Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival has shared the best in anime since its very first edition, and as its 23rd edition (11 July – 1 August) approaches, Fantasia’s Axis section, home to the festival’s animated films, proudly announces an extraordinary array of anime titles — all in competition for Fantasia’s prestigious Satoshi Kon Award for Achievement in Animation!

Fantasia has just announced its Closing Film, and anime fans will agree — extreme heat never looked so cool! In the embers of the globe-engulfing great flame war, the maverick firefighters of Burning Rescue confront the fiery terrorists of Burnish Mad. Director Hiroyuki Imaishi and writer Kazuki Nakashima, who’ve together previously on Gurren Lagann and Kill La Kill, are at the wheel for the first feature film from edgy anime studio Trigger, Promare. A raging riot of bright colours, daring design, crazy characters and whiplash action, Promare isn’t just the most...