Concordians show up big at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival

JULY 18 – AUGUST 4: 'The most important and prestigious genre film festival on this continent'

July 10, 2024

By Ashley Fortier

An artist's depiction of an orange cat riding a motorcycle with a sidecar.

Jesu Medina, winner of this year’s Fantasia Award: “It’s very exciting to get to be a part of this year’s festival and a bit surreal too.”

The 28th annual Fantasia International Film Festival kicks off soon in theatres throughout Montreal. What Quentin Tarantino calls “the most important and prestigious genre film festival on this continent” will run from July 18 to August 4.

The latest program is brimming with feature films, shorts, roundtable discussions, exhibitions and more by creators specializing in fantasy, sci-fi and horror from around the world.

Screenings and other presentations will unfold in the Sir George Williams University Alumni Auditorium (H-110), J.A. De Sève Cinema and several other locations throughout the city.

Twenty-three Concordians are featured this year, including film animation student Jesu Medina. His short film Hope in the Tundra is the winner of this year’s Fantasia Award, presented annually to a Concordia student. Medina received a $1,000 prize and a spot in the festival.

“This award means a lot to me as a filmmaker,” says Medina, who plans to complete his BFA in the upcoming year. “It embraces space for films that opt for non-traditional storytelling elements and encourages further exploration of them without limitations.”

He adds that the guidance and support of his professors and classmates helped him arrive at this moment.

Hope in the Tundra, Medina explains, builds upon the universe he created in an earlier work. In this film, the character Carmela faces many challenges in recruiting a final member to her army. It touches on themes of love, war and self-destruction.

“It’s very exciting to get to be a part of this year’s festival and a bit surreal too. There are so many films I’m curious to check out and I’m also really looking forward to seeing the work of other filmmakers in our program.”

Hope in the Tundra screens Friday, August 2, at 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée (1379 A Sherbrooke Street West).

Two film posters: on the left, a smiling face with garish green eyeshadow, on the right, animated mushrooms.

Left: Jesu Medina's short film Hope in the Tundra. | Right: Experimental short by Thibault Picquoin, BFA 24.

Here is a list of 23 other films by Concordia faculty, students and alumni that will screen this year:

Two One Two

Saturday, July 20, 2 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Associate professor Shira Avni, BFA 98, is an award-winning animation filmmaker. Her hand-crafted, experimental short documentary film Two One Two touches on themes of neurodiversity, parent-child bonds and “(un)becoming” a two-headed monster.

Le Plongeur

Saturday, July 20, 2 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

A boy dreams up adventurous alternatives to his monotonous life in film animation student Jade Déry’s short Le Plongeur.

STAE

Saturday, July 20, 2 p.m. and Sunday, July 21, 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Four strategies for staying alive — survive, transform, adapt and evolve — underpin different chapters of the protagonist’s life in STAE, an animated fantasy short by Justin Tran, BFA 24.

BugHaus

Saturday, July 20, 9 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Charlie Galea McClure is a film animation student with two films screening in this year’s festival. BugHaus is a short that warns viewers what can happen when you ingest insects.

Le Close

Saturday, July 20, 9 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Film production student Zaël Gourd’s Le Close is a dramatic comedy-horror short about one shop worker, Anna, who struggles to close for the night when a flood of customers barge in and start wrecking the store.

Caniculaire

Sunday, July 21, 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Film animation student Camille Pepin presents her romantic short Caniculaire about one summer night in Montreal.

Bail, Bail

Friday, July 26, 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Sandrine Brodeur-Desrosier, BFA 10, is a part-time cinema professor and a successful film director and screen writer. Bail, Bail is a martial arts comedy about two roommates who face off with their new landlord in the face of an illegal eviction.

Afternoon Tea Chez Mrs. Pillbug

Saturday, July 27, 2 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Film animation student Casey Assi’s short Afternoon Tea Chez Mrs. Pillbug features a group of aristocratic insects whose peaceful tea party is turned upside down by a scandalous reveal.

On The Dock

Saturday, July 27, 2 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

A bored fisherman imagines what it would be like to catch a whale in On The Dock, a short by film animation student Francis Garceau.

Adrianne & the Castle

Saturday, July 20, 6:45 p.m., at Cinéma du Musée

Directed by Shannon Walsh, BFA 00, MFA 04, Adrianne & the Castle is a documentary that uses magic, music and mystery to bring us into the world of Alan St-George after the loss of his wife, Adrianne. Walsh builds on techniques of creative nonfiction to blur the line between fiction and reality to convey Alan and Adrianne’s transcendent love affair.

Vertiente de Agua Tibia

Saturday, July 27, 2 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Camilo Mangas Calderón, BFA 21, presents a 19-minute film about the anxieties leading up to a friendship reunion between Sofia and Paula. Vertiente de Agua Tibia revisits childhood memories accompanied by the soundtrack of a trumpet.

Itch

Saturday, July 27, 9 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée and Saturday, August 3, 5:30 p.m. at J.A. De Sève Cinema

Itch is an animated horror short by Maggie Zeng, BFA 24, that tells the story of one young woman’s disturbing memories — presented as physical irritation followed by phantasmic monsters.

Be Right There

Saturday, July 27, 9 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Be Right There by Devon Ellis-Durity, BA 20, is a horror-thriller about an aimless guy in his twenties who tries to clear his head one winter night by going for a walk.

The Mushpit

Sunday, July 28, 7 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Thibault Picquoin, BFA 24, presents the experimental short The Mushpit, a story of a young mushroom facing an existential crisis after the loss of a close friend.

African American Express

Sunday, July 28, 9:15 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée and Saturday, August 3, 5:30 p.m. at J.A. De Sève Cinema

Sydnie Baynes, BFA 24, uses Soviet-style animated propaganda in African American Express to reflect on materialism and consumption within Black communities.

Screen Time

Friday, August 2, 9 p.m. at Cinéma du Musée

Film animation student Dimitry Brazhenko’s Screen Time features two characters — one digital and one made of sand — and the challenges they face in staying connected despite their disparate realities.