Is it really that time of year again already? You bet. It's Christmas for cinephiles, baby.
The coffee-makers at Empire Capitol 6 will start working overtime as the 18th annual Victoria Film Festival kicks off with the pink carpet rolled out for House of Pleasures, the opening gala feature that promises to immerse us “in the long-abandoned world of the Belle Epoque 1900, awash with opium, champagne and the inevitable rush of semen.”
Whew. Too much information, people.
Now seems as good a time as any for an update on festival guests, hot tickets and a reminder that cannot be stressed enough: If there’s a film you want to see or event you want to attend, buy your tickets now to avoid disappointment.
And if you’re a passholder, be sure to arrive 30 minutes before showtime for priority seating.
Those who snooze, lose. The opening gala and some films and events have already sold out, for example.
While there will be a limited number of tickets available at the door for early birds, you’re out of luck if you were hoping to get advance tickets for Letters to Angel (Kirjad Inglile), Take This Waltz, both House of Pleasures screenings, Prinsessa’s Feb. 4 screening, the Mid Program: New Family Frontiers, Shorts Program: Cruel Worlds and Wetlands (Marecages).
It’s worth noting that the smaller venues, like Parkside Victoria's cosy HD cinema, are most likely to sell out soonest.
Both Sips ‘n’ Cinema programs are also sold-out, but there are still tickets available for Feast and a Film.
This weekend’s Springboard industry event should be particularly compelling given the sorry state of documentary funding in this country at the moment (thanks, Mr. Harper), and the challenges facing filmmakers as delivery systems change rapidly.
Victoria’s own “father of independent production” Pat Ferns is hosting this year’s event at the Vic Theatre. Fittingly, given the current landscape, it gets under way on Friday with Crowdfunding: A Changing World for Independents, a presentation on the increasingly popular online funding model by documentary filmmaker Peter Wintonick (Manufacturing Consent).
“It just seemed a natural topic since so few docs are being commissioned nowadays,” said festival director Kathy Kay.
Other Springboard highlights include global distribution guru Harold Gronenthal’s breakfast talk on The State of Television; KCTS9’s inaugural development pitching session, with finalists competing for a $10,000 prize; and Trailer Mechanics, Sunday’s presentation on how to make fund-raisinig trailers by Fernanda Rossi, the renowned story consultant, a.k.a. the Doc Doctor.
Springboard Talks, a series of 15-minute talks at the Vic on Saturday, also promise plenty of food for thought.
Speakers include Rush Hour screenwriter Ross LaManna (To Succeed in New Media, Know Your Artistotle); RasTa: A Souls Journey director Stuart Samuels (iHistory: The Future of Pop Culture and Documentary Filmmaking in the Digital Age) and A Little Bit Zombie director Casey Walker (First In, Last Out: An Indie Filmmaker’s Journey).
Other talks include Ideas on Narrative and Aesthetic Sensibility by Victoria filmmaker and academic Katherine Walkiewicz, whose A Brief Memory was screened at Cannes; Casting Canadian Comedy Films by Mike Peterson, director of Lloyd the Conquerer; and To Right a Wrong by Judy Chaikin, director of The Girls in the Band and Legacy of the Hollywood Blacklist.
As always, the list of festival guests is as changeable as the weather, although less so than in recent years when George A. Romero and Steve Oederkerk joined headliner Robert Lantos in the Hall of Shame for guests who canceled at the 11th hour.
This year festivalgoers could find themselves bumping into filmmaker John Landis — catch him live onstage at the Vic with CTV film critic Richard Crouse Saturday night at the Vic before a Quote-Along screening of The Blues Brothers — or Linda Blair, the actress-turned-animal rights crusader of The Exorcist fame who will be honored on Fri., Feb. 10.
Other guests confirmed at press time included Swiss artist and filmmaker Reto Caduff, and directors Jeremy Lutter (Joanna Makes a Friend), Arnold Lim (Bye Bye Birdie), Richard Boyce (Rainforest), Deborah Shaffer (To Be Heard), Max Good (Vigilante Vigilante), Carl Bessai (Sisters & Brothers) and Michael Petersen (Lloyd the Conquerer).
Several members of the A Little Bit Zombie cast will also be here for its world premiere, including Stephen McHattie (depending on his schedule), Crystal Lowe, Emile Ullerup, Kristen Hager, Kristopher Turner and Shawn Roberts of Resident Evil films fame. Lloyd the Conquerer will also be well represented, with Peterson joined by Brendan Hunter, Scott Patey (also in Sunflower Hour), Evan Williams (Degrassi Next Generation) and Jesse Reid (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Watchmen.)
