Posts Tagged ‘Victoria Film Festival’

Visual feast Whether it’s a glorious film about a gourmet chef or the transformed lobby of the Atrium, food is king By MICHAEL D. REID, Timescolonist.com February 3, 2011

Crowd8If there’s one thing you can count on at the Victoria Film Festival, it’s food, glorious food — on and off screen.

This year is no exception, starting with Friday night’s opening gala presentation at Empire Capitol 6 — a film that gives new meaning to the term “frozen food.”

It’s The Chef of the South Polar, Japanese director Shuichi Okita’s stunningly photographed portrait of life in Dome Fuji, an isolated Antarctic research station where Jun Nishimura, a gourmet chef, dishes up a mouth-watering variety of culinary creations to boost the morale of scientific researchers battling homesickness, isolation and sub-zero temperatures.

The South Pole theme will be reflected post-screening at the Atrium, 800 Yates St. The lobby is being transformed into a sparkling ice castle with a faux glacier and bar sculpted out of ice. Expect music by Lady Gaga-influenced local DJ Veela (a.k.a. Victoria Burnett), food by local restaurants such as Bon Rouge, Pescatores and Sips Artisan Bistro, as well as Driftwood Brewery’s Reel Beer and other festival-specific cocktails and surprises.

Okita’s visual feast continues a long tradition of putting foodie flicks on the festival menu. So will Saturday’s Canadian Opening Gala presentation — the world première of Food Security: It’s in your Hands, Duncan-based director Nick Versteeg’s new documentary (7 p.m., Odeon).

Versteeg’s film encourages viewers to change how we think about farming and food by relating his own experiences growing food on his hobby farm the Laughing Geese, with input from experts on topics from soil to the fate of bees.

Festival-goers have long hungered for such films, says festival director Kathy Kay.

“Outside of film festivals, you don’t often get a chance to see them,” Kay says. “It’s always a good opportunity. Victoria in particular has such a foodie culture, so we always have our eyes peeled.”

As for the festival itself, it’s going on a bit of a diet this year thanks to arts cutbacks. The festival program guide is smaller than usual, with expanded descriptions going online; and fewer guests are being brought in.

“That’s been key. We’re lean and mean,” laughs Kay, who is mounting this year’s festival on a $646,000 budget. “We get money from the Victoria Foundation which has helped offset our problems, and we generated $130,000 from our box office.”

This year’s guests include Bruce McDonald (Trigger, Hardcore Logo 2), Ron Mann (In the Wake of the Flood), Larry Weinstein (Politics Is Cruel) and Don McKellar (Twitch City), with CTV film critic Richard Crouse returning to emcee Springboard.

Speakers at that popular opening-weekend industry event include Angie Burns, vice-president of publicity and promotions for Maple Pictures, Telefilm Canada’s John Dippong, independent production pioneer Pat Ferns, and Tom Alexander, Mongrel Media’s director of theatrical releasing. This year’s Springboard highlights include Ferns’s Friday pitching workshop, and The Great Convergence: Film, TV and the Internet, a Sunday master class conducted by Rainbow Media’s Harold Gronenthal.

Success lies in the ability to be as resourceful as possible, notes Kay. They’re hoping that reducing the size of the program guide but printing more copies will boost box-office revenues and continue the festival’s trend of rising attendance each year.

More than 160 films from 23 countries will be shown during the 10-day showcase, including a generous slate of Canadian and homegrown fare. It includes the première of Victoria filmmaker Jim Knox’s feature debut Cascadia, and shorts by locals Apeman Struthers (Down to the Sea on Drugs, Part One), Maureen Bradley (Pants on Fire) and Alice Faye Hopewell (Dearest).

Popular programs such as Sips ‘n’ Cinema, Dinner and More Than a Movie — featuring erotic fare at the Superior — and Converge, where viewers take to the streets to watch short films in offbeat venues, will also be back.

New initiatives include Contemplating Victoria (see sidebar), and a Grindhouse double-bill.

It opens with Machete Maidens Unleashed, Australian director Mark Hartley’s documentary recalling how directors of shlock and exploitation flicks in the 1970s shot them in the Philippines because of its exotic locations and cheap labour.

It will be followed by The Big Bird Cage, Jack Hill’s steamy 1972 “women in prison” exploitation flick starring Pam Grier as a buxom revolutionary who, with the help of a nymphomanic inmate (Anitra Ford), engineers a prison breakout to provide “babes” to satisfy the itches of mercenaries who work for her sleazy guerrilla-leader boyfriend (Sid Haig).

And don’t forget about those two Oscar-nominated films booked at the 11th hour to fill the Saturday night time slot that was to have been filled by horror meister George A. Romero before he announced he’d have to cancel for personal reasons.

