1996–2005 Fant-Asia 1996 was launched by "three Hong Kong new wave fanboys" Martin Sauvageau, André Dubois and Pierre Corbeil, who felt a growing local interest in Asian films and the desire to watch them on the big screen. The 1996 edition of the festival lasted for a whole month and featured six months worth of entirely Asian fantasy and action movies with a significant prevalence of
Chow Yun-fat and
Jet Li retrospectives. FantAsia 1997 was held from July 11 to August 10. The lineup included
Perfect Blue,
Drunken Master II,
Stagefright,
El Dia de la Bestia,
Henry,
Tromeo and Juliet,
Cutting Moments and others.
A Gun for Jennifer won the main prize and was met by a standing ovation of the audience. In 1998, Fantasia's
Toronto edition premiered at the
Bloor Cinema. That year,
Tony Timpone joined the management team. 2002 became the missed year for Fantasia due to problems with the main venue, Imperial Cinema. Only four months before the event, the theater announced cancellation because of the broken air conditioning system. Indeed, the theater was not repaired until 2004. Alternate bookings were not available. The lack of assurance for the 2003 festival meant a change in venue and so, Fantasia 2003 moved
Concordia University. Fantasia 2003 was held for the first time on the
Concordia University campus,
2007 This edition was held from July 5 to July 23 at the
Concordia University. In addition to the Hall hall and DeSeve hall, a third screening room has been added at the
D.B. Clarke Theatre. There were, however, no outdoor shows this year. Montreal film
Flutter received the award for best Quebec short feature.
Memories of Matsuko was selected as the best Asian feature film, in European program won the
Hatchet. In animation the main prize went to
We Are the Strange. A total of more than 81,000 tickets were sold for Fantasia 2007. Mitch Davis signed a first-look production deal with
Paramount's Blumhouse Prods. to scout for new projects and foreign movies for potential remakes.
2008 In 2008, Fantasia was held from July 3 to July 21. It featured the world premieres of
Pig Hunt,
Home Movie,
Repo! The Genetic Opera,
Midnight Meat Train, Eric Shapiro's
Rule of Three,
Truffles (Truffe),
Treevenge,
The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow,
Electric Fence,
Paradox Mary,
Laura Panic, and ''Don't Worry
. Gordon Liu attended the screening of Disciples of the 36th Chamber as a guest star. Among the films screened at Fantasia 2009 were Thirst, Love Exposure, Dream, Embodiment of Evil, Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, Smash Cut, Trick 'r Treat, Neighbor, Must Love Death
, Cencoroll, Dread''.
2010s 2010 The films for Fantasia 2010 were announced on Tuesday, June 29, 2010. Tickets went on sale on July 6, 2010 at 1 pm. The Festival started on July 8, 2010 running until July 28, 2010 with 6 indoor screening venues and one outdoor location. For 2010, a permanent blog was introduced to communicate with fans year-round. Opening film:
The Sorcerer's Apprentice, presented by
Jay Baruchel. Among Canadian premieres were
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,
The Last Exorcism,
The Violent Kind,
Van Von Hunter,
Black Lightning. World premieres included
I Spit on Your Grave,
The Shrine, etc. The lineup included
A Serbian Film,
Air Doll,
Best Worst Movie,
The House of the Devil,
Smash Cut, and many more. The special screening of
Combat Shock was attended by
Buddy Giovinazzo. Pater Sparrow's
1 received the Cheval Noir as best feature film of the year.
2011 Fantasia 2011 held 19 world premieres and a lineup of 134 movies from 25 countries. The festival opened with the Canadian Premiere of
Red State, other premieres included
Final Destination 5. Also notable was the world premiere of the Swedish
horror film Marianne. Yoshimasa Ishibashi was awarded with the Best Director prize (for
Milocrorze: A love story). Best Screenplay award was given to
Park Hoon-jung (for
The Unjust).
I Love You short from
The Theatre Bizarre was specially noted by the jury. Best Animation prize went to
Surviving Life. The festival also featured the presentation to
John Landis of a lifetime Achievement award, while Landis presented his new film
Burke and Hare.
