Fantasia ’25: Curtain Raiser

It is that time of year again, so start boiling water for a steaming hot cup of Nong Shim noodles (the kind of sponsor a festival can be proud to have). The Fantasia International Film Festival is back, bringing plenty of cinematic weirdness to Montreal. Every year, they find out-of-the-blue discoveries as well as eagerly awaited genre releases. Once again, you can look forward to coverage here and also at Cinema Daily US.

Fantasia regularly programs wonderful and weird discoveries in science fiction, horror, and Asian cinema. However, their animation selections might be particularly of interest to many Ciinema Daily readers. For instance:

All You Need is Kill represents the first anime adaptation of the Japanese science fiction novel and manga that previously inspired Edge of Tomorrow, with Tom Cruise.

ChaO offers a fresh take on human-mermaid romance that is vastly different from The Little Mermaid, but will still charm fans of the Disney classic.

Maya, Give Me A Title is a wonderfully charming tribute to art and parenting, from Michel Gondrey.

The first four episodes of the new manga adaptation of the macabre manga Nyaight of the Living Cat also screen, because everyone loves uncanny cats and executive producer Takashi Miike.

Everyone also digs dystopian cats too, so festival-goers can partake of Tamala 2030: A Punk Cat in Dark, the long-awaited, yet unexpected sequel to Tamala A Punk Cat in Space.

Those are just a few promising selections. There is always plenty of good stuff to watch at Fantasia, so keep an eye out for reviews.