‘Poupelle Of Chimney Town’ And Satoshi Kon Doc Among Titles In Fantasia Fest Lineup

Fantasia International Film Festival, Montreal’s peerless genre festival, is returning for a second straight virtual event. The 25th edition will run August 5–25 and will be geo-locked for Canadian audiences.

As always, animation is well represented in the program, where it has its own section: Axis. Fantasia has a history of championing anime — its animation award is named after Satoshi Kon — and this year sees a special focus on features from Japan.

The line-up includes the Annecy-playing Poupelle of Chimney Town, a family fantasy film based on a popular picture book; Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko, Ayumu Watanabe’s follow-up to Children of the Sea; and Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist, a new documentary about the renowned director of Paprika and Perfect Blue.

Below is the animation line-up as it stands; titles we have covered are hyperlinked. More films will be announced in July, with tickets going onsale after that.

• Poupelle of Chimney Town (North American premiere)
• Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (North American premiere)
• Pompo: The Cinéphile (North American premiere)
• Satoshi Kon, the Illusionist (North American premiere)
• The Spine of Night (Canadian premiere)
• Cryptozoo (Québec premiere)
• Junk Head
• Hayop Ka! The Nimfa Dimaano Story (North American premiere)
• Little Vampire (North American premiere)

All films bar Satoshi Kon, The Illusionist and Junk Head are nominated for the Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation (Feature Film Category).