2012 '' at Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal July 24, 2012 In 2012, Fantasia was held from 19 July to 7 August. Fantasia 2012 featured the screenings of the films
Toad Road,
Doomsday Book (won the main prize), the horror anthology film
V/H/S,
Hidden in the Woods (original version),
Seediq Bale, and
Quentin Dupieux's
Wrong.
2013 In 2013, Fantasia was held from 18 July to 7 August, its program included 120 films. Among premieres were
Antosocial and
Curse of Chucky. The lineup featured ''
Return to Nuke 'Em High Volume 1, Raze, Bad Milo!, Willow Creek (film), After School Midnighters, I'll Give It My All... Tomorrow, The Complex, Gatchaman, The World's End'', and many more.
Big Bad Wolves took the main prize as the best feature film,
Hou Chi-jan became the best director for his movie
When a Wolf Falls in Love with a Sheep.
Andrzej Żuławski received the achievement award, while at the
New Flesh section
Evan Louis Katz won with his debut
Cheap Thrills. ''
Jacky in Women's Kingdom became the opening film. Premieres included Unfriended by Levan Gabriadze, The Midnight Swim by Sarah Adina Smith, The Creeping Garden''. At the
New Flesh section won Hugh Sullivan's
The Infinite Man.
Mamoru Oshii and
Tobe Hooper were honoured with the Achievements award. ''
Giovanni's Island'' by Mizuho Nishikubo won the main prize for best animation.
2015 Fantasia-2015 had 22 world premieres, including
Momentum. For the first time the festival introduced the VR-section. This year program featured
Anguish,
Wild City,
Goodnight Mommy, and many more.
2016 For the first time in its history, Fantasia's audience exceeded 100,000. That year the festival had 209 screenings and 19 world premieres, including
King Dave by
Daniel Grou,
Goran by
Nevio Marasović,
Realive by
Mateo Gil,
Some Freaks, etc.
Yeon Sang-ho's
Train to Busan won as the best feature film,
Kiyoshi Kurosawa became the best director (for
Creepy). Award for the best screenplay went to
E J-yong for
The Bacchus Lady.
Guillermo del Toro was honoured with Achievement award. Agnieszka Smoczyńska received the special mention of the jury for
The Lure.
2017 Fantasia-2017 went from July 13 to August 2 with a lineup of more than 150 feature films and 300 shorts, from
Luc Besson's $200 mln
Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets to
Nabwana I.G.G.'s $65
Bad Black.
The Villainess opened the fest and the
A Taxi Driver closed.
Atomic Blonde,
Agnieszka Holland's
Spoor and
You Only Live Once premiered.
Robert Pattinson presented
Good Time.
Violetta Schurawlow won the Best Actress for her role in
Cold Hell,
Nattawut Poonpiriya became the Best Director for his
Bad Genius. The festival was opened by Santiago Menghini's short
Milk and
Daniel Roby's
Just a Breath Away. The list of premieres included
The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot,
Mandy,
Kenji Tanigaki Big Brother,
LaPlace's Witch,
Black Tide.
Joe Dante was honoured with the Achievement award.
Just a Breath Away won the main prize, however, some criticized that decision and mentioned that many other movies that year were better made, while in
Just a Breath Away the leading cast lacked genuine emotions and delivered poorly.
Nosipho Dumisa was awarded the Best Director prize for his
Number 37.
Cam won in the
New Flesh section, its creator
Isa Mazzei also was awarded with
Cheval Noir Best Screenplay.
Kim Da-mi became the Best Actress for her role in
The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion.
Microhabitat won in
Camera Lucida section.
2019 Fantasia 2019 lasted from July 11 to August 1. That year's poster was created by Donald Caron and depicted new favourites of the audience – a luchador pug and enormous flying cat. The lineup of more than 100 feature films and numerous shorts included
Ready or Not,
Sadako,
The Lodge,
Vivarium,
Killerman,
Master Z: Ip Man Legacy,
Satanic Panic, and many more. The festival held a 25th anniversary screening of
The Crow.