The Illusionist, Sylvain Chomet’s adaptation of the Jacques Tati classic, screens at 6:45 p.m., followed at 9:15 by Alejandro Inarritu’s Biutiful, starring Javier Bardem as a man coming to terms with his imperfect life while wandering through Barcelona.

Richard Crouse Pt II – Kris Kristofferson & the VFF By Rachel Fox from guttersnipe.com

UnknownActor and musician Kris Kristofferson was honoured by the Victoria Film Festival this year with its presentation of the inaugural IN award, celebrating one “who has been INspirational, INnovative, and INdependant.”

Kristofferson was received warmly by the crowd, which was left utterly charmed by his candor and humility. The former Rhodes Scholar spoke freely and reflected about his incredible life and broad career, from being a janitor at Nashville’s Columbia Records to his emergence as a singer-songwriter associating with the likes of Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Janis Joplin before successfully transitioning to an acting career. That includes a memorable stint in a bathtub with Barbra Streisand (A Star is Born, a performance that earned him a Golden Globe).

A brief question-and-answer period was followed by a rather grainy screening of Kristofferson’s 1996 film Lone Star, which was succinctly summarized by filmmaker Ken Galloway (at the Festival with his short film, “Ways on Wheels”) as an example of how “the white man fucks everything and then fucks everything up.” Indeed.

The evening was emceed by Canada AM’s Richard Crouse, pulling double-duty at the Festival by presenting the series of SpringBoard talks and seminars. I had a chance to catch up with him about interviewing one of his personal heroes, hanging out with Teddy the Toad, and the unexpected treat of falling in love with a woman whose life and story stole everyone’s heart.

RF: How’s your experience been at the Victoria Film Festival so far?

RC: It’s over, now. I’m done (laughs). It’s been really fun. I cover film festivals all over the world. I go to Cannes, I cover Toronto – I live in Toronto. They’re much different festivals; I’m really working those ones really hard and seeing sometimes 75 movies [at the Toronto International Film Festival] and interviewing people so they’re much different. In this one, I was presenting things the whole time and doing interviews onstage and was more a part of it. So I kind of kicked back and relaxed a little bit at this one …

RF: You kicked back and relaxed in Victoria?

RC: Well a little bit, a little bit. You know what, I had fun here. The people who were here – I got here on Friday and the people that were here were amazing, good fun to hang out with, always something to do. I got to interview Kris Kristofferson tonight which was mind-blowingly cool.

RF: It was sort of like your James Lipton moment.

RC: I do a lot of these kinds of things in Toronto and other places too, but to sit next to him, that close… I don’t know if you could tell from the audience, but he teared up when he talked about Janis Joplin. That was… those kind of moments that I didn’t expect, and as an interviewer are very special and as an audience member I hope so too.

RF: What I noticed during the interview was he had this way, a sort of humility about him – he almost was like a little boy. He’d be talking about something and then he’d laugh about it as though it was no big thing. I thought it was quite endearing.

RC: Considering who he is, and the songs that he’s written – if he had only written “Me and Bobby McGee”, that would’ve been enough. If he’d have only written “Me and Bobby McGee” and “Help Me Make it Through the Night”, that would’ve been enough. If he had only written those and “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, that would’ve been enough. But the film work on top of that – for 40 years he’s been making records consistently, and good ones, and films, and working with directors like Martin Scorsese and everybody else. It’s kind of one of those unparalleled careers in terms of a musician who has branched off and done other things, considering the amount of success he’s had. I’m thrilled to sit and do it.

RF: Looking at someone like Kris Kristofferson and the career transitions he’s made – it’s something we’re seeing a lot more of now; artists who start as musicians and then suddenly they become actors and then perfumers.

RC: We’re only seconds away from Lady Gaga making a movie and having a clothing line. I think though, in some ways, it happens so quickly now that it dilutes the brand, and none of it is done particularly well. Whereas maybe I would’ve said that about Kris Kristofferson in 1971, “He’s a songwriter, what’s he doing making movies?” But he stayed at it and worked at it for so long and really made it not just a sideline, but a really parallel career. That’s interesting to me.

RF: One thing that you touched upon in your introduction of him was that “independent spirit”, which you spoke of along with the likes of Johnny Cash. When I think of Kris Kristofferson, one thing that always comes to mind is (I don’t recall what the event was) was when Sinead O’Connor performed for the first time …

RC: I was there.

RF: Were you there?

RC: I was. It was at Madison Square Gardens. She had torn up the picture of the Pope on “Saturday Night Live” the previous Saturday. I’d forgotten about this, or I would’ve asked him about it.

RF: Ahhh!

