The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 22nd Anniversary in Montreal this summer, taking place from July 12 – August 1, with its Frontières International Co-Production Market being held July 19 – 22. The full lineup of over 130 feature films will be announced on June 28. In the meantime, the festival is excited to reveal a selected Second Wave of titles and events.
The one that excites me the most is the horror-anthology sequel TALES FROM THE HOOD 2, which will be opening this year's festival! On top of that, thus far we've heard of some other awesome genre titles hitting this year's fest, so you can check out rundowns and pics of the highlighted movies we're looking forward to the most below.
Fantasia is proud to present the highly-anticipated world premiere of Universal 1440 Entertainment’s TALES FROM THE HOOD 2. The sequel to the groundbreaking original film TALES FROM THE HOOD reunites Executive Producer Spike Lee and writers/directors/producers Rusty Cundieff and Darin Scott for an all-new gripping, horrifying, and oftentimes devilishly comical anthology. This next installment will keep viewers on the edge of their seats, as they course through several stories that explore socially relevant topics from the past and present.
Blumhouse's HURT:
The world first discovered Sonny Mallhi’s poignant style of character-driven horror storytelling with 2015’s ANGUISH (a Fantasia World Premiere). Earlier this year, his second feature, the vampiric drug addiction chiller FAMILY BLOOD debuted on Netlfix. And now, Sonny Mallhi has teamed with Blumhouse for his third feature, HURT, in which the collective psychosis of American culture is an inescapable horror film and a waking nightmare. Its story honors masked mascots of fear such as Jason, Freddy, and Michael…. but explores those who helplessly wear a mask of normalcy while desperately fighting the traumatic monsters within.
Fantasia is proud to be showcasing the Canadian Premiere of Aneesh Chaganty’s Sundance smash SEARCHING, produced by Timur Bekmambetov (working with Sev Ohanian, Natalie Qasabian, and Adam Sidman) in his innovative “screenlife” storytelling approach that brilliantly captures the way we engage online. After David Kim (John Cho)'s sixteen-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.
THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN BIGFOOT:
Sam Elliott stars as a legendary World War II veteran who many years ago assassinated Adolf Hitler – an incredible secret that he’s frustratingly unable to share with the world. One day, just as he’s coming to terms with rounding out his life, Calvin gets a visit from the FBI and RCMP. They need him to take out Bigfoot. A wondrous feature debut from writer/director Robert D. Krzykowski, featuring visual effects by celebrated two-time Academy Award Winner Douglas Trumbull (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, BLADE RUNNER), who also co-produced alongside the great John Sayles and Lucky McKee. A fantastical discourse on the melancholia of old age and a singular blast of entertaining wit, THE MAN WHO KILLED HITLER AND THEN THE BIGFOOT (World Premiere) also stars Aidan Turner, Caitlin FitzGerald, and Ron Livingston.
Fantasia’s full 2018 lineup will be announced on June 28, with ticket sales commencing shortly afterward. A newly-redesigned website will be launching simultaneously. Stay tuned for dozens of additional films, events, and guests! The 22nd Edition of The Fantasia International Film Festival takes place in Montreal July 12 – August 1, 2018, once again returning to the mammoth Concordia Hall Cinema as its main base, with additional screens at the Cinémathèque québécoise and the McCord Museum. For a full list of the second wave films at this year's Fantasia Internation Film Festival and more info, visit www.fantasiafestival.com