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"Golfing in the winter? The rich don't give a sh*t about the laws of nature." Brainsss!! Available to stream on Screambox now is this Quebecois zombie comedy titled Brain Freeze, which played on opening night at this year's Fantasia Film Festival up in Montreal. If you're in the mood for some zombies this Halloween season, this is an option! It looks better than expected. A fertilizer used in a rich gated community becomes the source of a mutation that turns residents into zombies. Can a teen & his baby sister break free from the quarantined island before turning into grass? Reviews from Fantasia say the film "thaws out zombie formula with smart commentary and humor." Meagan Navarro writes that it wields "its satire in an engaging way that keeps this zombie comedy moving along at a quick and entertaining pace." Starring Iani Bédard, Roy Dupuis, Marianne Fortier, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, & Claudia Ferri.

Stars: Iani Bédard, Roy Dupuis, Marianne Fortier, Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Claudia Ferri | Written and Directed by Julien Knafo

The affluent residents of Peacock Island want the ability to golf year-round. Their wish gets granted in the form of a new fertilizer that will grow grass even in the iciest conditions, but they soon realise all-year round golfing comes at a cost…the experimental fertilizer makes its way into the water supply, contaminating the population and leading to a spine-chilling zombie outbreak. Before his eyes, 13 year-old André sees the outbreak of a devastating epidemic that makes him an orphan. Horrified, he must fight for his survival and that of his one-year-old sister when he meets security guard Dan on a perilous journey to safety in the Golf Club chalet.

When people think zombie horror comedy these days they’ll undoubtedly think of the now-classic Brit rom-com Shaun of the Dead. But where...

The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 25th edition as a virtual event accessible to audiences across Canada, with a

dynamic program of scheduled screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops running from August 5 through August 25, 2021, once again using the leading-edge platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72.

As the summer approaches, the festival will be following advice from local health authorities, with the possibility of also adding a range of flagship physical events to the lineup.

Last summer’s virtual edition was a phenomenal success, screening to 85000 spectators and amassing a record amount of media coverage, with 475 accredited journalists from around the world covering Fantasia and its titles. The lineup showcased 104 features, a quarter of which were World Premieres, with the majority securing distribution out of the festival, with highlights including “The Block Island Sound” selling to Netflix, “Come True” to IFC, “The Paper Tigers” to WellGo USA,...

Taking place this August as a virtual event for viewers in Canada, the 25th annual Fantasia International Film Festival will open with the world premiere of the zombie comedy Brain Freeze:

Press Release: Thursday, April 8, 2021 // Montreal, Quebec -- The Fantasia International Film Festival will be celebrating its 25th edition as a virtual event accessible to audiences across Canada, with a dynamic program of scheduled screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops running from August 5 through August 25, 2021, once again using the leading-edge platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72.

As the summer approaches, the festival will be following advice from local health authorities, with the possibility of also adding a range of flagship physical events to the lineup.

Last summer’s virtual edition was a phenomenal success, screening to 85000 spectators and amassing a record amount of media coverage, with 475 accredited journalists from around the world covering Fantasia and its titles. The lineup showcased 104 features,...

Canada’s Fantasia International Film Festival will return August 5 – August 25 in 2021, with a virtual event being planned again this year as pandemic challenges continue.

However, organizers said today they are continuing to follow advice from local health authorities with the possibility of adding a range of physical events to the lineup, which so far includes screenings and premieres, panels and workshops, all in a digital format.

The fest also announced today it will open with the world premiere of Québécois genre feature Brain Freeze, directed by Julien Knafo. The film was first pitched at Frontières, the genre co-production market run with Fantasia. It is a zombie comedy that tells the tale of an environmental disaster that leads to a fast-spreading virus ravaging a wealthy gated community off the island of Montreal. The film largely shot pre-lockdown and was able to get finished last summer. Following its Fantasia premiere, it will...

Fest heads to consult health authorities on possibility of “flagship physical events” in line-up.

The virtual 25th edition of Fantasia International Film Festival will run from August 5-25 and open with the world premiere of Quebecois “zom-com” Brain Freeze.

The festival will be accessible to audiences across Canada and feature a programme of screenings and premieres, panels, and workshops on a platform created by Festival Scope and Shift72.

The full line-up will be unveiled in several waves over the coming months.

Festival heads will take advice from health authorities as the summer approaches on whether they can incorporate “a range...

Is There a Doctorate in the House? Chokri Skids and Skates without Moving

Moving from her award-winning short Quelqu’un d’extraordinaire (2013) debut which dealt with separation necessity and the dismantling of a sisterhood, for her feature debut, Monia Chokri focuses on separation anxiety with the malaise that it encompasses and that it imposes onto others. A Quebecois Francis Ha type dramedy that is both wry and dry while sometimes fleeting in its ideas, La femme de mon frère (international title: A Brother’s Love) counts as a likeable ode to privileged and an awesome showcase for the word and thought-per-minute rambling protagonist by Anne-Élisabeth Bossé but unfortunately comes across as an over-packed suitcase of thoughts and thoughtlessness.…...

Adult sister and brother roommates Sophia (Anne-Élisabeth Bossé) and Karim (Patrick Hivon) share a codependent (borderline incestuous?) sibling bond, occasionally under the fragmented roof of their divorced but amicably cohabiting parents (Sasson Gabai and Micheline Bernard). When Karim accompanies Sophia to an abortion and falls for Sophia’s gynecologist, Éloïse (Évelyne Brochu), their new courtship throws a wrench in Sophia’s platonic ideal siblinghood.

Continue reading ‘A Brother’s Love’: Quebecois Brother-Sister Comedy Is An Impressive Debut For Director Monia Chokri [Cannes Review] at The Playlist.

La femme de mon frère

French-Canadian actress Monia Chokri makes her directorial debut with My Brother’s Wife (La femme de mon frère). Produced by Nancy Grant and Sylvain Corbeil of Metafilms, the title was lensed by Bertrand Bonello’s favored Dp Josée Deshaies. The film stars a nice brochette of Quebecois thesps in Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, Patrick Hivon, Évelyne Brochu, Micheline Bernard, Magalie Lépine-Blondeau, Mani Soleymanlou and another Dolan staple, Anne Dorval.…...

The awards season is winding down with the Oscars coming up this weekend, but don't think that you'll have to wait until next fall to see a new batch of prize-winning acclaimed films. You may have to look beyond the tentpole titles, but there are plenty of gems to be discovered in the months ahead, and "Felix and Meira" is a picture you'll want to keep on your radar. Today, we'll help you out with the exclusive trailer and poster for the movie. Co-written and directed by Maxime Giroux ("Jo Pour Jonathan," "Demain"), and starring Hadas Yaron, Martin Dubreuil, Luzer Twersky, and Anne-Élisabeth Bossé, the story is set in Montreal's Mile End neighborhood, and tracks the unlikely romance that blossoms between Meira, a Hasidic housewife and mother, and Felix, a secular man reeling from the death of his estranged father. Their chance meeting in a bakery sparks a friendship that becomes something more,...