Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse. Lisa Dreyer is festival director. Annick Mahnert is head of programming.

History

The festival focuses on genre films such as horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, Asian, and cult. The festival takes place in September at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar, filling eight screens for eight days and hosting many writers, directors, and actors, either well-established or unknown. The festival has become known as a launch-pad for genre films, where critical acclaim at the fest can lead to big box office returns. A notable feature of this festival is the inclusion of "secret screenings". For these screenings, the audience often does not know what the film will be until seated, moments before it begins. It also features many themed parties, outings, film-themed "feasts", and other events that are hallmarks of the original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. In 2007, Variety publisher Charles Koones included Fantastic Fest as one of "ten festivals we love". In 2008, Moviemaker named Fantastic Fest "one of the 25 film festivals worth the entry fee". In 2017, Moviemaker listed Fantastic Fest in "The 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World." In 2022, an online-exclusive section of programming was created: "Burnt Ends." In this new segment, Fantastic Fest wants to showcase "the weirdest, wildest, most fringe films out there."

Festivals by year

2005

The 2005 festival was only three days long, October 6–9. Screened films included Feast, Wolf Creek, and Zathura. The official sponsors of the 2005 festival were Milkshake Media, KOOP Radio, The Austin Chronicle, Jackson Walker LLP, and Independence Brewery. U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

The theme of the 2005 retrospective series was "Post Apocalyptic Cinema".

Special events

The special effects team from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe installed a display of costumes, creatures and props from the Narnia film. Legendary makeup and effects supervisor Howard Berger presided over a special effects Q&A.

2006

The 2006 festival was expanded to 8 days and held September 21–28. World premiere U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

There were three retrospective series. The first paid homage to cult midnight films and included: The second was presented by cult author Jack Stevenson and included: And the third was a retrospective of the action/crime films of director Ram Gopal Varma, featuring: There was also Meltdown Memoirs, a documentary about the making of Street Trash, which also played.

Award winners

Horror Jury Awards, for excellence in the horror genre Serving on the horror jury were Jay Slater of FilmThreat.com, Edwin Neal of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Peter Martin of Twitch.com, and Chris Cargill of AintItCoolNews.com. Short Film Jury Awards Serving on the Short Film Jury were Brian Satterwhite, Jay Knowles and Chris Cargill, all of AintItcoolNews.com. Fantastic Fest Jury Awards, for excellence in films outside the horror genre Serving on the Fantastic Fest Jury Awards were Christian Hallman of the Lund International Fantastic Film Festival, Wiley Wiggins of Dazed and Confused and Waking Life, and Scott Weinberg of Fearnet and Cinematical.com. Audience Awards

Highlights

2007

The 2007 festival was held September 20–27. In 2007, Fantastic Fest became a supporting member of the Melies European Federation of Fantastic Film Festivals and helped to found the North American Fantastic Festival Alliance, along with Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal and Dead Channels in San Francisco. The official sponsors of the 2007 Fantastic Fest were AMD, Stella Artois, AT&T, Twitch.com, B-Side, Rue Morgue, Fangoria, and Mondo Macabro. World premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

The Nikkatsu action series featured films mainly never before shown theatrically in the U.S.: ====Award winners ==== AMD Next Wave Award, for excellence by an up-and-coming filmmaker Horror Jury Award, for excellence in the horror genre Fantastic Fest Jury Award, for excellence outside of the horror genre Horror Shorts Award Animated Shorts Award Fantastic Shorts Award Audience Award

Highlights

2008

Fantastic Fest 2008 was held September 18–25. World premieres US premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

There was an Ozploitation retrospective featuring Australian exploitation films from the '70s and '80s: And the documentary Not Quite Hollywood about Ozploitation in the golden age. There was also a sampling of Japanese "pinku" titles, including ====Award winners ==== AMD Next Wave Award for excellence by an up-and-coming filmmaker AMD Fantastic Fest Online Horror Features, for excellence in the horror genre Fantastic Features, for excellence outside of the horror genre Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Animated Shorts

Highlights

2009

The 2009 festival was held September 24 – October 1. It was the first year of the Fantastic Fest Lifetime Achievement Award, which was given to director Jess Franco. The official sponsors of the 2009 Fantastic Fest were Real D, G4, Dark Sky Films, Best Buy, Stella Artois, Jeremiah Weed, Ain't It Cool News, and Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. World premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

A retrospective of the films of Jess Franco in support of his lifetime achievement award:

Award winners

Next Wave Award, for excellence by an up-and-coming filmmaker Horror Jury Award, for excellence in the horror genre Fantastic Fest Jury Award, for excellence outside of the horror genre Horror Shorts Award Fantastic Shorts Award Animated Shorts Award Audience Award Source:

Highlights

2010

The 2010 festival was held September 23–30. It was the first year of the Fantastic Arcade, a showcase of independent video games. The presenting sponsors of the 2010 Fantastic Fest were Dell, AMD, RealD, Ambhar Tequila, FearNet.com, Sony PlayStation, and Qriocity. ====World premieres ==== International premieres US premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

Live Performances ====Award Winners ==== The Dell/AMD Next Wave Award, for excellence by an up-and-coming filmmaker Horror Jury Award, for excellence in the horror genre Fantastic Fest Jury Award, for excellence outside of the horror genre Horror Shorts Award Fantastic Shorts Award Animated Shorts Award Audience Award

Highlights

2011

The 2011 Fantastic Fest film festival was held September 22–29. ====World premieres ==== International premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

