Brazil’s Fantaspoa film festival is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, and the festival is breaking numerous records, presenting an impressive total of 114 feature films, 22 of these as World Premieres, marking the largest number of feature films in Fantaspoa’s long history.
The final selection of feature films for Fantaspoa’s highly-anticipated 20th edition has been exclusively presented to Bloody Disgusting, so read on for everything you need to know!
The festival tells us this week, “With a diverse selection, the feature films screening at Fantaspoa Xx have been divided into seven distinct competitive categories: International, Ibero-American, National, Documentary, Animation, All-Nighter, and Low Budget, Great Films. These categories promise audiences a variety of cinematic experiences, from the fringes of horror and fantasy to the depths of the human imagination.
“In addition to feature films, Fantaspoa will screen 123 short films, totaling 237 participating works, making this edition of the festival the largest in its history.
The final selection of feature films for Fantaspoa’s highly-anticipated 20th edition has been exclusively presented to Bloody Disgusting, so read on for everything you need to know!
The festival tells us this week, “With a diverse selection, the feature films screening at Fantaspoa Xx have been divided into seven distinct competitive categories: International, Ibero-American, National, Documentary, Animation, All-Nighter, and Low Budget, Great Films. These categories promise audiences a variety of cinematic experiences, from the fringes of horror and fantasy to the depths of the human imagination.
“In addition to feature films, Fantaspoa will screen 123 short films, totaling 237 participating works, making this edition of the festival the largest in its history.
- 3/28/2024
- by John Squires
- bloody-disgusting.com
Yugo Sakamoto’s Baby Assassins, which screened at the Glasgow Film Festival in 2022, told the story of two highly skilled but nevertheless adorable young assassins whose lives fall apart when their agency forces them to share a flat. The moment that we see Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa) again in this film, which screened as part of the 2024 festival, it’s obvious that the bond they formed back then has really blossomed. They are living in a gloriously untidy, candy-coloured paradise whose tables are piled high with sweets and desserts in which they indulge at every opportunity – but they’re still in good shape, of course, because they still work as contract killers.
They need to. Outside of their work, their disorganisation extends beyond the domestic sphere. An unpaid gym membership results in massive penalties from accrued fines and interest, landing them in hot water, and...
They need to. Outside of their work, their disorganisation extends beyond the domestic sphere. An unpaid gym membership results in massive penalties from accrued fines and interest, landing them in hot water, and...
- 3/6/2024
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
"You can bet on me." Well Go USA has revealed an official trailer for an action comedy sequel from Japan titled Baby Assassins 2, once again written and directed by Japanese action filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. This is a follow-up to the 2021 film Baby Assassins, about two high school girls who also just so happen to be highly trained assassins. Apparently it was enough of a success they had to come back and make a sequel - with everyone returning for more. After the agency suspends its top assassins, aspiring hitmen decide to eliminate them—leading to a lightning-fast showdown between trained killers. Baby Assassins 2 brings back Akari Takaishi and the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa as the two leads - who try to stay alive. With Atomu Mizuishi, Tomo Nakai, Tsubasa Tobinaga, Tetsu Watanabe, Joey Tee, Oto Abe, and Tatsuomi Hamada. This played at...
- 2/23/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
As we have mentioned many times before, the most successful product of Asian cinema towards the US market (apart from anime) are the action/martial arts movies, and as such, it is by no surprise that the biggest industries of the continent and particularly S.Korea have invested heavily towards the particular category, with China following close by, in a genre that, most of the time, budget is the most crucial element. In that fashion, ultra violent and stylistic is the path S. Korea productions follow (this year), while China seems to be going more towards the sci-fi now that the Ip Man franchise has become somewhat preterit. Japan choose live-action adaptation or its rather famous franchises, while the duo of Tak Sakaguchi and Yudai Yamaguchi continue their effort to produce as realistic martial arts scenes as possible. China follows the stylistic martial arts approach, while India has come up...
- 12/30/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
Stars: Saori Izawa, Akari Takaishi, Tatsuomi Hamada, Iwanaga Joey, Junpei Hashino, Atom Mizuishi, Tsubasa Tobinaga | Written and Directed by Yugo Sakamoto
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
Two years ago, Yugo Sakamoto’s quirky action comedy Baby Assassins came out of nowhere and blew me away with its story of Mahiro and Chisato two high school girls who live secret lives as assassins.
Now the girls are back in Baby Assassins 2 Babies, and they haven’t gotten any better at dealing with day-to-day things like paying their bills. A gym membership that’s been collecting late fees for five years and their insurance needs to be paid immediately. But when robbers strike the bank as they’re trying to, they intervene and get suspended from the Assassin’s Guild for using their skills off the clock.
