July 4, on the occasion of the New York premiere of Kabukicho Love Hotel, to receive the Screen International Rising Star Award. Director Ryuichi Hiroki will also be in attendance. This marks the second year of a partnership with Screen International, with whom the NYAFF will honor an emerging talent in the East Asian film world each year. At age 22, Sometani is already a leading man in both blockbusters and indie gems and has earned critical acclaim on the international film festival circuit. In 2011, he received the Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor at the Venice Film Festival for his performance in Himizu, along with his co-star Fumi Nikaido (last year’s recipient of the Screen International Rising Star Award).
Notable NYAFF titles this year will include the North American premieres of Nobuhiro Yamashita’s La La La at Rock Bottom (pictured above) and Yim Soon-rye’s The Whistleblower and the international premiere of Namewee’s Banglasia, which was banned in Malaysia, its home country.
The festival will also feature a section on Korea’s production company Myung Films, highlighting a few of their major works — Cart, The President’s Last Bang, The Isle, and Waikiki Brothers — as part of a greater focus on women who work behind the camera. Producer Shim Jae-myung and directors Yim Soon-rye (The Whistleblower) and Boo Ji-young (Cart) will be in attendance.
Japanese film legends Ken Takakura and Bunta Sugawara, both of whom passed away last November, will be the subject of the first joint tribute outside of Japan, which will feature the brand-new digital remaster of the 1973 classic Battles Without Honor and Humanity—screened for the time in North America—among others.