Fantasia 2026 Preview

Next week, the 2026 edition of the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal begins, and I'm so excited to be covering the fest again this year. I'll be covering virtually, but like I mentioned during my coverage last year, it's a fest that I hope to attend in person someday. They always have an incredible lineup, including one of the best (if not the best) animation slates of any non-animation-specific festival in the world. 

I wanted to highlight some of the movies I'm most looking forward to, as well as some favorites showing there that I've previously covered. I won't know exactly what's available in the virtual library until it goes live next week, but based on last year, I'll have the chance to cover plenty of great movies.

Most Anticipated

I think the movie I'm most excited for in this year's lineup is Masanao Kawajiri's Cherry and Virgin, which is making its world premiere at Fantasia. It's the director's feature debut, following his well-received animated mockumentary short, A Japanese Boy Who Draws, which played the fest back in 2019. Cherry and Virgin follows two 30-something virgins, Ryo and Ami, who are also both artists. Ami is a commercial illustrator, while Ryo draws erotic manga. After the two connect on a dating app, they strike up chemistry -- the question is where it will lead.

The premise is enough for this to be on my radar, but it's also a particularly eye-catching movie because of its unique stylistic approach. While Ami and her world are depicted in full, lush color, Ryo's side of the story is in more manga-style black-and-white. The collision of these characters also means a collision of these respective styles. It looks so interesting, and so cool. 

Cherry and Virgin

Cocoon - One Summer of Girlhood is another one that's high on my list (and one that GKIDS is bringing to US theaters in September, so mark your calendars). Fantasia marks the film's Canadian premiere, following its premiere in Japan in March 2025. Yes, it's been a long wait for it to make it to our shores, but I'm so glad it finally is!

Cocoon - One Summer of Girlhood

The film is based on Machiko Kyo's manga cocoon, which ran from May 2009 to May 2010. The film, which runs just over an hour, was commissioned by NHK to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, and is inspired by actual events that transpired in the southernmost region of the Japanese archipelago. The film follows a group of high school girls who became part of the Lily Corps, a group of students and teachers who were brought in to serve as field medics during the battle of Okinawa. Most of them didn't survive. It's sure to be an emotional and impactful watch. Some of my favorite animated movies of all time depict the horrors of war, such as Grave of the Fireflies and In This Corner of the World. I hope Cocoon is similarly powerful.

I have no idea what to expect from GROTESQQQUE, which is world premiering at Fantasia. An anthology film from Atsushi Nishigori (who served as the Chief Animation Director on Evangelion: 3.0+1.0), GROTESQQQUE is comprised of three segments centering on aliens, gyaru culture, and vampires. The description on the Fantasia site has me pretty jazzed: A pop and edgy fusion of imagery and sound creates their unique world pulsing at the seams. Sounds very cool.

Another anthology movie at the fest (making its North American premiere) is Bliss: Beyond the Edge of Time. Featuring six segments from six different directors, it explores concepts of technology and humanity from various perspectives, drawing inspiration from I-Ching, which the Fantasia page notes is a foundational text of Eastern philosophy. In a world that's increasingly dominated by technology, I imagine that this one will feel particularly timely and potent. 

I've chatted a bit via email with Avid Liongoren, the filmmaker behind Zsazsa Zaturnnah, which is making its North American premiere at Fantasia. (His 2020 feature Hayop Ka! is also playing -- it showed up at 2021's covid-affected, online-only edition of Fantasia, as well.) Avid is a really cool guy, generous and thoughtful, which makes me even more excited than I already was to check out his latest. Zsazsa Zaturnnah follows a shy gay hairdresser with a big crush on the handsome shopkeeper across the street. Said hairdresser gets transformed (by a magical space rock, natch) into a super-strong female superhero. Hijinks ensue. As a big fan of Filipino film, and as someone who wants to watch more Filipino animation, this one is right up my alley.

Zsazsa Zaturnnah

Favorites in Attendance

I've been doing quite well keeping up with fests throughout the year so far, so I've already seen some of the movies on Fantasia's slate. I'll knock these out quick and link to my reviews if you want to read more, but these are all worth seeing:

-Blaise, the hysterically funny chronicle of a family who are chronically bad communicators. The way their various plot threads unravel and intertwine is so delightful and ridiculous. This is one of my favorite movies of the year so far. Full Review

-Papaya, one of the year's cutest movies. It follows a little papaya seed who harbors big dreams of flying. Its super colorful animation, infectious score, imaginative storytelling, and environmental messaging make this a winner. Full Review

Papaya

-Jim Queen, maybe the gayest animated movie ever made? It's such a loving and silly send-up of the queer community, featuring a classic adventure structure punctuated with hilarious encounters and wonderful musical numbers. Watching a gym queen and the twink who loves him venture through the colorful and dark corners of the gay world is an absolute delight, and a laugh riot. Full Review

-A New Dawn, which I liked to a firework, since it's short and bright and dazzling, and it's about a trio of friends who are seeking to save a fireworks factory from demolition. It's one of the year's most beautiful movies, truly a sight to behold. Full Review

-Spacetime Chronicles, a mind-bending ride through time and space, rendered in incredible-looking paper craft animation. The Fantasia page for this one notes that it's for fans of Charlie Kaufman, Kurt Vonnegut, and Michel Gondry, which is spot-on. A delightfully strange movie, this one. Full Review

Spacetime Chronicles

In addition to all of these great features, there's also a bunch of amazing-looking animated shorts playing at the fest. I'm not sure if I'll have access to those, but if so, I'll be sure to write them up as well.

And, of course, Fantasia has a similarly deep bench of live-action movies too. But, you know, this is an animation blog, so I won't be writing about those here. But if you want to read more about these titles, or check out the rest of the festival's lineup and learn about attending, you can click over to their site.