RC: See, I should’ve talked to you beforehand. [Laughs] It was at MSG, it was the 30th anniversary of Bob Dylan on Colombia Records. There was, I don’t know, 40 bands or acts – everyone from Eric Clapton to Sinead O’Connor. And so she comes out, and it’s horrific-

RF: I remember watching it on television and just being stunned at the [audience] response.

RC: Sitting in the audience watching that, I felt like, “great violence could happen any time now.” It was one of those times that the feeling changed in the room so quickly, and there’s 50,000 people –

RF: New Yawkers…

RC: New Yorkers, who were angry at her. And Kristofferson came out because he had hosted part of the evening. He put his arm around her and said, “Don’t let the bastards get you down.” And I remember it being such a cool moment, because it’s not like he took her off stage and did it. He did it onstage, and said to the audience, “I know what you’re doing, and I’m gonna help her.” And then Neil Young came out and blew everybody’s mind playing “All Along the Watchtower” and lifted the crowd right back up again. But it was Kristofferson’s moment.

RF: I remember that. When I think of him, that’s what comes to mind.

RC: I think that’s kind of emblematic of how he is. It seems to me that he, even if it’s not going to be popular, he does the right thing. Because he was then staring down 50,000 angry people –

RF: New Yawkers…

RC: – who were not really happy at him. It’s kind of a cool thing.

RF: You spoke a lot about the musical portion of his career and how that’s influenced you. What was preparing for this interview like? You seem to be a fan.

RC: I am a fan. I’m a pop-culture junkie. I had to do research for this, a great amount of research, because I wanted that no matter where the interview went I was going to be able to go there. I don’t like to plan my interviews particularly well. I don’t like to have a list of ten questions. I didn’t have anything written down. I had a couple of quotes written down that I wanted to ask him about just in case I got stuck but there were no actual questions written down.

“Me and Bobby McGee” was a really significant song for me, I loved it. I was too young – even though I’m Toronto’s oldest living man – I was still too young for the original Janis Joplin version which wasn’t really significant to me when it came out. It became really significant to me years later – the song, it tells a story, the vocals are amazing. There’s so much to it, and he wrote it. I wanted to be clear that it wasn’t one aspect of his career that had blown my mind. There were a number of things there that I’m really impressed by.

RF: He speaks to another era, of film makers and songwriters, who tell a story.

RC: The storytellers. I’m not sure that it would be such a bad thing if there were more people like him, working in both film and writing songs.

RF: Any other parting words about your experience here in Victoria?

RC: It’s been fun, you know. I got to hang out with Charles Martin Smith, which was totally fun. We ended up hanging out for three solid days, pretty much. It was hilarious.

RF: I spoke with him a little bit. He called me “schmoozy”, or rather, “charming”.

RC: [Laughs]

RF: I reminded him of a time – true story – he almost hit me, or rather, more likely I almost ran into his car on my bike…

RC: Terry the Toad almost hit you! That’s cool, though.

RF: It was really exciting. I wasn’t wearing a helmet …

RC: See, you should be wearing a helmet.

RF: I do now.

RC: I’m old, and I’m telling you that. I must sound like your father. Anyways, I think the festival is attracting a really interesting crowd this year. I haven’t been before, but Charlie was a lot of fun to hang out with. I hosted two days of SpringBoard Talks as well, and Academy-Award-winning director Chris Landreth [Ryan, 2004] – his talk was unbelievable. It made me understand, finally, why I hate Robert Zemeckis’ stop-motion movies. I’ve always known why, in my heart…

RF: Why?

RC: Because they look dead in the eyes. And he explained to me why they look dead in the eyes. It was fascinating.

RF: I wish I’d seen it.

RC: Of the SpringBoard Talks, although many of them were really fascinating, there was a woman named Madeleine Sherwood, and I just fell in love with her.

RF: I heard the crowd was left “misty”.

RC: Oh my God. She was the final speaker of two days, and it was pretty much the same people who came back and saw both things. And they were long sessions, they were three or four hours long with no break. I was literally just like, “Next! Next!”, bringing them all up on stage, one after the others. Some speakers were great at engaging, others maybe not as much, so it was a mixed bag. And then we bring her up after showing a short film about her life, about how she was sent to a mental institution and escaped, and thought, “where should I go?” And she goes to New York to become an actor, it was far enough away that she figured she’d be left alone and ended up originating 18 Broadway shows onstage, including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and The Crucible. Unbelievable stuff. And then she comes up and she’s endearing and amazing and knew Elia Kazan and told stories about Marilyn Monroe… It wasn’t just the stories, it was just her. She was really kind of incredible.

RF: A textured life?

