{{Short description|Genre film festival in Brazil}}
{{Infobox film festival | name = Fantaspoa | location = Porto Alegre, Brazil | founded = 2005 | language = {{flatlist| * Portuguese * International}} | website = [https://www.fantaspoa.com/ fantaspoa.com] |date=Annually in April|image=File:Fantaspoa Logo.webp|caption=|image_size=160}}
'''Fantaspoa''' is an international film festival held annually in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Established in 2005, it focuses on genre cinema, including fantasy, science fiction and horror, and showcases both feature-length and short films, with a focus on Portuguese and Spanish language productions.
==History==
Fantaspoa was founded in 2005,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Loreti |first=Nic |date=2021-01-13 |title=Latin American Horror Film Festivals: Fantaspoa |url=https://rue-morgue.com/latin-american-horror-film-festivals-part-1-fantaspoa/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=Rue Morgue |language=en-US}}</ref> and has the following official sections: Short Film Competition (subdivided into live-action/animation and national/international); Ibero-American Feature Film Competition and International Competition. The festival also have special sidebars that change from edition to edition, such as animated feature films, documentaries, zombie films, panorama, among others.
Each edition, the festival grants around twenty awards in the different sections, as well as the Lifetime Achievement Award, that has been presented to some of the greatest auteurs of the fantastic genre, such as Luigi Cozzi, Lamberto Bava, Ruggero Deodato, Claudio Simonetti, Stuart Gordon, David Schmoeller, Frank Henenlotter, Lloyd Kaufman and Simon Boswell.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fantaspoa International Fantastic Film Festival |url=https://melies.org/festival/fantaspoa-international-fantastic-film-festival/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=Méliès |language=en-US}}</ref>
Fantaspoa is the only South American member of the Méliès International Festivals Federation<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-16 |title=Member Festivals |url=https://melies.org/member-festivals/ |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=Méliès |language=en-US}}</ref> and the only festival outside Europe that awards the Méliès d'Argent for Best European Short Film<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-05-19 |title=Fantaspoa - International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre |url=https://filmfreeway.com/Fantaspoa |access-date=2025-06-10 |website=FilmFreeway |language=en}}</ref> and Best European Feature Film.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Miska |first=Brad |date=2026-03-03 |title=Fantaspoa 2026 to Mark Milestone with Anniversary Screenings of Brian De Palma’s 'Carrie' and F.W. Murnau’s 'Faust' |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/560339/fantaspoa-2026-to-mark-milestone-with-anniversary-screenings-of-brian-de-palmas-carrie-and-f-w-murnaus-faust/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}</ref>
== Reception == Described by ''Deadline'' and ''Variety'' as the largest genre film festival in South America and Latin America,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Grater |first=Tom |date=2020-06-17 |title=South America’s Largest Genre Film Festival Fantaspoa Sets 2020 Digital Edition With Streamer Darkflix |url=https://deadline.com/2020/06/south-america-genre-festival-fantaspoa-2020-digital-edition-streamer-darkflix-1202961307/ |access-date=2025-11-09 |website=Deadline |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Earl |first=William |date=2026-05-01 |title=Fantaspoa, Latin America’s Largest Genre Film Festival, Wraps After Screening for a Record 550,000 Fans; ‘Interior’ Leads Winning Titles (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2026/film/festivals/fantaspoa-record-crowds-interior-winners-1236735174/ |access-date=2026-05-01 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref> Fantaspoa has also been included in the following lists:
* ''MovieMaker'' ** "50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee" (2023, 2024, 2025, 2026)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-04-10 |title=50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee, Presented by Film Freeway (2023) |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/50-film-festival-worth-entry-fee-2023/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Molloy|first=Tim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-04-16 |title=50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee in 2024 |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/50-film-festival-worth-entry-fee-2024/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Molloy|first=Tim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-06-04 |title=50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee 2025 |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/50-film-festivals-worth-the-entry-fee-2025/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Molloy|first=Tim}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Molloy |first=Tim |date=2026-05-26 |title=50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee 2026 |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/50-film-festivals-worth-the-entry-fee-2026/ |access-date=2026-05-26 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US}}</ref> ** "The 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World" (2023)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-17 |title=The 25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World, 2023 |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/coolest-film-festivals-2023/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Molloy|first=Tim}}</ref> ** "50 Best Genre Fests in the World" (2021)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-10-27 |title=World's 50 Best Genre Film Festivals 2021 |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/best-genre-festivals-2021/2/ |access-date=2025-03-06 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Molloy|first=Tim}}</ref> ** "30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World" (2019)<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-10-23 |title=MovieMaker's 30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World in 2019, Presented by HorrorHound |url=https://www.moviemaker.com/moviemakers-30-bloody-best-genre-fests-in-the-world-2019-presented-by-horrorhound/ |access-date=2025-06-12 |website=MovieMaker |language=en-US|last=Gingold|first=Michael}}</ref>
* ''Dread Central'' ** "The 90 Best Genre Film Festivals on Earth" (2025)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Țofei |first=Adrian |date=2025-06-04 |title=The 90 Best Genre Film Festivals on Earth |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/531260/best-genre-film-festivals-sidebars-2025-2026/ |access-date=2025-06-11 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}</ref> ** "Best Horror Festivals in the World" (2021, 2022)<ref>{{Cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Max |date=2020-12-23 |title=The Best Horror Festivals in the World 2021 |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/364442/the-best-horror-festivals-in-the-world-2021/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Weinstein |first=Max |date=2022-03-23 |title=The Best Horror Festivals in the World 2022 |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/424491/the-best-horror-festivals-in-the-world-2022/ |access-date=2025-03-01 |website=Dread Central |language=en-US}}</ref>
== See also ==
* List of fantastic and horror film festivals
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *{{official website|https://www.fantaspoa.com}} *[https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0002602/ Fantaspoa] on IMDb Category:Fantasy and horror film festivals