‘Bloody and Messy’: Fantasia’s Frontières Market Readies for Exploding Heads, New Zealand Monster Movie and Dark Pro-Birth Future

At Frontires Market and Forum, its all about the exploding heads.

Big, bloody and messy explosions of heads. Old-school style explosions la Scanners, enthuses director Olivier Godin, who will bring neo-noir comedy Anna Will Talk to Us to its official selection, about a book that literally blows peoples minds.

The much-anticipated event, back for its 15th edition, is bound to satisfy the oddest of tastes, delivering the likes of Animal Realm Full on Wuxia. Total cyberpunk. Stop-motion animation in full action, teases director Caochong Maing or vampire story Drawn in which the bloodsuckers dont actuallydrinkblood.

They infuse it, fueled not by visceral needs but capitalist demands for youth and beauty. The horror portrayed in this film is in equal parts beautiful, grotesque and unflinching, says Cosmo Salovaara about hisclass exploitation buttressed by vampiric motifs.

Many projects, however, will also reflect current reality from the perspective of women, including the ongoing battle for reproductive rights just like in Rhona Rees Freya, where she imagines a truly dark pro-birth future. As birth control is only available to men, her protagonist is tricked into getting pregnant after a one-night stand.

Think The Handmaids Tale without the religion, in a not too distant future reminiscent of Black Mirror, she explains.

In Animal, a co-production between Czech Republic and Slovakia, a wannabe perfect mother gives birth to a cat.

The protagonist finds herself in a neighborhood whose residents live a life advertising motherhood. Everyone here knows how to raise a child properly, only Fanynka feels completely useless, says director Milada Titelov.

We gradually descend into a surreal horror in which perfect mothers and their perfect houses with perfect furnishings become a mortal danger. In Animal, I come to terms with my own experiences. It took me a long time to admit that the status of a perfect mother is an ideal you dont really need to aspire to.

Married to Murder, Mt. Asha and Michelle Godoy Priskes Our Blood is Thicker Than Water will also explore the dark side of motherhood.

The film explores the moral conundrum of whether violence perpetrated in the name of those we love is ever justified, and how the relationship between a parent and a child is an ever-shifting power struggle, she says.

Inspired by an upsetting true story, in Alligator, Hayley Gray will take on a professional cheerleader who goes on a murderous spree following an attempted assault.

From poisoning men with benzo-laced cocaine to serving them shots of rat poison and bleach, to stabbing them through the eye, Grace begins to understand her rage is not only justified by what these men attempt to do to her, but by what was done to her mother by this same team years ago, she notes.

Within the entertainment industry, whether sports or film, women are routinely told that they have to say yes. We are meant to feel lucky to be here, but in reality the gatekeepers are profiting off our smiles, our sexuality and our bodies.

Indigenous stories will also make their mark, starting with TJ Cuthands Indigiqueer thriller Macskotw.

Its a socially relevant Indigenous LGBTQ2S genre film with the cocky bravado of Foxy Brown mixed with the vengeance of Promising Young Woman and supernatural powers of Carrie, says the director.

I aim to not only draw attention to missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and two-spirits, but also to empower the viewer by providing a much-needed outlet for Indigenous rage and love.

Frontires will spotlight Taniwha as well, about the titular creature.

Its the first authentically New Zealand monster film, says helmer Libby Hakaraia.

Authentic Mori storytelling is the backbone for our story. For Mori, Taniwha are real and not myth. They are embedded within our culture and exist in our rivers, mountains, oceans, forests and landscapes. They can be both the guardians and killers of humans.

Interestingly enough, magic realism also seems to be making a comeback, led by Ryan Wards Pure Science Fiction about a man who believes he can see his past and future lives, casting a revealing light on the dark side of technology and inviting us to reclaim a deeper, more enduring connection with each other amidst the digital noise, notes producer Mackenzie Leigh.

Noah Wagners Forum proposition The Dirty Oyster will also dabble in fantastical elements.

Enchanting, evocative and enigmatic, its a genre-bending celebration and deconstruction of true love that fuses the philosophical romance of Before Sunrise, the whimsical magic of Spirited Away and the absurdist fever dream of Alice in Wonderland, he shares.

Time to plunge into the rabbit hole:

Official Selection:Market Projects Alice

The Netherlands

Director: Jan Verdijk

Genre: Psychological Horror

Vincent van der Valk stars in this horror, now in pre-production, about parents who, faced with their unborn daughters dire complications, turn to a mysterious midwife. What begins as harmless alternative therapies soon descends into life-threatening rituals. It delves into the profound desires and fears of every aspiring parent, says producer Daniel Dow of DPPLR. It is a deeply personal narrative for the filmmakers, inspired by their own challenging journeys towards parenthood. The movie predominantly focuses on the male perspective, setting it apart from many other movies with similar themes.

