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.