The 27th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival is currently in its third week. The genre cinema fest is well-known for its celebration of alternative film culture. As with previous years, jury panels consisting of directors, actors, composers, screenwriters, and more deliberated to present awards to filmmakers and other creatives in various categories. Those Jury Award winners were announced in a live ceremony on July 29.
Among those awards is the Best Feature Award in the Cheval Noir Competition. This year, Les Chambres Rouges received the top honor. In a statement, the jury said they were unanimously convinced that this film accomplished the goal to “implant a significant and last emotional memory.” The statement continues, “With incredible skill and artistry, without resorting to gore or violence, this film delivers not only an extremely disturbing and frightening experience but introduces you to characters and situations you may never forget.”
Even though awards have been given, the festival is far from over. New films will be screening through August 9, after which the audience awards will be presented. You can view the festival’s complete program at fantasiafestival.com.
Here is the full list of winners of the Jury Awards:
CHEVAL NOIR COMPETITION: FEATURE FILMS
Jury Members: David Hewlett (actor, director, screenwriter), Brenda Lieberman (producer, Calgary Underground festival director), Jourdain Searles (writer, critic, programmer, comedian), Virginie Sélavy (writer, film scholar), and Gary Sherman (director, screenwriter, producer)
Best Feature
Les Chambres Rouges (Red Rooms) (Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Director
Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping (Femme, United Kingdom)
Best Screenplay
Pascal Plante (Les Chambres Rouges, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Score (The Sandro Forte Award)
Dominique Plante (Les Chambres Rouges, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Cinematography
Zelda Adams & John Adams (Where the Devil Roams, United States, d. Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser)
Outstanding Performance
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (Femme, United Kingdom, d. Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping)
Outstanding Performance Award
Juliette Gariépy (Les Chambres Rouges, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Special Mention
Vincent Diot Mourir (France, d. Stéphan Castang)
NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE: DEBUT FILMS
Jury Members: Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead (directors, screenwriters, actors, co-founders of Rustic Films), Sarah Bolger (actor), David Lawson Jr. (producer, co-founder of Rustic Films) Sara Neidorf (musician, director and co-found of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival), and Angie Power (publicist)
Best First Feature
Stay Online (Ukraine, d. Yeva Strelnikova)
Special Mention:
Tiger Stripes (Malaysia,Taiwan, France, Germany, d. Amanda Nell Eu)
Special Mention
The Abandoned (Taiwan, d. Tseng Ying-Ting)
INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Jury Members: Laura Moss (director, screenwriter), Maya Korn (producer), Justine T. McLellan (writer, professor, podcast producer), Nick Romano (creative executive), and Jerome Sable (director, screenwriter, composer)
Best Short Film
Bold Eagle (Philippines, dir. Whammy Alcazaren)
Best Director
Jacob Chase (Mr. Blur, USA)
Best Screenplay
David Winstone (The Norbelto Method, UK, dir. David Winstone)
Outstanding Performance
Silvana Mihai (The Taster, Germany, dir. Sophia Bierend)
Outstanding Performance
Lim Hyojin (Shoulder, South Korea, dir. Kim Jaehyung)
Best Score
Matthias Dewilde (Poppy’s Saturn, Belgium, dir. Nicole Tegelaar)
Best Cinematography
Julien Ramirez Hernan (Translyvanie, France, dir. Rodrigue Huart)
Special Mention
SWEET JUICES (Australia, dir. Im Sejon, Will Suen)
AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
Jury Members: Nadim Zaidi (digital matte painter), Arizona O’Neill (illustrator, filmmaker), and Aki Takabatake (founder and CEO of Momo Films inc.)
Best Feature Film
The First Slam Dunk (Japan, d. Takehiko Inoue)
Special Jury Mention
Sand Land (Japan, d. Toshihisa Yokoshima)
Best Short Film – Gold
A Kind of Testament (France, d. Stephen Vuillemin)
Best Short Film – Silver
Architect A (South Korea, d. Lee Jonghoon)
Best Short Film – Bronze
Record. Play. Stop (India, d. Neeraj Bhattacharjee)
AQCC-CAMERA LUDICA
Jury Members: Marc-Antoine Lévesque (Co-founder of the Laboratoire de contenus La Marquise, director of programming for Association Cinémaniak), Mathieu Li-Goyette (critic/editor-in-chief of Panorama-cinéma), and Guillaume Potvin (Critic/programmer)
AQCC Winner
Irlande Cahier Blue (Québec, dir. Olivier Godin)
Special Jury Mention
Home Invasion (United Kingdom, dir. Graeme Arnfield)
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