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The Fantaspoa Film Festival has unveiled its top award winners for 2025, Variety can exclusively reveal. The festival’s 21st edition wrapped on April 21 and had record-breaking attendance.

For 19 days, Latin America’s largest genre film festival played over 200 films across five different venues, garnering over 500,000 attendees. The winners range from “Scared Shitless” in the Midnight Films Competition, “The Lonely Musketeer” in the International Competition to “The Instinct” in the Ibero-American Competition. Annapurna Sriram‘s “Fucktoys,” which had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW, was recognized for Caroline Keenan Russell’s art direction.

The main categories include both shorts and feature-length films. See the full list of winners below.

Short Film Competition

Best Brazilian Short Film: “Carne Fresca”

Best International Animation Short Film: “Tinkerhell”

Best International Live-Action Short Film: “Help, I’m Alien Pregnant”

Mèliés D’Argent Award: “L’ essence de la Sirène”

Honorable Mentions:

“A Corte da Cúpula...

Time Travel is Dangerous centers around friends Ruth and Megan who run a vintage shop in Muswell Hill. When they stumble across a time machine, it occurs to them that stock is much cheaper if they ‘borrow’ from the past – well, it’s free. They don’t want to change history, or rob banks, they just want to find a nice Victorian lamp or an authentic 80s bum bag without getting sucked into the hellish time-space vortex that is “the Unreason”. The thing is, Time Travel Is Dangerous.

The movie stars Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks (Absolutely Fabulous), Sophie Thompson, Mark Heap, Brian Bovell, Tony Way, Guy Henry, Tom Lenk (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Laura Aikman, Kiell Smith-Bynoe and is narrated by Stephen Fry.

Here at Love Horror we got a chance to quiz some of the creatives behind the brand new Sci-Fi comedy and run them through a set of quick-fire questions.

As films like The Terminator, The Time Machine, Looper, Edge of Tomorrow, Back to the Future 2 and Hot Tub Time Machine 2 have proven, going backwards and forwards across history or into the far future can be perilous to both personal and universal health. But it has taken until now for a movie to say it out loud, and that movie is the brilliant British comedy Sci-Fi usurpingly titled Time Travel is Dangerous.

The set up is simple enough and starts when two friends Ruth and Megan find a time travel machine by the bins behind their vintage shop in Muswell Hill. The scientific marvel, which is actually a modified dodgem, takes them on jaunts across history where they pilfer anything they can from the bemused locals of the past to sell in their shop. Seemingly onto a great thing the pals are oblivious not only to how the time...

Stars: Ruth Syratt, Megan Stevenson, Brian Bovell, Stephen Fry, Johnny Vegas, Sophie Thompson, Guy Henry, Jane Horrocks, Mark Heap, Tony Way | Written by Chris Reading, Anna-Elizabeth, Hillary Shakespeare | Directed by Chris Reading

Time Travel Is Dangerous is about to become your new favourite British sci-fi comedy blending mockumentary stylings with surreal, low-budget charm. Directed by Chris Reading and co-written with Anna-Elizabeth and Hillary Shakespeare, the latter two of those names, are no strangers to this reviewer.

Time Travel Is Dangerous stars Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson as fictionalized versions of themselves, running a vintage shop in Muswell Hill. The premise is delightfully absurd: the duo stumbles upon a discarded fairground dodgem that just so happens also to be a time machine, which they use to “borrow” historical artefacts to sell in their shop, as time travel movies have told us in the past though this has catastrophic consequences due to...

Time loops, Victorian lamps, and a dangerously unpredictable time machine take centre stage at an exclusive gala screening of Time Travel Is Dangerous at Everyman Muswell Hill on 27th March. The sci-fi comedy, which explores the perils of ‘borrowing’ from history, will be celebrated with a special event featuring a Q&a with the cast and filmmakers, followed by a post-screening drinks reception in the main foyer.

The film follows best friends Ruth and Megan, who run a vintage shop in Muswell Hill. When they stumble upon a time machine, their business takes an unexpected turn as they decide to “source” their stock directly from the past. Rather than using their newfound ability to change history or amass wealth, they simply want to get their hands on the perfect Victorian lamp or an authentic 80s bum bag. However, as they soon discover, tampering with time is a risky game, and The Unreason,...

A time machine is Muswell Hill? Time Travel Is Dangerous lands a March release in the UK, and there’s a trailer for it here too.

Popping up on our list of films we’re really keen to see this year is the British production Time Travel Is Dangerous. Directed by Chris Reading, who penned the script with Anna Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare, it’s a comedy headlined by Sophie Thompson, Johnny Vegas, Jane Horrocks, Mark Heap and Tony Way, with Stephen Fry narrating.

It’s a mockumentary, with a time machine ending up in the hands of, well, two people it’s best not to give a time machine to. A concept that the film appears to be having an awful lot of fun with.

The film debuted at festivals in 2024, and it’s lovely to see it getting a UK cinema release, courtesy of Jade Films. I...

