The 24th edition of the Fantasia Film Festival, which will be held online as a virtual edition of Fantasia, looks to be quite the event this year! The festival has just announced a massive assortment of films along with other treats for its 2020 lineup, one of which is a pretty important award for iconic filmmaker John Carpenter. Indeed, Halloween and The Thing director John Carpenter will be receiving a lifetime achievement award at the virtual edition of the Fantasia Film Festival.
The news was revealed in a new press release from Fantasia, via Bloody-Disgusting, in which it was also announced that John Carpenter will actually be holding a masterclass for the virtual audience attending the Fantasia Film Festival online.
According to the press release:
“In conjunction with awarding him a Fantasia Lifetime Achievement Award, the festival will also present a masterclass from John Carpenter, where he’ll discuss everything from his own festival origin story to his awe-inspiring career, touching on Halloween, The Fog, Escape from New York, The Thing, Starman, They Live, and many more. In addition, the fest will explore his recent resurgence as a touring musician and play you his latest spine-tingling single.”
This is a pretty massive announcement, especially when you consider audiences tuning in online will be able to see John Carpenter live as he accepts his award, discusses his career, and even plays his latest single. It definitely sounds like a once in a lifetime treat for horror fans, and with that said, there are plenty of other goodies that will be playing at the virtual edition of the Fantasia Film Festival.
If anyone deserves this award, it’s definitely John Carpenter, whose career has singlehandedly influenced entire genres of filmmaking. It’s about time that he’s recognized for his hard work and effort across decades of different filmmaking climates and projects.