Les Chambres Rouges, the story of a woman who becomes fascinated with a missing video of a victim to whom she bears a striking resemblance , won the Best Feature jury award at Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival over the weekend.
The film, by Canadian director Pascal Plante, who also won best screenplay, earned praise from a jury that included actor-director-screenwriter David Hewlett, producer and Calgary Underground festival director Brenda Lieberman, writer-programmer-comedian Jourdain Searles, writer and film scholar Virginie Sélavy, and director-screenwriter-producer Gary Sherman.
“The ultimate effect a film can achieve is to implant a significant and lasting emotional memory. The jury was unanimously convinced that Les Chambres Rouges masterfully accomplished that goal,” the jurors said in a statement.
Fantasia, one of the leading genre festival’s in the world and one of MovieMaker‘s 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, is marking its 27th edition this year, and continues through August 9. The Audience Award will be announced at the end of the festival.
The New Flesh Jury gave the Best First Feature award to Stay Online, a Ukrainian drama by Eva Strelnikova that takes place during the Russian invasion. It is the story of a boy who calls his missing dad’s laptop, which is in the hands of a girl he does not know. When the boy asks her to help him find his missing parents, she must risk her own loved ones.
The film is “a brilliant display of courage and raw talent that showcases how you can fight violence with art,” said a statement from the jury. It was led by the filmmaking team of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, co-founders of Rustic Films, and included Rustic Films co-founder and producer David Lawson Jr., actor Sarah Bolger, publicist Angie Power, and Sara Neidorf, a musician, director and the co-founder of the Final Girls Berlin Film Festival.
Here are the other winners.
CHEVAL NOIR COMPETITION – Feature Films
Best Director: Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping (FEMME, United Kingdom)
Best Screenplay: Pascal Plante (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Score (The Sandro Forte Award): Dominique Plante (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Cinematography: Zelda Adams & John Adams (WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS, United States, d. Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser)
Outstanding Performance: Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (FEMME, United Kingdom, d. Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping)
Outstanding Performance Award: Juliette Gariépy (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Special Mention: VINCENT DOIT MOURIR (France, d. Stéphan Castang)
In a statement, the jury said, “strikingly original take on the zombie genre and for the way it potently resonates with the climate of simmering violence and social disintegration of our times.”
► NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE – Debut Films
Special Jury Mention: TIGER STRIPES (Malaysia,Taiwan, France, Germany, d. Amanda Nell Eu)
Special Jury Mention: THE ABANDONED (Taiwan, d. Tseng Ying-Ting)
► INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
The Short Film Jury, presided over by Laura Moss (director, screenwriter), and comprised of Maya Korn (producer), Justine T. McLellan (writer, professor, podcast producer), Nick Romano (creative executive) and Jerome Sable (director, screenwriter, composer) awarded the following prizes:
Best Short Film: BOLD EAGLE (Philippines, dir. Whammy Alcazaren)
The jury statement called the film “the rare species of short film that seizes you, the viewer, like its prey.”
Best Director: Jacob Chase (MR. BLUR, USA)
Best Screenplay: David Winstone (THE NORBELTO METHOD, UK, dir. David Winstone)
Outstanding Performance: Silvana Mihai (THE TASTER, Germany, dir. Sophia Bierend)
Outstanding Performance: Lim Hyojin (SHOULDER, South Korea, dir. Kim Jaehyung)
Special Mention: SWEET JUICES (Australia, dir. Im Sejon, Will Suen)
Best Score: Matthias Dewilde (POPPY’S SATURN, Belgium, dir. Nicole Tegelaar)
Best Cinematography: Julien Ramirez Hernan (TRANSLYVANIE, France, dir. Rodrigue Huart)
► AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
The Axis Jury, presided over by Nadim Zaidi (digital matte painter) and comprised of Arizona O’Neill (illustrator, filmmaker) and Aki Takabatake (founder and CEO of Momo Films inc.) awarded the following prizes:
Best Feature Film: THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, d. Takehiko Inoue)
The jury called the film “A gem of a film through and through that enriches an already existing franchise, while at the same time remaining open to viewers who never have never seen or read any of the previous, existing material.”
Special Jury Mention: SAND LAND (Japan, d. Toshihisa Yokoshima)
Best Short Film – Gold: A KIND OF TESTAMENT (France, d. Stephen Vuillemin)
The jury called the film, “breathtaking and haunting.”
Best Short Film – Silver: ARCHITECT A (South Korea, d. Lee Jonghoon)
Best Short Film – Bronze: RECORD. PLAY. STOP. (India, d. Neeraj Bhattacharjee)
► AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA
The AQCC-Camera Lucida Jury, comprised of Marc-Antoine Lévesque (Co-founder of the Laboratoire de contenus La Marquise, director of programming for Association Cinémaniak), Mathieu Li-Goyette (critic/editor-in-chief of Panorama-cinéma) and Guillaume Potvin (Critic/programmer) awarded the AQCC-Camera Lucida Award to IRLANDE CAHIER BLEU (Québec, dir. Olivier Godin), they selected the title, which they praised for the “artisanal and independent creative spirit that emerges from it.”
