Fantasia film festival moving entirely online for this year’s edition

With mass gatherings prohibited until at least September in Quebec, the Fantasia International Film Festival is moving completely online for this summer’s edition.

This year’s festival will include a number of films originally slated to screen at the SXSW and Tribeca Film Festivals (the former was cancelled, while the latter ran as an online-only event).

Running on the Festival Scope / Shift72 platform, festival organizers are promising a number of Q&A’s, live panels, and workshops, in addition to the films, which will be geo-blocked for Canadian-audiences only.

“While we’re saddened not to be able to put on the larger-than-life physical event that we’d been planning for this year, we’re extremely excited to be working with Festival Scope and Shift72 on an unconventional virtual edition,” said Fantasia co-director Mitch Davis via the festival’s Facebook page. “They’ve enthusiastically embraced every challenge we’ve thrown their way, particularly when it comes to making so many of our screenings be real-time, live events instead of the usual streaming approach. It’s going to make things so much more exciting and will go a long way towards keeping the intensity and engagement of the in-person experience vibrant in an online realm.”

Fantasia 2020 runs from August 20 through September 2.

Stay tuned for the festival’s full lineup and registration info, but at least we’ll have Fantasia this year (and you can even meow from the comfort of your couch). Head to the festival’s official site for more info.