RC: More than just a textured life. She is a woman who really bucked trends her entire life. She comes from a well-to-do family in Montreal, escapes from an insane asylum, becomes a Broadway star, marches with Martin Luther Kin in the South and gets herself arrested, and instead of doing what everybody else did – which was get the hell out of there, or hire some hot-shot white lawyer – she hires the only African-American lawyer in Alabama to represent her, which was probably, at the time, going to guarantee her to lose. But she believed in it, and she had the strength of her convictions. I was amazed by her. She was lovely, and of all the people that I’ve met here – she was the treat, the unexpected treat.

That’s a wrap: A feast of film and fun Fans greet Kristofferson, Walsh with enthusiasm By Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist February 7, 2010

505px-Victoria_Film_Festival_(logo).svgWith the End of Festival bash at Fiamo just hours away, here’s a quick review of notes and quotes from the 2010 edition.

One big surprise was that despite battling a nasty cold last Tuesday, Kris Kristofferson stuck around the Empire Capitol 6 after his interview with CTV film critic Richard Crouse and a Q&A long enough to watch Lone Star.

The actor and singer-songwriter got such an enthusiastic reaction he couldn’t even take a pee in peace, as noticed when some overzealous fans followed him into the washroom.

“I’ll probably still be telling the truth as much as I can when they throw dirt on me,” Kristofferson said before bidding farewell.

Actor and comedian Mary Walsh of This Hour Has 22 Minutes fame was a barrel of laughs during her brief stay.

“At least four Canadians will see it now,” she quipped after noting her film Crackie made TIFF’s Top 10 Canadian films list.

The dynamic Newfoundlander, who plays a troubled teenage girl’s brash, potty-mouthed grandma in Sherry White’s gritty east coast drama, cheerfully lambasted attitudes toward homegrown fare.

“It’s Canadian? Nope, not going to see it. Forget about it,” she said, joking maybe they should have made Crackie in 3-D.

“I just think any Canadian film is a hard sell. You name me a film — whether it’s depressing, middle-of-the-road or funny — that

is not a hard sell,” she said.

Walsh revealed she’s developing a talk show in which she’d team with different guests weighing in on the news of the week — “Naomi Klein and a bunch of left-wing women one week, and Ann Coulter and a bunch of right-wing women the next.”

Tentatively titled Broad Appeal, it would be “something like The View but with a singular kind of view per show.”

She’s also playing Siouxee Power, an “aging punk person” from The Rock who wins the lottery and moves to Toronto’s tony Rosedale neighbourhood in Rise Up, a half-hour Global comedy series in development.

“I skateboard in it,” said Walsh, who in Crackie also got back on a bicycle for the first time since she was 18.

And, yes, she’d love to confront Sarah Palin again, as she did last year in Ohio when, as This Hour’s Marg Delahunty, she buttonholed the former Alaska governor and got dumb answers to her health care questions. The clip went viral.

Noted Walsh gleefully: “She’s never going to go away.”

Does being compared to Jim Carrey because of the hyper-zaniness of Matt Frewer’s Max Headroom character bother him?

The Victoria-raised actor featured in Uwe Boll’s Darfur says the comparisons are more flattering than frustrating.

“Jim acknowledged in a GQ article that he based everything he does on an actor named Matt Frewer,” he says. “It was kind of surreal reading that. His background is in standup and mine is as an actor, and I’ve always looked on that kind of physical comedy as just another string in my bow.”

QUOTE, UNQUOTE: Memorable quotes from this year’s festival….

“It never felt like Ranger School when I was in the bathtub with her” — Kristofferson, reacting to Internet reports claiming he once described working with Barbra Streisand on A Star Is Born as an ordeal akin to going to Ranger School.

“The NFB is a real wonderful thing about this country, that it’s got a body like that that supports a director-driven, often very risk-taking kind of filmmaking” — Oscar-winning animator Chris Landreth.

“Film festival people in Victoria are very festive — despite Campbell cuts” — actress Madeleine Sherwood (Sweet Bird of Youth, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.)

“I’m just really happy Pagliacci’s is still here”

— critic Richard Crouse, on the joys of returning to Victoria after 25 years.

“Super-what?” — filmmaker Scott Amos on how he feels about Super Bowl Sunday conflicting with the festival.

RUSHES: Things we learned at this year’s fest… Producer Rob Merilees is teaming with director Bruce McDonald on Hardcore Logo 2 … We have B.J. Cook to thank for getting Kristofferson here this year. The local singer-songwriter met him on the set of Heaven’s Gate through mutual friend Ronnie Hawkins 30 years ago. And that was no ordinary baby being wheeled around town in a pink baby carriage during Converge yesterday. It was a doll with an iTouch playing short films mounted on her tummy … The audience at Friday night’s documentary on Trimpin, the inventor and sound artist whose creations include Seattle’s Experience Music Project’s tower of guitars, really got into the spirit of sound creation. Acting on a patron’s suggestion, they ripped their Audience Favourite award ballots in unison, to the delight of the endearing instrument-maker.

