The 29th Fantasia Fest isn’t over but, however we already know the massive winners in Montreal. On Saturday evening, filmmakers and jurors gathered in a theater at Cinéma du Musée to award seven of the competitors’s eight classes. (Les Fantastiques Week-Ends Du Cinéma Québécois, a regional class, was introduced final week.)
“Mother of Flies” took dwelling the Cheval Noir for Best Film — the primary movie from the U.S. to attain this feat — in addition to Best Score. The haunting characteristic was a household affair, from filmmakers and punk band John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser. They’re collectively generally known as — await it — the Adams Family.
“That’s just good marketing,” joked director Pascal Plante, whose movie “Red Rooms” gained the Cheval Noir in 2023. Plante served because the part’s jury president in 2025, and introduced Best Film.
“I want to put my heart up to the mic, so you can hear how fast it’s going right now,” stated Zelda Adams, the eldest little one. “Thank you, Fantasia, so much for this. I can’t believe it. Every time we finish a film, we think to ourselves, ‘Is it good enough to get into Fantasia?’ And luckily, this one was!”
Like the Adams’ previous Fantasia entries, “Mother of Flies” was shot of their dwelling within the Catskills. The shifting drama hangs within the house between life and dying, drawing from actual experiences with most cancers.
“Everything that we make has a personal resonance, and this one has a particularly dark resonance on the cellular level,” stated mother Toby Poser. “Learning that it speaks to others means so much to us.”
“In a Violent Nature” author/director Chris Nash served as jury president for the New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature. The prize went to “It Ends” from director Alexander Ullom. After the ceremony, Nash praised the debut for its sincerity, and stated, “Everything about it resonated with being a young adult and not knowing where you’re going with your life, and then realizing, that never ends. It sticks with you.”
Read the entire record of winners from Fantasia 2025 beneath.
Cheval Noir
Best Film: “Mother of Flies” (dirs. John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser)
“This might not be the film with the most means or the flashiest camerawork, but it’s a film that, in a meta way, reminds us why we even bother to make films in the first place. It’s funny – every time I’m back in this neighborhood, it brings me back to my Concordia days… and one teacher once told us, ‘Don’t just make films with your friends!’ and I was kind of always opposed to that concept. I try to make films with my friends as much as possible. But these filmmakers bring this up a notch: they even keep it in the family! The result is an earnest film; a true indie that feels authentic, vital, and impeccably crafted. The editing – on a laptop on Premiere Pro – and cinematography – with whatever prosumer camera you can get your hands on – are on point, to say the least. In short: it just rocks. Our Cheval Noir Award for Best Film goes to ‘Mother of Flies’ by Zelda, John, and Toby… aka the Adams Family!” —Pascal Plante (“Red Rooms”), Jury President
Special Jury Mention/Best Concept: “New Group” (dir. Yuta Shimotsu)
Best Director: Hadrah Daeng Ratu, “The Book of Sijjin and Illiyyin”
Best Screenplay: Connor Diedrich and Samuel Johnson, “Terrestrial” (dir. Steve Pink)
Best Cinematography: Alex Metcalfe, “Cielo” (dir. Alberto Sciamma)
The Sandro Forte Award for Best Motion Picture Score: H6LLB6ND6R, “Mother of Flies” (dirs. John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Poser)
Outstanding Performance Award: Bakhytzhan Alpeis, “Stinker” (dir. Yerden Telemissov)
Outstanding Performance Award: Ui Mihara, “I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn” (dir. Kenichi Ugana)
New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature
Best First Feature: “It Ends” (dir. Alexander Ullom)
“’It Ends’ is a film that manages to use low budget conventions and tropes to their fullest extent in order to create a film that runs from being an unnerving thriller to a sincere and bittersweet contemplation on time, friendship, and solitude; this would be a difficult task for even the most seasoned filmmaker, but Alexander Ullom succeeds with an uncommon level of grace and delicacy that rewards the audience in ways they wouldn’t initially expect.”
Special Jury Mentions: “Fucktoys” (dir. Annapurna Sriram) and “Hellcat” (dir. Brock Bodell)
International Short Film
Best Film: “Barlebas” (dir. Malu Janssen)
“An all too familiar story, fear of the power that women hold. A story of resilience told through beautiful images and a haunting soundtrack. The lead carries the audience along with her unforgettable original voice and songs. Definitely an easy and unanimous decision for the jury.”
Best Director: Ko Ba-reun, “Floor”
Best Screenplay: Dylan Pun, “Shrimp Fried Rice” (dir. Dylan Pun)
Best Cinematography: Sam Du Pon, “Barlebas” (dir. Malu Janssen)
The Sandro Forte Award for Best Motion Picture Score: Christopher Lund, “Proxy” (dir. Artem Skiy)
Outstanding Performance Award: Ruby Zoom, “The Collector” (dir. Scott Leberecht) and Agnieszka Rajda, “Weird to Be Human” (dir. Jan Grabowski)
Special Jury Mentions – “Weird to Be Human” (dir. Jan Grabowski) and “The Rebirth” (dir. Connie Shi)
Satoshi Kon for Excellence in Animation
Best Animated Feature: “The Girl Who Stole Time” (dir. Yu Ao and Zhou Tienan)
Special Jury Mention: “I Am Frankelda” (“Soy Frankelda”) (dir. Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz)
Best Animated Short – Bronze: “My Organs Lying on The Ground” (dir. Shinobu Soejima)
Best Animated Short – Silver: “Éiru” (dir. Giovanna Ferrari)
Best Animated Short – Gold: “Off-Time” (dir. Nata Metlukh )
Jury Statement: “For its lively animation, its designs, and its drawn universe that delighted all three of us, its engaging sound design, its reflection on time, accelerationism, and the attention and care required to be in touch with oneself, with others, and with all of life: the Satoshi Kon 2025 Jury awards its Gold Prize for Best Short Film to ‘Off-Time’ by filmmaker Nata Metlukh.”
