Competitions

Since he was four, huddled behind the sofa watching Doctor Who battle the Daleks, David has wanted to be a brilliant and eccentric scientist (or a Time Lord). Hewlett had the pleasure of playing fan-favourite Dr. Rodney Mckay in the People’s Choice Award-winning STARGATE ATLANTIS. He has appeared in numerous projects, including Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar-winning film THE SHAPE OF WATER, NIGHTMARE ALLEY and CABINET OF CURIOSITIES (GRAVEYARD RATS), directed by his old high-school film friend Vincenzo Natali, whom he's worked with on CUBE, SPLICE, and NOTHING, to name just a few of their collaborations. Other roles include Roland Emmerich's MIDWAY, Rupert Wyatt’s RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, and recurring TV roles on CLARICE, DEPARTURE, and opposite Jason Momoa on Jonathan Tropper’s SEE for AppleTV. A fan of horror and comedy, David and his partner Jane Loughman wrote A DOG'S BREAKFAST, which he directed and starred in and which went on to become a cult hit for MGM. He wrote and directed the trippy-retro sci-fi DEBUG with his Stargate friend Jason Momoa. He's developed pilots for SyFy and MGM and is currently co-writing and directing, with his partner Jane Loughman, their new “entomological horror” project, with the help of their real-life bug-loving biologist friends! Hewlett is a lifelong learner, with a passion for science, technology, engineering, arts and math. He created TechBandits.org, an online science communication and educational initiative for kids of all ages, designed to inspire the next generation of brilliant minds. He hosts weekly Techbanditry sessions live on Twitch and in person at his local community centre and assorted educational events.

Brenda Lieberman has been programming in Calgary since 1999. She is the Lead Programmer and Jury Coordinator for the Calgary International Film Festival (2007) and Festival Director, Founder, and Lead Programmer for the Calgary Underground Film Festival (2003), which just celebrated its 20th edition. She has film production experience, is a member of IATSE 212, and has been involved with several other start-up film festivals. She participates on industry juries and panels Internationally. In 2009 Brenda was awarded Avenue magazine’s Top 40 Under 40, and in 2018 was honoured with the Distinguished Alumni award from MacEwan University’s Arts and Cultural Management program in the Faculty of Arts and Communications. Most recently, she was the Executive Producer of EVENTS TRANSPIRING BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER A HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL GAME (2020).

Jourdain Searles is a film critic, programmer, and performer. She has written for The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Vulture, Indiewire, NYLON, and Hyperallergic, among many other publications. She is currently a Features Programmer for Outfest LA. When she's not writing or attending film screenings, Jourdain also performs as a stand-up comedian. She lives in Brooklyn with all her anxieties.

Virginie Sélavy is a writer and film scholar, founder of Electric Sheep Magazine and former co-director of the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies – London. Her publications include THE END: AN ELECTRIC SHEEP ANTHOLOGY and contributions to LOST GIRLS: THE PHANTASMAGORICAL CINEMA OF JEAN ROLLIN and SIXTIES BRITISH CINEMA RECONSIDERED. She has written and lectured widely on horror, fantastique, and exploitation cinema and is currently working on a book on sado-masochism in 1960s-’70s cinema.

Gary Sherman is an award-winning director, producer, and screenwriter. In his long career, Mr. Sherman has dozens of feature length films, dramatic television series, documentary, industrial, and music films on his resumé. Among his feature film credits are DEATH LINE, recently named by the British Film Institute among the Ten Great British Films by American Directors, DEAD AND BURIED, considered a foremost iconic horror film of the ’80s, and VICE SQUAD, a critical and box-office hit. TV credits most recently include A&E’s THE FIRST 48: MISSING PERSONS, creator and executive producer; writer, producer, and director of ABC-TV’s hit show MISSING PERSONS starring Daniel J. Travanti; and Executive Producer on POLTERGEIST: THE LEGACY. He also turned the popular comic book JOHN SABLE into a series for ABC-TV. Having twice previously failed at retirement, he is currently in active development, as writer and producer, on two TV pilots and a feature film project.

Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, known as Moorhead&Benson, are the co-directing team behind the 2018 sci-fi cult hit THE ENDLESS, as well as the horror-romance SPRING, SYNCHRONIC starring Anthony Mackie, and the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival sleeper success RESOLUTION. With a do-it-yourself approach to filmmaking, they often wear as many hats as possible on their films: writing, directing, acting, producing, cinematography, editing, and visual effects. Along with their producing partner David Lawson, they run the boutique indie production company Rustic Films (SHE DIES TOMORROW). They have most recently directed the Netflix series ARCHIVE 81, as well as MOON KNIGHT and LOKI for Marvel Studios. Their critically acclaimed fifth feature film SOMETHING IN THE DIRT premiered at Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically in the USA in November 2022.

