Audience Awards Winners Announced for Fantasia International Film Festival 2024
The 28th edition of the Montréal based Fantasia International Film Festival (‘Fantasia’) took place over 18 July – 4 August 2024 and announced, on 7 August, the festival’s winning films as voted by the audiences.
This year saw record numbers of audience members attend the festival with many sold out screenings, similar to pre-pandemic levels. The festival opened with Bookworm by Ant Timpson starring Elijah Wood and closed on 4 August with the World Premiere of Ababouiné by André Forcier, which was attended by some of Quebec’s dignitaries. Both films were in receipt of Audience Awards.
The audiences voted overwhelmingly, and without further ado, the following films have been awarded the Audience Awards prizes:
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Gold: BOOKWORM (Dir. Ant Timpson, New Zealand)
Silver: THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO (Dir. Mathieu Delaporte and Alexandre de la Patelière, France)
Bronze: RATS! (Dir. Maxwell Navelansky and Carl Fry, United States)
BEST ASIAN FEATURE
Gold: A SAMURAI IN TIME (Dir. Junichi Yasuda, Japan)
Silver: TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN (Dir. Soi Cheang, Hong Kong)
Bronze: PENALTY LOOP (Dir. Shinji Araki, Japan)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Gold: GHOST CAT ANZU (Dir. Yōko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita, Japan)
Silver: THE MISSING (Dir. Carl Joseph Papa, The Philippines)
Bronze: MONONOKE THE MOVIE: PHANTOM IN THE RAIN (Dir. Kenji Nakamura, Japan)
BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT
Gold: FACES (Dir. Blake Simon, United States)
Silver: THE STREETLIGHT (Dir. Sophia Parella, United States)
Bronze: LES YEUX D’OLGA (Olga’s Eyes) (Dir. Sarah Carlot Jaber, Belgium)
BEST ASIAN SHORT
Gold: MEMORY (Dir. Jang Hawon, South Korea)
Silver: WANNA DIE WANNA KILL (Dir. Jeong Jaehee, South Korea)
Bronze: NIGHT FISHING (Dir. Byoung-gon Moon, South Korea)
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Gold: RUTHLESS BLADE (Dir. Bo Zhang, China)
Silver: LANTERN BLADE, EPISODE 3 (Dir. Ziki Zhu, China)
Bronze: Tie – LES BÊTES (The Beasts) (Dir. Michael Berry, United States) and GIANT FISH (Dir. Si Seunghyun, South Korea)
BEST CANADIAN FEATURE
Gold: SELF DRIVER (Dir. Michael Pierro)
Silver: THE SILENT PLANET (Dir. Jeffrey St. Jules)
Bronze: SCARED SHITLESS (Dir. Vivieno Caldinelli)
BEST CANADIAN SHORT
Gold: THE SHITTY RIDE – (Dir. Cole Doran)
Silver: DIRTY BAD WRONG (Dir. Erica Orofino)
Bronze: BATH BOMB (Dir. Colin G. Cooper)
BEST QUÉBEC FEATURE
Gold: KIDNAPPING INC. (Dir. Bruno Mourral)
Silver: JOUR DE CHASSE (Hunting Daze) (Dir. Annick Blanc)
Bronze: ABABOUINÉ (Dir. André Forcier)
BEST QUÉBEC SHORT
Gold: THE IMAGE SELLER (Dir. Donovan Richard)
Silver: MOURIR EN SILENCE (Die in Silence) (Dir. Émile Lavoie)
Bronze: Tie – RÉINSERTION (Dir. Youssef Harouj) and BRING BACK GUILLAUME (Dir. Kevin de Laval)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Gold: VOÏVOD: WE ARE CONNECTED (Dir. Felipe Belalcazar, Canada)
The 29th edition of Fantasia will return in 2025 on 17 July – 3 August 2025. Save the date!
