Every year Fantasia hosts several special events and welcomes guests from all over the world to the delight of thousands of fans. The festival posted a partial list of all the guests on their website. For these events and movies, it would be more than advisable to buy your tickets as soon as possible (ie.: right now) before all the tickets sell out.
On the opening night of the festival, South Korean auteur Seung-wan Ryoo will present the Canadian Premiere of his masterful boxing drama Crying Fist starring Oldboy‘s Choi Min-sik. Other guests include Belgian director Harry Cleven (Double); the writer and the director of The Darks Hours, which is one of the best Canadian horror films ever made according to Mitch Davis. Tzang Merwyn who recently won several prestigious prizes for A Wicked Tale will also be in town to present the much awaited Canadian Premiere of this film. Many other guests have been confirmed; check the website for details.
Several special events will be held during the festival this year. On July 22, Lloyd Kaufman, the brain behind the infamous Tromaville, will hold a master class on indie filmmaking titled “How to Make Your Own Damn Movie”. This master class will be concluded with the screening a classic of the genre; The Toxic Avenger! Journalist and artist Stephen R. Bissette will host a series of lectures on the early history of horror comics entitled “Stephen R. Bissette’s Journeys Into Fear” (July 16-17). Another esteemed artist, Joe Coleman, who is often compared to Salvador Dali, will be making his first-ever Montreal appearance to present a midnight multimedia show entitled “Retinal Stigmatics: An Evening with Joe Coleman”. The event is described by Fantasia as “a live multimedia midnight mass with one of the world’s greatest living surrealists!” ‘Nuf said … buy your ticket for this event!
Finally, for the first time in its history, Fantasia will be giving a Lifetime Achievement Award. The very first laureate of this award will be no other than Ray Harryhausen. On July 24, Ray Harryhausen will present some of his rare and early works along with a brand new 35mm print of his film Jason and the Argonauts. While Mr. Harryhausen is mainly known for his stop-motion animations, he also produced several cult films like Clash of the Titans and he worked on the special effects of various B-Movies from the fifties including Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956) and It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955). A Q&A will follow.