Northern Excellence for Best Canadian Filmmaker
Best Director (Feature Film) – Chloé Cinq-Mars, for “Peau À Peau” (“Nesting”)
Jury Statement: “Anchored by a raw and uncompromising lead performance and immersive direction, this film leads us down an at times terrifying young mother’s downward mental spiral. For its unflinching and deeply human exploration of an often-overlooked aspect of motherhood, we give the award for Best Canadian film to writer/director Chloé Cinq-Mars for ‘Peau À Peau’ (‘Nesting’).”
Special Jury Mention – Simon Glassman, for “Buffet Infinity”
2025 Northern Excellence Jury: Elza Kephart (President), Olivia Norquay, Joe Lipsett, Cam Maitland, Alanna Thain
AQCC Award
Best Film: “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake” (dir. Laura Casabe)
Jury Statement: “For its judicious balance between the coming-of-age story and everyday horror, for its strong symbolism linked to the crises of 21st-century Argentina and for the excellent performances of all the actresses, we award the Quebec Association of Film Critics (AQCC) prize to the film ‘The Virgin of the Quarry Lake,’ by Laura Casabe.”
Special Jury Mention: “Burning” (dir. Radik Eshimov)
Poulain Noir
Best Film – Bronze: “Christopher and The Bug” (dir. Vanessa Lynn Esteves)
Best Film – Silver: “Soap Box”/”Boîte À Savon” (dir. Jimmy Pettigrew)
Best Film – Gold: “The Sound of Raindrops” (dirs. Max Banse, Julie Blanc, Alvaro Deolio, Elena Forlini, Estelle Jourdan, Gabriel Riera, and Lila Trouvé)
Jury Statement: “‘The Sound of Raindrop’s is a film of remarkable artistic mastery. Its animation stands out for its originality, the quality of its visual composition, and a formal approach that is both poetic and metaphorical. Through the story of two brothers threatened by a storm, both internal and external, the film addresses a delicate subject with great sensitivity. It resonates with the viewer without ever overstating its message and invites us to reflect on what binds us together. The music and sound design support the narrative with subtlety and consistently thoughtful choices. Congratulations to the entire team for this bold, powerful, and moving work.”
Special Jury Mentions: “The Little One and the Giant” (dir. Isabela Costa) and “A Small Garden by the Window” (dir. Lee Jong-hoon)
Les Fantastiques Week-Ends Du Cinéma Québécois
MELS Award for Best Short Film
- 1st Place – “Molosse” (dir. Marc-Antoine Lemire)
- 2nd Place – “Butter Knife” (dir. Théophile Mur)
- third Place – “Itty Bitty Betty” (dir. Laura Buchanan)
- Special Mention – “Girasol” (dirs. Dominic Couturier and Pierre Inglebert)
AQPM Award for Best Emerging Production in a Short Film: “Iconic” (Adelaide Sokolov, dir. April Daneau)
- Special Mention: “Don’t Judge a Unicorn by Its Horn” (Ellie Charette and Arian Salarian, dir. Ellie Charette)
ARRQ Award for Best Direction in a Short Film: Guillaume Boivin and Steve Villeneuve, “The Screaming”
- Special Mention: Théophile Mur, “Butter Knife”
EVS Award for Best Emerging Direction in a Short Film: Andrew Cyr-Marcoux, “L’écho Perdu”
Royal Photo Award for Best Cinematography in a Short Film
- 1st Place – Liane Paré, “Dumpster Duchess” (dir. Raphë, Liana Paré)
- 2nd Place – Pierre Inglebert, “Girasol” (dir. Dominic Couturier and Pierre Inglebert)
- third Place – Martin Reisch, “Island of Forgetfulness” (dir. Erin Ross)
- Special Mention – Guillaume Langlois and Raphaël Ouellet, “Greluche” (dir. Daphnée Côté-Hallé)
Fantasia Award for Best Performance in a Short Film: Stéfanelle Auger, “Envolée” (dir. Renaud Ouimet)
- Special Mention: Marguerite Bouchard, “L’explosion, et puis le calme” (dir. William Tétreault) and Maximilian Isaacs, “Here Comes Kermit Williams” (dir. Ryan Terk)
Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) Award for Best Editing in a Short Film: John-Daniel Arauz, “Kitty the Viper” (dir. John-Daniel Arauz)
- Special Mention – Marc-Olivier Huard, for Interurbain (dir. Marc-Olivier Huard)
Spira Award for Best Regional Short Film: “Frères D’armes” (dir. François Lalonde)
- Special Mention: “Rien Que Du Vent” (dir. PH Debiès)
Bam Music Award for Best Sound in a Short Film – “Loud” (dir. Adam Azimov)
Toon Boom Award for Best 2D Short Film: “Grain” (dir. Ilana Zackon)
Dragonframe Award for Best Stop Motion Short Film: “Songes et étrangetés au jardin” (dirs. Kimm D. and Caroline Hayeur)
- Special Mention: “Exit the Red Room | A David Lynch Tribute” (dir. Corey Nikolaus)
Coup de Coeur SLA Location Award for a Short Film: “A Better Day” (dir. Scott Cowan)
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