2020 has been a year of forced evolution for the film industry, thanks in large part to the COVID-19 pandemic. Theaters have shut down. Films have halted production. And film festivals have been canceled or gone digital. For Fantasia International Film Festival, the upcoming film event focused on international and genre pictures, the choice faced was to either evolve or cancel. And that has led to Fantasia greatly altering its presentation of this year’s selections but still allowing for the event to feature some of the best films from around the world that would have otherwise struggled to receive recognition this year.
READ MORE: Fantasia Fest 2020: First Wave Lineup Includes Neil Marshall’s ‘The Reckoning’ & More
With the festival just over a month away, Fantasia Fest has announced its second wave of features that will be available digitally to screen for folks in Canada. Yes, unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the festival has been forced to go digital and to “maintain unique film admittance quantities in line with the cinema experience,” the event is geo-locked, only allowing for Canadian film fans to check out the live screenings, panels, and other special stuff.
Headlining the Second Wave announcement is Bryan Bertino’s new feature, “The Dark and Wicked,” starring Marin Ireland. This film was originally selected to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, but with that event canceled, Fantasia Fest has the honor of presenting the horror feature. Also taking part in this year’s event are Tsutomu Hanabusa’s ‘Project Dreams – How To Build Mazinger Z’s Hangar,” John Hyams’ “Alone,” and Mathias Malzieu’s “A Mermaid in Paris.”
The new, digital Fantasia Fest 2020 begins on August 20.
Here’s the full list of Second Wave features:
ALONE
Dir. Marc Menchaca
USA
International Premiere
BEAUTY WATER
Dir. Cho Kyung-hun
South Korea
North American Premiere
BLEED WITH ME
Dir. Amelia Moses
Canada
World Premiere
THE BLOCK ISLAND SOUND
Dirs. Kevin & Matthew McManus
USA
World Premiere
CLASS ACTION PARK
Dirs. Seth Porges & Chris Charles Scott III
USA
International Premiere
CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER
Dir. Mickey Reece
USA
Quebec Premiere
THE COLUMNIST
Dir. Ivo van Aart
Netherlands
North American Premiere
CRAZY SAMURAI MUSASHI
Dir. Yûji Shimomura
Japan
Canadian Premiere
THE DARK AND THE WICKED
Dir. Bryan Bertino
USA
International Premiere
DETENTION
Dir. John Hsu
Taiwan
Canadian Premiere
LA DOSIS
Dir. Martin Kraut
Argentina
North American Premiere
THE FIVE RULES OF SUCCESS
Dir. Orson Oblowitz
USA
World Premiere
FOR THE SAKE OF VICIOUS
Dirs. Gabriel Carrer & Reese Eveneshen
Canada
World Premiere
FUGITIVE DREAMS
Dir. Jason Neulander
USA
World Premiere
I WeirDo
Dir. Liao Ming-Yi
Taiwan
Canadian Premiere
JESTERS: THE GAME CHANGERS
Dir. Kim Joo-ho
South Korean
North American Premiere
LIFE: UNTITLED
Dir. Kana Yamada
Japan
Canadian Premiere
ME AND ME
Dir. Jung Jin-young
South Korea
North American Premiere
A MERMAID IN PARIS (Une sirène à Paris)
Dir. Mathias Malzieu
France
North American Premiere
MINOR PREMISE
Dir. Eric Schultz
USA
World Premiere
MY PUNCH-DRUNK BOXER
Dir. Jung Hyuk-ki
South Korea
North American Premiere
THE OAK ROOM
Dir. Cody Calahan
Canada
World Premiere
PROJECT DREAMS – HOW TO BUILD MAZINGER Z’S HANGAR
Dir. Tsutomu Hanabusa
Japan
International Premiere
THE PROPHET AND THE SPACE ALIENS
Dir. Yoav Shamir
Israel/Austria/South Africa
North American Premiere
PVT CHAT
Dir. Ben Hozie
USA
World Premiere
SANZARU
Dir. Xia Magnus
USA
International Premiere
SAVAGE STATE
Dir. David Perrault
France/Canada/Belgium
North American Premiere
SLAXX
Dir. Elza Kephart
Canada
World Premiere
VERTIGO
Dir. Jeon Gye-soo
South Korea
Canadian Premiere