TOHorror Fantastic Film Fest is one of the most long-running Italian festivals focused on fantastic & horror movies. It is based in Turin: the city where Dario Argento shot his renowned "Deep Red", as well as the city where the Italian National Museum of Cinema stands.
A main target of the festival is to support and help spreading new talented voices in fantastic genre: beside works by well-known filmmakers, a lot of TOHFFF line-up is composed year after year by first or second time directors' films. In the last few years we had the honour and pleasure to showcase in Italy independent gems such as SAINT MAUD by Rose Glass, KNIVES AND SKIN by Jennifer Reeder, CLIMAX by Gaspar Noé, ONE CUT OF THE DEAD by Shinichiro Ueda, HOUSEWIFE by Can Evrenol, IS THAT YOU? by Rudy Riveron Sanchez, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID by Issa Lopez, HAIL SATAN? by Penny Lane, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE! by Kirill Sokolov and so many others. Very strong SHORT FILMS and ANIMATION FILMS sections are another of festival cores, since more than 40 terrific short and animated movies from all over the world are scheduled every year, bringing to light some of the best new filmmakers in the scene.

Being a "cross" event, TOHFFF starts from cinema and then explores all possible means of communication and modern media, with the purpose of analysing contemporary society through the deforming lenses provided by the fantastic & horror culture. Thus, through movies, meetings with authors and guests (such as, over the past years, RICHARD STANLEY, JEAN ROLLIN, DARIO ARGENTO, RUGGERO DEODATO, HELENE CATTET & BRUNO FORZANI, MIGUEL ANGEL MARTIN, ANDREAS MARSCHALL...), stage performances, live concerts, art and comics exhibitions, and (why not) savage parties, we are enabled to live and interpret reality, filtering it through a most wild imagination.

Awards & Prizes

- Miglior Cortometraggio / Best Short Film
- Miglior Lungometraggio / Best Feature Film
- Migliore sceneggiatura / Best Screenplay (Italian only)
- Premio del pubblico al miglior cortometraggio / Audience Award for the Best Short
- Premio del pubblico al miglior lungometraggio / Audience Award for the Best Feature
- Premio “Anna Mondelli” per la miglior opera prima o talento giovanile / “Anna Mondelli” Award for the Best First Film or Young Talent
- Premio “Antonio Margheriti” per la miglior inventiva artigianale / “Antonio Margheriti” Award for the most creative artisanal FX
- Bloody Award ai migliori effetti speciali / Bloody Award to the best FX
- Menzione Speciale del TOHorror / Special Mention of the TOHorror crew

Rules & Terms

*READ CAREFULLY - IT'S SHORT, I PROMISE*

1) The festival is structured in the following categories:

- Short Films Competition (less than 30 minutes)
- Animated Short Films Competition (less than 30 minutes)
- Feature Films Competition (more than 60 minutes / more than 50 minutes for documentaries)
- Mad Doc: a non-competitive section focused on documentaries (more than 50 minutes)
- Freakshow: a non-competitive wild section dedicated to "extreme" movies, in the widest sense of the word: weird, splatter, gore, trash, bizarre... (no runtime limits)
Selected films will be included in one of these categories, according to the decision of the selection committee.

2) Eligible films must be related (in any way) to the following film genres or themes: horror, thriller, science-fiction, fantasy, mystery, weird, grotesque, black comedy, noir, experimental.

3) Each author is responsible for the contents of its own work.

4) If the dialogues of the film are not in Italian, the film must be completed by Italian or English subtitles. If you don't have Italian subtitles, it's mandatory - in case of selection - to send us the SRT file of the English subtitles (or a time-coded dialogue list) and a low-res file of the film, in order to let us create the Italian subtitles. (IMPORTANT: the low-res version of the film for subtitling purpose must be identical to the screening copy).
If, once selected, you can't provide a SRT file of the English or the Italian subtitles, nor a dialogue list, the movie might be dismissed from the selection.

5) Movies received without the requested documentation or after the deadline could be excluded from the selection.

6) You will find the screenings program of the selected works on the official website www.tohorrorfilmfest.it before the beginning of the Festival itself. Juries will examine each work and award one for each category.

7) In case of selection, we'll reach out privately to ask for all the required materials, both for marketing and subtitling purpose.
The screening copy of the films must be sent to the festival 3 weeks (at least) before the beginning of the event, via digital download or shipment:
- Short films format: high quality H264 or ProRes
- Feature films format: DCP or ProRes or high quality H264
The screening copy must be free of any subtitles (or with Italian subtitles burned in).
In case a physical shipment is needed, the festival will cover the shipping costs both ways (unless the copy has to be shipped to another festival right after TOHFFF. In this case the recipient must cover the shipping costs).

8) Once selected, a film can't be withdrawn from the competition.

9) The jury or the audience will assign the following awards:

Best Short Film.
Best Feature Film.
Audience Award for the best short.
Audience Award for the best feature.
“Anna Mondelli” award for the best first film.
“Antonio Margheriti” award for the artisanal creativity.
Bloody Award for the best FX.
Special Mention by the TOHorror crew.

10) The festival will not take charge of trophy and awards shipping in case winners can't attend the day of the proclamation.

11) The festival will not pay any screening fee to authors/distributors of the selected films.

12) The demand for participation in the TOHORROR FANTASTIC FILM FEST 2021 - 21st EDITION constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of this regulation.

N.B. The festival will take place only live on-site. We are not going online at all.

7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Tim Luna

    We were very honored that our short film The Taxi Dead was chosen for the program 2020. Unfortunately, we couldn't be there ourselves, but felt well informed and were able to follow the course of the festival online. We had a great communication and had the feeling the festival take care for us and everyone. Thanks for the support!

    February 2021
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  • Maurizio Squillari

    One of the best fantastic festivals in Italy made by passionate and friendly people

    August 2019
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  • Eres Tu Papa Ltd

    TOHorror Film Festival is an intimate, friendly and fun festival. It's all about the films, the filmmakers, the people behind the festival and the guests and this festival has the full package. Thank you for the hospitality and for the award. Warmest Regards.

    November 2018
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  • Gio Olmos

    I was honoured to be part of this year's excellent line-up!

    November 2018
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  • i Licaoni Digital Studio

    Purtroppo non siamo riusciti a partecipare fisicamente, ma la comunicazione e la disponibilità sono stati ottimi. A giudicare dai lavori selezionati e dai premi assegnati, il livello della rassegna doveva essere molto alto, quindi complimenti agli organizzatori.

    October 2018
    Helpful
    Logo
    Response from festival:

    Grazie ragazzi! Ci scaldate il cuore! Non vediamo l'ora di vedere cos'altro produrrete ;)