The 27th edition of Fantasia Festival has come to a close and the audience awards have been announced as of Monday. I didn’t get to screen and cover as many films as I wanted to this year so I’m walking away a little disappointed, but I’m particularly pleased to see some of these selections getting their deserved reception, namely Mike Cheslik’s Hundreds Of Beavers and Don Lee actioner The Roundup: No Way Out, the latter which I haven’t seen yet and hope to rectify at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Reviews are catalogued here for this year’s edition if you’re interested in the write-ups. As for all else, read on for the winners and keep an eye open for forthcoming date annoucements on Fantasia XXVIII!
August 15, 2023 – The Fantasia International Film Festival wrapped its successful 27th edition last week on August 9th. In addition to the previously announced jury prizes, the esteemed Montreal genre festival is now pleased to reveal the winners of this year’s Audience Awards.
Best International Feature
Gold: TALK TO ME (Australia, d. Danny & Michael Philippou)
Silver: LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL (USA, d. Cameron & Colin Cairns)
Bronze: HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (USA, d. Mike Cheslik)
Best Asian Feature
Gold: THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT (South Korea, d. Lee Sang-yong)
Silver: RIVER (Japan, d. Junta Yamaguchi)
Bronze: PHANTOM (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)
Best Animated Feature
Gold: KURAYUKABA (Japan, d. Shigeyoshi Tsukahara)
Silver: THE CONCIERGE (Japan, d. Yoshimi Itazu)
Bronze: THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, d. Takehiko Inoue)
The DGC Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)
SATAN WANTS YOU (Canada, d. Steve J. Adams & Sean Horlor)
The Fantasia 2023 Audience Award kicks off the inaugural DGC Award for Best Canadian Feature or Documentary!
As a sponsor for the Septentrion Shadows section, the Director’s Guild of Canada will award the best Canadian film or documentary by a Canadian director a cash prize of $2500 as voted by our audiences.
Congratulations to SATAN WANTS YOU as the 2023 DGC Recipient.
Best International Short
Gold: GET AWAY (USA, d. Michael Gabriele)
Silver: LOLLYGAG (USA, d. Tij D’oyen)
Bronze: DEAD ENDERS (USA, d. Fidel Ruiz-Healy & Tyler Walker)
Best Asian Short
Gold: FOREIGNERS ONLY (Bangladesh, d. Nuhash Humayun)
Silver: SHOULDER (South Korea, d. Kim Jaehyung)
Bronze: NIGHT OF THE BRIDE (India, d. Virat Pal)
Best Animated Short
Gold: HERMIT ISLAND (Hungary, d. Gábor Mariai)
Silver: ARCHITECT A (South Korea, d. Lee Jonghoon)
Bronze: JELLY (Canada, d. Robin Budd)
Best Canadian Feature
Gold: THE SACRIFICE GAME (Canada, d. Jenn Wexler)
Silver: MY ANIMAL (Canada, d. Jacqueline Castel)
Bronze: DAUGHTER OF THE SUN (Canada/USA, d. Ryan Ward)
Best Canadian Short
Gold: WHITE NOISE (Canada, d. Tamara Scherbak)
Tied for Silver: COLIN CARVEY’S LONG HALLOWEEN (Canada, d. Aaron Peacock)
Tied for Silver: *666 (Canada, d. Abby Falvo)
Tied for Bronze: #BOSSBABE (Canada, d. Kassy Gascho)
Tied for Bronze: DEMON BOX (Canada, d. Sean Wainsteim)
Best Quebec Feature
Gold: WE ARE ZOMBIES (Canada, d. François Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell)
Silver: LES CHAMBRES ROUGES (Canada, d. Pascal Plante)
Bronze: RICHELIEU (Canada, d. Pier-Philippe Chevigny)
Best Quebec Short
Gold: SACRED PREMONITIONS OF THE CELESTIAL LIGHT (Canada, d. Vic Caputo)
Silver: IF (Canada, d.Didier Charette)
Bronze: BEAT IT (Canada, d. Thomas Lorber)
Additional jury awards:
Prix L’écran fantastique
RESTORE POINT (Czech Republic, d. Robert Hloz)
Prix mon premier fantasia – Shorts
Poulain D’or: LA COLLINE AUX CAILLOUX (Sweden/France d. Marjolaine Perreten)
Poulain D’argent: QUE SE PASSE-T-IL AVEC LE CIEL? (Spain, d. Irene Iborra)
Poulain de bronze: LOST IN THE LAUNDRY (Canada, d. Salem Preusse)
Special Mention: BEDTIME STORY (Mexico/Russia, d. Nadia Samarina)
