Canada International Film Festival

The first weekend of April in Vancouver plays host to the Canada International Film Festival.  The 2011 festival saw hundreds of entries from thirty countries from all over the world.  The festival is proud to be dedicated to creating opportunities for independent filmmakers and aiding the artistic interaction of the film going community.

I was fortunate to attend this year`s festival not only as a film lover but as an award winner, having won the “Rising Star” award and the “Royal Reel” award for excellence in screenwriting.  What a wonderful opportunity and experience the festival was!  I gave my first ever acceptance speech (Which was very exciting and a little nerve wracking.)  I also met and mingled with filmmakers from Japan, China, New York, Ireland, India, Europe and North America.

The festival is a great tribute to all those who traveled to Vancouver for the event.  Anyone who is involved in film and writing can tell you how difficult the entire process can be.  Hours, turn into days, weeks and months as artists struggle to bring their dreams to life.  The Canada International Film Festival takes all the blood sweat and tears that filmmakers pour into their projects and makes it all worthwhile.

The Grand Jury winner of the festival was a film by Amy Glazer called Seducing Charlie Barker.  The film is a dark satire of the Manhattan entertainment industry in which a gifted actor (Charlie Barker) begins his fall from grace as he encounters a chameleon-like social climber.

One of my favourite films of the festival was a short film called Kanowna by Chris Richards-Scully. I also enjoyed The Pizza Miracle by Tony Grisoni and Trio by the late Danny Aiello III.

Congratulations to all the filmmakers and writers who found success at the Canada International Film Festival and thank you to the festival itself for helping independent filmmakers along the journey of creating their dreams.