“Mother of Flies,” a small independent film from Fantasia regulars the Adams family, has won the jury-selected Cheval Noir award for best film at the 29th Fantasia Film Festival.
Acquired by Shudder in advance of the festival, “Mother of Flies” is written and directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams, and Toby Posner and also stars the family trio, as well as daughter Lulu Adams. One of the buzziest films at the festival, it is also the first U.S. film to win Fantasia’s coveted Cheval Noir for Best Film.
In the Cheval Noir jury statement, jury president Pascal Plante wrote, “This might not be the film with the most means or the flashiest camerawork, but it’s a film that, in a meta way, reminds us why we even bother to make films in the first place. [It’s] an earnest film; a true indie that feels authentic, vital, and impeccably crafted.”
The Cheval Noir jury gave a Special Mention for best film to Japanese director Yuta Shimotsu’s second feature “New Group,” and awarded Indonesian director Hadrah Daeng Ratu best director for “The Book of Sijjin And Illiyyin.”
In a ceremony held tonight in Montreal’s packed Cinéma du Musée, Fantasia’s artistic director and director of international programming Mitch Davis handed out more than 50 awards and special mentions to international and Canadian features and shorts across the genre spectrum of storytelling.
It Ends
Courtesy of SXSW
Alexander Ullom’s “It Ends,” widely regarded as one of the major genre breakthroughs of 2025, won best film in the New Flesh Competition for best first feature. Variety said of the feature “Jean-Paul Sartre with a Gen Z spin, a hangout horror movie rife with existential anxieties that cinema and television have been wrestling with since their inception.”
In its statement, the New Flesh Competition jury said that the film “manages to use budget conventions and tropes to their fullest extent in order to create a film that runs from being an unnerving thriller to a sincere and bittersweet contemplation on time, friendship, and solitude; this would be a difficult task for even the most seasoned filmmaker, but Alexander Ullom succeeds with an uncommon level of grace and delicacy that rewards the audience in ways they wouldn’t initially expect.”
The jury for the Northern Excellence for best Canadian filmmaker award named Quebec’s Chloé Cinq-Mars best director for “Peau À Peau” (“Nesting”) and gave a Special Jury Mention to Simon Glassman for “Buffet Infinity.”
The Quebec Association of Film Critics chose Laura Casabe’s “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake” for its AQCC award, praising its “judicious balance between the coming-of-age story and everyday horror, for its strong symbolism linked to the crises of 21st-century Argentina and for the excellent performances of all the actresses.”
Nesting
Here is the full list of awards, winners, and juries at the 2025 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Cheval Noir Competition 2025
Best Film: “Mother of Flies” (d. John Adams, Zelda Adams and Toby Poser)
Special Jury Mention (Best Film): “New Group” (d. Yuta Shimotsu)
Best Director: Hadrah Daeng Ratu for “The Book of Sijjin And Illiyyin”
Best Screenplay: Connor Diedrich and Samuel Johnson for “Terrestrial,” (d. Steve Pink)
Best Cinematography: Alex Metcalfe for “Cielo,” (d. Alberto Sciamma)
The Sandro Forte Award for Best Motion Picture Score: H6LLB6ND6R for “Mother of Flies”
Outstanding Performance Award: Ui Mihara for “I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn (d. Kenichi Ugana).
Cheval Noir jury: Pascal Plante (President), Ethan Eng, Alison Foreman, Payton McCarty-Simas and George Schmaltz.
New Flesh Competition for Best First Feature 2025
Best First Feature: “It Ends” (d. Alexander Ullom)
Special Jury Mentions: “Fucktoys” (d. Annapurna Sriram) and “Hellcat” (d. Brock Bodell)
New Flesh jury: Chris Nash (President), Jim Brunzell, Louise Buckler, Deirdre Crimmins, Anelle Dehghani and Jean-François Leblanc
International Short Film Competition 2025
Best Film: “Barlebas” (d. Malu Janssen)
Best Director: Jo Ba-reun for “ Floor”
Best Screenplay: Dylan Pun, for “Shrimp Fried Rice” (d. Dylan Pun)
Best Cinematography: “Barlebas” (Sam Du Pon)
The Sandro Forte Award for Best Motion Picture Score: “Proxy” (Christopher Lund)
Outstanding Performance Award: Ruby Zoom for “The Collector” and Agnieszka Rajda for “Weird to Be Human”
Special Jury Mentions “Weird to Be Human” (d. Jan Grabowski) and “The Rebirth” (d. Connie Shi)
International Short Film Jury: Kaniehtiio Horn (President), Rémi Fréchette, Evan O’Brien, Carol Nguyen, and Wylie Rush.