Animal(Zve)

Czech Republic, Slovakia

Dir: Milada Titelov

Genre: Horror Comedy

Although she is trying to fit in, Fanynkas life in the suburbs full of perfect families gets complicated when she gives birth to a cat. She decides to steal a baby to cover it up. The film is produced by Nochi Film and Hitchhiker Cinema, while Vojtch Vodochodsk and Antonie Formanov, Milo Formans granddaughter, will star. Producer Julie Markov kov says: Its a stylized parable of modern-day motherhood. Employing elements of horror and dark comedy, and surrealist form, it tackles the issue of societal expectations forced onto women, whether they decide to have children or not.

Anna Will Talk to Us(Anna nous parlera)

Canada, QC

Dir: Olivier Godin

Genre: Dark Comedy

Nemesis Films, also behind Fantasia opener Red Rooms, is on board for this title, currently in development. Our dream cast would include Roschdy Zem, Mathieu Amalric and Adle Exarchopoulos. We hope their agents will get in touch!, laughs producer Dominique Dussault while discussing a dark investigative comedy about a novel that makes the head of anyone who finishes reading it explode. Olivier Godin is one of the most prolific and singular Canadian film directors out there and this promises to be his most explosive project, she adds. Entract Films is secured as the Canadian distributor.

Champagne Living

Canada, QC

Director: Jeanne Leblanc

Genre: Horror

Leblanc sets her sights on Patrick Champagne, a real estate agent who wants to sell the perfect house, in the perfect neighborhood, for the perfect life. But his charm conceals a bottomless pit of greed. Once a new recruit arrives, he sees his feminine alter ego in her: an unstoppable rising star. Its an incisive, precise, frightening journey into the real estate world, says the director. I want to push the language of elegant yet daring cinema and Ill be quoting filmmakers like Jeremy Saulnier, Ti West and some of the South Korean masters. Montreal-based Caramel Films is producing.

Daddys Little Girl

U.K.

Directors: Coral Amiga, Nicole Hartley

Genre: Psychological Horror, Thriller

Laura and her boyfriend are heading to her fathers villa in Italy. However, when her dad interrupts their holiday, the unsettling nature of daddy and daughters relationship drives a wedge between the couple. Terrified shes turning into her manipulative father, Lauras sanity is pushed to the brink. This darkly comic psychological thriller exposes an insidious type of dysfunction between parent and child, skewing the patriarchal dynamics within a family via a toxic relationship between father and daughter like an inverted Oedipal complex, say the directors in a statement. Federica Omodei produces, Nick Nessling-Jessup writes.

Drawn

U.S.

Director: Cosmo Salovaara

Genre: Horror, Vampire, LGBTQ

In the immediate future, a blood transfusion app connects the aging upper class with desperate donors willing to sell their youth. When Marcel, a jaded twenty-something enters into a romantic relationship with his client Justin, he is pulled into the transfusion black market. Although the vampire sub-genre has experienced a renaissance in the last decade, the depiction of the storied protagonist/antagonist has remained largely unchanged. With Drawn, Im hoping to do something a little different, says Salovaara, who co-writes with Sessa Englund. Produced by Cousins Company.

Freya

Canada BC, Australia

Director: Rhona Rees

Genre: Science Fiction

Kristyn Stilling and Athena Russell produce this dark take on the truly pro-birth future, when abortion is completely outlawed and birth control is available only to men. Rhona Rees protagonist, Jade, must fight for her autonomy and her life when she is tricked into getting pregnant after a one-night stand. Soon, she is caught buying black market abortion pills and thrown into a conversion therapy jail for pregnant women. The message will be a divisive one: Her ability to raise a child has nothing to do with her choice to become a mother, says the director.

Freya Hall of Dullness(Pabelln de los aburridos)

Colombia

Director: ngela Tobn Ospina

Genre: Science Fiction

The electric light has stopped working, forcing the government to create a service center called Sirus. Ral is confined there, along with a group of men who do not remember who they are. In exchange for the rehabilitation of his memory, he will have to generate light on stationary bikes. I believe in Latin American science fiction, says the director. It can talk about complex issues that overwhelm us as human beings. This film will focus on those who seek light in the midst of darkness and flee from the shadows of their true monster. The team, led by production company Mquina Espa, is looking for international co-producers.

