The Lusca Fantastic Film Fest (formerly Puerto Rico Horror 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.[1] 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 and November.[2] Its main objective is to promote cinematographic art by presenting high-quality short and feature films.
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.[1] In 2011, MovieMaker Magazine commented that the Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest was one of the “13 Horror Film Festivals to Die For.”[3][4][5][6] In 2016 The Puerto Rico Horror Film Festival had a name change to LUSCA Caribbean International Fantastic Film Festival[7] 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,[1] retaining it identity in Lusca's Horror selections.[3]
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.[1] 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",[8][9] one of Latin America's main horror film festivals.
Awards
The festival has been the recipient of the following awards.[10][11]
Best International Feature Film
Best International Short Film
Best International Director
Best International Animation
Best VR Project
International Short Film Audience Award
Best Local Feature
Best Local Short
Best Local Director
Best Local Animation
Best Local Actor
Best Local Actress
Best Local Screenplay
Best Local Special Effects
Best Local Cinematography
Best Local Editing
Best Local Sound
Local Audience Award
Carlos Madera Excellence Award
Lifetime Achievement Award
Cosplay Contest - Jury Award
Cosplay Contest - People's Choice Award
Pet Cosplay Contest
Fantastic Sreenwriting Contest
Special Recognition
Special Jury Award
International winners
For the complete list of winners visit: Past Editions
The global film community participates in the Festival, among they are: Argentina,[4][20][21] Australia, Brazil,[21] Canada, Chile,[4][21] Colombia, Costa Rica,[21] Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Ethiopia, France, Germany,[4][22] Hong Kong,[21] Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy,[4][23] Japan, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Puerto Rico,[4] Russia, Scotland, Serbia, South Korea, Spain,[24] Sweden, Switzerland, United States of America,[4] United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom,[21] Uruguay,[4][21] Venezuela.
Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest 2013 - Celebrated the 50th anniversary of "The Birds" and had Tippi Hedren[32] as a special guest, honoring her with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Puerto Rico Horror Film Fest 2014 - The festival celebrated the 30th Anniversary of A Nightmare on Elm Street[33] and had a special screening of the original film.
