Blog: Film festivals

Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the US, specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. The festival is dedicated to championing challenging and thought-provoking cinema, celebrating new voices and new stories from around the world and supporting new filmmakers. We work with various other festivals, archives, cinematheques and individuals to spotlight lesser-known film regions, luminaries and more in an ongoing effort to expand the general knowledge and appreciation of cinema. We are committed to supporting film in its most provocative, ground-breaking and underseen forms, and giving the audience a chance to find new favorites and future genre classics.
Each year we bring together fans, guests, industry, press and others in an inclusive and fun environment for a weeklong celebration of film in all its forms through carefully curated screenings and events, both in and outside of the theaters.

In years past, Fantastic Fest has been home to world premieres of BONE TOMAHAWK, JOHN WICK, FRANKENWEENIE, MACHETE KILLS, RED DAWN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND, RED, SPLIT, OVERLORD, APOSTLE and THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, while the guest roster has included such talent as Tim Burton, Nicolas Winding-Refn, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky Mike Judge, M. Night Shyamalan, James McAvoy, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Jamie Lee Curtis, Steven Yeun, Danny McBride, Tenacious D and more.

Fantastic Fest has been hailed as one of the “25 coolest film festivals” by MovieMaker Magazine, “the wildest film festival in America” by The Guardian, “a secret weapon for the arthouse market” by Indiewire as well as “the coolest film festival in the world” by IGN.

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