The 2019 Fantasia International Film Festival has announced the award winners of its monumental 23rd edition. The victors were chosen through the deliberation of juries assigned to each competition, and were announced at a live ceremony.
CHEVAL NOIR AWARD – Feature Films
The jury, presided over by Annick Mahnert (producer and festival programmer, Fantastic Fest and Sitges Film Festival), and comprised of Shaked Berenson (producer, IFTA board member), Amy Darling (producer and festival organizer, Calgary Underground Film Festival), Miles Finberg (Director of acquisitions, Samuel Goldwyn Films), and Maurizio Guarini (composer), awarded the following prizes:
Best Film: IDOL (d. Lee Su-Jin)
Best Director: Carlo Mirabella-Davis (SWALLOW)
Best Screenplay: Carlo Mirabella-Davis (SWALLOW)
Best Actor (tie): Han Seok-kyu and Sul Kyung-gu (IDOL)
Best Actress: Nina Medeiros (FATHER’S SHADOW)
Special Mention: FATHER’S SHADOW (d. Gabriela Amaral Almeida)
NEW FLESH AWARD – Debut Films
The New Flesh Jury, presided over by Onur Tukel (director, screenwriter, actor, painter), and comprised of Jonathan Barkan (Editor-in-chief, Dread Central), Ariel Fisher (writer, editor, podcaster), Susan Curran (COO, A71 Entertainment), and Kyle Greenberg (Director of theatrical marketing and distribution, Gunpowder & Sky), awarded the following prizes:
Best First Feature: WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE! (d. Kirill Sokolov)
Special Mention: MAGGIE (d. Yi Ok-seop), ANOTHER CHILD (d. Kim Yoon-seok)
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The Short Film Jury, presided over by Frederic Temps (musician, critic, founder of L’Étrange festival and festival director of Les utopiales) and comprised of Kerensa Cadenas (writer and film editor at Entertainment Weekly), Chelsea Lupkin (director, cinematographer, producer, senior programmer, and writer at Short Of The Week) and Justin Timms (co-founder of Yellow Veil Pictures and co-festival director, Brooklyn Horror Film Festival and North Bend Film Festival) awarded the following prizes:
Best Short Film: THE BOOGEYWOMAN (d. Erica Scoggins)
Best Director: Nico Van den Brink (THE BURDEN)
Best Screenplay: Kit Zauhar (THE TERRESTRIALS)
Best Actor: Alexis Lefebvre (UNE BOMBE AU COEUR)
Best Actress: Stephane Caillard (LUCIENNE EATS A CAR)
Special Mention: IN SOUND, WE LIVE FOREVER (d. Joshua Giuliano)
AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
The Axis Jury, presided over by Diana Tapia Munguia (production assistant, Cinesite Studios; marketing and PR chair, Women in Animation Montreal) and comprised of Alaska B (drummer and leader, Yamantaka and Sonic Titan) and Julien Deragon (3D animator, RodeoFX) awarded the following prizes:
Best Animated Feature: RIDE YOUR WAVE (d. Masaaki Yuasa)
Special Mention (Feature): HUMAN LOST (d. Fuminori Kizaki)
Best Animated Short Film: THE FIRST CLASS (d. Kim Myung-eun)
Special Mention (Short): GIANT BEAR (d. Neil Christopher and Daniel Gies)
AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA
The AQCC-Camera Lucida Jury, comprised of Andrew Todd (writer, filmmaker, composer), Donato Totaro (editor-in-chief, Offscreen), and Elijah Baron (film critic from 24 Images and translator) awarded the AQCC-Camera Lucida Award to Johannes Nyholm’s KOKO-DI KOKO-DA, which they called, “an invented folklore of live action and shadow-play, which takes its characters on a nightmarish journey of emotional healing,” and offered a special mention to short film director NAO YOSHIGAI for “her child-like recreation of a corporal experience of the natural world.”
ACTION!
The ACTION! Jury, comprised of Jean-Philippe Bernier (cinematographer and composer), Andy Bélanger (comic artist and illustrator), and JF Lachapelle (stuntman and stunt coordinator), awarded the ACTION! Prize to Kan Eguchi’s THE FABLE, stating Junichi Okada and cast “create a wonderfully refreshing take on classic Japanese assassin films.” The jury also gave a special mention to Yuen Woo-Ping’s MASTER Z: IP MAN LEGACY.
VR
The VR Jury, presided over by Érik Canuel (director), RKSS – Yoann Whissell, Anouk Whissell, and François Simard (writers and directors), and Martin Girard (screenwriter) awarded the following prizes:
Best VR – Fiction: THE CARETAKER (d. Jacob Wasserman, Nicolas Pesce, and Adam Donald)
Best VR – Documentary: HEART OF THE SATHU (d. Leela Gilday)
Special Mention – Best Immersive Nightmare: THE REALM BELOW (d. Souichi Umezawa)
