Photo opportunity! From left, Fantasia Market & Industry Director Lindsay Peters, Fantasia Marketing Director Marc Lamothe, SODEC President Monique Simard, Fantasia Festival President Pierre Corbeil, Fantastique Week-End du Cinema Quebecoise Director Isabelle Gauvreau pose for a picture before the sold-out screening of Miss Hokusai, on the first day of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, on Tuesday July 14, 2015. Photo by Liz Ferguson
The first day of the Fantasia International Film Festival got off to a roaring start on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Every word from the stage in H-110 of the Hall Building was greeted with cheers, applause, whoops of joy, or some combination of all three.
People listened patiently when Marc Lamothe recited a long list of government and private-industry sponsors. Of course they did, because those sponsors allowed a small festival to become the big deal that it is today. Yay, for the sponsors!
All four films shown on Tuesday were sold out: Miss Hokusai, Ant-Man 3D, Therapy for a Vampire and Tangerine.
Miss Hokusai will be shown again at Fantasia on Saturday, July 25, at noon, in the Hall Theatre. Therapy For A Vampire will be shown again on Friday, July 17 at 12:45 p.m. at the J.A. De Sève Theatre. (Maybe nine-to-fivers could ask the boss for a long lunch hour? The film is only 87 minutes long.)
Ant-Man goes into general release in Montreal on Friday, July 17.
I saw Miss Hokusai and Ant-Man 3D, and while they are quite different, I found both quite entertaining.
The Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 14-Aug. 4, 2015. Most screenings take place in two theatres at Concordia University, near the Guy metro. Read more about the festival at fantasiafestival.com
Tickets to the Quebec film Turbo Kid were all snapped up minutes after the box office opened at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Munro Chambers, left, plays the Kid, and Laurence Leboeuf plays Apple.
When it comes to buying tickets for the Fantasia International Film Festival, sooner is much better than later. You might be lucky enough to buy a ticket a few minutes before a film starts, but don’t count on it. Fantasia veterans know this, which is why there is always a very long line outside Concordia University’s Hall Building the first day that tickets go on sale.
Reports on Facebook say that a few hardy souls arrived at 5 a.m. on Saturday, July 11, though the box office would not be opening until 1 p.m.
Tickets for the Japanese film Attack on Titan were in high demand as well. Haruma Miura, above, plays Eren.
Once ticket sales began, two films sold out within minutes, and by the end of the day, six films were sold out.
The two super popular selections were Attack On Titan (Tuesday, Aug. 4, 2015 at 21:30) a Japanese film based on a manga and an anime TV series, and Turbo Kid (Thursday, July 23, 2015 at 19:00), a Quebec film that’s been winning praise and prizes at film festivals in the U.S., U.K., Denmark, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It will be heading to South Korea and New Zealand soon. An extra screening of Turbo Kid has been added, at 23: 55 on Friday, July 31.
John DeFore of the Hollywood Reporter calls Turbo Kid: “An endearingly sincere romp through ’80s popcorn-flick tropes” and “a pitch-perfect pastiche that never mocks its inspirations.”
Jordan Crucchiola of Wired writes: “Nothing we saw at Sundance was as much fun as Turbo Kid and the enthusiasm of the filmmakers poured through every frame, infectious enough to turn a room full of indie film fans into kids again.” Ard Vijn of TwitchFilm says: “its creators and co-directors François Simard, Anouk Whissell and Yoann-Karl Whissell have infused the film with a mix of homage, parody and kick-assery that is very infectious. . .In every single part of filmmaking, Turbo Kid manages to rise above its expected level of quality.”
The other sold out films (in alphabetical order) are: Cooties (Friday, July 17, 22:00) a U.S. horror-comedy in which elementary school children turn into flesh-hungry little monsters. From the people who brought us Glee and the Saw movies. Very interesting combination, there!
Cop Car(Tuesday, July 28, 19:15) Two young boys steal a car belonging to an evil sheriff, who’s played by Kevin Bacon. Bacon will be here to present the films and answer questions.
Synchronicity(Wednesday, July 22, 19:15) a U.S. time travel film.
A scene from the Austrian film Therapy for a Vampire (Der Vampir auf der Couch) which will be shown twice at the Fantasia International Film Festival. Are those carpets gorgeous, or what?
Therapy For A Vampire (Tuesday, July 14, 19:00) an Austrian comedy which sees a vampire consult pioneering psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. (As I write this, there are still tickets available for a 12:45 p.m. screening on Friday, July 17, 2015.)
The Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 14-Aug. 4, 2015. Read more about the festival at fantasiafestival.com
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