Kristofferson goes for wild ride Actor and songwriter braved ice, snow and illness to reach Victoria By Michael D. Reid, Times ColonistFebruary 4, 2010

UnknownKris Kristofferson, 73, developed a nasty chest cold on a “wild ride” to Victoria, where he’s being honoured with the film festival’s inaugural IN award in recognition of independence, innovation and inspiration.

Kris Kristofferson, 73, developed a nasty chest cold on a “wild ride” to Victoria, where he’s being honoured with the film festival’s inaugural IN award in recognition of independence, innovation and inspiration.
Photograph by: Debra Brash, Times Colonist, Times Colonist

A legendary actor, singer and songwriter who got his start sweeping floors at Columbia Records displayed traits often associated with a different profession — mail delivery — before landing here for his Victoria Film Festival appearance last night.

Kris Kristofferson had to brave ice, snow and freezing temperatures that gripped North Carolina and Tennessee, where he performed concerts on the weekend to promote his solo album Closer to the Bone.

“Oh, it’s been a wild ride, but I’m glad to be here,” said the smiling, gravelly voiced Grammy Award-winner.

Road conditions were so treacherous that before flying here from Nashville, Kristofferson and his wife and manager, Lisa Meyers, had to drive north from North Carolina through Virginia to reach Tennessee because of a “weather bonk,” they said.

“We’ve been living on the tour bus going really, really slow and we’re just lucky we made it,” Meyers said.

Along the way, Kristofferson, 73, developed a nasty chest cold but, ever the trouper, he wasn’t about to let that stop him from accepting the festival’s inaugural IN award in recognition of independence, innovation and inspiration.

“We’ve been here before,” recalled Kristofferson, clad in black jeans and a matching T-shirt and fleece jacket as he sipped coffee in the Fairmont Empress hotel’s Harbourside room. “It’s such a beautiful place.”

Despite being under the weather, he took part in a Q&A at Empire Capitol 6 last night and was interviewed by Canada AM film critic Richard Crouse.

If someone were to ask him to name a movie he would make over again, Kristofferson said it would be Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid.

“It was like being in hillbilly heaven,” he recalled. “But there was so much energy wasted on that because [director] Sam Peckinpah was feuding with the people at MGM and they were kind of doing him dirty.”

Shooting in Durango, Mexico, was “a thrill and a challenge,” he recalled, adding that Peckinpah was his own worst enemy.

“I don’t think Sam understood the potential. He thought the studio had pressured him into hiring a big star like Bob Dylan, but Bob was unique,” said Kristofferson, recalling that Dylan called him, unsure whether he should make his film debut as Alias.

“I said, ‘Man, do it. This is a lot of fun,’ and it was,” Kristofferson recalled. “I thought Bob did a great job. He’d been doing it onstage for a long time. I think Sam could have exploited that better, but what was great was the music he brought to it.”

Kristofferson is also often asked how he felt about his status as a superstar sex symbol.

“I don’t think anybody would be really comfortable with that, but it kept getting me work, whatever it was,” he said.

After flying back to California, the troubadour will resume his solo tour Feb. 16 in Missouri, followed by concerts with Merle Haggard in Texas, Oklahoma and other states.

– – –

You can thank Chris Landreth for getting to see Ways on Wheels at the Odeon tonight.

It was the Toronto-based animator’s Oscar-winning short Ryan that inspired Ken Galloway to become a filmmaker.

“I was living in Tokyo, working as a muralist and an English teacher and hanging out at an artists’ collective bar,” recalled Galloway, whose short focuses on a quadriplegic artist and how he used his disability to turn his life around.

He made the film after doing four years of research for a book about Canadian graffiti. He interviewed 250 graffiti writers during a cross-country odyssey of hitchhiking, “couch surfing” and hopping freight trains.

“It was 3 in the morning and Ryan shows up on the screen,” he recalled. “I saw the NFB logo between beers and I was blown away by what I saw. I said, ‘I can’t just keep working as an English teacher. It’s time to make a change.’ ”

Three weeks later he applied to Sheridan College and “somehow talked my way in” to its film program.

Galloway was shocked and delighted to learn that Landreth was a festival guest. “I approached him and said, ‘You’re the reason I started making films,’ ” Galloway said. “He indulged me. It’s been a blast.”

A celebration of cinema Glitzy gala at new venue honours stars, directors and producers By Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist January 31, 2010

Cap6“Wow!” was the operative word Friday night as the Victoria Film Festival’s 2010 edition blasted off with a glitzy gala amid the stunning pools, fountains and tropical plants adorning its new venue, Parkside Victoria Resort and Spa.

