Toronto After Dark Film Festival is a showcase of horror, sci-fi, action and cult cinema held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The festival premieres a diverse selection of feature-length and short-films from around the world including new works from Asia, Europe and North America.
Past festivals
2006
The 1st Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 20-24, 2006. The inaugural festival was held at the Bloor Cinema in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Over 3,500 votes were cast for the Audience Award for Best Feature Film and the Gold winner was Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In. Silver went to cult sci-fi horror musical Repo! The Genetic Opera, and Bronze was awarded by fans to the Thai supernatural anthology movie 4bia (Phobia). Awards were also handed out for Best Independent Feature Film, where the big winner was the grave-robber comedy, I Sell The Dead, and in the short film categories, winners included the Christmas tree exploitation film Treevenge.[2]
2009
The 4th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place August 14-21, 2009.
The fourth annual festival made the move to summer, once again at the Bloor Cinema with over 9,000 fans attending the festival. Highlights included screenings of the Norwegian Nazi zombie horror-comedy Dead Snow, the horror anthology Trick 'r Treat and the cult blaxploitation action-comedy Black Dynamite, which won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively in the Audience Choice Awards. The festival also hosted its first ever world premiere, Strigoi, an offbeat Romanian vampire comedy that was awarded by the fest Gold in the Best Independent Feature Film category. Silver and Bronze honours went to the dark comedy The Revenant and the zombie thriller, Grace, respectively.
Other films included Vampire Girl vs. Frankenstein Girl, The Warlords (starring Jet Li, Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro), Black (starring MC Jean Gab'1), Rough Cut,[3]Franklyn (starring Ryan Phillippe and Eva Green), The Forbidden Door,[4]Must Love Death,[5]Someone's Knocking at the Door,[6]The Children, Embodiment of Evil (the third film in the Coffin Joe trilogy), and The Dark Hour. Shorts After Dark (International Short Film Snowcase) comprised eleven new horror, sci-fi, action, and cult short films from around the world, including a number of international award winners.[7]Canada After Dark (Canadian Short Film Snowcase) featured 17 "home-grown" short films (and are the opening acts for the feature films).[8]
2010
The 5th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place August 13-20, 2010.
The fifth annual festival,[9][10] once again at the Bloor Cinema with over 9,300 fans attending. Highlights included the festival's first-ever red carpet premiere for The Last Exorcism, with producer Eli Roth, stars Ashley Bell and Patrick Fabian attending, the horror film The Human Centipede, and the 2010 remake of the 1978 exploitation film I Spit On Your Grave. These three films won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively, in the Audience Choice Awards.
Shorts After Dark (International Short Film Snowcase) comprised 10 new horror, sci-fi, action, and cult short films from around the world, including a number of international award winners and premieres.[11] 2010's Best International Short Film award winners included Off Season (Gold), Pumzi (Silver), and Deus Irae (Bronze). Canada After Dark (Canadian Short Film Snowcase) featured 16 "home-grown" short films (and are the opening acts for the feature films).[12] 2010's Best Canadian Short Film award winners included Junko's Shamisen (Gold),[13]King Chicken (Silver), and Fireman and Game Night (tied for Bronze).
2011
The 6th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 20-27, 2011.
Cast and crew of the film Monster Brawl at the gala opening of the 2011 festival.
The sixth annual festival returned to October and the Halloween season for the first time in three years, at the Toronto Underground Cinema. A record number of feature films and short film submissions were received this year.
Toronto After Dark announced the first eight Official Selections of its 2011 film line-up at Fan Expo Canada on August 25, 2011, then on its official website on August 31, 2011.[14] The films selected included Monster Brawl; Exit Humanity, a zombie saga set against the back-drop of the American Civil War; the Canadian Premiere of the Pierce Brothers' DeadHeads, a multi-genre zombie buddy film; Redline, a Japanese anime set in the world of car racing; The Theatre Bizarre, a horror anthology from such genre filmmakers as Tom Savini and Richard Stanley; the World Premiere of Father's Day, a exploitation/grindhouse story from Astron-6 and Troma; Love, a time-travel sci-fi drama; and Xavier Gens's The Divide, an apocalyptic film about the residents of a New York City apartment building.
