The world renowned Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival has announced its 2023 lineup, bringing a terrifying treasure trove of chillers and thrillers to Porto Alegre, Brazil April 13–30. From the opening night centennial tribute to Lon Chaney vehicle The Hunchback of Notre Dame to the closing night Lovecraftian monster musical Minore and everything inbetween, the fest has plenty for fear-fare fans of all stripes to enjoy. Following is the official press announcement.
Fantaspoa Fantastic Film Festival triumphantly returns to the cinemas of Porto Alegre, Brazil from April 13 through April 30 of 2023, with this year’s massive festival being held in four theatrical venues – one of which is dedicated solely to short films! And as they have done in years past, a portion of the festival’s program will also be available to audiences online, geo-blocked for viewers within Brazil.
The stunning poster for this year’s festival was conceived by filmmaker Elizabeth Schuch: with art inspired by 1920s Expressionist films alongside the inky illustrations of “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.” In her words, “We’ve been hidden away from the world, little solitary figures, and now we join together again to celebrate the joy of fantasy and imagination.”
Opening night of the festival will be a tribute to the 100th anniversary of Wallace Worsley’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame starring Lon Chaney, with the cinema classic receiving an all-new soundtrack by Argentinian guitar virtuoso Germán Suane. The closing night film will be the world premiere of Konstantinos Koutsoliotas’ Lovecraftian monster musical craziness Minore.
This recipient of Fantaspoa 2023’s Career Achievement Award is prolific American filmmaker Mark L. Lester, who will join the festivities to screen three of his classics: Commando, Class of 1984, and Showdown in Little Tokyo.
According to festival director João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, Fantaspoa’s program becomes harder and harder to lock every year. “In 2023, we saw once again a significant increase in film entries – both in number and overall quality of the projects. We received over 800 entries, which is a huge figure for a genre film festival, especially one in Latin America. We are very proud to say that over 80% of our program has come directly from FilmFreeway entries, pointing towards a growing industry interest in Fantaspoa.”
Confirmed in-person guests at this year’s Fantaspoa currently include Ted Geoghegan (Brooklyn 45, Molli and Max in the Future), Michael Lukk Litwak (Molli and Max in the Future), Stefan Kubicki (Safe Space), Pablo Aragüés (Home Owners), Colton Van Til and Sophia Hoefle (Meltdown: A Nuclear Family’s Ascension into Madness), Ryland Tews and Quinn Hester (Hundreds of Beavers), Ryan Stevens Harris (Moon Garden), Serpil Altın and Korhan Ugur (Once Upon a Time in the Future: 2121), Rócio Mesa (Tobacco Barns), Maya Heble and Max Topplin (Fixation), Beth de Araújo (Soft and Quiet), Axel Ranisch (Orphea in Love), Caye Casas (The Coffee Table), Sadrac González-Perellón (Amazing Elisa), Paul Urkijo Alijo (Irati), Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez (The Elderly), Fabián Forte (Witch Game), Konstantinos Koutsoliotas and Elizabeth Schuch (Minore), Richard Elfman and Anastasia Elfman (Bloody Bridget), Luciana Mazeto and Vinícius Lopes (Ana’s Farewell), Alê Camargo and Camila Carrossine (Forbidden World), and Sabrina Greve (The Basement of Scream Street).
The festival’s initial wave of 40 feature films contains three World Premieres, four International Premieres, 27 Latin American Premieres, and three Brazilian Premieres. These films represent a total of 25 countries and have played prestige festivals such as Annecy, Cannes, Fantastic Fest, Karlovy Vary, Moscow, Rotterdam, Sitges, SXSW, Tallin Black Nights, TIFF, and Tribeca.
Below are the first 40 feature films to be announced for the 2023 edition of Fantaspoa.