But finding another job to pay the bills is the least of their problems. Makoto and Yuri are looking...
- 11/22/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Before being widely known through his two “Baby Assassins” movies, Yugo Sakamoto has also shot a grittier, somewhat darker movie, “The Janitor”, who still implements, though, the chaotic narrative approach his later movies included.
on Hi-Yah!
The titular character is actually Akira Fukami, a man whose father was murdered and was taken in by his sworn blood brother, Majima, a yakuza leader who trained Fukami into becoming his most formidable assassin. As the movie begins, and as a side job, the young man poses as a janitor in a high school where Majima’s daughter, Yui is attending, secretly functioning as her bodyguard. Despite some issues here and there, his life proceeds smoothly, until Majima announces that he wants to take his business to Hong Kong. This enrages one of the underbosses, Nishimori, who immediately starts plotting to have him killed, using Fukami, to whom he reveals...
on Hi-Yah!
The titular character is actually Akira Fukami, a man whose father was murdered and was taken in by his sworn blood brother, Majima, a yakuza leader who trained Fukami into becoming his most formidable assassin. As the movie begins, and as a side job, the young man poses as a janitor in a high school where Majima’s daughter, Yui is attending, secretly functioning as her bodyguard. Despite some issues here and there, his life proceeds smoothly, until Majima announces that he wants to take his business to Hong Kong. This enrages one of the underbosses, Nishimori, who immediately starts plotting to have him killed, using Fukami, to whom he reveals...
- 10/20/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
The eighteenth edition of the genre festival Fantastic Fest is set to be held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, Texas from September 21st – 28th (badges are available now at FantasticFest.com), and this time around the festival is going to feature 29 world premieres, 24 North American premieres, and 18 U.S. premieres! Among the films in the lineup, which you can look over below, are The Toxic Avenger remake and the Pet Sematary prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines. The first two episodes of the Mike Flanagan Netflix series The Fall of the House of Usher will also be screened at the festival.
Festival Director Lisa Dreyer had this to say: “The Fantastic Fest team is ready to take you on a journey you won’t ever forget. We’ve taken the best week of the year and supercharged it: more movies, more parties, more fun. If you want to see...
Festival Director Lisa Dreyer had this to say: “The Fantastic Fest team is ready to take you on a journey you won’t ever forget. We’ve taken the best week of the year and supercharged it: more movies, more parties, more fun. If you want to see...
- 8/15/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Fantastic Fest, the genre film festival that takes place in Austin, Texas every fall, has unveiled its 2023 lineup, which includes a new take on Troma’s classic “The Toxic Avenger” from Blumhouse, Prime Video’s time travel slasher “Totally Killer,” episodes of Mike Flanagan’s new Netflix series “The Fall of the House of Usher” and the latest film by South Korean auteur Kim Jee-woon (“Cobweb”) as the festival’s reputation for bringing film fans the most adventurous offerings remains unchallenged.
The opening night movie for the festival is the new “Toxic Avenger,” produced by Legendary alongside Troma, and written and directed by the great Macon Blair (recently seen as Oppenheimer’s put-upon lawyer in Christopher Nolan’s film). Peter Dinklage plays the title character with a supporting cast that includes Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.
Other highlights include “Always Be My Maybe” director Nahnatchka Khan...
The opening night movie for the festival is the new “Toxic Avenger,” produced by Legendary alongside Troma, and written and directed by the great Macon Blair (recently seen as Oppenheimer’s put-upon lawyer in Christopher Nolan’s film). Peter Dinklage plays the title character with a supporting cast that includes Jacob Tremblay, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Kevin Bacon.
Other highlights include “Always Be My Maybe” director Nahnatchka Khan...
- 8/15/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
In an interview I had with Dean Fujioka, director of “Pure Japanese” back in August 2022, he mentioned: “I started working in Japan about 10 years ago and as I spoke with the stunt crews on site, I learned that there are less opportunities for them to play an active part in recent years, which simply led me to think that we should make more action movies in Japan”. It seems that his wish gradually was heard, with a number of action movies coming out from Japan during the last few years, in a trend that actually seems to pick up, as Netflix seems particularly interested in streaming this type of movies. Granted, a number of the titles are rather low-budget and some of them are mediocre in terms of quality, and a number of cast and crew (Tak Sakaguchi and Yuji Shimomura in particular) tend to te the same, but considering...
