Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has unveiled the first wave of titles for its 2023 lineup, with two Canadian world premieres among them.

Fantasia, which features global genre cinema, will hold its 27th edition from July 20 to Aug. 9, with a program of in-person screenings and events, according to a news release.

The programming includes the second year of the Septentrion Shadows section, which focuses on Canadian cinema. It includes the world premiere of two domestic titles, Jenn Wexler’s 1970s-set horror film The Sacrifice Game (pictured) and Ryan Ward’s supernatural feature Daughter of the Sun.

The Sacrifice Game is directed, co-written and produced by Wexler, with Sean Redlitz as co-writer. Additional producers are Montreal-based Philip Kalin-Hajdu, Albert I. Melamed, Heather Buckley and Todd Slater.

AMC Networks’ horror streamer Shudder has acquired rights to the film in all of its territories (the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Germany, Australia and New Zealand), while U.S.-based sales agent and prodco Red Sea Media holds international rights.

The films stars Egyptian-Canadian actor Mena Massoud (Aladdin) and Olivia Scott Welch (Fear Street), who both also serve as executive producers, alongside Gus Kenworthy (American Horror Story: 1984) and Chloë Levine (The OA). It was shot in Montreal and follows two girls who must survive a killer Christmas break at their boarding school.

Daughter of the Sun is written and directed by Winnipeg’s Ryan Ward and produced by Mackenzie Leigh.

The film was shot in Manitoba with the support of Telefilm Canada and Manitoba Film & Music. It follows a father and daughter who befriend a group of nomads while traveling across the country, and is billed as a continuation of Ward’s 2011 debut feature Son of the Sunshine, said the release.

The first wave announcements also include the Canadian premiere of Pier-Philippe Chevigny’s Richelieu. The film is produced by Le Foyer Films and explores the topic of modern-day slavery, where an interpreter witnesses the abuse of migrant workers.

Chevigny is a writer and director on Richelieu, which is produced by Le Foyer Films’ Geneviève Gosselin-G., as well as Miléna Poylo, Gilles Sacuto and Alice Bloch. The film will have its world premiere at the Tribeca festival in June.

The festival also announced that it will present the 2023 Canadian Trailblazer Award to Vancouver-based filmmaker Larry Kent. A 4K restoration of his Vancouver trilogy — The Bitter Ash (1963), Sweet Substitute (1964) and When Tomorrow dies (1965) – will also make its debut at the festival.

The remaining Fantasia lineup is scheduled to be announced in early July.

Image courtesy of the Fantasia International Film Festival