Fantasporto Presents Eclectic Lineup Ranging From Denys Arcand’s Satire ‘Testament’ to Wuershan’s Fantasy Epic ‘Creation of Gods’

variety.com:

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Canadian filmmaker Denys Arcand‘s satire “Testament” will open the 44th edition of Fantasporto, which runs March 1-10 in Portugal’s second city, Porto.

Chinese fantasy epic “Creation of Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” directed by Wuershan, closes the eclectic event. The festival, which was named by MovieMaker magazine this year as one of the “25 coolest festivals in the world,” is headed by film critics Beatriz Pacheco Pereira and Mário Dorminsky.

Around 600 feature films were submitted this year and 1,200 shorts. Pacheco Pereira says they select films that have a “special touch but still a universal language.” Dorminsky adds: “We try to discover new directors.” These directors – having established a relationship with the festival – often return with their subsequent films, he says. “Testament” epitomizes one trend that Pacheco Pereira identifies, which is “old people asking: ‘Where is the world going?'” She adds: “‘Testament’ is a wonderful film in which an old man loses his interest in life and then recovers it,” she says.

It shows how this old man is confronted by technological and societal change. “It represents what Fantasporto is all about, which is good cinema.” Arcand’s “The Barbarian Invasions” won the Oscar for best foreign-language film. “Creation of Gods I: Kingdom of Storms,” which features a number of mythical wars between humans, immortals and monsters, won the Golden Rooster for best film this year.