Hailing from Ireland, Sarah Bolger currently stars in the hit FX series MAYANS M.C. She just wrapped a lead role in the HBO Europe series REMATCH. Bolger appeared on Starz’s COUNTERPART and AMC’s INTO THE BADLANDS. In film, she most recently starred in WE BROKE UP. She starred as the female lead opposite Logan Lerman and John Hawkes in Elfar Adalsteins’ END OF SENTENCE, and Abner Pastoll’s critically acclaimed A GOOD WOMAN IS HARD TO FIND. Previously, Bolger starred in Conor McDermottroe’s HALAL DADDY opposite Colm Meaney and Art Malik; Michael Thelin’s independent feature EMELIE, which made its debut at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival, and Relativity’s thriller THE LAZARUS EFFECT alongside Olivia Wilde, Evan Peters, and Mark Duplass. Bolger first made her award-winning debut at the age of 11 in Jim Sheridan’s IN AMERICA for Fox Searchlight. Since then, Bolger has top-lined Mark Water and Paramount’s THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES, Mary Harron and IFC’s THE MOTH DIARIES, and Max Mayer’s AS COOL AS I AM, opposite James Marsden and Claire Danes. In television, Bolger played pivotal roles in Showtime’s Golden Globe-nominated and IFTA-winning THE TUTORS and ABC’s ONCE UPON A TIME.

David Lawson Jr. moved to L.A. in 2006 and worked as a PA in music videos. After climbing the ladder, he made the leap to features with the 2012 film RESOLUTION. In 2017, after working as Head of Production for Snowfort Pictures, he formed Rustic Films with collaborators Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. His features include SOMETHING IN THE DIRT, SYNCHRONIC, THE ENDLESS, SHE DIES TOMORROW, and others. He guest lectures at USC Film School, Florida State University, and AFI’s Master programs. He is an advisor for Sundance’s Collab Producing Class as well as a mentor for the Startwith8 program.

Sara Neidorf (b. 1990, Philadelphia) is the co-founder, director and curator of Final Girls Berlin Film Festival, which screens horror films made by women and non-binary filmmakers. The festival celebrated its eighth edition in February 2023 and has held screenings and talks at dozens of cinemas, museums, and universities internationally. She formerly co-curated the monthly double feature, Queer Film Klub (2012-2018, Berlin), which hosted such bills as Cyberpunk Post-Porn, Queer Horror, Dykes of New Queer Cinema, Dastardly Duos, and Girls’ Boarding Schools, as well as the film series Women on the Verge. Her cinephilic interests include hagsploitation, the monstrous feminine, lesbian vampires, and the aberrant body in cinema. She got her BA in Film Studies at Bryn Mawr College (PA, USA) in 2012. Outside of her film curation work, she also works as a session drummer and plays the drums in the bands Mellowdeath, Aptera, and Sarattma.

Angie Power is a seasoned publicity and promotions professional with 25 years of experience in the film industry. Her career has led her to be one of the leading names in Canadian film publicity. Power began in the industry with Lions Gate Films, which was renamed Maple Pictures in Canada and subsequently acquired by Alliance Films in 2011. It was at this time that Ms. Power formed her own communications company which she operated between positions at Allied Integrated Marketing as Director and D Films Corp. as Vice President, Publicity & Promotions. In 2019, she joined forces with publicist Ally LaMere-Shedden by becoming a Partner in Route 504 PR, a full-service boutique agency focusing on entertainment PR.

Laura is a filmmaker from NYC whose short-form work has screened at Tribeca, Rotterdam, and Clermont-Ferrand. Their feature film, BIRTH/REBIRTH, premiered in the Midnight section of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, and will be distributed theatrically by IFC, and available on Shudder later this year. Their short film, FRY DAY, premiered at SXSW, and subsequently screened at over 50 international festivals, winning 19 awards, including the top shorts prizes at Melbourne, Miami, New Hampshire and Hollyshorts. It can currently be seen on the Criterion Channel. They also directed the sci-fi/comedy pilot EUREKA!, starring Karen Gillan and Jon Bass, which won Best Director, Comedy Pilot at Seriesfest and is available to watch online on DUST. They were a Eugene O’Neill Center Fellow in 2018, and a Sundance screenwriters and directors labs fellow in 2020.

