The Fantasia International Film Festival will be roaring back into theatres to celebrate its 26th edition with a dynamic in-person program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 15 through August 3, 2022. Fantasia remains a leading showcase in North America for the wildest, weirdest, and most worthwhile releases in Japanese anime and live-action manga adaptations, and the festival is proud to announce the first of its 2022 selections. All animated films are nominated for Fantasia's prestigious Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation.
A dark and monstrous creature becomes the guardian of an innocent human child in the affecting gothic anime fairy tale THE GIRL FROM THE OTHER SIDE, co-directed by rising talents Yutaro Kubo and Satomi Maiya. The pair world-premiered their short film adaptation of Nagabe's cult manga at Fantasia 2019, and with this feature film, they bring the elegant, enigmatic tale of Shiva and Teacher to the screen once again. Canadian Premiere
Bristling with energy and inspiration, INU-OH, the new feature film from anime radical Masaaki Yuasa (MIND GAME, DEVILMAN CRYBABY) is an absolute tour-de-force. Ancient Japanese history is reimagined as a riotous rock opera, rendered all the more feverish and fantastical by Yuasa's storytelling panache and astonishing inventiveness, not to mention Taiyo Matsumoto's amazing character designs. Quebec Premiere
The dynamic duo of the great Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER) and the brilliant screenwriter Kankuro Kudo (TOO YOUNG TO DIE!) elevate the adventures of the ostentatious mole Reiji to unprecedented levels when the Machiavellian yakuza clan he infiltrated try to import pasta made entirely of methamphetamines: speed-a-ronis. THE MOLE SONG: FINAL masterfully recreates the extravagant universe of Noboru Takahashi's manga, with endangered kawaii puppets, dirty jokes, larger-than-life characters and an unforgettable finale. North American Premiere
Nostradamus predicted that the world would end in 1999, but he royally screwed up. In 2022, Kappei and his fellow doomsday warriors, isolated and trained since their childhood, must learn to live a “normal” life with intense psychosocial baggage. In his feature directorial debut KAPPEI, Takashi Hirano (producer of KAMIKAZE GIRLS), creates a wonderfully whimsical coming of age action-comedy with the help of screenwriter extraordinare Yuichi Tokunaga (FLY ME TO THE SAITAMA) and a devilishly funny performance from actor Hideaki Ito (LESSON OF THE EVIL, TOKYO VICE). North American Premiere
The anime industry of Japan is enormous, with 200 new TV shows and two trillion yen in revenue each year. Soft-spoken yet strong-willed anime director Hitomi Saito (Riho Yoshioka) has climbed the ranks, and is now set to direct a series of her own. Meanwhile, the difficult but undeniably brilliant director Chiharu Oji (Tomoya Nakamura) is gunning for his big comeback…and there can be only one number-one! ANIME SUPREMACY! is a heartfelt, hilarious and thoroughly researched live-action comedy-drama about making it to the top without compromising one's vision, from director and CG animator Kohei Yoshino. North American Premiere
A second wave of Fantasia 2022 titles will be announced in early June with the full lineup to be revealed in late June, ticket sales commencing shortly afterwards. For more information, visit the website.