Toronto After Dark was honoured in hosting two more World Premiere screenings. The WWII action-horror-zombie film, War of the Dead, directed by Marko Mäkilaakso and the dark, superhero thriller, VS, directed by Jason Trost (co-writer, director, and star of THE FP) and starring James Remar.
Astron-6's Father's Day, The Divide and DeadHeads won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively, in the Audience Choice Awards for Best Feature Film.
2012
The 7th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 18-26, 2012.
The seventh annual festival saw the Toronto After Dark Film Festival return to the Bloor Cinema, which went through new ownership and a complete renovation, reopening as the, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. The festival also expanded one extra night, showcasing a total of twenty feature films and a wealth of Canadian and International short films. The Toronto After Dark Film Festival hosted two Spotlight Presentation Screening Nights Summer 2012, taking place also at Bloor Cinema, Wednesday, June 27 and Wednesday, July 11. These two evenings showcased two films each night, including Juan of the Dead, The Pact, Detention and the Canadian Premiere of V/H/S.
The 8th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 17-25, 2013.
The eighth annual edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival saw the festival partner with Canada's Cineplex Entertainment, for the first time, with the Scotiabank Theatre being the venue host for the festival.
The Toronto After Dark Film Festival hosted two pre-festival Screening Nights in the summer of 2013, also taking place at the Scotiabank Theatre, Thursday, August 29 and Thursday, September 26. These two evenings screened two films each night. They included, Bad Milo; V/H/S/2; the Canadian Premiere of Europa Report and, The Dirties.
The 2013 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Official Feature Film Selections include the Opening Gala film and Toronto Premiere of Jim Mickle's We Are What We Are. This marked a return to Toronto After Dark for Mickle, as his 2006 film, Mulberry Street was a previous Toronto After Dark Official Selection. Other returning Toronto After Dark alumni for 2013 included Henry Saine with Bounty Killer and Jesse Thomas Cook with Septic Man for the Canadian Premiere. Other selections included creature features Big Ass Spider! and Eega; the British zombie-comedy Stalled; the zombie-drama The Battery, directed by Jeremy Gardner; the World Premiere of the Canadian thriller Silent Retreat, directed by Tricia Lee; Don Thacker's Motivational Growth; the Canadian Premiere of Odd Thomas, directed by Stephen Sommers based on the novels by Dean Koontz; the Canadian horror-thriller Solo; the sci-fi films The Last Days on Mars and The Machine, directed by Caradog W. James; the Toronto premiere of Found, directed by Scott Schrimer; the World Premiere of the Canadian action-horror-dark comedy film Evil Feed, directed by Kimani Ray Smith; the Bigfoot found-footage thriller Willow Creek, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait; and Blair Erickson's Banshee Chapter.
The Battery, Solo and Banshee Chapter won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively in the Audience Choice Awards for Best Feature Film.[15][16]
2014
The 9th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 17-25, 2014.
The ninth annual edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival continued to partner with Canada's Cineplex Entertainment, with their Scotiabank Theatre location in downtown Toronto, the venue partner.
The UK film Let Us Prey, starring The Woman'sPollyanna McIntosh rounded out the closing night of the festival, along with The Babadook, a creepy psychological-horror from Australia directed by Jennifer Kent, selected as the Closing Gala film.
The Canadian short films screened during the festival include, Foxed!, Young Blood, Pupa, Lumberjacked, Day 40, Period Piece, Kismet, Rose In Bloom, Dead Hearts, The Monitor, Migration, What Doesn't Kill You, Honor Code, Monster Island, Lazy Boyz, Satan's Dolls, Last Breath, Little Matthew and Intruders.
Period Piece, Dead Hearts and Satan's Dolls won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively in the Audience Choice Awards for Best Canadian Short Film.[17]
The International short films screened during the festival include, Invaders, Everything and Everything and Everything, Sword fights, Happy B-Day, Strange Thing, He Took Off His Skin For Me, Liquid, Redaction and Dynamic Venus.
Invaders, Happy B-Day and He Took Off His Skin For Me won Gold, Silver and Bronze respectively in the Audience Choice Awards for Best International Short Film.[17]
2015
The 10th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 15-23, 2015.