Hall Of Dullness Krampusnacht

Austria

Dir: Peter Hengl

Genre: Horror

From Vienna-based Capra Film and co-founder Peter Hengl, following Family Dinner, with Bug Boy also in the works. This time, it will dive right into the time when young men in alpine villages dress up in wooden masks and fur costumes to become the Krampus. But visiting siblings Val and Mat suspect one of them may be the devil himself, and hes out for Vals soul and sanity. The concept of Krampus is known internationally because of all kinds of media treatments, including a Hollywood film, but nobody has used the actual local tradition we grew up with in a film before, says the director.

Light of the Void

Canada

Director: Ashlea Wessel

Genre: Horror

Wessels second feature following Junction Row, already backed by Raven Banner, sees a young photographer on the cusp of her big break. Capturing a photo of an unwilling subject, she finds herself at the center of a series of mysterious, violent deaths. Crafthaus produces, with Jeff Boulton stating: Its always a pleasant surprise when a captivating story, with all the right elements to make an effective genre picture, arrives in your inbox. Light of the Void is a genre-fluid picture, a heightened slice of life, a psychological supernatural horror that will take the audience on a nightmarish journey through love, consequences and despair.

Northpole

Greece

Director: Yannis Veslemes

Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Period Drama

Granted development funding from the Greek Film Centre and produced by Blonde, the film is named after a steam-powered spaceship, built by Peter Blackforest to save him and his wife Alice Webber from a great flood they both believe will soon annihilate the Earth. They also believe they can journey to the moon, where they will live and procreate, quite sure the place is suited for such things. Northpole is a pocket-sized space opera, says producer Fenia Cosovitsa, mentioning its headstrong characters and one very cool robot. An anti-coming-of-age story about the desire to stay forever young.

Prism Lake

U.S.

Director: Carl W. Lucas

Genre: Cosmic Horror

EchoWolf Productions introduces a couple who set out for a weekend in the mountains, finding themselves embroiled in a secret societys plot to resurrect a long-forgotten Mesopotamian god. Its a cosmic horror film broken up into three parts, playing with the Groundhog Day trope. But one where the characters are not consciously reliving the same day and where each day starts the same, but devolves into a different subgenre of horror, explains Lucas. Part One is a haunted house, Part Two is a monster in the woods and part three is the town with a secret, all connected to tell one complete story.

Pure Science Fiction

Canada

Director: Ryan Ward

Genre: Magic Realism

Memory Pill is keeping busy, also bringing Wards Daughter of the Sun to Fantasia. And its all during the week of our wedding anniversary. It has been hectic!, laughs producer and spouse Mackenzie Leigh. In development, Pure Science Fiction focuses on an architect whose life unravels when he starts to believe he can see his own past and future lives. Retreating into wilderness, he seeks answers to lifes most profound questions. As the world grapples with the rapid advancement of technology and AI, it emerges as a timely reflection on the profound clash between the virtual and the real, she says.

Pure Science Fiction Sub

Director: Peter Modestij

Genre: Body Horror, Drama

Teenager Nina is desperately trying to win her best friend Cici back, while at the same transforming into something less human. Swedens Hobab, behind Hatching, and Denmarks Motor are producing, completing financing and eyeing a 2025 shoot. Sub is a visceral body-horror drama on normality as being sick, Modestij tellsVariety. Subsequently, its an audiovisual and emotional experience, pushing the limits and making its audience go: WTF, are you allowed to do this? Modestij, who directed 6A, also co-wrote Ninja Thybergs arthouse hit Pleasure.

Sub Taniwha

New Zealand

Director: Libby Hakaraia

Genre: Monster, Thriller

When their peaceful world is destroyed by a brutal tribe, Keiha and Waikura, a devoted young couple, are chosen to lead the survivors to safety. However, as people start to disappear one by one, Keiha disregards his wifes astute advice. He veers away from the agreed destination, and they all venture into a strange yet seductive valley. Working alongside Wt Workshop, Taniwha is the first authentically New Zealand monster film, says Hakaraia, who will direct. Authentic Mori storytelling is the backbone for our story.

Taniwha Thank God Its Friday

The Netherlands

Director: Michiel Ten Horn

Genre: Dark Comedy

High school teacher starts his first day at a new school, but the teens seem more brutal than ever. Luckily, Joe connects with other tormented colleagues during their weekly game night, when they hypothetically murder their students. However, when one of them really gets under their skin, it pushes the game into a more realistic territory. We are choosing the perspective of a teacher, but in its bones, its still very much a high school comedy, says the helmer. Even though our main character is in his 40s, and it takes him a murder to get there, its about people growing up. Maarten Swart produces for Kaap Holland Film.

