FANT – Bilbao Fantastic Film Festival, organised by Bilbao City Council, will hold its 31st edition from 2-10 May in the Basque city. It will be opened by a screening of the new movie by British-Iranian filmmaker Babak Anvar, Hallow Road, a psychological thriller starring Rosamund Pike and Matthew Rhys, which was premiered at SXSW in Austin. Meanwhile, Timestalker [+leggi anche:
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The official competition section will have 19 titles on offer: France’s Animale [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Emma Benestan
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intervista: Sander Maran
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intervista: Aislinn Clarke
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intervista: Michiel Blanchart
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intervista: Miguel Llansó
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This strand is rounded off by the Chinese-European co-production Brief History of a Family [+leggi anche:
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This edition of the festival sees it continuing to throw its weight behind local talents, granting them space in the FANT Laburrean – Euskal Filmak official section, which features Basque short films. What’s more, FANT is strengthening its European reach thanks to its membership of the Méliès International Festivals Federation (MIFF), which promotes fantastical film hailing from the continent and enhances its visibility. This membership entails choosing the winner of one further prize: the Silver Méliès for Best European Fantastic Short Film. All of the shorts that receive this accolade at the festivals forming part of this institution are automatically eligible to enter the wider competition for the Silver Méliès Award, granted to a European short film in the fantastical genre. Likewise, the festival has dedicated a slot in its programme to screening various short films that have won Méliès gongs over the past year.

There will also be space for the FANT Maestros sessions, which this year are dedicated to Mexico’s Carlos Enrique Taboada (Darker Than Night, Poison for the Fairies) and to US-British helmer Terry Gilliam (Brazil). Similarly, tribute will be paid to the British company Amicus Productions via screenings of the classics Dr. Terror’s House of Horrors by Freddie Francis and Asylum by Roy Ward Baker.

This edition’s Honorary FANT Awards will be bestowed upon actor Saturnino García, a Goya winner in 1995 for Justino, un asesino de la tercera edad; filmmaker Daniel Monzón, whose Heart of the Warrior (with which he made his directorial debut in 2000 after a career in journalism) festival audiences will be able to enjoy; and actress Eva Llorach, who picked up a Goya Award for Quién te cantará [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Carlos Vermut
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intervista: Enrique Buleo
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