The 2015 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Official Feature Film Selections include the horror anthology, Tales of Halloween, The Hallow, Synchronicity, Lazer Team, Night of the Living Deb, A Christmas Horror Story, Shut In, The Hollow One, The Demolisher, The Diabolical, The Interior, Backtrack, Gridlocked, Nina Forever, The Hexecutioners, Tag, Love & Peace, Patchwork, and Deathgasm.
2016
The 11th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 13-21, 2016.
The 12th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 12-20, 2017.
The 2017 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Official Feature Film Selections include the science fiction sequel, Beyond Skyline; Cold Hell, Cult of Chucky, Dead Shack, Defective, Eat Local, The Endless, Game of Death, Impossible Horror, Lowlife, Mayhem, My Friend Dahmer, Poor Agnes, Rabbit, Sixty Minutes to Midnight, Trench 11, Victor Crowley, The Villainess, and Tragedy Girls.
2018
The 13th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 11-19, 2018.
The 2018 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Official Feature Film Selections include; Anna and the Apocalypse, The Dark, Extracurricular, I Am A Hero, I'll Take Your Dead, The Inhabitant, Lifechanger, Luz, Mega Time Squad, Nightmare Cinema; the Canadian Premiere of the WWII action zombie film, Overlord; Prey, Prospect, The Ranger, Robbery, Satan's Slaves, Tigers Are Not Afraid, and You Might Be A Killer.
2019
The 14th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 17-25, 2019.
The 2019 Toronto After Dark Film Festival Official Feature Film Selections include the Irish supernatural comedy, Extra Ordinary (as the Opening Night Gala film); Witches in the Woods; the science-fiction film, Blood Machines, directed by Seth Ickerman and scored by Carpenter Brut, based upon the successful Kickstarter campaign; the Canadian science-fiction comedy, James vs. His Future Self, starring Daniel Stern, Jonas Chernick, Cleopatra Coleman and Frances Conroy; the South Korean zombie comedy, The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale; the bonkers insanity of, Mutant Blast (acquired and distributed via our friends with Troma Entertainment); the Australian slasher, The Furies; Making Monsters; Paradise Hills (starring Emma Roberts, Awkwafina, Eiza González, and Milla Jovovich); the World Premiere of the Canadian action film, Contracts; the South African supernatural thriller, 8 (which has since been retitled as, The Soul Collector); Homewrecker; the exorcism thriller, The Assent; the horror anthology, The Mortuary Collection, starring Clancy Brown; the Polish WWII thriller, Werewolf (Wilkolak); the World Premiere of the Canadian science-fiction, Enhanced; the dark comedy, Come to Daddy, starring Elijah Wood and Stephen McHattie; and, The Wretched (as the Closing Night Gala film), directed by Brett and Drew Pierce (Deadheads).
Official Selections for the Canadian Shorts After Dark program, included seven films from around the country 2019 Canadian Shorts: Alaska, Best Friends Forever, Imagine A World, Moment, No One Will Ever Believe You, Plainsong, and Zombies And Indians.
An additional eighteen Canadian short films were selected to screen before each feature film during the festival 2019 Canadian Pre-Feature Shorts. Official Selections included, We Three Queens, Eyes Open, Far Horizon, Make Me A Sandwich, Ocimokw! (Go Away!), Grave Sight, Down The Rabbit Hole, Hearth, Barbara-Anne, The Lightsaber Maker, Kakashat, A Noise That Carries, Schism, Peel, Eilid And Damh, Dark Before Dawn: Convoy, Patterns, and The Changeling.
Official Selections for the International Shorts After Dark program, included eight films from around the world 2019 International Shorts: Bar Fight, Eject, Maggie May, Place, Puzzle, La Noria, The Haunted Swordsman and Your Last Day On Earth. Additionally, billed as a "Sci-Fi Mini-Showcase", three additional international short films; Flip, Furnace, and, Turbo Killer, were screened with the feature film, Blood Machines.
2020
Due to the on-going global COVID-19 pandemic, the 15th edition of the festival, which was scheduled for October 15-23, 2020 was postponed.
The 15th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 13-17, 2021. For the first time, it was organized be an all-virtual event called, Toronto After Dark At Home, with all 12 official selections available to watch right across Canada, powered by the Eventive platform - a Video on Demand (VOD) streaming service.
2022
The 16th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival took place October 19-23, 2022.
2023
The 17th Edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival returns October 18-22, 2023.
