FAVA FEST 2017

6th Annual Film & Video Arts Festival

About The Festival

FAVA FEST showcases our member’s works and put on a big party to celebrate outstanding achievements in film, video and media art in our community. Learn more about the festival here.

FAVA FEST 2017 Events

OPENING NIGHT KICK OFF
TUESDAY | APR 18 | 7PM  | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

We’re starting the festival off with a celebration! Mix and mingle with Edmonton filmmakers and media artists and celebrate the reveal of our jury’s picks for the Awards of Excellence. We’re thrilled to announce that we’ve commissioned a new work for the festival and can’t wait to premiere the piece that filmmaker Kyle Armstrong and musician Bradley J. Sime have collaborated on. And don’t forget to check out the media art installation in Metro Cinema’s lobby display case, created by Parker Thiessen.

BEST OF THE FEST – PROGRAM 1
TUESDAY | APR 18 | 9:30PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Our jury has selected a series of films from our FAVA FEST submissions to be screened throughout the festival as The Best Of The Fest. Tonight’s program will have a short Q & A after the screening moderated by Lindsay McIntyre. Program 1 features:

Champ
Nashwa Zaman | 12 min
Levitate
Nicholas Yee, Kellen Frost | 4 min
Mortillery – “Torture”
Lindsay Robinson | 5 min
Classic Camera 
Kyle Armstrong | 10 min
Yellow Lines
Blake McWilliam | 14 min
Hila
Adam Bentley | 4 min
Striker – “Phoenix Lights”
Lindsay Robinson | 4 min
3D + VR Filmmaking | Dylan Pearce
Christina Ienna | 4 min
The Last Bastard
Ashley Fester | 20 min

BEST OF THE FEST – PROGRAM 2
WEDNESDAY | APR 19 | 7PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
CELEBRATING NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Our jury has selected a series of films from our FAVA FEST submissions to be screened throughout the festival as The Best Of The Fest. Tonight’s program will have a short Q & A after the screening moderated by Kristen Hutchinson. Program 2 features:

Handmade Film | Lindsay McIntyre
Christina Ienna | 5 min
ôtênaw
Conor McNally | 40 min
We Were Friends – “Down on Me”
Ken Nemetchek | 4 min
Lana Gets Her Talk
Beth Wishart MacKenzie | 38 min

BEST OF THE FEST – PROGRAM 3
WEDNESDAY | APR 19 | 9:30PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
CELEBRATING NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Our jury has selected a series of films from our FAVA FEST submissions to be screened throughout the festival as The Best Of The Fest. Tonight’s program will have a short Q & A after the screening moderated by Heather Noel. Program 3 features:

Everything
Justin Brunelle | 4 min
Lines
Adolfo Ruiz | 2 min
Hold Me
Teace Snyder | 88 min

BEST OF THE FEST – PROGRAM 4
THURSDAY | APR 20 | 7PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Our jury has selected a series of films from our FAVA FEST submissions to be screened throughout the festival as The Best Of The Fest. Tonight’s program will have a short Q & A after the screening moderated by Eva Colmers. Program 4 features:

dépôt
Oliver Lessard | 4 min
Richard and Me “Water Daze”
John Osborne | 4 min
Terra Incognita
Carlito Ghioni | 11 min
One, One Thousand
Justin Brunelle | 10 min
How to Learn Anything: Episode 1
Lindsay Robinson | 10 min
The Price of the Prize
Brandy Yanchyk | 45 min

SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL SHORT FILM TOUR 2016
THURSDAY | APR 20 | 9:30PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Showcasing a wide variety of story and style, the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 95-minute theatrical program of eight short films selected from this year’s Festival.

WEIRDOS
FRIDAY | APR 21 | 7PM | $12 Adults, $9 Students & Seniors
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)
A FILM BY BRUCE MCDONALD
WRITTEN BY DANIEL MACIVOR
STARRING: DYLAN AUTHORS, JULIA SARAH STONE, MOLLY PARKER, ALLAN HAWCO

It’s the summer of 1976 and 15 year-old Kit (Dylan Authors), bored and restless, is dreaming of a more glamorous life in the big city, away from the small town where he lives with his Dad (Allan Hawco) and grandmother (Cathy Jones). Enlisting the help of his girlfriend Alice (Julia Sara Stone), they hitchhike towards a new home with his glamorous, artistic mother Laura (Molly Parker).  As Kit and Alice reach their final destination their relationship is tested as Kit approaches a realization that will change his life forever.

Nominated for 5 Canadian Screen Awards

LIVE WEIRDOS! A CONVERSATION WITH BRUCE MCDONALD & DANIEL MACIVOR
SUPPORTED BY TELUS
FRIDAY | APR 21 | 8:45PM | ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
METRO CINEMA AT THE GARNEAU THEATRE (8712 109 ST)

Following a screening of their new film WEIRDOS, director Bruce McDonald and screenwriter Daniel MacIvor sit down for a lively discussion of their film and careers, with a reception to follow.

