For the sixth year, Fantboi ( Sant Boi de Llobregat Fantastic Film Festival ) has once again brought together fans of the genre with an attractive program of short films, feature films, a short story contest, the lively Mercat market , and one of the festival’s highlights: the charity vermouth and auction featuring works by local artists, including this year’s magnificent poster by Raquel Gu .
Itziar Castro Award.
This award, in homage to the late actress and which vindicates the work of women for the renewal of genre cinema, was given this year to Mónica García Massage for her work at the head of the Sitges Film Festival, a true benchmark worldwide.
Sang Boi Award and Audience Award for Best Short Film.
One of the festival’s most established and popular features is Sang Boi, a carefully curated selection of short films where blood is the main ingredient. This year, the jury for this section consisted of content creator Marina Velveth, former B-Retina Festival director David Bravo, and film critic Xavi Pons. After deliberation, the jury decided to award the Sang Boi prize to the short film Pimple, directed by Fernando Alle. They also decided to give an honorable mention to Jano Pita’s Open Mic «for its original use of stage fright as a central theme and its practical effects on body horror.»
Likewise, the audience award for best short film in the renowned Marathon of the official section has gone to Killjote by Angel Villahermosa.
Official Section Award.
Among this year’s interesting feature film offerings, the jury—comprised of actress and presenter Ivana Miño, Cutrecon producer Juan Pérez, and film director Pol Digger—decided to award the prize to the Argentinian film Los Bobos, directed by Basovih Marinaro and Sofia Jallinsky. In the jury’s words, «It stirs things up, it makes you uncomfortable. Simple but well-executed techniques. Commendable acting. It puts you in an ethical dilemma. Somewhere between Tier’s The Idiots and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Pushing the viewer to their limits. It divides audiences, and that’s something that’s hard to see. It puts you in a very uncomfortable position. Cinema doesn’t always have to be comfortable. That’s why it deserves first prize.»
Official Selection Mentions.
But due to the high standard this year, they awarded three honorable mentions. The first goes to the film that also won the audience award, The Thing in the Fog, directed by Chedey Reyes, for being “A single space and a lot of ingenuity. Entertaining, fast-paced, and fun. It’s surprising how, with so few resources, it takes you on a journey through a script full of turbulence. Special mention to the two leads; excellent work.” The second honorable mention goes to a real party, Paco Campano’s Quantum Rave , which “transports us into his peculiar mind with an explosive imagination and a top-notch personal artistic universe. Mixing B-movie tropes with a rarely seen singularity. A film made with a lot of heart, but surely divisive for audiences.” The third and final mention goes to Dogs Are Coming by the team of Iván Sánchez and David Tembleque with a “very beautiful photographic and aesthetic proposal. It transports you to the classic vengeful archetype and revisits the Frankenstein monster in its own way. A film where the form weighs more than the content.”
It’s been four days packed with cinematic offerings of all kinds, blending thrillers, horror, and comedy, not only reaffirming the genre as a constantly evolving and renewing art form but also as a meeting place for all sorts of people. Therefore, as every year, and once the last session has concluded, all that remains to be said is,
«Long live fantasy and here’s to the next Fantboi!»