Special Jury Mention: HOME INVASION (United Kingdom, dir. Graeme Arnfield)
Here are the jury statements:
Best Director
Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping (FEMME, United Kingdom)
“Femme is a gripping thriller that is both supremely tense and sensitively directed. The two contrasting worlds of the drag queens and the macho thugs are vividly rendered. The contradictions in the two main characters’ feelings are explored in all their nuances and complexity, and the powerful ending provides no easy resolution to the revenge theme.”
Best Screenplay
Pascal Plante (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
“Pascale Plante created a deeply gripping and intricate screenplay that was so powerful to watch play out. Filled with unique characters, motives, and a rich overall story arc which left us unanimously impacted by the world which he created. The intensity of watching the film where you never quite know the depth of relationships, where the story will take you, or what each character’s intentions are, leaves you in constant intrigue. With this, we give the award for Best Screenplay to Les chambres rouges, written by Pascale Plante.”
Best Score (The Sandro Forte Award)
Dominique Plante (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
“The jury felt the score Dominique Plante created for Les chambres rouges truly defines and enhances the emotional impact of this startling film. Painted with a fine brush, the soundtrack brilliantly creates a fertile environment in which to grow the fascinating characters and disturbing story of this immensely disturbing film. Plante skillfully opens doors and then closes them, escorting, rather than leading, the audience through a maze of emotions.”
Best Cinematographer
Zelda Adams & John Adams (WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS, United States, d. Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser)
“The Adams Family have done an extraordinary job of capturing the film’s challenging (on any budget) 1930’s setting, transporting us back in time with their creative approach and extraordinary aesthetic. Every frame vibrates with a visceral, eerie, dread. The team have masterfully conjured up a unique, starkly haunting, visual style and filmic texture. Where the Devil Roams elevates and refines low-budget, indie madness into an excitingly unique cinematic triumph.”
Outstanding Performance
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (FEMME, United Kingdom, d. Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping)
“Nathan Stewart-Jarrett gives a breakout performance in Femme, showing us both the beauty and vulnerability of being queer in a society that stubbornly holds on to traditional heteronormative values of what love and gender expression can look like for a man. The beauty, honesty and grace of his performance feels both true and deeply moving.”
Outstanding Performance
Juliette Gariépy (LES CHAMBRES ROUGES, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
“Juliette Gariépy gives a brave, full-bodied performance in Les chambres rouges. As Kelly-Anne, she shows us the complexity of female desire in a world that can be strange and violent. With determination, beauty and a strange sense of humour, Gariépy creates a wholly original character who takes us down the rabbit hole and shows us dark, profound truths.”
Special Mention
VINCENT DOIT MOURIR (France, d. Stéphan Castang)
“We give the special jury mention to Vincent Must Die for its strikingly original take on the zombie genre and for the way it potently resonates with the climate of simmering violence and social disintegration of our times.”
► NEW FLESH COMPETITION FOR BEST FIRST FEATURE – Debut Films
Best First Feature
STAY ONLINE (Ukraine, d. Yeva Strelnikova)
“Making a film is so incredibly hard that completing one is a miracle even under ideal circumstances. It takes a special filmmaking team to have the drive, wit, and talent to not just finish a film, but in a war zone. It takes a special filmmaker to make one that’s so moving, meaningful, and thrilling. STAY ONLINE is a brilliant display of courage and raw talent that showcases how you can fight violence with art.”
Special Mention
TIGER STRIPES (Malaysia,Taiwan, France, Germany, d. Amanda Nell Eu)
“Right from the first scene, Amanda Nell Eu had us cheering for the compelling, irreverent adolescent protagonist (Zafreen Zairizal) fighting against the expectations of her peers and family as well as the conservative norms of Malaysian society at large. It was funny, feral and fantastical while maintaining an uncompromising feminist perspective.”
Special Jury Mention
THE ABANDONED (Taiwan, d. Tseng Ying-Ting)
“From the opening fireworks, The Abandoned mesmerised us. Its unrelenting darkness never obscures the film’s beating heart, voice for marginalised populations, and the genuine empathy for its characters anchored by a stunning lead performance in Janine Chang.”
► INTERNATIONAL SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Best Short Film
BOLD EAGLE (Philippines, dir. Whammy Alcazaren)
“BOLD EAGLE soars to the top. The rare species of short film that seizes you, the viewer, like its prey—however reluctant or unwilling you might have been—and once it has you in its talons, it toys with you, assaults you, shocks you, delights you, and somehow still manages to pack a deep emotional punch. A one-of-a-kind gem of a short that will sear itself on your mind with images you can never unsee, right from the opening butthole. Beautiful.”
