Fantaspoa Festival, Brazil

I've been going down to Brazil for over twenty years - the first time was for the wonderful Anima Mundi Festival that takes place in both Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  Then, just last year I did a two-city tour with an exhibition and collection of my shorts and features.

But when I got an invitation for a festival called Fantaspoa, I mistakenly assumed it was connected to the Fantasporto Festival, which is in Portugal.  After accepting the invitation, I came to realize it was in Porto Alegre, Brazil.  Then I thought, "Wow, that's not so bad, Brazil is one of my favorite places!"

So off I went to Porto Alegre, a cowboy town of 2 million, located in the Pampas, with gauchos and country music, and great churrascarias - yee haw!

The festival is wonderfully run by Joao Fleck and Nicolas Tonsho, and I came to discover it's a horror and sci-fi festival (I should have guessed by the "Fanta" part of the name "Fantaspoa")  No matter what the title is, the films were fantastic: "Dave Made a Maze" by Bill Watterson (not the cartoonist of "Calvin and Hobbes" fame) "Game of Death" by Sebastien Landry + Laurence Morais-Lagace from Montreal, "Prevenge" by Alice Lowe and "Tragedy Girls" by Tyler MacIntyre.  They were all great films!

They also screened both "Revengeance" and "I Married a Strange Person" to packed audiences.  Plus I held a Master Class that was so crowded they had to turn away dozens of my fans - so drove all the way from Uruguay (a 4-hour drive) to see me!  Very tragic.  They also presented me with a great prize for career achievement.

Unfortunately, I was so busy showing and watching films that I didn't get a chance to visit the city - so I guess I'll have to go back next year.  If you have a short or a feature that's along the lines of horror, sci-fi or fantasy, definitely send it to Fantaspoa in Brazil - and if you get a chance to go there, definitely "Vamos" - I give the festival a B+.

--Bill P.

                                                      The festival director's great t-shirt!