====Award winners ==== Audience Award AMD & Dell "Next Wave" Spotlight Competition Horror Features Fantastic Features Gutbuster Comedy Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Drawn and Quartered: Animated Shorts

Highlights

2012

The 2012 Fantastic Fest Film Festival took place September 20–27. This was the last year Fantastic Fest was held at the Highball and South Lamar theater before it was all remodeled. ====World premieres ==== International premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres Austin premieres

Special screenings

Retrospective screenings

====Award winners ==== Audience Award AMD "Next Wave" Spotlight Competition Fantastic Features Horror Features Gutbuster Comedy Features Documentary Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Drawn and Quartered: Animated Shorts

Highlights

2013

The 2013 festival was hosted for the first time at the brand new Alamo Drafthouse Lakeline location from September 19–26. ====World premieres ==== North American premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres Austin premieres ====Special screenings ====

Retrospective screenings

====Award Winners ==== Audience Award "Next Wave" Spotlight Fantastic Features Horror Features Gutbuster Comedy Features Documentary Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Drawn and Quartered: Animated Shorts Fantastic Arcade ====Highlights ====

2014

The 2014 festival returned to the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar location from September 18–25 for the 10-year anniversary. ====World premieres ==== North American premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres Austin premieres

Special screenings

====Retrospective screenings ==== ====Award winners ==== Audience Award "Next Wave" Spotlight Fantastic Features Horror Features Gutbuster Comedy Features Documentary Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts' Fantastic Shorts Drawn and Quartered: Animated Shorts Fantastic Arcade ‘Mercado Fantastico’ ====Highlights ====

2015

The 2015 festival returned to the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar location from Sept. 24–Oct. 1. ====World premieres ==== North American premieres U.S. premieres Texas premieres

Special screenings

Award winners

Audience Award "Next Wave" Spotlight Fantastic Features Horror Features Comedy Features Documentary Features Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Fantastic Arcade Mercado Fantastico FANTASTIC BUMPER COMPETITION – Presented by SourceFed Nerd

2016

The 2016 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from Sept. 22–29. ==== World premieres ==== International Premieres North American Premieres U.S. Premieres Texas Premieres Regional Premieres Austin Premieres Repertory Screenings Special Screenings ==== Award Winners ==== Audience Award "Next Wave" Features Fantastic Features Horror Features Comedy Features Action Features Documentary Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Shorts With Legs Fantastic Arcade Fantastic Bumper Competition

Highlights

2017

The 2017 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from Sept. 21–28. The event attracted attention due to the disclosure that Tim League had re-hired Devin Faraci as a writer even though Faraci resigned from Birth.Movies.Death in 2016 after he was accused of sexual assault. Faraci's re-hiring prompted the resignation of Todd Brown, Fantastic Fest's director of international programming. Alamo Drafthouse/Fantastic Fest severed ties with Harry Knowles after sexual harassment/assault allegations pertaining to him also surfaced. ==== World Premieres ==== International Premieres North American Premieres U.S. Premieres Texas Premieres Repertory Screenings Special Screenings ==== Award Winners ==== Audience Award Winner "Next Wave" Features Fantastic Features Horror Features Comedy Features Thriller Features Documentary Features Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Shorts With Legs Fantastic Bumper Competition

Highlights

2018

The 2018 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from Sept. 20–27. ==== World Premieres ==== International Premieres North American Premieres U.S. Premieres Regional Premieres Texas Premieres Austin Premieres

Retrospective Screenings

==== Shorts ====

Fantastic Shorts

Short Fuse Presented by Stage 13

Shorts with Legs

Shorts with Kimchi: Korean Short Film Sidebar

Paired with Features

==== Award Winners ==== "Main Competition" Features "Next Wave" Features "Horror" Features "Audience Award" Winner Short With Legs Short Fuse: Horror Shorts Fantastic Shorts Fantastic Bumper Competition

2019

The 2019 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from Sept. 19–26.

World Premieres

International Premieres North American Premieres U.S. Premieres Texas Premieres Austin Premieres

Retrospective Screenings

Shorts

Horror Features

2020

In 2020, due to the prevalence of COVID-19, the physical festival was canceled. Instead, they held a completely free, virtual festival with a reduced lineup called Celebration of Fantastic Fest. The virtual event also included two special physical screenings and virtual parties. World Premieres International Premieres North American Premieres US Premieres Texas Premieres Austin Premieres AGFA presents Triple Fisher: The Lethal Lolitas of Long Island (dir. Dan Kapelovitz)

2021

The 2021 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar from 23 to 30 September. The festival was held in reformated structure due to restrictions of COVID-19 pandemic aftermath.

Feature films

2022

The 2022 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse in South Lamar, Austin, Texas from September 22 to September 29, with virtual screenings taking place from September 29 to October 4.

World premieres

US Premieres

International premieres

North-American premieres

Texas premieres Austin premieres Shark Attack Sidebar Official Competition Selection Horror Competition Selection Next Wave Competition Jurors Official Competition Horror Competition Next Wave Competition Short Films Competition

2023

The 2023 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse in South Lamar, Austin, Texas from September 21 to September 28.

World premieres

International premieres

North American premieres

US premieres

Texas premieres

Special screenings

2024

The 2024 festival took place at the Alamo Drafthouse in South Lamar, Austin, Texas from September 19 to September 26.

World premieres

International premieres

North American premieres

United States premieres

Texas premieres

Austin premieres

Arab Genre Rises presentation

Special screenings