The 22nd edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival will be held in Montreal from July 12th to August 2nd 2018. It specializes in animated and live-action genre cinema (fantasy, horror, action, science-fiction, etc.), but mostly horror and asian action movies. It will open with Daniel Roby’s “Dans la brume” (a Canada-France co-production). As usual, the festival will be offering “over 125 features and 220 shorts, featuring the premieres of more than 100 cutting-edge visions from across the world.”

The asian movies line-up (our main interest here) includes eight movies from China (six from Hong Kong), twenty-four from South-Korea, one from Vietnam and, of course, twenty-eight from Japan (including six anime). Here’s the list of Japanese movies:

Anime

• Aragne: Sign of Vermillion (2018, Saku Sakamoto, 75 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
• Fireworks (2017, Akiyuki Shinbo & Noboyuki Takeuchi, 89 mins) adapted from the mid-’90s live-action TV series created by Shunji Iwai. [Vimeo, Wikipedia]
• Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms (2018, Mari Okada, 115 mins) [Youtube, Wikipedia]
• Penguin Highway (2018, Hiroyasu Ishida, 120 mins) adaptation of a novel by Tomihiko Morimi. [Youtube, Wikipedia]
• Violence Voyager (2017, Ujicha, 83 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
• Walking Meat (2018, Shinya Sugai, 21 mins) presented with Aragne: Sign of Vermillion.

Live-Action

• Ajin: Demi-Human (2017, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 109 mins) adapted from Gamon Sakurai’s manga series. [AsianWiki, Youtube, Wikipedia]
• Amiko (2017, Yoko Yamanaka, 66 mins)
• Being Natural (2018, Tadashi Nagayama, 96 mins) [IMDb, Vimeo]
• Bleach (2018, Shinsuke Sato, 108 mins) adapted from Tite Kubo’s popular manga. [AsianWiki]
• Destiny: The Tale of Kamakura (2017, Takashi Yamazaki, 129 mins) adaptation of a manga by Ryohei Saigan.  [AsianWiki, IMDb, Wikipedia, Dailymotion]
• Hanagatami (2017, Nobuhiko Obayashi, 169 mins) adapted from Kazuo Dan‘s novel.  [AsianWiki]
• I am a Hero (2016, Shinsuke Sato, 147 mins) based on Kengo Hanazawa’s manga. [AsianWiki]
• Inuyashiki (2018, Shinsuke Sato, 127 mins) [AsianWiki]
• KASANE -Beauty and Fate- (2018, Yuichi Sato, 110 mins) adapted from Daruma Matsuura’s manga. [AsianWiki]
• Laplace’s Witch (2018, Takashi Miike, 116 mins) Based on a novel by Keigo Higashino. [AsianWiki]
• Laughing Under the Clouds (2018, Katsuyuki Motohiro, 94 mins) adapted from Karakara-Kemuri’s manga. [AsianWiki]
• LOUDER! Can’t Hear What You’re Singin’, Wimp (2018, Satoshi Miki, 106 mins) [AsianWiki]
• One Cut of the Dead (2017, Shinichiro Ueda, 96 mins) [IMDb, Nikkatsu, Youtube]
• Punk Samurai Slash Down (2018, Gakuryu Ishii, 130 mins) adaptation of Ko Machida’s 2004 novel. [AsianWiki]
• River’s Edge (2018, Isao Yukisada, 118 mins) adapted from Kyoko Okazaki’s manga. [AsianWiki]
• Rokuroku: The Promise of the Witch (2017, Yudai Yamaguchi, 91 mins) co-written by Keita Amemiya! [AsianWiki]
• Room Laundering (2018, Kenji Katagiri, 109 mins) [AsianWiki]
• Tokyo Vampire Hotel (2017, Sion Sono, 142 mins) [IMDb, Wikipedia, Youtube]
• Tornado Girl (2017, Hitoshi Ône, 100 mins) based on Shibuya Chokaku’s manga series. [IMDb, AsianWiki]
• The Travelling Cat Chronicles (2018, Kôichirö Miki, 118 mins) adapted from a novel by Hiro Arikawa. [AsianWiki, IMDb]
• Tremble All You Want (2017, Akiko Ohku, 117 mins) adapted from Risa Wataya‘s novel. [AsianWiki, IMDb, Youtube]
• Wilderness, Part 1-2 (2017, Yoshiyuki Kishi, 304 mins) adaptation of Shuji Terayama’s 1966 novel. [AsianWiki 1, AsianWiki 2]

It is interesting to note that a large majority of those movies are manga or novel adaptations. I am particularly interested in seeing The Travelling Cat Chronicles and Tremble All You Want — unfortunately I don’t have time to attend the festival… Check the festival website for more details (description, cast & crew info, schedule, location, etc).

Update: You can read a comment (in French) by Claude R. Blouin on some of those movies, “Sept fantaisies japonaises au festival Fantasia 2018” (Shomingeki)

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