Best Director
Jacob Chase (MR. BLUR, USA)
“Jacob Chase makes fantastic use of a unique visual device – a contact lens – to ratchet up tension, and weaponizes negative space in the frame to help establish a space as threatening. He sticks the landing with an unsettling close-up of our antagonist entity which incorporates body horror into the cinematic apparatus as well. Overall, it’s an exceptional balance of a less is more philosophy mixed with the right ratio of silence to score that underscores what scary is all about.“
Best Screenplay
David Winstone (THE NORBELTO METHOD, UK, dir. David Winstone)
“This film explored the painful contradictions of existential depression with a pitch-black sense of humour and a deep love for its characters.”
Outstanding Performance
Silvana Mihai (THE TASTER, Germany, dir. Sophia Bierend)
“Silvana Mihai’s magnetic and subtle performance as Ozana grants audiences immediate access to her character’s interiority. With exceptional finesse, she portrays a character whose situational vulnerability is matched by an unwavering resolve to survive.”
Outstanding Performance
Lim Hyojin (SHOULDER, South Korea, dir. Kim Jaehyung)
“Lim Hyojin is given the tough assignment of conveying emotion in a silent film, void of dialogue – and he knocks it out of the park. Expressed through eyes and body language, he puts on such a natural, believable performance, emoting humour, melancholy, angst, and nailing the controlling themes of the short: the weight of impending retirement and universal fear of becoming irrelevant.”
Special Mention
SWEET JUICES (Australia, dir. Sejon Im, Will Suen)
“Special mention to the outlandish, stylistically confident Sweet Juices, a film that both dazzled and repelled the Jury with its original, gross-out style.”
Best Score
Matthias Dewilde (POPPY’S SATURN, Belgium, dir. Nicole Tegelaar)
“An entrancing score that seduces you with its dreamy textures and vocal pads as addictive as the space poppies that Madame Rose, the fortune teller, speaks of. If this is what glittercore sounds like, we’d like to pre-order the full-length soundtrack please.”
Best Cinematography
Julien Ramirez Hernan (TRANSLYVANIE, France, dir. Rodrigue Huart)
”A confident cinematographic vision that purposefully set a sombre but playful mood, making even the greyest locations seem enticing and full of suspense.”
► AXIS: SATOSHI KON AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION
Best Feature Film
THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, d. Takehiko Inoue)
“For our selection for best animated feature this year, our choice boiled down to this film for its clever and well-executed interplay between highly-relatable human drama, the exhilarating, breakneck editing of the numerous action sequences that are peppered throughout the story, and for its creative and technical use of animation. A gem of a film through and through that enriches an already existing franchise, while at the same time remaining open to viewers who never have never seen or read any of the previous, existing material. We are happy to present this year’s Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation for best animated feature to The First Slam Dunk.”
Special Jury Mention
SAND LAND (Japan, d. Toshihisa Yokoshima)
“Lastly, we do have a very special honourable mention to make. This feature was selected for the vast scope of its narrative, ecological message, rich character back-stories and overall sense of adventure. An adaptation of the manga from 2000, the film not only addresses heavy-handed topics of environmental degradation and political corruption, but also masterfully balances them with stunning animated sequences of battle set amongst a backdrop of desert vistas and valleys, all the while incorporating themes of betrayal and redemption for characters who are an absolute blast to watch. We are delighted to present this year’s Special Jury Mention for Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation to Sand Land.”
Best Short Film – Gold
A KIND OF TESTAMENT (France, d. Stephen Vuillemin)
“Gold goes to a film that transfixes the viewer from its opening shot of vibrant grainy flowers dancing on the screen. A story about paranoia and identity theft on the internet. The voice over captures the eerie feeling of being observed online. And the images are breathtaking and haunting. After watching this short all I can say is I am never making another decision again, no matter how small.”
Best Short Film – Silver
ARCHITECT A (South Korea, d. Lee Jonghoon)
A story about ageing, memory and trauma told through the lens of an architect fulfilling the final wish of an elderly woman searching for a home. The animation treats the subject matter with whimsy and melancholy, beautifully coloured and realised through simple but evocative line drawings. The sounds and textures created throughout transport the viewer to a fantastical maritime setting. The film is a beautiful pondering of familial love and loss.
Best Short Film – Bronze
RECORD. PLAY. STOP. (India, d. Neeraj Bhattacharjee)
“Bronze goes to a film without dialogue that follows a probe floating through space. The worlds it visits are breathtaking. The filmmaker uses an extremely wide aspect ratio and utilises the horizontal plane in the most imaginative ways. It is a feat to tell a story using images alone – this love letter to space and science and music transports you.”
► AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA
Prix AQCC – Camera Lucida
IRLANDE CAHIER BLEU (Québec, dir. Olivier Godin)
Special Jury Mention
HOME INVASION (United Kingdom, dir. Graeme Arnfield)
Main image: Les Chambres Rouges.
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