A U.K./German native, Maya is an L.A.-based film producer. Her U.S. company MHK Productions is dedicated to uncovering stories that highlight political issues, giving a voice to minority cultures. She has produced in Beijing, New York, Mexico City, and London. Her recent credits include DIABLA, which premiered on Gunpowder and Sky’s Alter to 60,000 views, DEATHCEMBER’S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE, #NOFILTER starring Misha Oshervic (FREAKY) and Facebook Live’s CARDI TRIES Season 2. Prior to this, she moonlighted in marketing (The Weinstein Company; BBC and Film Society of Lincoln Center) before landing in the female content space (Refinery 29 and Maven Pictures). She is a Columbia University Creative Producing MFA Graduate 2019 & WIF Creative Producing Mentorship Program 2020. Her first feature as lead producer, Vivienne Vaughn’s LUCKY STRIKES, completed the Berlinale Talent Project Market Lab as well as the Fantasia Frontières Genre lab and got a Special Mention at Sitges Pitchbox.

Justine T. McLellan teaches Cinema and Communications at Dawson College. She has a bachelor's degree in Cultural Studies from McGill University and a master's in Film Studies from the University of Montreal. Her writing has been published in the anthology I CONFESS!: CONSTRUCTING THE SELF IN THE INTERNET AGE, and in Offscreen Journal. She produced the second season of THE OLDEST PROFESSION, a podcast about the history of sex work and sex workers.

Nick Romano is a Creative Executive at 18HZ, Walter Hamada's horror production company which has an overall deal with Paramount Pictures. Previously, he was at New Line Cinema, where he worked for execs Nikki Ramey and Celia Khong supporting them on titles such as Steven Soderbergh’s KIMI and NO SUDDEN MOVE, Olivia Wilde's DON'T WORRY DARLING, and Hannah Marks’ upcoming film TURTLES ALL THE WAY DOWN. He began his career in 2018 at ICM Partners in the mailroom before landing as a motion picture literary assistant to Bryan Diperstein and Harley Copen. The Queens-born exec graduated from Brooklyn College with a B.A. in screenwriting. During his time there, he completed multiple internships with stints at A24, Bleecker Street, Scott Rudin, and Dimension Films.

Jerome Sable is a writer, director and composer for film and television. Originally from Montreal, he used to do plays at the Fringe Festival (JOB: THE HIP-HOP MUSICAL), comedy at the Just For Laughs Festival (GRAFENBERG ALL-STARS), and then he transitioned into making films, including short horror musicals (THE LEGEND OF BEAVER DAM) and feature horror musicals (STAGE FRIGHT, starring Minnie Driver and Meat Loaf), often working with longtime collaborator Eli Batalion. Nowadays, in addition to horror and genre cinema, he also likes to make animated comedies and television. His work has spanned many genres and has spawned many notes from Hollywood executives at Disney, Fox, Sony, NBCUniversal and Blumhouse, among others. Recently he wrote and sold an animated feature film to Sony Pictures Animation with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s Seven Bucks producing. Current projects include THE PARASITE & THE HOST, an adult animation series he co-created with Nicholas Musurca in development with Just For Laughs TV, and SKATE OR DIE, a death tournament thriller he co-wrote with Musurca, with Philip Kalin-Hajdu and AMP producing and handling worldwide sales. Sable has been a fan of Fantasia and its audiences for decades and is thrilled to be on this year’s International Shorts jury.

Nadim is a visual artist who resides in Montreal. He is currently working as digital matte painter for Pixomondo and has done matte painting work on films such as TOP GUN: MAVERICK and TV series such as THE OA and LOVE, DEATH AND ROBOTS. He also maintains a visual art practice in the form of oil painting and ink drawing. He curates a healthy Instagram account with his artwork and has prints of his work for sale. He has been avid Fantasia festivalgoer since 2006 and is delighted to be on the jury team for animation this year.

Aki Takabatake is the founder and CEO of Momo Films Inc., a Toronto-based boutique film distribution company that specializes in Japanese films. A graduate of the University of British Columbia, Aki began her career as a film buyer at a Japanese distribution company in Tokyo. She has since worked in various roles in the film industry, including in the programming department of the Toronto International Film Festival, as an associate producer for Netflix's AGE OF SAMURAI: BATTLE FOR JAPAN, and as an assistant/interpreter for the showrunner of Apple TV+'s PACHINKO Season 2. She has also worked on many documentaries made for PBS, CBC, and other Canadian broadcasters. She has facilitated Telefilm's Perspective Canada initiative in Tokyo. Additionally, she has been a driving force behind the Toronto Japanese Film Festival (TJFF) for the last 12 years.

