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Fantastic Fest, the annual Austin-based celebration of genre filmmaking, has announced top honors for its films in competition.
“Our winning films embody distinctive and powerful voices from a wide range of cultures,
and the exciting new generation of talent shaping the future of genre cinema,” Annick Mahnert, director of programming, said in a statement. “It is our privilege to give these exciting filmmakers the platform and recognition they deserve, and we are so grateful for our jurors to help us celebrate the very best in genre filmmaking.”
The winning films included:
MAIN COMPETITION FEATURES
Jurors: Christopher Andrews, William Earl, Marissa Frobes
Best Director: Bertrand Mandico for “Roma Elastica”
Best Picture: “Girl in the Night,” directed by Luka Marčetić
Special Mention: “Five More Minutes,” directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
NEXT WAVE FEATURES
Jurors: Taratoa Stappard, Tristan Scott-Behrends, Ariella Mastroianni
Best Director: Agata Trzebuchowska for “Sick”
Best Picture: “Adult Supervision” by Alex Schulman
Special Mention: “Jollyface,” directed by Justin Floyd
Best Performance Special Mentions:
-Konrad Kąkol and Katarzyna Lubik in “Sick”
-Cole Asher Phillips in “Phreaker”
HORROR FEATURES
Jurors: Whitney Fuller, Heidi Wong
Best Director: Nikias Chryssos for “Bloody Tennis”
Best Picture: “Ghost in the Cell,” directed by Joko Anwar
Special Mention: “The Cycle,” directed by Jordan Downey
AUDIENCE AWARD
“Five More Minutes,” directed by Javier Ruiz Caldera
SHORT FILMS
Jurors: Nicholas Lazo, Adam Piron, Tiffany Kimmel
FANTASTIC SHORTS
Best Picture: “Jimmy’s Custom Coffin,” directed by James P. Gannon
Best Actor: Richard Perez in “Richard Goes on a Date,” directed by Johnny Frohman
SHORT FUSE
Best Picture: “Bagman,” directed by Connor Gaston and Vaughn Gaston
SHORTS WITH LEGS
Best Picture: “Sinkpisser,” directed by Connor Wiles
DRAWN AND QUARTERED
Best Picture: “Pre-Parenting,” directed by Yu Yu
Best WTF Short:
“The Magician,” directed by Joe Garber
FANTASTIC PITCHES
Jurors: Gore Verbinski, Catherine Hardwicke and Nicolas Curcio
“Father Figure”
Writer/Director Connor Martin, Producer Josh Farnworth
In the second annual edition of Fantastic Pitches, the “Father Figure” team was awarded a $100,00 financing award from Chroma, a distribution deal and a premiere at next year’s Fantastic Fest. The film is described as a ’70s-set wedding folk horror movie, and the team is based out of Washington state.
Second place went to Georgia-based production “American Vermin,” which included writer/director A.K. Espada, producer Annie Jacob and director of photography Alexandra Bock. The team was awarded a BlackMagic Cinema package from Fangoria and a yearlong mentorship with all three filmmakers in the jury, as well as Curcio’s writing partner Kirby Gladstein.
