The inaugural one-day festival celebrates queer horror with 23 films from around the world, local talent, and a special feature presentation.
FAGTASIA, Canada’s only film festival dedicated exclusively to queer horror, will make its debut on Saturday, October 17, at La Lumière Collective, an independent microcinema in Montreal’s Mile-Ex neighbourhood. The inaugural edition will showcase 22 short films and one feature, celebrating the strange, subversive, and the unapologetically queer.
Born out of Montreal’s underground film scene, FAGTASIA is the creation of a group of LGBTQ+ filmmakers fuelled by a love of genre cinema and a DIY spirit.
The festival’s 22 short films are divided into three programs: “Don’t Be Afraid”, featuring the playful, strange, and macabre; “Be Very Afraid”, for audiences seeking genuine scares; and “Bloody and Juicy”, an adults-only (18+) program exploring the erotic and transgressive.
Featuring films from around the world, including Germany, Brazil, and China, the lineup also puts a spotlight on Montreal’s independent filmmaking community, with local selections including Spencer Dorsey’s Frankentwink, Mariel Sharp’s Manic, and Ellie Charette’s Don’t Judge a Unicorn by Its Horn.
The festival’s feature presentation is Dark Frequencies by Sudbury-based director Bosmo Kosmerly, which follows an underground musician who discovers a dangerous sound wave capable of distorting both body and mind. Kosmerly will attend the screening in person and participate in a live Q&A following the film.
“Montreal has a vibrant queer community, a thriving indie-film scene and an insatiable appetite for genre cinema”, says festival co-founder Kaye Adelaide. “It seemed unthinkable to me that we didn’t have a dedicated space for these communities to intersect anywhere in the city, let alone in the entire country. With Fagtasia we aim to fill that void. We hope to inspire a new generation of queer-horror filmmakers whose work we can’t wait to showcase at future editions of the festival.”
FAGTASIA takes place on Saturday, October 17, 2026, at La Lumière Collective in Montreal.
For the complete program, screening schedule, and ticket information, visit www.fagtasiafest.com.