Cheval Noir Best Feature went to
Idol,
Best Director and
Best Screenplay went to Carlo Mirabella-Davis for
Swallow. In
New Flesh section won Kirill Sokolov's ''
Why Don't You Just Die!. Edward R. Pressman received the Achievement Award''.
2020s 2020 In 2020, due to
COVID-19 restrictions, the festival went online and was moved to late summer, starting on 20 August and ending on 2 September. The screenings at Festival Scope and Shift72 were accessible from Canadian IP addresses. Among more than 100 feature films, selected for the festival, were
Neil Marshall's
The Reckoning, Shinichiro Ueda's
Special Actors,
Nobuhiko Obayashi's
Labyrinth of Cinema,
Brea Grant's
12 Hour Shift, ''
Shakespeare's Shitstorm, A Costume for Nicholas'', and many more.
Best Asian Feature went to
Special Actors by Shinichiro Ueda,
Best European/North-South American Feature – to
The Mortuary Collection.
Come True was honoured as the Most Groundbreaking film of the festival. Closing film:
The Great Yokai War: Guardians.
2021 The 25th anniversary edition featured 25 feature film world premieres, 12 international and 34 North American premieres. Opening film:
Brain Freeze.
2022 The 26th edition of the festival was held from 14 July to 3 August 2022. In the festival over 130 features and 200 shorts were screened. The highlight of the festival was honouring
John Woo, the Hong Kong-based filmmaker, with the Career Achievement Award. • Opening film:
Polaris by K C Carthew • Closing film:
Next Sohee ;Awardees •
Cheval Noir Competition-Best Film Award:
Megalomaniac by Karim Ouelhaj •
Cheval Noir Competition-Best Director Award:
Jung Ju-ri for
Next Sohee •
Audience Award, International Feature:
The Artifice Girl, Franklin Ritch (gold);
La Pieta, Eduardo Casanova (silver);
Deadstream, Joseph and Vanessa Winter (bronze). •
Audience Award, Canadian Feature:
The Fight Machine, Andrew Thomas Hunt (gold);
Cult Hero,
Jesse Thomas Cook (silver); ''
Relax, I'm from the Future'', Luke Higginson (bronze). Juried award winners were announced on July 30, and Audience Award winners were announced on August 14. ;Cheval Noir •
Best Film Award:
Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) —
Pascal Plante •
Special Mention:
Vincent Must Die (Vincent doit mourir) — Stéphan Castaing •
Best Director Award: Sam H. Freeman and Ng Choon Ping,
Femme •
Best Screenplay:
Pascal Plante,
Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) •
Best Score:
Dominique Plante,
Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) •
Best Cinematography: Zelda Adams and John Adams,
Where the Devil Roams •
Best Performance: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett,
Femme and
Juliette Gariépy,
Red Rooms (Les Chambres rouges) ;New Flesh •
Best First Feature:
Stay Online — Yeva Strelnikova •
Special Mentions:
Tiger Stripes — Amanda Nell Eu;
The Abandoned — Tseng Ying-Ting ;International Short Film Competition •
Best Short Film:
Bold Eagle — Whammy Alcazaren •
Best Director: Jacob Chase,
Mr. Blur •
Best Screenplay: David Winstone,
The Nobelto Method •
Outstanding Performance: Silvana Mihai,
The Taster; Lim Hyojin,
Shoulder •
Special Mention:
Sweet Juices — Im Sejon, Will Suen •
Best Score: Matthias Dewilde, ''Poppy's Saturn'' •
Best Cinematography: Julien Ramirez Hernan,
Transylvanie ;Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation •
Best Feature Film:
The First Slam Dunk —
Takehiko Inoue •
Special Jury Mention:
Sand Land — Toshihisa Yokoshima •
Best Short Film – Gold:
A Kind of Testament — Stephen Vuillemin •
Best Short Film – Silver:
Architect A — Lee Jonghoon •
Best Short Film – Bronze:
Record. Play. Stop. — Neeraj Bhattacharjee ;
AQCC •
Camera Lucida:
Ireland Blue Book (Irlande cahier bleu) —
