This year marks Fantasia International Film Festival's 30th edition, and as such, I'm raising the curtain with 30 movies (15 features, 15 shorts) I believe y'all should check out, either while walking the floor in Canada or scrolling virtually via the comfort of your own home!

Features

1. SLEEP NO MORE dir. Edwin. Jul 18.

2. ATTACK ON PARADISE dir. Bob Colaers. Jul 19.

3. YOU ARE THE FILM dir. Makoto Ueda. Jul 19.

4. LOS VAMPIRES dir. Craig Mitchell. Jul 21.

5. SOMEONE'S DAUGHTER dir. Wiebke von Carolsfeld. Jul 21.

6. NIGHTBORN dir. Hanna Bergholm. Jul 22.

7. NO REST FOR THE WICKED dir. Kasper Kalle. Jul 22 & 25.

8. FERINE dir. Andrea Corsini. Jul 23 & 26.

9. INSECTASY dir. Angus Silver. Jul 24 & 27.

10. SOUR MINNOWS dir. Harrison Atkins. Jul 24 & 29.

11. UNHOLY NIGHT dir. Michael Gabriele. Jul 25 & 27.

12. THE GLORIOUS DEAD dir. John Adams & Toby Poser. Jul 27.

13. COLONY dir. Yeon Sang-ho. Jul 29.

14. THE PERIL AT PINCER POINT dir. Noah Stratton-Twine and Jake Kuhn. Aug 1 & 2.

15. THE FOX dir. Dario Russo. Aug 2.

Shorts

1. JINGLE JANGLE dir. Sionne Elise - Jul 17.

2. GOODBYE, MONSTER dir. Luke Barnett - Jul 17.

3. THE MAN THAT I WAVE AT dir. Ben S. Hyland - Jul 17.

4. 20001: A SPACE ODYSSEY dir. Haruki Kasugamori - Jul 18.

5. SPEEDY! dir. Oh Ji-in - Jul 20.

6. MAN EATING PUSSY dir. Emily Lawson - Jul 21.

7. THE LAST DIY SHOW dir. Jo Gaffney - Jul 21.

8. REDNECK dir. Alexandria Basso - Jul 26.

9. ANGELS dir. Sam Mandich - Jul 26.

10. FRIENDS LIKE US dir. Ray Savaya - Jul 30 & 31.

11. THE RETURN SOLUTION dir. Nathan Dubé - Jul 31.

12. PRIMUS LE ROBOT dir. Max Delagrave - Aug 2.

13. MANCAVE dir. Fredrik S. Hana - Aug 2.

14. PASS dir. Jon Ramirez - Aug 2.

15. MANHOLE dir. Jake Low - Aug 2.

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Anthony Frith, disillusioned by the possibility his filmmaking dreams might have been usurped by everyday responsibilities, decided to go boldly into the unknown.

He emailed legendary mockbuster (parodies of blockbuster films - i.e. TRANSMORPHERS instead of TRANSFORMERS) studio The Asylum to ask if they'd let him direct a movie. Never mind the fact Anthony had never directed a feature film. But the worst they could say was "No," right?

To his surprise, The Asylum accepted and this is where Frith's documentary MOCKBUSTER kicks in, telling the story of his "6-day special," a phrase coined by The Asylum for movies filmed in - you guessed it - six days.

What results is chaos, not dissimilar to that of a freshly-punted anthill. After receiving his mission in Los Angeles, Frith flies home to Australia to wait weeks for a script, wrangle together a local cast and crew, wade through studio interference and get the thing done, all while occasionally staring off into the distance to ask "Am I cut out for this?"

It's a touching, funny documentary about providing one's nascent creativity with enough bumps and scrapes to take shape in the real world. What starts out as growing pains, this painful dichotomy between the fears of selling out and the inability to fulfill the purest expressions of art, turns into a gentle reminder: Don't take it all too seriously. Have fun. The joys of birthing a project into the world outweigh the terrors and labors of getting it there. It's a mockbuster, baby. Just say yes.

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Watch LESSONS FROM A MIDDLE CLASS ARTIST here

MOCKBUSTER is currently available to watch in select theatres and on digital platforms across the U.S. & Canada.

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (the 2025 version from The Asylum, not the 2009 version from the Asylum) is available to watch on Tubi.

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Today, I interview Anthony Frith, the director of MOCKBUSTER. The term refers to a knock-off of a blockbuster. For every FAST AND THE FURIOUS, there's a FAST AND THE FIERCE.

No studio does this more prolifically than The Asylum, best known for pumping out B-and-C movies quick, fast and dirty. They're the SHARKNADO crew.

Frith sent them a cold email, asking to direct one of their movies and make a documentary about the process. They agreed and MOCKBUSTER, this insane story about getting a movie filmed in just six days, was born.

We chatted about being silly online, balancing the needs of an Asylum sci-fi flick with those of a documentary, the realities of moviemaking, the surrealities of having AI write not one but two books about one's unreleased documentary, and so much more.

MOCKBUSTER is currently available to watch in select theatres and on digital platforms across the U.S. & Canada.

THE LAND THAT TIME FORGOT (the 2025 version from The Asylum, not the 2009 version from the Asylum) is available to watch on Tubi.

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