The dust, blood, guts from Fantastic Fest 2026 has settled. I spent the week watching movies, exchanging emails with publicists, conducting zoom interviews with filmmakers. When it was all said and done I conducted over two hours of conversations with filmmakers over seven interviews. I spoke with people in Slovenia, Italy, France, Canada and the United States. That is one of the greatest things about a film festival, it gathers cinema from all over the world. Here are the Fantastic Fest 2026 conversations:
Gimme Truth a documentary about conspiracy theories and the people that go down rabbit holes in search of them just premiered at Fantastic Fest 2026. I was able to have a conversation with directors Brad Abrahams & Simon Ennis about the genesis of the documentary, the people they documented as well how to bring people out of these theories. Here is that conversation:
Terms & Conditions is one of the short films playing Fantastic Fest 2026. The incident was directed and adapted from the short story The Devil's Code by Frank M. Taylor. I was able to talk with Kev about the making of the film prior to it's world premiere.Here is that interview:
Girl In The Night just won best picture at Fantastic Fest 2026. I was able to sit down once again and have a conversation with director Luka Marčetić actor Lara Wolf and joining us this time fellow actor Urban Kuntarič. Here is that conversation:
Her Will Be Done opens in black screen. The sound of heavy breathing. The seconds pass. A full minute. You become disoriented. The first image is a flame coming to life and then a fire. The fire consumes. Faces are on the other side of the flames. One of those faces is a young girl.
"My Mother knelt before Satan. The evil was in her." The camera zooms closer to the girl. "It is inside me too."
This begins the story of Nawojka (Maria Wróbel.) Nawojka as the only woman in the family she cooks for her father and two brothers. She tends to the livestock and other duties on the family farm. She longs to go to school to become a veterinarian and begin her own life on her terms.
Across the street a new woman has moved in. Her name is Sandra (Roxane Mesquida) Nawojka's nights are filled with torment. Images of the people around her menace her. She is fighting something with every fiber of her being.
In the morning the family gathers around a sick, dying cow. The land is sprouting thick bulbous mucus. Another night. More torment.
Maria Wróbel's portrayal of Nawojka is the central force to the story of Her Will Be Done. Maria infuses Nawojka with wide-eyed wonder of being in the presence of Sandra. You can feel her longing for someone and something beyond the confines of the tiny village the family farms sits in. Maria brings great intensity to the nightly torments. Both her physical and spiritual struggles against forces beyond her control. Nawojka's face is often stoic. It in her eyes we feel the pathos of her inner turmoil. As the torment crosses from the metaphysical to real world actions Maria's physicality is compelling and disturbing.
The nights brings agony. The days go on. The farm and the family must be tended to. Nawojka''s brother's wedding brings brief respite. The force that is Sandra crashes the reception. She is chased off. Nawojka follows. Sandra warns her to go back, "I'm going to make a mess." The appeal, the magnetism, the force that is Sandra is far too compelling to walk away from.
Julia Kowalski's direction is assured and nuanced. Cinematographer Simon Beaufils crafts imagery of a muted sun over pastoral farm lands. The darkness of night is a meaning dark confluence surrounding and enveloping Nawojka's ever-increasing distress. Daniel Kowalski's score accompanies the narrative. The notes gives way to pulsing tones as the narrative intensifies. An electric guitar wails casting strength, determination and purpose.
Fire is destruction. Fire is cleansing. Fire is rebirth. The flames call to Nawojka. The town goes after Sandra. Where do you go when belief becomes mob mentality. Can you be safe when grief ferments into communal violence.
It is in the denouement of Her Will Be Done that elevates an already compelling folk horror story to something that subverts our expectations.
Her Will Be Done opens at The Roxy in New York City on September, 23, 2026. You can buy tickets here.
The People's Choice Midnight Madness Award goes to.....Ladies And Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney directed by Matthew Rankin
The last Sunday of the Toronto International Film Festival always sees the announcing of the awards. It has become synonymous with the kickoff of the fall awards season. It has been well documented the number of time that the tiff People's Choice Award has gone onto to Academy Award nominations.
The Platform Prize goes to the film Angh directed by Theja Rio
The International People's Choice Award goes to Elsinore directed by Simon Stone
The People's Choice Documentary Award goes to Darlene Love: I Know Where I Have Been directed by Barry Avrich
And the People's Chice Award of the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival goes to.....
La Bola Negra directed by Javier Calvo & Javier Ambrossi
Prior to the Fantastic Fest World Premiere of Girl In The Night I was able to have a conversation with writer & director Luka Marčetić and actor Lara Wolf about all aspects of making their superhero movie in Slovenia. Here is our conversation:
Luka Marčetić “I am deeply interested in people who are mostly quiet,
shy, and to a point enjoy solitary existence. These people often go
unnoticed in everyday life, yet they possess a unique strength in their
quietness. I always wanted to put them in roles of vulnerable heroes and
antiheroes. This is a story about boredom and the search for friendship
in very strange circumstances.”
Film Synopsis: The aimless life of a lonely kleptomaniac takes an
unexpected turn for the worse when he steals a bicycle from a mysterious
girl who spends her nights fighting crime. To cut through the mundanity
of his night shifts, Rok keeps himself busy by stealing chocolate bars
at the gas station where he works. One night, he meets a mysterious girl
with severe bruises on her face. She only appears at night, is all
about fighting crime, and claims to possess superpowers. If he wants to
meet her again, Rok will have to come up with a cunning plan – so he
decides to steal her bike.
