The 19th edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival returned to Concordia University’s Hall and J.A De Sève Theatres, and secured record numbers at Montreal’s McCord Museum, la Grand Bibliothèque, Yuk Yuk’s Comedy Club, and Parc de la Paix in the Quartier des spectacles. For the sixth consecutive year, the festival succeeded in attracting more than 100,000 spectators for 195 indoor screenings, three outdoor screenings, eight virtual reality films, and numerous special events.

Cheif among the festival’s 22 buzzed-about World Premieres were LUDO from Nikon and Q, Ken Ochiai’s NINJA THE MONSTER, MOMENTUM by Stephen S. Campanelli, ANGUISH by Sonny Mallhi, Yoav and Doron Paz’s JERUZALEM, CHERRY TREE by David Keating, Jacob Gentry’s SYNCHRONICITY, and the 11-filmmaker omnibus TALES OF HALLOWEEN. Other sold-out films of note included Takeshi Kitano’s RYUZO AND THE SEVEN HENCHMEN, Marvels’ ANT-MAN from Peyton Reed, THE VISIT by Michael Madsen, Gilles Paquet-Brenner’s DARK PLACES, and Closing Night selection ATTACK ON TITAN from Shinji Higuchi.

Additional highlights of Fantasia 2015 included appearances from director Jon Watts and actor/co-producer Kevin Bacon to celebrate the Canadian Premiere of COP CAR; Michael Ironside and Laurence Leboeuf attending the eagerly-awaited Canadian premiere of TURBO KID (from Montreal-based directors Anouk Whissell, François Simard and Yoann-Karl Whissell); a focus on genre filmmaking from the African Nations; and the attendance of director Keiichi Hara and screenwriter Miho Maruo at the North American premiere of MISS HOKUSAI, the festival’s opening night film. Fantasia is also immensely proud to have hosted the debut international performance of Glass Eye Pix’s acclaimed live horror radio show TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE, with its sold-out “Fantasia Edition” directed by Larry Fessenden, Glenn McQuaid, and Douglas Buck, and starring genre favorites Tony Todd and Jeremy Gardner.

917 international guests, including more than 400 film industry professionals, flocked to Montreal over the course of this year’s three-week festival and its Frontières Market. The festival team is delighted to have welcomed over 100 international journalists, including esteemed representatives from The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Screen International, The Wall Street Journal, The Daily Beast, Indiewire, and Le Monde.