By contributor John Gardiner
14 films have been chosen for screening at the 10th annual Vancouver Island Short Film Festival (VISFF) on February 6 and 7. The event will be held at the Malaspina Theatre on Nanaimo’s campus.
This year the VISFF organizers received 65 films to choose from that thoroughly impressed the selection committee. The final selection includes:
- Alice and Kevin, by Sam Vint;
- At Death’s Door, by Todd Jones;
- Craven, by Devon Kuziw;
- Crazy Love, by Mathieu Charest;
- The Dreamer, by Laurence Fortin Gagnon;
- Fingers Cutting Glass, by Evan Britz;
- George Bassler’s Perpetual Motion Machine, by Berny Hi;
- Good Beastly Bad, by Michael Chen;
- Habit, by Steff Gundling;
- Just Shoot Me, by Linley Subryan;
- The Pair, by Graham Stark;
- Project Heart – Honouring Residential School Survivors, by Ed Carswell;
- Smart Home, by Carol Phiniotis;
- and Teenage Dance, by Adam Bentley.
All of the above films will be shown at the VISFF.
“We are very excited about this year’s selection of films,” said VISFF Director Johnny Blakeborough. “Every year, the submitted films get better and better. I had high expectations for our 10th year, but these films are tremendous.”
The 65 entries of short films came from Vancouver Island, the mainland, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, and also Missouri, New York, Ireland, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Iran. This is the most diverse selection of films ever submitted to the Festival.
This year, for the first time ever, the VISFF will have three screenings of the selected films—two evening shows and a matinee on February 7.
“The Festival was jam-packed last year,” said Blakeborough. “We wanted to give our audience another opportunity to check out these great short films, so we decided to add a matinee screening on February 7. The evening shows are always very busy, so this will give more people a chance to check out the Festival.”
All screenings will showcase the same 14 films. Following the Friday show there will be a musical performance by Top Men. The Saturday matinee show will be followed by a filmmaker Q&A. And after the Saturday evening show there will be an awards ceremony for the winning filmmakers.
The VISFF is a Nanaimo Arts Council event. For complete details, check out their Facebook or website. Additionally, you can contact by email, or call 250-729-3947. To purchase tickets you can visit online, visit the Port Theatre (125 Front St.), or call 250-754-8550. Tickets are $10 for students or $15 for the public. Limited tickets will be available at the door.
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