Indeed, there were moments you half-expected Hugh Hefner to walk in.

“I feel like I’m at the grotto at the Playboy mansion,” quipped guttersnipenews.com correspondent Rachel Fox.

Opening nighters, many weary after spending hours on airplanes, were jubilant. The festival is a homecoming of sorts for Vancouver Island native Barry Pepper, former Glenlyon student Matt Frewer of Max Headroom fame, UVic grad-turned-producer Nicholas Tabarrok and Richard Crouse.

Who knew Crouse, the jovial Canada AM film critic, lived in a $350-a-month McLure mansion apartment in Rockland 25 years ago and ran the long-defunct jazz club The Alhambra? “I remember Victoria being really vital and having a great arts scene,” Crouse said, reminiscing about the “most intimate concert I’ve ever been to.” It was when he found himself alone with Dr. John when the legendary musician came in to do a sound check.

He asked if Crouse had any requests, and then played New Orleans Christmas songs for him.

Oscar-winning animator Chris Landreth (Ryan) gamely mingled despite feeling the effects of a head cold and a long flight.

“It sounds like everyone’s talking underwater,” he said, smiling.

Coincidentally, two gala guests were star athletes who overcame life-threatening health issues and are now in showbiz.

“I’m back to support the festival because I’m a Canadian boy and an Olympian so it coincides with Vancouver,” said Howard Dell, a former Olympic bobsledder, pro football player and actor (Totally Blonde).

Dell, 47, recently received a liver transplant after being diagnosed with a terminal liver disease.

“I planned for an end, and now I’ve got to plan for a new beginning,” he said.

Meghan Mutrie, who played for Canada and England’s national rugby teams, has also made an incredible comeback after she was knocked out for 18 minutes during a Nation’s Cup game two years ago.

“My brain was bleeding and I was handicapped for six months,” she said. “I couldn’t walk or talk and I was drooling.” After recovering at her parents’ home and completing her graduate degree in journalism in Wellington, New Zealand, Mutrie, 25, covered rugby during a brief internship with CHEK.

Now a rugby broadcaster for Australia’s heavensgame.com, she’s returning to Wellington in May for her grad ceremony.

Other guests included new film commissioner Jo Anne Walton, filmmaker Charles Martin Smith, producer Rob Merilees, Beyond Gay director Bob Christie and producer Morris Chapdelaine. Industrial FX studio chief Simon Game waxed enthusiastic about his feature film — “a Sam Raimi movie meets the Beachombers” — slated to roll this summer.

Christie was pumped about last night’s enthusiastically received Beyond Gay premiere at the Odeon.

“Victoria’s a great place for this film,” he said. “It’s a political capital and this is a political film.” There are two more intriguing documentaries on today’s schedule.

Director Alison Rose says the most interesting part of making hers, Love at the Twilight Motel (review below) was the editing process.

“It was something akin to alchemy,” she said, noting it brought out the “amateur social anthropologist” in her. “The interviews that you see were all surprising to me.” All the motel users interviewed, with the exception of Mr. R, answered her ads seeking stories.

“I offered them whatever degree of anonymity they required.” A tougher sell is Boyhood Shadows: I Swore I’d Never Tell (tonight, 9:45, Cap 6), a powerful, ultimately hopeful documentary about childhood sexual abuse as told through the eyes of “Glenn,” a survivor who will attend tonight’s screening.

“We’ve been fighting to get audiences, but it’s been difficult because of the subject,” said Monterey, Calif.-based director Steve Rosen, noting while it has played in Wales, Ireland and England, only one U.S. festival — Tiburon — is showing it.

“Americans are a force of quintessential ostriches,” he said. “They don’t want to hear about something unless it affects them directly, right now. But childhood sexual abuse is reaching epidemic proportions, so people need to pay attention.”

On the Side Posted By: Amanda Farrell-Low 01/27/2010

UnknownBeyond the screenings at VFF

While the numerous feature-length screenings may be the main event at the Victoria Film Festival, there’s plenty of other activities happening during the 10-day event. More info and ticket purchasing options at victoriafilmfestival.com.

• SpringBoard Talks: Introduced at last year’s festival, this weekend-long program features some of Canada’s established and up-and-coming film talents spending 15 minutes on an industry-related topic of their choice—think TED but for the Canadian film industry. Speakers include producer Nicholas Tabarrok, director Warren Sonoda, actor Madeleine Sherwood, Maple Pictures publicity VP Angie Burns and many more. Runs from 1:15-4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, January 30 and 31. For the more industry-oriented folks, SpringBoard Industry offers master classes and networking receptions in addition to admission to the Springboard talks.