The Eyes of Another

Brazil

Director: Maria Arida

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Binica Filmes makes its first English-language film, focusing on a choreographer trapped in a psychologically abusive marriage and starting an affair with one of her dancers, Julien. When a fight ends with her husband dead and Julien disfigured, the lover undergoes reconstructive surgery to look like the husband and hide the murder. We have continuously sought out stories that not only resonate with audiences, but also shed light on societal issues. Its a powerful addition to our repertoire of thought-provoking films, as it exposes the dark underbelly of abusive relationships, say producers Karen Castanho and Joo Macedo

Worm

Canada, QC

Director: James Watts

Genre: Horror

After swallowing a tapeworm to lose weight, a former child star undergoes a transformation. Her hunger intensifies and her behavior becomes disturbing. Worm examines a womans fraught relationship to her body and the world around her, specifically the entertainment industry, notes producer Mitchell Stafiej of Type One Films. By pushing herself beyond limits, could she become one of the lucky exceptions who can make sustainable lives for themselves in such a cruel and classically inhabitable space? Or is she just like the rest of the desperate has-beens?, he wonders.

The Genre Film Lab Aisha

Canada

Director: TBD

Genre: Speculative Fiction

When sinister corporate and religious institutions unite to change the face of an archaictown, a rebellious girl must plot her escape or risk becoming a pawn in a power game. Brishkay Ahmed, who also writes, and Bonnie Do, will produce for Digital Warriors Productions. Aisha is an eye-for-an-eye dystopian tale of vengeance that shows a girls rageagainst developers and fundamentalist leaders who want to control her, they state. It imagines possible worlds but is firmly rooted in the raging spirit of an Afghan writer speaking up against the oppression of women and girls.

Alligator

Canada

Director: Hayley Gray

Genre: Thriller

In this revenge thriller (made by High Deaf Productions) a cheerleader for the Alligators professional football team finds herself doling out the kind of justice the police cant provide. When a sponsor attempts to assault her, she bludgeons him to death with a bottle of tequila. This sends her on a spree. In 2018 I read an article about the Washington Commanders Cheer Team and how they were coerced into a nude photoshoot, says the director. They said they felt pimped out, that they were beingtold, not asked. Alligator is a wild reimagining inspired by the lives and experiences of cheerleaders in professional football.

Married to Murder

Canada

Director: Samantha Loney

Genre: Dark Comedy

Kyra Weston is cast as a housewife who, after discovering she cant get pregnant, kills the men in her neighborhood. She must thwart local detectives efforts to discover shes the murderer, while coming up with a submission for the community bake off. The film is a twisted tribute to our grandmothers, trapped in a time where they couldnt follow their dreams, says Loney. With the use of virtual production, we will be able to provide a unique look as we transition from the bright happy facade of the past to the dark reality of womens issues today. Leave It to Beavers Productions and Win Girl Productions are behind the film.

Mt. Asha

Canada

Directors: Alex Vance and Stephanie Izsak

Genre: Folk Horror, Science-Fiction

When a married couple attend a fertility retreat in an isolated mountain town, they miraculously become pregnant, only to realize they have fallen into the towns cult. And they want the baby. Naltobel Productions Inc. is on board. A contemporary spin on classic folk horror, Mt. Asha turns the socially charged issues of motherhood and female empowerment on their head by highlighting the absurd pressures women are under and the extreme lengths they will go to in order to have a family, notes Vance, also mentioning stunning vistas of a mountain town and a dizzying sci-fi twist that is sure to shock.

Our Blood is Thicker Than Water

Canada

Director: Michelle Godoy Priske

Genre: Psychological Thriller, Supernatural

After moving into a small-town BB, two adolescent sisters begin to question their controlling mother when they discover theres no trace that they exist. Their previous house was lost in a fire, but one that might not have been an accident. Determined to unravel the truth, the sisters uncover more secrets their mother has been keeping from them. This film, with its morally grey characters and tense psychological elements, shows that the choices our parents make have the power to shape us in irrevocable ways, and that the consequences of our actions are never far away, says the director. Produced by Ondaefect Studios.

Shorts to Features Animal Realm

China

Director: Caochong Maing

Genre: Fantasy, Wuxia, Stop-motion Animation

This stop-motion animation from China, produced by Kytoon Studio, takes placein the depths of Gobi Desert in a dystopian Wuxia future, when a series of killings unfold. Wolves and humans, and the mechanically enhanced, engage in mutual slaughter and deceit. This is a story about greed, notes the team, which leads to schemes, deception, conflicts and death. Short film Innermost, the first story created within the same universe, has been selected for Fantasia this year. Animal Realm will bring the best craftsmanship from the Orient, promises the director.