Satoshi Kon for Excellence in Animation Competition 2025
Best Animated Feature: “The Girl Who Stole Time” (d. Yu Ao and Zhou Tienan)
Special Jury Mention (Best Animated Feature): “I Am Frankelda” (d. Arturo Ambriz and Roy Ambriz)
Best Animated Short, Gold: “My Organs Lying on The Ground” (d. Shinobu Soejima)
Best Animated Short, Silver: “Éiru” (d. Giovanna Ferrari)
Best Animated Short, Bronze: “Off-Time” (d. Nata Metlukh)
Satoshi Kon Jury: Rachel Samson (President), Sam Chou, Chimwemwe Miller
Northern Excellence for Best Canadian Filmmaker 2025
Best Director (Feature Film): Chloé Cinq-Mars for “Peau À Peau” (“Nesting”)
Special Jury Mention: Simon Glassman for “Buffet Infinity”
Northern Excellence Jury: Elza Kephart (President), Olivia Norquay, Joe Lipsett, Cam Maitland, and Alanna Thain.
Quebec Association of Film Critics, AQCC Award 2025
Best Film: “The Virgin of the Quarry Lake” (d. Laura Casabe)
Special Jury Mention: “Burning” (d. Radik Eshimov)
AQCC Jury: Miguel de Plante, Louis-Paul Rioux, and Elijah Baron.
Mon Poulain Noir Competition 2025
Best Film, Gold: “The Sound of Raindrops” (d. Max Banse, Julie Blanc, Alvaro Deolio, Elena Forlini, Estelle Jourdan, Gabriel Riera, and Lila Trouvé)
Best Film, Silver: “Soap Box” (Boîte À Savon) (d. Jimmy Pettigrew)
Best Film, Bronze: “Christopher & The Bug” (d. Vanessa Lynn Esteves)
Special Jury Mentions: “The Little One and The Giant” (d. Isabela Costa) and “A Small Garden by The Window” (d. Lee Jong-hoon)
Mon Poulain Noir Jury: Ginette Petit (President), Luc Chamberland, Bryan Perro, and Alex Parkinson.
Les Fantastiques Week-Ends Du Cinéma Québécois Competition 2025
MELS Award for Best Short Film: 1st Place “Molosse” (d. Marc-Antoine Lemire); 2nd Place “Butter Knife” (d. Théophile Mur); 3rd Place “Itty Bitty Betty” (d. Laura Buchanan); Special Mention “Girasol” (d. Dominic Couturier and Pierre Inglebert)
AQPM Award for Best Emerging Production in a Short Film: “Iconic” (Adelaide Sokolov, d. April Daneau); Special Mention “Don’t Judge a Unicorn by Its Horn” (Ellie Charette and Arian Salarian, d. Ellie Charette)
ARRQ Award for Best Direction in a Short Film: Guillaume Boivin and Steve Villeneuve, for “The Screaming”; Special Mention: Théophile Mur, for “Butter Knife”
EVS Award for Best Emerging Direction in a Short Film: Andrew Cyr-Marcoux, for “L’écho Perdu”
Royal Photo Award for Best Cinematography in a Short Film: 1st place to Liane Paré for “Dumpster Duchess” (d. Raphë, Liana Paré); 2nd to Pierre Inglebert, for “Girasol” (d. Dominic Couturier and Pierre Inglebert); 3rd to Martin Reisch, for “Island of Forgetfulness” (d. Erin Ross); Special Mention to Guillaume Langlois and Raphaël Ouellet, for “Greluche” (d. Daphnée Côté-Hallé)
Fantasia Award for Best Performance in a Short Film to Stéfanelle Auger, for “Envolée” (d. Renaud Ouimet); Special Mention to Marguerite Bouchard, for “L’explosion, et puis le calme” (d. William Tétreault) and Maximilian Isaacs, for “Here Comes Kermit Williams” (d. Ryan Terk)
Canadian Cinema Editors (CCE) Award for Best Editing in a Short Film to John-Daniel Arauz, for “Kitty the Viper” (d. John-Daniel Arauz); Special Mention to Marc-Olivier Huard, for “Interurbain” (d. Marc-Olivier Huard)
Spira Award for Best Regional Short Film: “Frères D’armes” (d. François Lalonde)
Special Mention: “Rien Que Du Vent” (d. PH Debiès)
Bam Music Award for Best Sound in a Short Film: “Loud” (d. Adam Azimov)
Toon Boom Award for Best 2D Short Film: “Grain” (d. Ilana Zackon)
Dragonframe Award for Best Stop Motion Short Film: “Songes et étrangetés au jardin” (d. Kimm D. and Caroline Hayeur)
Special Mention: “Exit the Red Room | A David Lynch Tribute” (d. Corey Nikolaus)
Coup de Coeur SLA Location Award for a Short Film: “A Better Day” (d. Scott Cowan)