- 8/10/2023
- by AMP Group
- AsianMoviePulse
In an interview we had with Dean Fujioka, producer and protagonist of “Pure Japanese” in 2022, he stated: “I started working in Japan about 10 years ago and as I spoke with the stunt crews on site, I learned that there are less opportunities for them to play an active part in recent years, which simply led me to think that we should make more action movies in Japan. Kind of like regeneration of old folk houses, I thought it would be great to see more opportunities for them to show the beauty of action stunts, Japanese legacy”. It seems his urging was heard, and in the last few years, we had a number of new action movies coming out of Japan, with “Baby Assassins” and “One Percenter” being two of the most renowned samples. Reiki Tsuno is another filmmaker dealing with the concept, presenting a movie that moves towards action comedy paths.
- 8/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Hot off the Japanese action-comedy hijinks of 2021's "Baby Assassins" is writer and director Yugo Sakamoto's "Baby Assassins 2" (alternately titled "Baby Assassins: 2 Babies"). No, this isn't about toddlers with katanas accepting mercenary contracts. Sakamoto continues his story about an odd couple of trained assassins who'd rather be gorging on ice cream sundaes than pulverizing gangsters with a very slacker-humor vibe. Action can feel like an "afterthought" earlier on, but that's not a forever choice nor a detriment. "Baby Assassins 2" is as much a commentary about Japanese youths struggling to find work and nonsense bureaucracy as a flurry of furious fists, both of which find their place in this offbeat, uptempo, and quite funny sequel.
Returning as Sakamoto's "Babies" are Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa), roommates with contradictory personalities shaped into expert killers. The excessively cutesy and squee Chisato discovers they haven't paid their gym membership in roughly four years,...
Returning as Sakamoto's "Babies" are Chisato (Akari Takaishi) and Mahiro (Saori Izawa), roommates with contradictory personalities shaped into expert killers. The excessively cutesy and squee Chisato discovers they haven't paid their gym membership in roughly four years,...
- 7/28/2023
- by Matt Donato
- Slash Film
It’s July, so you know what that means… Fantasia International Film Festival time! Kicking off our Summer of film festival coverage, Fantasia is Always packed with a vast variety of films, from action to horror, drama to comedy, the festival covers the gamut of genres and offers films that [I think] no other festival does. With that in mind, here are five of my “must-see” picks from this year’s line-up.
Blackout – Genre veteran Larry Fessenden goes back behind the camera for another genre film following the likes of Wendigo, The Last Winter and Beneath. This time around Fessenden brings us the tale of a painter (Alex Hurt) who, convinced he is a werewolf, creates chaos in a small town at each full moon. Suitable Flesh – Director Joe Lynch returns with his first feature after a 4-year absence to helm Suitable Flesh, which not only stars Scream Queen Barbara Crampton but comes from writer Dennis Paoli,...
Blackout – Genre veteran Larry Fessenden goes back behind the camera for another genre film following the likes of Wendigo, The Last Winter and Beneath. This time around Fessenden brings us the tale of a painter (Alex Hurt) who, convinced he is a werewolf, creates chaos in a small town at each full moon. Suitable Flesh – Director Joe Lynch returns with his first feature after a 4-year absence to helm Suitable Flesh, which not only stars Scream Queen Barbara Crampton but comes from writer Dennis Paoli,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Highly skilled assassins lying in wait and trying to live a normal life have recently been portrayed to commercial success in cinema of late. When it comes to Japanese cinema, two such recent productions that immediately come spring to mind are “The Fable” and “Baby Assassins”. Since the former did get a sequel, which was also well received by the audience, it was only a matter of time that Yugo Sakamoto's action comedy about two young female assassins also got a sequel of its own. Two years since the release of the first and we are back in the world of our awkward but highly skilled pair of killing machines.
Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection
Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with...
Tokyo Uber Blues is screening at Nippon Connection
Since we last saw them fighting and winning against the Yakuza, Mahiro and Chisato have become elite, high-ranking killers within the Guild but most importantly, they have learnt to live with...
- 6/13/2023
- by Rhythm Zaveri
- AsianMoviePulse
Screambox Original Yellow Dragon’s Village follows a group of travelers who unwittingly become the prey of a homicidal family. After a flat tire derails their trip, a group of campers stumble upon a secluded village where they encounter a homicidal cult looking for their next sacrifice.
Gritty and grisly, the film conjures memories of horror classics The Hills Have Eyes and Hostel; films that were unafraid of pushing the cinematic boundaries of the genre.
With an hour of claustrophobic terror, Yellow Dragon’s Village was featured in festivals around the world including the Asian Film Festival of Dallas and the 32th Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
The film features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto (Baby Assassins), the buzz surrounding Yellow Dragon’s Village has grown steadily since its festival release.