Olivier Godin •
Special Jury Mention:
Home Invasion — Graeme Arnfield ;Audience Awards •
International Feature — Gold:
Talk to Me (Australia,
Danny and Michael Philippou); Silver:
Late Night with the Devil (USA, Cameron & Colin Cairns); Bronze:
Hundreds of Beavers (USA, Mike Cheslik) •
International Short — Gold:
Get Away (USA, Michael Gabriele); Silver:
Lollygag (USA, Tij D'oyen); Bronze:
Dead Enders (USA, Fidel Ruiz-Healy & Tyler Walker) •
Canadian Feature — Gold:
The Sacrifice Game (Jenn Wexler); Silver:
My Animal (
Jacqueline Castel); Bronze:
Daughter of the Sun (
Ryan Ward) •
Canadian Short — Gold:
White Noise (Tamara Scherbak); Silver: ''Colin Carvey's Long Halloween
(Aaron Peacock) and *666
(Abby Falvo); Bronze: #Bossbabe
(Kassy Gascho) and Demon Box'' (Sean Wainsteim) •
Quebec Feature — Gold:
We Are Zombies (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell); Silver:
Red Rooms (
Les Chambres rouges,
Pascal Plante); Bronze:
Richelieu (
Pier-Philippe Chevigny) •
Quebec Short — Gold:
Sacred Premonitions of the Celestial Light (Vic Caputo); Silver:
If (Didier Charette); Bronze:
Beat It (Thomas Lorber) •
Asian Feature — Gold:
The Roundup: No Way Out (South Korea, Lee Sang-yong); Silver:
River (Japan, Junta Yamaguchi); Bronze:
Phantom (South Korea, Lee Hae-young) •
Asian Short — Gold:
Foreigners Only (Bangladesh, Nuhash Humayun); Silver:
Shoulder (South Korea, Kim Jaehyung); Bronze:
Night of the Bride (India, Virat Pal) •
Animated Feature — Gold:
Kurayukaba (Japan, Shigeyoshi Tsukahara); Silver:
The Concierge (Japan, Yoshimi Itazu); Bronze:
The First Slam Dunk (Japan, Takehiko Inoue) •
Animated Short — Gold:
Hermit Island (Hungary, Gábor Mariai); Silver:
Architect A (South Korea, Lee Jonghoon); Bronze:
Jelly (Canada, Robin Budd) •
DGC Award:
Satan Wants You —
Steve J. Adams,
Sean Horlor ;Other jury awards • '''Prix L'écran fantastique'
: Restore Point'' (Czech Republic, Robert Hloz) •
Prix Mon Premier Fantasia — Gold:
La Colline aux cailloux (Sweden/France, Marjolaine Perreten); Silver:
Que se passe-t-il avec le ciel? (Spain, Irene Iborra); Bronze:
Lost in the Laundry (Canada, Salem Preusse); Special Mention:
Bedtime Story (Mexico/Russia, Nadia Samarina)
2024 The
28th edition of Fantasia was held July 18 – August 4. The festival's opening film was
Bookworm, by
Ant Timpson, and the festival closed with
André Forcier's film
Ababooned (Ababouiné). Forcier received the festival's Prix Denis-Héroux in honour of his overall career achievements. A special Trailblazer Award was presented to Canadian filmmaker
Vincenzo Natali, the director of the influential science fiction thriller film
Cube, which also received a special screening of a new
4K restoration on July 30, 2024.
2025 The
29th edition of Fantasia was held from July 17 to August 3. The festival opened with American neo-Western black comedy film
Eddington, by
Ari Aster, and the Canadian Trailblazer Award was presented to Hungarian-born Canadian filmmaker
George Mihalka, the director of the 1981 slasher film
My Bloody Valentine. Announced on July 26, the jury awarded prizes in seven of the competition’s eight categories, with the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film going to
Mother of Flies, a horror–fantasy film by John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Posner. This marks the first time a U.S. production has received the prestigious award.{{cite web |url=https://fantasiafestival.com/en/news/fantasia-2025-juried-awards-announced-with-adams-familys-mother-of-flies-winning-coveted-cheval-noir-award-for-best-film |title=Fantasia 2025 Juried Awards Announced, With Adams Family's Mother of Flies Winning Coveted Cheval Noir Award for Best Film ==Home media releases==