Yuya Ishii’s “Sawako Decides” was the big winner at the 14th Fantasia Film Festival which took place from July 8 – 28 in Montreal, Quebec. Ishii’s comedy about a young Japanese woman who starts out cleaning up snot and ends up running a clam-packing business won the award for Best Feature Film and also snared a Best Actress Prize for star Hiraki Mitsushima.
In other awards, Lee Hae-Jun’s “Castaway on the Moon,” about a depressed man who drops out of society, won a Special Jury Prize, while Canadian Eli Craig’s horror spoof “Tucker and Dale vs. Evil” came away with the award for Best First Feature.
Additionally, the first feature jury made a special mention of Srdjan Spasojevic’s quease-inducing “A Serbian Film.” “‘A Serbian Film’ is an important film,” noted first feature jury chairman Steven Severin in a press statement. “There is much to admire about the craft and audacious tunnel vision of the makers but there is nothing to ‘like’ about it–since viewing it, it has upset me more than I thought possible. For it to have such an effect, it deserves a special mention.”
Fans also got to have their say, and voted Wilson Yip’s “Ip Man 2” as Best Asian Film, “A Serbian Film” as best European, North American or South American Film and Mamoru Hosoda’s “Summer Wars” Best Animated Film. Meanwhile, the jury recognized Sunao Katabuchi’s “Mai Mai Miracle” as Best Animated Film. Noah Taylor won the jury’s prize for Best Actor for “Red, White & Blue,” Lee Jun-Ik won for Best Director for “Blades of Blood,” and Mladen Djordjevic won Best Screenplay for “Life and Death of a Porno Gang.”
For the rest of the winners check out the festival’s website.
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