ABRUPTIO (d. Evan Marlowe. 2023, United States // Latin American Premiere)
AMAZING ELISA (d. Sadrac González-Perellón. 2022, Spain // Latin American Premiere)
ANA’S FAREWELL (d. Luciana Mazeto, Vinícius Lopes. 2022, Brazil // Regional Premiere)
BAD CITY (d. Kensuke Sonomura. 2022, Japan // Latin American Premiere)
BALLAD OF PIARGY (d. Ivo Trajkov. 2022, Slovakia, North Macedonia and Czech Republic // Latin American Premiere)
THE BASEMENT OF SCREAM STREET (d. Sabrina Greve. 2022, Brazil // Regional Premiere)
THE BEASTS (d. Rodrigo Sorogoyen. 2022, Spain // Regional Premiere)
THE BLACK SPIDER (d. Markus Fischer. 2022, Switzerland // Latin American Premiere)
BLOODY BRIDGET (d. Richard Elfman. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
BROOKLYN 45 (d. Ted Geoghegan. 2023, United States // International Premiere)
THE COFFEE TABLE (d. Caye Casas. 2022, Spain // Latin American Premiere)
THE ELDERLY (d. Raúl Cerezo and Fernando González Gómez. 2022, Spain // Latin American Premiere)
FIST OF THE CONDOR (d. Ernesto Díaz Espinoza. 2023, Chile // Latin American Premiere)
FIXATION (d. Mercedes Bryce Morgan. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
FORBIDDEN WORLD (d. Alê Camargo and Camila Carrossine; 2022, Brazil // Regional Premiere)
HALFWAY HOME (d. Isti Madarász. 2022, Hungary // International Premiere)
HOME OWNERS (d. Pablo Aragüés. 2022, Spain // Latin American Premiere)
HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS (d. Mike Cheslik. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
IRATI (d. Paul Urkijo Alijo. 2022, Spain, France // Latin American Premiere)
KICK ME (d. Gary Huggins. 2022, United States // International Premiere)
A LIFE ON THE FARM (d. Oscar Harding. 2022, United Kingdom // Brazilian Premiere)
LINOLEUM (d. Colin West. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
MELTDOWN: A NUCLEAR FAMILY’S ASCENSION INTO MADNESS (d. Colton Van Til. 2023, United States // World Premiere)
MINORE (d. Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, 2023, Greece // World Premiere)
MOLLI AND MAX IN THE FUTURE (d. Michael Lukk Litwak. 2023, United States // International Premiere)
MOON GARDEN (d. Ryan Stevens Harris. 2022, United States // National Premiere)
MY GRANDFATHER’S DEMONS (d. Nuno Beato. 2022, Portugal // Latin American Premiere)
NEXT EXIT (d. Mali Elfman. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE FUTURE: 2121 (d. Serpil Altin. 2022, Turkey // Latin American Premiere)
ONE PERCENTER (d. Yûdai Yamaguchi. 2022, Japan // Latin American Premiere)
ORPHEA IN LOVE (d. Axel Ranisch. 2022, Germany // Latin American Premiere)
ROTTEN FLOWERS (d. Kasper Juhl. 2022, Denmark // Latin American Premiere)
SAFE SPACE (d. Stefan Kubicki. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
SIREN (d. Junyong Ahn. 2022, Brazil // Latin American Premiere)
SOFT & QUIET (d. Beth de Araújo. 2022, United States // Latin American Premiere)
TOBACCO BARNS (d. Rocío Mesa. 2022, Spain // Latin American Premiere)
VESPER (d. Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper. 2022, France, Lithuania, and Belgium // Latin American Premiere)
VIRUS-32 (d. Gustavo Hernández. 2022, Uruguay and Argentina // Brazilian Premiere)
WE ARE STILL HERE (d. Chantelle Burgoyne, Beck Cole, Dena Curtis, Richard Curtis, Mario Gaoa, Danielle MacLean, Miki Magasiva, Renae Maihi, Tracey Rigney, and Tim Worrall. 2022, Australia and New Zealand // Latin American Premiere)
WITCH GAME (d. Fabián Forte. 2023, Argentina // World Premiere)
