Fantaspoa 2021 Closes With Record Audience Numbers And Awards Announcements

The seventeenth edition of Fantaspoa was again a landmark for the long-running Brazilian genre festival. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Latin America’s largest genre film festival celebrated its second online edition, with free access within Brazil to all festival content. In total, 160 films from over 40 countries were exhibited, including 57 features and 103 shorts. The massive virtual event took place from April 9th through 18th on the Brazilian streaming platform, Wurlak — and the festival proudly presented fourteen masterclasses along with 29 Q&As with filmmakers from around the globe.

According to festival directors and producers João Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, this was the finest edition of the festival they’ve presented thus far, even with the ongoing pandemic. Fantaspoa 2021 proudly received a special grant from the Brazilian government which was offered to relevant cultural events amidst the Covid-19 pandemic and, therefore, all festival content was offered free of charge in an attempt to combat social isolation through digital gatherings

In spite of the many online events taking place simultaneously in Brazil, the festival tallied its largest audience in its seventeen-year history: with a record-breaking 85,000 virtual attendees.

The winners awarded at Fantaspoa 2021 are as follows:

International Competition

Jury Members were Beatriz Saldanha, Fernando Sanches, and Renné França

Best Actor:  Numan Acar (In the Shadows)

Best Actress:  Najarra Townsend (The Stylist)

Best Digital Special Effects:  Christopher Alender and Nick Lively (The Old Ways)

Best Art Direction:  Alessandro Marvelli (This Game’s Called Murder)

Best Screenplay:  Roberto de Feo, Lucio Besana and Margherita Ferri (The Nest)

Best Direction:  Junta Yamaguchi (Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes)

Best Film:  Jumbo, d. Zoé Wittock

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Honorable Mentions:

Best Pus Bath:  Cist, d. Tyler Russel

Best Carnage:  Benny Loves You, d. Karl Holt

Best Use of Cinematography for Narrative Intention:  Dancing Mary, d. SABU

Ibero-American Competition

Jury Members were Domício Grillo, Márcia Deretti, and Marina Kerber

Best Actor:  Pepe Soriano (Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night)

Best Actress:  Marilú Marini (Nocturna: Side A – The Great Old Man’s Night)

Best Screenplay:  Cristian Ponce (History of the Occult)

Best Direction:  Rodrigo Aragão (The Cemetery of the Lost Souls)

Best Feature:  History of the Occult, d. Cristian Ponce

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Honorable Mention:

The Returned

“For the way in which it portrays the characters and themes of the female universe in fantastic cinema, and for the aesthetic construction of its images.”

Short Film Competition

Critics’ Award Jury Members were André Kleinert, Carol Zatt, and Daniela Strack

Best Brazilian Short:  The Ferry, d. Nilton Resende

Best International Animated Short:  Genius Loci, d. Adrien Mérigeau

Best International Live-Action Short:  Figurant, d. Jan Vejnar

Animated Feature Competition

Jury Members were Demian Rugna, Mike McCutchen, and Pedro Rivero

Best Film:  Frank & Zed, d. Jesse Blanchard

Honorable Mention:

The Nose or the Conspiracy of Mavericks

“For its complexity and masterful animation.”

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Audience Awards

Best Brazilian Short:  AzulScuro, d. Evandro Caixeta and João Gilberto

Best International Animated Short:  Un Coeur D’Or, d. Simon Fillot

Best International Live Action Short:  Moment, d. Geoffrey Uloth

Best Feature:  Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, d. Junta Yamaguchi