Red Rooms won a leading three awards including Best Feature at the 27th annual Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal, with the thriller Femme taking Best Director for Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping and Outstanding Performance for Nathan Stewart-Jarrett. See the full list of winners below.
“The ultimate effect a film can achieve is to implant a significant and lasting emotional memory,” the genre fest’s jury said in a statement. “The jury was unanimously convinced that [Red Rooms] masterfully accomplished that goal.”
In writer-director Pascal Plante’s thriller from Nemesis Films, the case of a serial killer who streamed his murders in the “red rooms” of the Dark Web goes to trial, and Kelly-Anne (Laurie Babin) is obsessed. She goes down a dark path to obtain the final piece of the case’s puzzle.
In Femme, after drag artist Jules (Stewart-Jarrett) sees his closeted assailant (George Mackay) at a gay sauna, he begins dating him, hatching a plan for revenge.
Here is the full list of winners at the 27th Fantasia Film Festival:
Cheval Noir Competition – Feature Films
Best Feature
RED ROOMS (Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Director
Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping (FEMME, United Kingdom)
Best Screenplay
Pascal Plante (RED ROOMS, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Score (The Sandro Forte Award)
Dominique Plante (RED ROOMS, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Best Cinematography
Zelda Adams & John Adams (WHERE THE DEVIL ROAMS, United States, d. Zelda Adams, John Adams and Toby Poser)
Outstanding Performance Award
Nathan Stewart-Jarrett (FEMME, United Kingdom, d. Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping)
Juliette Gariépy (RED ROOMS, Québec, d. Pascal Plante)
Special Mention
Vincent Doit Mourir (France, d. Stéphan Castang)
New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature – Debut Films
Best First Feature
STAY ONLINE (Ukraine, d. Yeva Strelnikova)
Special Jury Mention
TIGER STRIPES (Malaysia,Taiwan, France, Germany, d. Amanda Nell Eu)
THE ABANDONED (Taiwan, d. Tseng Ying-Ting)
International Short Film Competition
Best Short Film
BOLD EAGLE (Philippines, dir. Whammy Alcazaren)
Best Director
Jacob Chase (MR. BLUR, USA)
Best Screenplay
David Winstone (THE NOLBELTO METHOD, UK, dir. David Winstone)
Outstanding Performance
Silvana Mihai (THE TASTER, Germany, dir. Sophia Bierend)
Lim Hyojin (SHOULDER, South Korea, dir. Kim Jaehyung)
Special Mention
SWEET JUICES (Australia, dir. Im Sejon, Will Suen)
Best Score
Matthias Dewilde (POPPY’S SATURN, Belgium, dir. Nicole Tegelaar)
Best Cinematography
Julien Ramirez Hernan (TRANSLYVANIE, France, dir. Rodrigue Huart)
Axis: Satoshi Kon Award for Excellence in Animation
Best Feature Film
THE FIRST SLAM DUNK (Japan, d. Takehiko Inoue)
Special Jury Mention
SAND LAND (Japan, d. Toshihisa Yokoshima)
Best Short Film – Gold
A KIND OF TESTAMENT (France, d. Stephen Vuillemin)
Best Short Film – Silver
ARCHITECT A (South Korea, d. Lee Jonghoon)
Best Short Film – Bronze
RECORD. PLAY. STOP. (India, d. Neeraj Bhattacharjee)
AQCC-CAMERA LUCIDA
IRLANDE CAHIER BLEU (Québec, dir. Olivier Godin)
Special Jury Mention
HOME INVASION (United Kingdom, dir. Graeme Arnfield)