It's lucky number 13 for Fantasia as they announced today that Takashi Miike’s Yatterman is scheduled to open the 13th Fantasia Film Festival the year, which runs from July 9th to the 27th in Montreal. Fantasia and Miike go way back to 1997 when Fantasia was the first North American film festival to screen a Miike film. And a special congrats to FEARnet's own Scott Weinberg assigned as jury judge in the Best First Feature category. Hit the jump for a few more teases from Fantasia before they release their full schedule on June 29th.

From the Fantasia Press Release:

JAPANESE CINEMA AT ITS BEST
With an imposing selection of 35 feature films, Japanese cinema is making a great impact at this year’s festival and showcasing the vitality and diversity of the country’s film industry. Sure-fire hits and delightful discoveries await you. One of the great masterpieces of this year’s selection will undoubtedly be the exquisite LOVE EXPOSURE, an extravagant and touching four-hour opus to love from Sion Sono. This film has received several prizes at the Berlin International Film Festival, including the FIPRESCI prize.

VIBRANT QUEBEC SHORT FILMS
The Quebec movie scene will once again be featured with the return of the FANTASTIC WEEKEND OF QUEBEC SHORTS, which will screen more than a hundred creations over three days, starting on July 24th through the 26th, from established talents and up-and-comers alike. In this way, the festival is hoping to encourage new trends and local young filmmakers by giving them a prestigious stage and an opportunity to develop precious contacts within the movie industry. Many feature-length films from Quebec will also be shown throughout the festival, including Robin Aubert’s second film, an existential road movie filmed in the heart of modern-day India.

THIS YEAR’S EDITION WILL ALSO FEATURE A HAND PAINTED POSTER, PRIZES, TRIBUTE, CONFERENCES AND OUTDOOR SCREENINGS

HEIDI TAILLEFER CREATES THE 2009 POSTER
Artist and painter Heidi Taillefer is the creative force behind the official 2009 Fantasia poster. Her artwork is recognized internationally. Inspired namely by figurative art, surrealism and mythology, her extraordinary universe harmonizes perfectly with the spirit of the festival. In fact, this is the second time that Heidi Taillefer has lent her talent to Fantasia as she previously created the 2006 poster. Her work can currently be seen in an exposition in New York and her pieces were recently published in Metamorphosis Volume 2. (www.heiditaillefer.com)

PRIZES AND PANELS
Several panels composed of artists, artisans and various members of the Quebec and Canadian film industry will be on hand to award the following prizes:
- Best Feature Film: Jean-François Rivard (Director), Patrick Sénécal (Author and Screenwriter),  Malajube (Musical Band), Jean-Philippe Duval (Director) and Sophie Cadieux (Actress)
- Best First Feature: Denis Héroux (Director), Scott Weinberg (Cinematical, Fear.net), Guy Danella (Producer), Ryan Bruce Levey (Cinemavault), Larry Kent (Director) and Brenda Leiberman (President of the Calgary Underground Film Festival)
- Best International Short Film: Dennison Ramalho (Director), Colin Geddes (Toronto International Film Festival), Nicolas Renaud (Co-Founder of Hors Champ), Roadkill Superstar (filmmaking collective) and Jovanka Vuckovic (Editor in Chief of Rue Morgue Magazine)
- Best Quebec Short Film: Natalia Wysocka (Journalist and Critic for Ici Montréal), Geneviève Brouillette (Actress) and Vincent Morriset (Director)
- Best DIY Short Film: Al Kratina (Journalist for The Gazette), Alain Fournier (Director) and Jeanne Ostiguy (Actress)

TRIBUTE
The festival will pay tribute to director and novelist Buddy Giovinazzo and to his powerful, honest and uncompromising body of work, and is honored to present the world premiere of his most recent film LIFE IS HOT IN CRACKTOWN as well as the original 16 mm work print of COMBAT SHOCK from the director’s own private collection.

CONFERENCES
In response to public demand, four conferences will be held between July 24th and 26th. They will discuss Stage Direction, Video Game Creation (presented by Ubisoft), Movie and DVD distribution, and Micro-cinema or How To Do A Lot With Almost Nothing.

OUTDOOR SCREENINGS
Fantasia Under the Stars is back this year for six days at the Parc de la Paix (St-Laurent boulevard between Ste-Catherine’s and René-Lévesque). These free presentations will give you the chance to rediscover old Fantasia favorites or discover new ones you may have missed. A Diet Pepsi Max presentation in collaboration with La Société des Arts Technologiques.

FANTASIA AT THE CINÉMATHÈQUE QUÉBÉCOISE AND AT THE FRINGE FESTIVAL
The Fantasia Film Festival is proud to present, in association with the Cinémathèque Québécoise and Ciné-Asie, a retrospective of the most memorable Japanese erotic films or pinku eiga (“Pink Movies”) of the ‘60s and ‘70s, a genre that allowed many internationally respected artists to take their first steps in the world of cinema.

Fantasia is also pleased to present during the Fringe Festival, two incontestable musts of any genre cinema festival, ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE UNDEAD, from Jordan Galland, on June 16th at 9:00 p.m., and THE LAST AMERICAN FREAK SHOW, from Richard Butchins, on June 18th at 9:00 p.m. A great start to the summer.

Park Chan-wook’s THIRST,
Jury Prize at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival,
North American premiere screening at the Fantasia Festival!

Montreal, June 15, 2009 – The Fantasia Film Festival is proud to announce the North American premiere screening of THIRST from South Korea’s Park Chan-Wook. This film was awarded the Jury Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Fantasia Festival audience originally discovered Park Chan-wook in 2001 with his JOINT SECURITY AREA followed by SYMPATHY FOR MR.VENGEANCE in 2003, the first film of his « Vengeance » trilogy. He then achieved international recognition with his cult film OLD BOY (Grand Prize Winner, Cannes 2004) and with the award-winning LADY VENGEANCE at the Venice Mostra in 2005. He has since then become one of South Korea’s most influential filmmakers.

THIRST draws its inspiration from Emile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin. Blending cheerfully different genres such as horror, burlesque, romance and baroque, Park Chan-wook tells us the story of a priest going through a moral crisis. After being used as a guinea pig in a medical experiment, he eventually transforms himself into a vampire with irrepressible passions. THIRST is a Korean-American co-production.

The movie will be released in the United States (fin New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco) the 31st of July and was at the top of the South Korean charts from the moment it came out, with more than one million admissions the first weekend.  Alliance Vivafilm is the Canadian distributor.