At FrightFest Halloween, we caught up with director Chris Reading to discuss Time Travel Is Dangerous, which received its UK premiere at the event. Reading previously directed Somnus and the Alien Anniversary short film titled Alien: Containment, and he wrote the script for Time Travel Is Dangerous alongside Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare.

Time Travel Is Dangerous focuses on the real-life antique shop known as Cha-Cha-Cha in Muswell Hill, with the two women who run the shop discovering a time machine which allows them to retrieve priceless items from the past. However, their meddling in past events soon leads to disastrous consequences, as they unwillingly disrupt the fabric of the universe and open a gateway to a sinister reality which could harm everything they hold dear. The film stars the real-life owners of the shop, Ruth Syratt and Megan Stevenson as themselves, with the supporting cast including Sophie Thompson, Guy Henry,...

The upcoming comedy fantasy Time Travel Is Dangerous is gearing up for a whirlwind of premieres at some of the most prestigious film festivals across the globe. Directed by Chris Reading and featuring an ensemble of British comedy legends, the film is set to have its world premiere at the 31st Austin Film Festival on October 26th, followed quickly by its European premiere at the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival and a UK premiere at Pigeon Shrine FrightFest Halloween on November 2nd. To mark the film’s highly anticipated release, the team has unveiled a first-look teaser and an official poster that promise plenty of laughs, quirky antics, and sci-fi charm.

Starring beloved talents like Johnny Vegas, Sophie Thompson, Jane Horrocks, Mark Heap, and Tony Way—with narration by none other than Stephen Fry—Time Travel Is Dangerous blends comedy and sci-fi in a fresh, meta-universe romp that’s poised to capture audiences’ imaginations.

Exclusive: Siena Agudong (Resident Evil), Luke Eisner (Tall Girl) and Noah Lomax (The Walking Dead) are among the newest additions to the cast of The Upside of Unrequited, the forthcoming coming-of-age comedy from filmmakers Anna-Elizabeth and Hillary Shakespeare, aka The Shakespeare Sisters.

Other newcomers to the cast include Patrick Luwis (Barbie) and Matthew Sato. As previously announced, Ayvan Williams Jessica Belkin and Savannah Smith will also star.

Based on the book of the same name by New York Times bestselling author Becky Albertalli, The Upside of Unrequited centers on Molly (Williams), an awkward teenager who feels left behind when her twin sister Cassie (Belkin) starts her first relationship with her dream girl Mina (Agudong). In an attempt to get closer to her sister again, Molly lets Cassie set her up with Mina’s best friend Will (Eisner). Molly goes along with it but she’s caught:...

Here’s the latest episode of the The Filmmakers Podcast, part of the ever-growing podcast roster here on Nerdly. If you haven’t heard the show yet, you can check out previous episodes on the official podcast site, whilst we’ll be featuring each and every new episode as it premieres.

For those unfamiliar with the series, The Filmmakers Podcast is a podcast about how to make films from micro budget indie films to bigger budget studio films and everything in-between. Our hosts Giles Alderson, Dan Richardson, Andrew Rodger and Cristian James talk how to get films made, how to actually make them and how to try not to f… it up in their very humble opinion. Guests will come on and chat about their film making experiences from directors, writers, producers, screenwriters, actors, cinematographers and distributors.

The Filmmakers Podcast #269: Much Ado about making Feature Films with the Shakespeare...

Switzerland’s Locarno Film Festival is launching a new industry event focusing on Africa. The Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy, hosted in collaboration with the Realness Institute of Africa, will take place online from 26 September to 2 October 2021 and will welcome 10-12 participants from all over the African continent. The project offers a tailored program featuring masterclasses and meetings with internationally established professionals. The aim is to enhance participants’ understanding of the challenges facing the film industry, while allowing them to expand their personal network of contacts and develop their professional skill set. “The Southern Africa-Locarno Industry Academy will allow us to introduce our program for young professionals in this region. Participants will be able to connect with Industry Academy alumni in Latin America, the Middle East, the USA and Europe, joining an international network of future industry players,” said Markus Duffner, the new head of Locarno Pro.

Exclusive: Paris-based Reel Suspects...

U.K. production company Shakespeare Sisters has acquired the film rights to the popular YA novel “The Upside of Unrequited,” written by best-selling scribe Becky Albertalli. The author’s debut novel, “Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda,” was adapted as the gay teen romantic comedy movie “Love, Simon,” which – distributed by 20th Century Fox – grossed $66 million worldwide, and inspired the Hulu spin-off series “Love, Victor.”

The movie adaptation of “The Upside of Unrequited” will be written and directed by Hillary Shakespeare and Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare, who are best known for their recent coming-of-age film “Soundtrack to Sixteen.” Albertalli also joins as executive producer on the feel-good summer romance.

The story centers on awkward 17-year-old Molly, who has had 26 crushes and exactly zero kisses. She’s sure love confessions can only go one way for weight-challenged girls: utter humiliation. Now that her twin Cassie is swept up in her first romance, Molly has never felt more alone.