The Dam(Barrage)

Canada, QC

Director: Rmi Frchette

Genre: Horror Comedy

Camera Chaos-produced film will transport Serge Boulianne, Dominic St-Laurent and Crystelle Quintin to the 1960s, when Raymond, a struggling musician turned reluctant worker, and Fleurian, a stubborn and proud veteran, are tasked with repairing a phone line at a dam construction site. But a malevolent witch lurks within the site, transforming workers into tree-like creatures to protect her sacred resting place. It combines legends with historical facts. In this film, I draw on the culture of the 1960s, the electrification of Canada, the pre-Quiet Revolution mentality and the music which was popular at the time, admits Frchette.

Variations on a Theme

U.S

Director: Peter Campbell

Producers: Moon and America LLC

Genre: Body Horror, Romance

Peter Collins Campbell (who co-wrote the script with Sophia Dunn-Walker) shows a graphic designer who, after her boyfriend texts her an urgent message, rushes home to find an identical copy of herself. Apparently, they are splitting into multiple versions, causing chaos and complex relationships to emerge. Using the larger-than-life setup, what could be done as a small indie dramedy becomes a mind-bending, surreal deep dive into a fracturing relationship, says the director, calling his film a unique animal. Its exploring the most intimate and personal things two people can share. In early pre-production.

Forum And You As Well Must Die

U.S, Poland

Director: Audrey Ewell

Genre: Horror

While battling survivors guilt, a young woman attempts to contact her dead fianc. In a psychedelic-fuelled ceremony, a terrifying dark figure follows her out into the real world. A mysterious neighbor appears and offers to help, but hes not who or what he seems.Luca Borghese and Amanda Marshall produce for AGX and Field Pictures. Before, Ewell co-directed Until the Light Takes Us and 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film, as well as short Memory Box starring Shane Carruth and Mackenzie Davis.

High Pressure

France

Directors: Jean Mach, Nicolas Alberny

Genre: Aquatic thriller, Survival

Produced by Mad Films, this underwater thriller is based on a terrifying concept: Two brothers. 80 meters down. 24 hours of oxygen, shares one of the directors, Jean Mach. While the cast is to be determined, its makers aim high: We would love to have James Marsden, adds Mach. We are planning a classical theatrical release but also a VR experience. The audience will have the possibility to see four underwater action scenes with a VR headset, to feel like they are diving with the actors and are a part of the movie. The duo collaborated on 2008 8th Wonderland, awarded at Fantasia.

In the Heart of the South

Canada, ON

Director: Nyla Innuksuk

Genre: Horror, Thriller

Originally from Nunavut, a writer for Marvel Comics Nyla Innuksuk known for alien invasion film Slash/Back, which premiered at SXSW, and short Breaths about Inuit singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark will now deliver her second feature. Sphere Media Productions and Mixtape VR Inc. are producing.

Macskotw(Evil Fire)

Canada, QC

Director: TJ Cuthand

Genre: Indigiqueer Thriller, Adventure

After seeing a mysterious green light in the sky, Ksik gains the power to set things on fire with her mind, but she must learn to harness it. Seeking information on her mother and other missing Indigenous women, Ksik and Jackie, her new girlfriend, uncover a conspiracy involving some of the very people sworn to protect their community. In the world I have created, victims of trauma vindicate themselves through vengeance and catharsis, backed by some seriously bad-ass spiritual forces beyond our knowledge, says Cuthand. Anne-Marie Glinas and Sera-Lys McArthur produce.

Evil Fire The Dirty Oyster

USA

Director. Noah Wagner

Genre: Magical Realism Romance

Now in advanced development, and inspired by Noah Wagners personal experiences, the film centers on a journalist who ends up in a mysterious restaurant that guarantees that eating its oyster bisque will reveal your true love. Upon meeting her supposed soulmate, they both set out to possibly expose its chef and uncover the whole truth, heading down an increasingly bizarre rabbit hole. It invites us to question our own assumptions about love, relationships and destiny, teases the director. Written by Michael Koehler, with Echobend Pictures on board.

The Hymn of Evil(working title)

Norway

Director: Rikke Gregersen

Genre: Thriller, Horror

Johan Fasting and Gregersen are behind the story of a journalist returning to her hometown to make a podcast series about the wave of suicides, hanging like a dark cloud over the villages black metal scene. She unearths truths that put both her and others in danger. Its a northern gothic story set in a small valley in the Norwegian hinterlands, a suspenseful thriller-horror with a relatable relationship drama at its core, says Petter Onstad Lkke (Maipo Film), who produces with Cornelia Boysen. Helmed by one of our most talented up-and-coming directors, its centered around a captivating female lead diving into a chilling conspiracy.