TOHorror Fantastic Film Fest is a long-running Italian festival focused on fantastic & horror movies. It was born in 1999 and 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.

The latest edition of the festival has been held in October 2021, showing Italian premieres of some of the higlights of the year: THE SADNESS by Rob Jabbaz, PRISONERS OF THE GHOSTLAND by Sion Sono, MIDNIGHT IN A PERFECT WORLD by Dodo Dayao, THE SCARY OF SIXTY-FIRST by Dasha Nekrasova, THE YELLOW WALLPAPER by Kevin Pontuti, FRANK & ZED by Jesse Blanchard, WE'RE ALL GOING TO THE WORLD'S FAIR by Jane Schoenbrun, HOTEL POSEIDON by Stef Lernous, SATOSHI KON, THE ILLUSIONIST by Pascal-Alex Vincent, AFTER BLUE by Bertrand Mandico, and many others.

One of the goals of the festival is to help spreading new talented voices in the fantastic genre scene. Beside works by well-known filmmakers, TOHFFF line-up is largely composed, year after year, by first- or second-time directors' movies.
Only in the last few years we had the honour and pleasure to present in Italy alternative gems by great directors and stunning feature debuts such as SAINT MAUD by Rose Glass, CLIMAX and LUX AETERNA by Gaspar Noé, ONE CUT OF THE DEAD by Shinichiro Ueda, HOUSEWIFE by Can Evrenol, WHY DON'T YOU JUST DIE! by Kirill Sokolov, TIGERS ARE NOT AFRAID by Issa Lopez, AMULET by Romola Garai, IT COMES by Tetsuya Nakashima, PSYCHO GOREMAN by Steven Kostanski, SCHLAF by Michael Venus...

Very strong SHORT FILM and ANIMATION FILM sections are also one of the festival's cores. More than 40 terrific short and animated films from all over the world are selected every year, bringing to light some of the best new young 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, LORENZO BIANCHINI, ANDREAS MARSCHALL...), stage performances, live concerts, art and comics exhibitions - and crazy parties, of course - we are enabled to live and interpret reality, filtering it through a most wild imagination.

Awards & Prizes

- Miglior Cortometraggio / Best Short Film
- Miglior Cortometraggio D'Animazione / Best Animated Short Film
- Premio Anna Mondelli al Miglior Lungometraggio / Anna Mondelli Award for the Best Feature Film
- Premio del pubblico al miglior cortometraggio / Audience Award for the Best Short
- Premio del pubblico al miglior cortometraggio d'animazione / Audience Award for the Best Animated Short
- Premio del pubblico al miglior lungometraggio / Audience Award for the Best Feature
- Premio “Antonio Margheriti” per la miglior inventiva artigianale / “Antonio Margheriti” Award for the most insane independent and artisanal attitude
- 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)
- 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 (and/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 or DCP
- 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 festival will not take charge of trophy and awards shipping in case winners can't attend the day of the proclamation.

10) Please note that the festival will not provide any screening fee to authors/distributors of selected films.

12) The demand for participation in the TOHORROR FANTASTIC FILM FEST 2022 - 22nd EDITION constitutes full and unconditional acceptance of this regulation.
9 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
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  • James Smith

    Thank you so much for selecting my animated short film Monster Encounters, it's been an honour. I hope I can attend the festival in person sometime, fantastic communication and quality.

    November 2021
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  • Ivan Basov

    TOHorror is a major genre fest in Italy with great history and exquisite programming. If you're tapping Italy on your genre film circuit (and especially if you have a chance to go there in person), TOHorror is a must. We were honored to be selected.

    November 2021
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  • 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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