• An Evening with Kris Kristofferson: The man himself will be in town (again) to receive the VFF’s inaugural IN Award, which they hand out to “a person who has been inspirational, innovative and independent.” Canada AM’s Richard Crouse will do an on-stage interview with Kristofferson before his award is presented and the evening is capped off by a screening of Lone Star. 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, February 2.

• Converge: Happening in week two of the VFF, this fun-filled guerilla cinema event screens short-film programs around downtown in restaurants, back alleys and haunted houses, all with an afterparty at the Victoria Event Centre. 2-5 p.m. Saturday, February 6.

• Special Guests: Whether they’re guest speakers at film screenings or presenting as part of Springboard, look out for film and television folks during VFF. Confirmed guests include Kris Kristofferson, Barry Pepper (Whose Like Dandelion Dust was a late program addition), Mary Walsh (Crackie), Academy Award-winning animator Chris Landreth (at SpringBoard), actor Matt Frewer of Max Headroom fame (at both Darfur and SpringBoard), Madeleine Sherwood, Charles Martin Smith (creator of last year’s festival favourite The Stone of Destiny), SpringBoard host Richard Crouse from Canada AM and film/ television producer and UVic Alum Nicholas Tabarrok (at SpringBoard as well as Coopers’ Camera and Defendor) as well as many more.

Victoria Film Festival: Still cutting edge, despite funding cuts By Travis Paterson – Oak Bay News Published: January 26, 2010

John-Landis-and-Richard-Crouse-VFF-20121Festival looks to increase audience engagement, sponsorship

It’s still the cutting-edge festival that began as the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival in 1995.

And the people in charge of the Victoria Film Festival hope it will continue to be after the 2010 edition, the last with any significant government grant money.

There’s no reason to expect any dramatic change in the VFF, said head programmer Donovan Aikman, who believes the event is at a stage now where it will carry on just the same, perhaps with a little extra sponsorship help.

“Ticket sales improve a good percentage every year and we feel that’s because of our interactive aspect,” he said.

Inviting as many directors as the festival does for discussion on their films creates engagement with the audience and creates the type of experience that will help the festival survive financially and move ahead, Aikman said.

Of the hundreds of movies that come through the selection committee’s hands, 53 features and 94 shorts make up the 2010 catalogue, which begins showing Friday (Jan. 29).

“We’ve never changed our philosophy from independent films,” Aikman said, and the trio of opening gala films is a good indication of that.

The big-budget Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky shows how far the indy movement has come. Yet the Canadian opening gala selection Beyond Gay is a testament to what can be done with little more than an airplane and camera, he added.

Making waves in the pre-festival leadup is the controversial, shit-disturbing documentary The Brothel Project, chosen by the Victoria Film Producer Association to spotlight for the festival.

Although the film is not officially part of the VFF opening gala, the hype around it has seen it treated like one.

Made by Vancouver filmmaker April Butler-Parry, the movie follows an attempt by local newspaper columnist and former Peers executive director Jody Paterson, and former sex-trade worker Lauren Casey, to facilitate the opening of a legal brothel in Victoria.

The movie embraces the classic film festival cliché of being cutting edge and the VFF is a perfect place to debut it.

“It’s an interesting take on the brothel question – it’s independent and it (focuses on) things that people won’t get a chance to see regularly,” Aikman said.

“Plus it’s totally local, filmed 90 per cent in Victoria. So even though it’s not an opening movie, it’s an important industry film for the festival at large and for directors and producers in Victoria.”

If you don’t have an opening weekend ticket yet, it may be too late. But there’s a lot of exciting opportunities besides those three movies.

The stirring look at Western complacency surrounding genocide in Darfur promises to spark conversation, not just with B.C. director Uwe Boll, but special guests Senator Mobina Jaffur and actor Matt Frewer.

And for industry up-and-comers, this year’s festival also features SpringBoard Industry, a three-day (Jan. 29-31) series of talks, meetings and opportunity to network with industry names.

“Everyone gets 15 minutes to talk about media-related and changing trends, provide insight, network and shop their film,” Aikman said.

A $175 Industry Pass covers the SpringBoard series. Film festival memberships are $2 (one is all you need) and screenings are $9 each.

For a complete schedule visit www.victoriafilmfestival.com.

Kristofferson IN the house

The Victoria Film Festival has created the IN Award and Kris Kristofferson is coming to accept.

The first ever honouree of the lifetime achievement award has earned it for a career of independence, innovation and inspiration.

“Kristofferson has never been afraid to tackle the really challenging roles and projects, which has always kept him fresh and on the cutting edge,” said festival director Kathy Kay.