Arizona O’Neill is a Montreal based illustrator and filmmaker. She has created original videos for CBC’s Creator Network, and artists such as Laurence Philomène and Patrick Watson. Her monthly painted illustrations fill the window of the Drawn & Quarterly bookstore in Mile End. Her book of illustrated graphic interviews with celebrated and controversial Quebec artists, called Est-ce qu’un artiste peut être heureux?, was released in November 2022

Marc-Antoine Lévesque has been studying cinema and television for the past 12 years. For more than 15 years, he has been writing and creating content on the subject of cultural production. He is the contents director and co-founder of the Laboratoire de contenus La Marquise, where he participates in several local, pan-Canadian and international projects. He is also the director of programming for Association Cinémaniak and a member of the board at the Québec’s Critics Association (AQCC), as treasurer, since 2020. He also collaborates with Ciné-bulles since 2022.

Mathieu Li-Goyette is a film critic and doctor of literature, specializing in American comic books from the first half of the 20th century. Editor-in-chief of Panorama-cinéma, he has overseen several film criticism anthologies and programmed film events and retrospectives in Montreal and for the Berlin Critics' Week. He is also a lecturer at the Center for Asian Studies at the Université de Montreal where he alternately teaches anime, manga and Japanese cinema.

A critic, programmer and teacher, Guillaume Potvin studied screenwriting and cinema at l’UQAM and the Université de Montréal, respectively. He has written for the film magazine Séquences for nearly ten years, worked at the Cinémathèque Québécoise, and as a film and media teacher at the college level, among other things. He is currently the programming and technical coordinator at Cinéma Public, a movie theater in Villeray.

Bogdan began his career as an animator on Félix Dufour-Laperrière's animated feature VILLE NEUVE (2019). He then animated the next film by the same director, ARCHIPEL (2021). In 2018, he graduated from Concordia University with his short film DiM, which was presented at several festivals, including the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Over the years, Bogdan has animated on several projects, including the shorts LOLOS by Marie Valade (2021), A NIGHT FOR THE DOGS by Max Woodward (2022) and CHASING BIRDS by Una Lorenzen (2022). He has also contributed to feature films such as PRINCESSE DRAGON (2021) and PAWS OF FURY: LEGEND OF HANK (2022). He is currently working on Félix Dufour-Laperrière's next feature film, LA MORT N'EXISTE PAS. In 2021, Bogdan co-directed the animated short LE GIVRE DE BOBBY-YVES, and in 2022, he directed PAR VENTS ET MARÉES, produced by the National Film Board as part of the Alambic programme.

Originally from Belgium, Louis Bodart grew up in the Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie regions. He moved to Montreal in 2016, where he was admitted to the Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema. In 2019, he completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with a major in animation, graduating with his film À LA RESCOUSSE DE L'OURS. He was then selected in November 2021 for the Hothouse apprenticeship at the National Film Board of Canada, where he directed his second short film, 100 MILES. While still at the NFB, he worked as an animator on an upcoming short film directed by Torill Kove. In 2022, Louis took part in a creative residency at the Grande rencontre des arts médiatiques in Percé, Gaspésie. In 2023, he is a guest programmer at Les Percéides International Film and Art Festival.

Rachel Samson is an animation filmmaker from Quebec City. Since graduating from Concordia University with a BFA in Animation (BFA 2019), she has been interested in traditional, digital, and in-camera animation, as well as scriptwriting and drawing. The animated shorts SOIR DE SEMAINE, PARC À CHATS and TEMPS DE GLACE, as well as several collaborations, marked her debut. Rachel is currently directing CRÈME À GLACE, with the support of Embuscade Films.

Fantasia: More fun than ever on the big screen

It's that wonderful time of year when film fans gather, reunite, and share unique moments in front of the big screen as genre films unfold — funny, terrifying, mysterious, sometimes all at the same time. There's no doubt that Fantasia is a place where everything is possible, a kaleidoscope of the themes and imagination that animate the planet, which has never been so animated…

Once again, the public is invited to attend this major event in genre cinema, and L'Écran Fantastique is responding by renewing its partnership and awarding the prize for Best Genre Feature Film presented at the festival for the 18th year running. Time flies…

While we wait to find out which film will win this award, dozens from all over the world (and sometimes even from elsewhere, you might think) will be jostling for position on the screen. May the best film win, of course, but let the others also be seen and appreciated for what they are, and what they arouse in us: a passion.

And let's not forget that the films shown deserve to be seen on the big screen, and that in any case, not all of them will end up on streaming platforms — film fans, take your seats!

Yves Rivard

Prix L’Écran Fantastique

yrmedia@videotron.ca