Mike Flanagan is being crowned an official king of horror as Flanagan has been selected as a featured guest at Quebec’s Fantasia International Film Festival. The director has a history with the iconic festival; his first feature, Absentia, was at the festival in 2011.
For those unfamiliar with Mike Flanagan, he’s been the go-to horror maestro for the last decade. He’s helmed the films Oculus, Hush, Gerald’s Game, and Doctor Sleep. He’s also been behind the Netflix miniseries The Haunting of Hill House, The Haunting of Bly Manor, Midnight Mass, and The Fall of the House of Usher. His next film is another Stephen King adaptation, The Life Of Chuck, starring Tom Hiddleston, Mark Hamill, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
As part of the festivities, the horror filmmaker will be awarded the festival’s Cheval Noir Career Achievement Award. Flanagan will also present a screening of Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks, which he produced.
In other festival-related news, the Fantasia International Film Festival will close with the world premiere of André Forcier’s Ababouiné. The film stars Rémy Girard, Gaston Lepage, Pascale Montpetit, Éric Bruneau, and Mylène Mackay.
“André Forcier’s work is firmly rooted in magic realism with its elements of fantasy, and yet it is grounded in a very Quebec reality,” the festival said. “He has transformed our distinct language into a filmic language that is sometimes crude but always poetic. André Forcier’s work is unique and immense. Fantasia is very proud to present him with the Prix Denis-Héroux, the festival’s award bestowed for exceptional contribution to the development of Quebec genre cinema.”
The Fantasia Festival will run from July 18th through August 4th.
