What an amazing, exciting, intense, fun time the last ten days have been. Our special guests have gone home, the theatres have returned to business as usual and our volunteers and staff get to finally breathe and reflect on the great success of this year’s festival along with thinking how to make improvements for next year.
Kicking things off with the Opening Gala film, Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky put people in a fashionable and elegant mind set, that was a perfect prelude to the beautiful Gala Reception at the Parkside Victoria Resort. The Resort setting included waterfalls, ponds, and ancient statues from Papua New Guinea, alongside chic Chanel themed décor created by Festival volunteers (thanks Lynne!). Outstanding food came from Bon Rouge, Sips Artisan Bistro and Pescatores while Driftwood Beer, wine from Liquor Plus and house cocktail courtesy of Skyy Vodka kept the sell-out crowd of stylish people going into the wee hours of the night.
SpringBoard 2010 welcomed many of Canada’s biggest names in the industry like Producer Nicholas Tabarrok, Director Warren Sonoda, Oscar winning animator Chris Landreth and many others. SpringBoard inspired, informed and connected with local industry and film lovers alike.
The Canadian Opening Gala film, Beyond Gay with Director Bob Christie and Producer Morris Chapdelaine had a stirring Q&A. The audience loved the film, and after talking with Bob we've found out that their time with the Victoria Film Festival may very well help them achieve their ultimate goal of getting a wide release. Many more people will have the opportunity to see this important human rights documentary.
Tuesday night’s IN Award ceremony garnered attention as Kris Kristofferson came to town. Kristofferson made time to do Jian Ghomeshi's Q, the /A\ Television Vancouver Island, and Hello Magazine while also managing to appear on the front page and inside the Times Colonist before accepting the inaugural IN Award (created by Richard Hunt) and going on stage for an interview with Richard Crouse. The lucky audience members were able to hear about his humble beginnings as a janitor for Johnny Cash, who Kristofferson referred to as “my hero.” When asked if he ever tried to press Cash to help his own career, Kris coolly replied, “No one ever presses John".
Throughout the week, the volunteers and staff kept things running smoothly, though unusual tech difficulties plagued the Festival this year. The movies selected received high ratings from patrons and culminated in The Yes Men Fix the World winning the audience favourite award.
The Enthusiast - Wrap Party
February 7th, 2010
The Enthusiast - Collapse
February 6th, 2010
The Enthusiast - Pierre of the Odeon
February 6th, 2010
The Enthusiast - Tori
February 4th, 2010
The Enthusiast - Andrew
February 4th, 2010
Onwards and Upwards with FIRE!!!!
So excited! Program is exhausted and sleeping under my desk a lot at the moment as we have been trucking through the 2010 Victoria Film Fesitval and that means super long bizarre hours. Tough on a teeny puppy!
But we are excited for this weekend because tonite we have Meet the Head of Juan Perez at 6:45 at the Cap 6 and to lead everyone into the show we have a demonstration by PRIMAL FIRE and magician David Muhr. Now you just need to hit up The Office for dinner and you can easily (and affordably) fit in a memorable weekend night!!
Top Picks for Program for the Final Weekend: 1. Meet the Head of Juan Perez 2. The Brothel Project 3. Wild Hunt 4. Zombies of Mass Destruction 5. Most Dangerous Man in America
Those are all in order of when they are screening and you could catch most of them if you were crafty ;) So, how crafty are you?
I have to go as Program needs a nap before Primal Fire hits the streets - So. Excited. <- did I mention that already??
Updates soon.
Love and Sloppy Kisses Tamara & Program
The Enthusiast - Crackie
February 2, 2010
Mary Walsh - Crackie and Kris Kristofferson Speaking of Dennis Hopper, this whole fest thing is starting to play like the acid scene in Easy Rider. Is that Karen Black in a graveyard in New Orleans or opposite Kris Kristofferson in Cisco Pike? I may be overdosing on film.
Last night began with a couple eating huge slices of steaming pizza in the row behind me. How do you smuggle pizza into a movie? The movie was Crackie, a delightful coming-of-age flick about a girl and her dog. And her mom and her nan. Her nan was played by Mary Walsh who was fun and funny and a joy to interview. SPOILER ALERT: Nan shoots the dog. Hey, that’s not funny.
Then on to Theatre 6 for An Evening with Kris Kristofferson. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from the live interview preceding a screening of Lone Star. I’d heard a rumour that Kristofferson was getting on a may be a little less than lucid.
Far from it. The 48 minute interview was great fun. Kristofferson is very bright, and fast on his feet. More than that, he was open, honest, self-deprecating and very entertaining. Lucky for me, I had my camcorder and shot the entire interview. Unlucky for me, when I checked it later, I hadn’t turned on the mic. Now who’s getting on?
The Enthusiast - Matt Frewer on Darfur
February 1st, 2010
The Enthusiast - The Brothel Project
January 31st, 2010
Coopers’ Camera and The Brothel Project
Caught the matinée of Coopers’ Camera. Warren Sonoda was there to introduce his film. What a charming guy. I really have a lot of respect for directors. From my little experience directing commercials, I know that action/cut is just a very small part of the job. Warren has directed four films since Coopers’ Camera and he’s still on the road to do everything to get his film seen.
The film was fun in a Toboggan Fail kind of way. And it was a kick to see Jayne Eastwood, who I’ve seen popping up in Canadian films since Going Down The Road. But I have to admit, the found camcorder concept just never works for me, from Blair Witch forward. The camera always seems to be dropped in a way that perfectly frames the scene. Still, I wish Warren the best for his film.
The Brothel Project was sold out so we were lucky to get seats. It was fun trying to identify all the Victoria locations, especially since some looked like they might become brothel sites. Director, April Butler-Parry was instantly famous and the fame is well-deserved. The after-party had everything - even hookers I was told.
