Montreal, Quebec | July 18 – August 4, 2024
The Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 28th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning yet again at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal's Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée.
The festival's full lineup will be announced on July 3, but in the meantime, Fantasia has unveiled a select first wave of premiere titles, along with a first look at its 2024 poster art created by Montreal visual artist Donald Caron.
The highly anticipated Asian films in the line-up include the following:
Confession | Japan | Dir: Nobuhiro Yamashita
North American Premiere
Every winter since Sayuri's tragic disappearance sixteen years ago, Asai and Jiyong climb the mountain where it happened to honor her memory. However, an intense blizzard and a catastrophic injury convince Jiyong he's done for and, before forcing Asai to leave him to die, he shares a devastating revelation. Asai returns, however, after finding a nearby cabin and now, isolated for the night, the two have to deal with Jiyong's not-so-last words… the hard way.
This Man | Japan | Dir: Tomojiro Amano
International Premiere
An inexplicable wave of tragic deaths plunges two investigators into the heart of a fateful whirlwind, where logic and facts have no value as a far-fetched urban legend seems to come true. A mother plagued by terrifying dreams, seeing her friends and colleagues disappear one after the other, and her family witness the horror unfold.
A Samurai in Time | Japan | Dir: Junichi Yasuda
International Premiere
An Edo-period swordsman is flung into the future, arriving in modern Kyoto to confront utter confusion—and an acting career. The medieval warrior transported to modern times is a variant of the time-travel subgenre that has been explored many times around the world.
Mash Ville | South Korea | Dir: Hwang Wook
World Premiere
Someone has died after drinking the bootleg liquor brewed by Se-jong and his two younger brothers. While on a mission to retrieve their deadly booze before another person perishes from it, they come across two homicidal cultists who are terrorizing the villagers.
Penalty Loop | Japan | Dir: Shinji Araki
North American Premiere
Left bereft by the wanton and inexplicable murder of his girlfriend, Jun chooses his own justice, carefully planning the perfect murder of the man who led him to become what he wants to eliminate. Once the vengeance is consummated, he wakes up with a confirmed sense of déjà-vu and his target alive and well, repeating the same routine as the day before.
Dead Dead Full Dead | India | Dir: Pratul Gaikwad
World Premiere
Junior police officers Balraam and Zubeida make a cute couple, but not the most diligent detectives. Called to a posh apartment tower to investigate a reported murder, the seemingly straightforward case quickly becomes a conundrum that would confuse even Sherlock Holmes. When the victim herself returns from the afterlife, matters become even more muddled, and soon enough the question isn't who killed her… but who didn't?!
Fly Me to the Saitama: From Biwa Lake with Love | Japan | Dir: Hideki Takeuchi
North American Premiere
After stealing hearts at Fantasia 2019, where Fly Me to the Saitama won the Audience Award for Best Asian Feature, director Hideki Takeuchi returns to a fantastical version of Japan – “definitely not a portrayal of any actual place” – with a completely original story independent from the '80s manga from which it takes its name.
For all Fantasia 2024 info and updates, check out their website.
