Lusca Fantastic Film Fest


The Lusca Fantastic Film Fest is an annual film festival held in Puerto Rico. It is the first and only international fantastic film festival in the Caribbean devoted to Sci-Fi, Thriller, Fantasy, Dark Humor, Bizarre, Horror, Anime, Adventure, Virtual Reality and Animation in Short and Feature Films. The event is held in San Juan, Puerto Rico metropolitan area, and other venues throughout the island of Puerto Rico. It runs for eight days during two weeks during October - November. Its main objective is to promote cinematographic art by presenting high-quality Short and Feature Films. Born as the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest in 2007 to put focus on independent high quality genre film, and since 2009 in the form of a competitive festival. In 2016, the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest became LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Fest, retaining it identity in Lusca's Horror selections.

History

The festival was started in 2006, and took the form of a competitive festival in 2009. It is sponsored by Scene 51, Inc. and the Puerto Rico Film Academy since 2007. In 2011, MovieMaker Magazine commented that the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest was one of the “13 Horror Film Festivals to Die For.” In 2016 The Puerto Rico Horror Film Festival had a name change to LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Festival expanding to more film genres and adding Anime, Adventure, Virtual Reality and an Animation competition. In 2016, the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest became LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Fest, retaining it identity in Lusca's Horror selections.

Prominence

The Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest is a point of entry for movies that would otherwise not be shown in Puerto Rico due to the level of specialization of their genre. Since its inception, the Festival has grown in terms of programming, media relevance, and attendance. The festival is attended by over 7,000 people and features an average of over 200 films. It is part of "La Alianza Latinoamericana de Festivales de Cine Fantástico", one of Latin America's main horror film festivals.

Awards

The festival has been the recipient of the following awards.
For the complete list of winners visit:
YearBest Intl. Feature FilmBest Intl. ShortfilmBest Intl. DirectorIntl. Audience Award
2009The Last Gateway Remote
2011Krokodyle Wilt
2013Halley Happy B-day
2014Sacrament Subterraneo
2015III The Pond Isaac Ezban
2016Train to Busan The Cleansing Hour Jaco Van Dormael The Dream Catcher
2017Dave Made a Maze Apolo81 Lukas Feigelfeld Hard Way - The Action Musical
2018Chimera The Heartbreak Factory Kenji Nagasaki Oscar's Bell

Local winners

For the complete list of winners visit:
YearBest Local Feature FilmBest Local ShortfilmBest Local DirectorLocal Audience Award
2009Los Unos y los Otros
2011Barricada Jessica
2013Under the Rain
2014Los Reyes del Barrio Deathchaser
2015Inergía: Sentience Into The Void Gilberto D. Vázquez No te Duermas Cabrón
2016Cáscara o Semilla Javier Enrique Delgado Ruiz & Gilberto David Vázquez Gómez Lunas Rojas
2017Lo Innombrable Elijah Alicea & C.J. Lozada Alien Hand
Xanathos
2018Jaulas Invisibles Gilberto D.Vázquez-Gómez Apartment 4
Flush

International representation

The global film community participates in the Festival, among they are: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Notable celebrities

Some of the best known names in the film industry have participated in the PRHFF, including Zelda Rubinstein 2009, Tony Todd 2011, Tippi Hedren in 2013, and Lloyd Kaufman in 2016, all of them awarded by the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award.

Past editions