Yellow Dragon’s Village...
Gritty and grisly, the film conjures memories of horror classics The Hills Have Eyes and Hostel; films that were unafraid of pushing the cinematic boundaries of the genre.
With an hour of claustrophobic terror, Yellow Dragon’s Village was featured in festivals around the world including the Asian Film Festival of Dallas and the 32th Horror and Fantasy Film Festival.
The film features a stellar young cast including Yuni Akino (My Favorite Girl), Itsuki Fujii (Cosmetic DNA) and Masayuki Inô (Green Bullet).
Written and directed by Yugo Sakamoto (Baby Assassins), the buzz surrounding Yellow Dragon’s Village has grown steadily since its festival release.
Yellow Dragon’s Village...
- 2/7/2023
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
With over 50+ films, Camera Japan Festival is proud to announce their full and diverse programme, combining films ranging from de newest and best Japanese arthouse, animation, documentaries, short films and classic cinema.
The 17th edition of the festival will be opened at LantarenVenster on September 22nd with the international premiere of Koumei’s Spotlight,
with the director and leading actor Morimoto Nobuhiro present. From 29 Sept. – 2 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam’s LAB111.
With four international and twelve European premieres, the festival consists of a special and exclusive programme. Films such as Spotlight, Nagi’s Island, Prior Convictions and Thanc You, will have their first screenings outside of Japan here at Camera Japan Festival. Among the many Dutch premieres titles from directors such as Miike Takashi (The Great Yokai War: Guardians) and Odagiri Joe (They Say Nothing Stays the Same) will be shown.
As usual, animation films will be present at Camera Japan Festival.
The 17th edition of the festival will be opened at LantarenVenster on September 22nd with the international premiere of Koumei’s Spotlight,
with the director and leading actor Morimoto Nobuhiro present. From 29 Sept. – 2 October, the festival moves to Amsterdam’s LAB111.
With four international and twelve European premieres, the festival consists of a special and exclusive programme. Films such as Spotlight, Nagi’s Island, Prior Convictions and Thanc You, will have their first screenings outside of Japan here at Camera Japan Festival. Among the many Dutch premieres titles from directors such as Miike Takashi (The Great Yokai War: Guardians) and Odagiri Joe (They Say Nothing Stays the Same) will be shown.
As usual, animation films will be present at Camera Japan Festival.
- 9/2/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
"May the syrup be tasty!" Well Go USA is releasing this Japanese action comedy on VOD & DVD starting tomorrow - this trailer dropped a few weeks ago but we're only catching up with it now. Baby Assassins is a hitwoman action comedy from Japan directed by filmmaker Yugo Sakamoto. Chisato and Mahilo are two high school girls who are about to graduate. They also happen to both be highly skilled assassins. When the organization they work for orders them to share a room, the relationship between them turns sour. This "badass new martial arts action-comedy" is directed by Hugo Sakamoto and it stars the inimitable Akari Takaishi, the rising star and Snake Eyes and Rurouni Kenshin franchise stuntwoman Saori Izawa, and the lightning-fast Masanori Mimoto—now available to watch early, exclusively on Hi-yah! - if you prefer streaming. This definitely looks like fun, but it really does have a direct-to-video vibe about it.
- 8/15/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Fantastic Fest returns this September (September 23 - September 30) and had already announced a killer first wave of programming, including screenings of Titane, Lamb, and Gigi Saul Guerrero's Bingo Hell! Today, they announced their final wave of programming, which includes the world premiere of The Black Phone, and much, much more!
The entire press release is included below and you can learn more at: http://fantasticfest.com/
Austin, TX — September 9, 2021 — Fantastic Fest is proud to announce the final wave of programming for the festival’s 16th edition, featuring the widest selection of weird and wonderful films gathered from across the globe to screen in Austin, TX, from September 23rd - 30th.
“Working on this second wave has been a pure joy for the programming team,” says Fantastic Fest Director of Programming Annick Mahnert. “With films coming from as far as Senegal, Latvia, Iran and Kazakhstan, and topics ranging from teenage assassins,...
The entire press release is included below and you can learn more at: http://fantasticfest.com/
Austin, TX — September 9, 2021 — Fantastic Fest is proud to announce the final wave of programming for the festival’s 16th edition, featuring the widest selection of weird and wonderful films gathered from across the globe to screen in Austin, TX, from September 23rd - 30th.
“Working on this second wave has been a pure joy for the programming team,” says Fantastic Fest Director of Programming Annick Mahnert. “With films coming from as far as Senegal, Latvia, Iran and Kazakhstan, and topics ranging from teenage assassins,...
- 9/9/2021
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
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