The Fantaspoa Film Festival has unveiled its top award winners for 2025, Variety can exclusively reveal. The festival’s 21st edition wrapped on April 21 and had record-breaking attendance.
For 19 days, Latin America’s largest genre film festival played over 200 films across five different venues, garnering over 500,000 attendees. The winners range from “Scared Shitless” in the Midnight Films Competition, “The Lonely Musketeer” in the International Competition to “The Instinct” in the Ibero-American Competition. Annapurna Sriram‘s “Fucktoys,” which had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW, was recognized for Caroline Keenan Russell’s art direction.
More from Variety
-
‘Dead Mail’ Review: Friends Don’t Let Friends Leave the Torture Basement in Eerie, Eccentric Indie Thriller
-
‘F–toys’ Mastermind Annapurna Sriram Was Sick of Being Pigeonholed in Hollywood, So She Channeled John Waters to Make Her Gonzo Sexual Fantasia Debuting at SXSW
-
‘F–toys’ Trailer: Sex Worker Rages Against a Curse on Her in Surreal Adventure Through Trashtown (EXCLUSIVE)
The main categories include both shorts and feature-length films. See the full list of winners below.
Short Film Competition
Best Brazilian Short Film: “Carne Fresca”
Best International Animation Short Film: “Tinkerhell”
Best International Live-Action Short Film: “Help, I’m Alien Pregnant”
Mèliés D’Argent Award: “L’ essence de la Sirène”
Honorable Mentions:
“A Corte da Cúpula Suprema”
“When it Comes (It Will Have Your Eyes)”
“Frascos Vacíos”
Midnight Films Competition
Best Film: “Scared Shitless”
Brazilian Competition
Best Film: “Suçuarana”
Low Budgets Great Films Competition
Best Film: “Contact Lens”
Honorable Mention:
“King Baby”
Ibero-American Competition
Best Film: “The Instinct”
Best Direction: Edgar Nito, “A Fisherman’s Tale”
Best Screenplay: Enrique Buleo, “Still Life with Ghosts”
Best Actor: Sérgio Podeley, “Gunman”
Best Actress: Antonia Giesen, “The Hyperboreans”
Honorable Mentions:
“Hot Sandwich”
“A Fisherman’s Tale”
International Competition
Best Film: “The Lonely Musketeer”
Best Direction: Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy, “Dead Mail”
Best Screenplay: Chris Reading, Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare and Hillary Shakespeare, “Time Travel is Dangerous”
Best Actor: Edward Hogg, “The Lonely Musketeer”
Best Actress: Talia Zucker, “In Vitro”
Best Cinematography: Bruce Jackson, “The Lonely Musketeer”
Best Special Effects: The Brewery, “Time Travel is Dangerous”
Best Art Direction: Caroline Keenan Russell, “Fucktoys”
Honorable Mentions:
Best Soundtrack: “Transcending Dimensions”
Best Supporting Actress: Lily D. Moore, “The Other”
Best Naked Dancing Duo on a Beach: “Ebony and Ivory”
Best of Variety
-
Emmy Predictions: Talk/Scripted Variety Series – The Variety Categories Are Still a Mess; Netflix, Dropout, and ‘Hot Ones’ Stir Up Buzz
-
Oscars Predictions 2026: ‘Sinners’ Becomes Early Contender Ahead of Cannes Film Festival
-
New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
