The 17th edition of Montreal’s Fantasia International film festival wraps up tonight with the Canadian premiere of ‘The World’s End’ directed by Edgar Wright.
North America’s largest genre film festival just keeps growing. This year more than 60% of the films were sold-out. And programmers have a lot to choose from; 800 films from around the world were submitted, and 131 made the schedule.
When asked about the popularity, Marc Lamothe, co-general director of Fantasia says, “Cinema itself was born in genre, the history of the cinema and the history of genre films are so linked together.”
One of the big hits this year was a partnership with the Just for Laughs Festival that featured outdoor screenings of three short-films; Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Immigrant’, Buster Keaton’s ‘One Week’ and Leo McCarey’s Laurel and Hardy romp called ‘Liberty’. The silent movies were accompanied by pianist Gabriel Thibaudeau, a well-known specialist in live-accompaniment.
A home-grown success story is in the making, with the world premiere of the thriller ‘Discopath’. Filmmaker Renaud Gauthier sold his house to finance the film, but already he has invitations to several other film festivals and distribution deals are in the works.
Carmel Kilkenny spoke with Marc Lamothe to hear more about the success of this year’s event:
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