Sneak peek reveals celebrity guests and features at the Victoria Film Festival This year, film event features everything from Coco to a killer whale By Michael D. Reid, Times Colonist January 8, 2010

victoriaffsmallWho says artsy types don’t have Olympic spirit? A tongue-in-cheek dose of that unspooled at last night’s 2010 Victoria Film Festival pre-fest bash. It was a shtick that might even have amused those picky Vancouver Olympics organizers.

It featured A-Channel Vancouver Island’s Adam Sawatsky, a likable fellow but certainly not someone you’d confuse with torchbearer Simon Whitfield or Silken Laumann. That didn’t stop Sawatsky from getting cheers of his own as he spoofed the 106-day Olympic torch relay at Simon Game’s Island Industrial FX Studio on John Street.

Sawatsky single-handedly completed a 106-second Program Guide Relay last night. Passing the program guide to himself over and over, he appeared to be sprinting through New York, Las Vegas and other locations, thanks to the wonders of green screen technology.

Sawatsky emceed the official launch of the festival at the studio, where dozens of film fans previewed festival flicks and sampled Driftwood Brewery’s Reel Beer and gourmet goodies from Sauce Restaurant. Fittingly, considering the festival features a homage to Italian cinema this year, the menu included an antipasto platter and tomato bruschetta crostini.

It also seemed fitting that the venue for this cinematic January tradition was switched from Lucky Bar to the production facility where strategically placed cameras and the studio’s giant green screen gave cinephiles the chance to become part of the action beamed onto large monitors.

“It was just time,” festival director Kathy Kay said. “We’ve been at Lucky for four years, and it’s easy to keep going back to the same place.

“We wanted to freshen things up, and with all the new media stuff we’re doing, it’s perfect.”

Guests got sneak previews of the festival’s technological advances (including tiny pink USB drives containing interactive program guides and a festival iPhone app) and its focus on Web-based productions and new delivery systems.

Flickering away were clips from films such as opening night gala presentation Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky; the Canadian film Beyond Gay, Bob Christie’s documentary on gay pride; Private Lives of Pippa Lee, Rebecca Miller’s Brad Pitt-produced satire starring Robin Wright Penn as its enigmatic heroine; and Bruce Sweeney’s sexual dysfunction comedy Excited.

Other noteworthy features will include Lost Cause, Steeve Leonard’s absurdist Québécois comedy about a soul-searching janitor; A Shine of Rainbows, Vic Sarin’s drama about the exploits of a young Irish orphan; the Australian drama Three Blind Mice; Untitled, Jonathan Parker’s satire on New York’s modern art scene; and Uwe Boll’s take on Darfur.

We can also expect some intriguing entries with local interest, notably Who Killed Miracle?, Scott Renyard’s documentary revisiting the mysterious death of the baby killer whale; and The Brothel Project, April Butler-Parry’s directorial debut, which chronicles attempts by columnist Jody Paterson and retired sex worker Lauren Casey to open Victoria’s first legal brothel.

And we got the lowdown on movers and shakers coming to speak at Springboard.

They include the industry event’s host, Canada AM film critic Richard Crouse; writer-comedian Todd Allen (This Hour Has 22 Minutes); Infinity Features producer Rob Merilees (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus); Kinosmith’s Robin Smith; director Warren P. Sonoda; and Angie Burns, vice-president publicity and promotions for Maple Pictures Corp.

Winners of this year’s FilmCan student short films competition were also announced. St. Michaels University School student Chris-tina Robillard won a Sony HD Handycam in the junior category for her short film Wannabe, and Dunsmuir Middle School’s Emma-Lynn Whitman won in the senior category, taking home an iMac, complete with Final Cut Express software, for Technology Is a Dead Bird. The winning films can be viewed at vimeo.com/groups/filmcan.

Not surprisingly, there was much talk about special guest Kris Kristofferson, who will be here Feb. 2 to accept the inaugural IN award recognizing innovation, independence and inspiration.

The trail-blazing actor, singer and songwriter will be interviewed by Crouse at the Empire Capitol 6 at 9:15 p.m., followed by a screening of a Kristofferson classic.

“He’s such a lovely man,” Kay said. “He represents all of what the award’s about, and works with a lot of indie directors like John Sayles and Alan Rudolph.”

Also confirmed last night were two new curatorial programs, Pleasure Paradox and Future Perfect, and the debut of the Office (formerly Platinum) as the festival’s social hub. Parkside Victoria Resort and Spa will be the new opening gala venue.

The 2010 Victoria Film Festival runs from Jan. 29 to Feb. 7 at the Capitol 6, Cineplex Odeon, the Fairmont Empress hotel, Whitebird and other venues. Program guides hit the streets today and the box office is open at 1215 Blanshard St. Tel. 250-389-0444, www.victoriafilmfestival.com.