Since its inception in 1996, Quebec’s Fantasia International Film Festival has grown into the premiere festival for genre film. And the 2023 edition of the festival, set to kick off on July 20, now has a guest of honor that’s perfect for its niche. Deadline reports that Nicolas Cage will receive the Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award at Fantasia Fest later this month. The actor will also be at the fest for the world premiere of his latest film, “Sympathy For The Devil.”
Directed by Yuval Adler, “Sympathy For The Devil” sees a cat-and-mouse game unfurl between Joel Kinnaman‘s “The Driver” and Cage’s mysterious “The Passenger.” Luke Paradise pens the film’s script, where nothing is what it seems. The film also stars Kaiwi Lyman, Cameron Lee Price, Burns Burns, Rich Hopkins, and Nancy Good. RLJE Films gives “Sympathy For The Devil” a theatrical release on July 28.
In the announcement about Cage’s award, Fantasia Fest calls the actor a “remarkable performer responsible for bringing life to some of the most fascinating people to grace the big screen in some of the most extraordinary films ever made.” And Cage is indeed worthy of the festival’s honor. Over four decades, he’s worked in all sorts of B-movies and genre fare to go along with his most A-list dramatic roles. Recent genre roles for Cage include “Pig,” “Willy’s Wonderland,” “Prisoners Of The Ghostland,” and “Primal,” among others. And “Sympathy For The Devil” is just one of many of Cage’s upcoming roles. He also has the serial killer drama “Longlegs” with Maika Monroe, the Irish action-horror “Arcadian,” crime comedy “The Retirement Plan,” and the comedy “Dream Scenario.”
Fantasia Fest also announced its opening and closing films today. Pascal Plante‘s “Red Rooms” (or, “Les chambres rouges“) will have its North American premiere to open the fest. Plante’s latest, a French-language drama about a woman who becomes obsessed with serial murder investigation, just had its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival this week. And to close Fantasia Fest, there’s “We Are Zombie” from the Quebecois collective RKSS, the group behind 2018’s “Summer Of 84.” Based on the comic “The Zombies That Ate The World,” RKSS’s latest takes place in a society where zombies, or the “living-impaired,” roam among society without the urge to eat human flesh. Megan Peta Hill, Alexandre Nachi, and Derek Johns star in the film. RKSS regular Jean-Philippe Bernier handles the movie’s cinematographer and its soundtrack through his electronica group Le Matos.
Fantasia Fest is never dull, but this year’s edition looks to be one of the most exciting in recent years, no small part to Nic Cage’s presence. The festival runs from July 20-August 9.