BRUCE MCDONALD | Director
Bruce McDonald is a Canadian director known for his irreverent, eclectic style and his love of music and pop culture. After breaking out with his debut feature Roadkill, he has gone on to direct numerous other acclaimed films including Hard Core Logo, The Tracy Fragments and Pontypool, as well as a handful of documentaries and more TV than you can shake a stick at. He currently lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter, enjoys Italian food and loves the great album Bitches Brew.

DANIEL MACIVOR | Writer
Daniel is originally from Cape Breton and currently lives in Toronto and Avondale, Nova Scotia. He is the writer/director of Past Perfect and Wilby Wonderful, both of which had their premiere at TIFF and played festivals around the world Wilby Wonderful winning the audience award at the San Sebastian Film Festival. He is the writer of Whole New Thing directed by Amnon Buchbinder, Marion Bridge directed by Wiebke Von Carolsfeld and Trigger directed by Bruce McDonald. Daniel received the Governor General’s Literary Award for Drama for his collection of plays I Still Love You and in 2008 he was awarded the Siminovitch Prize for Theatre.

BACKYARD BASH
SATURDAY | APR 22
BBQ | 6-8PM
PRODUCTION & DISTRIBUTION AWARDS, AUDIENCE CHIOCE AWARD | 8PM
A TOAST TO SELWYN JACOB – OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | 8:30PM
ADMISSION BY CASH DONATION
ORTONA ROOM & COURTYARD (9722 102 ST NW)

Head to FAVA headquarters for the closing night of the festival. Hang out with fellow media artists and film enthusiasts, grab a burger (meat or veggie options), and celebrate upcoming work as we hand out our Production Awards.

NEW this year, thanks to a new partnership with #yegfilm, are the 2017 #yegfilm / FAVA Distribution Awards. Up to two awards — of $500 cash + $500 FAVA production credit each — will be given to completed projects, for distribution or audience development and announced at the Backyard Bash.

Production Awards Include:
Joe Viszmeg Documentary Award
Helen Folkmann Film Award
Lisa Trofimova Video Award
Alex Thomas-Haug Emerging Artist Award

We’ll also announce the Audience Choice Award tonight. Be sure you take in as many of the screenings as you can to be sure your favourite is in the running.

Each year at FAVA FEST we celebrate the recipient of the Awards of Excellence – Outstanding Achievement Award. We are thrilled to have Selwyn Jacob as the 2017 recipient of this award. Come out and share stories and toast Selwyn’s accomplished career as a filmmaker and producer.

Selwyn Jacob
Selwyn Jacob was born in Trinidad and came to Canada in 1968 with the dream of becoming a filmmaker. It was a dream that wouldn’t die: he became a teacher and eventually a school principal but eventually chose to leave the security of that career to educate a wider audience through film. He has been a producer with the National Film Board of Canada since 1997.

His early work as an independent director includes We Remember Amber Valley, a documentary about the black community that existed near Lac La Biche in Alberta. Prior to joining the NFB, he directed two award-winning NFB releases – Carol’s Mirror, and The Road Taken, which won the Canada Award at the 1998 Gemini Awards.

In 1997 he joined the NFB’s Pacific & Yukon Studio in Vancouver, and has gone on to produce close to 50 NFB films. Among his many credits are Crazywater, directed by the Inuvialuit filmmaker Dennis Allen; Hue: A Matter of Colour, a co-production with Sepia Films, directed by Vic Sarin; Mighty Jerome, written and directed by Charles Officer; and the digital interactive project Circa 1948, by Vancouver artist Stan Douglas.

Released in 2010, Mighty Jerome addresses issues of race and nationalism while paying tribute to Harry Jerome, one of the most remarkable athletes in Canadian history. The film went on to win multiple honours, including a Leo Award for Best Feature Length Documentary and the 2012 Regional Emmy Award for Best Historical Documentary.

His recent credits include Ninth Floor, a feature documentary about the infamous Sir George Williams Riot of 1969. Written and directed by the acclaimed director Mina Shum, it’s a story that Jacob has wanted to bring to the screen for decades.

FAVA GALA

2017 – Awards of Excellence

Outstanding Short Narrative Film or Video | Yellow Lines | Blake McWilliam

Outstanding Short Documentary Film or Video | Lana Gets Her Talk | Beth Wishart MacKenzie

Outstanding Long Form Narrative Film or Video | Hold Me | Teace Snyder

Outstanding Long Form Documentary Film or Video | ôtênaw | Conor McNally

Outstanding Music Video | “Torture” – Mortillery | Lindsay Robinson

Outstanding Experimental Film or Video | Terra Incognita| Carlo Ghioni

Outstanding Animated Film or Video | Lines | Adolfo Ruiz

Spirit of FAVA Award | Champ | Nashwa Zaman

Outstanding Inter-Art Performance or Installation | Dance Spot | Tim Folkmann

Audience Choice Award | Lana Gets Her Talk | Beth Wishart MacKenzie

Outstanding Achievement Award | Selwyn Jacob

 2017 – Production Awards

Helen Folkmann Film Award | Jamie McRae

Lisa Trofimova Video Award | Larry Kelly

Joe Viszmeg Documentary Award | Eva Colmers

Alex Thomas-Haug Emerging Artist Award | Heather Noel

yegfilm/FAVA Distribution Award | Andrew Manske