>>PREVIEW
$100 FILM FESTIVAL
Stanford Perrot Theatre (ACAD)
Thursday, March 16 - 18
Creating a film with a hundred loonies was feasible when the $100 Film Festival started in 1992, but 14 years later, it’s much more difficult.
"You can do maybe nine minutes of Super 8 for $100," says Amy Darling, the festival’s chairperson. "If you’re working on 16 mm, you can do maybe a minute. And that’s just the cost of the film."
So does that mean that films at the festival are falling victim to inflation? Nope. The $100 spending limit was nixed several years ago, and the festival doors are open to low-budget, independent filmmakers who want a space to show their work. The result is a healthy mix of local, national and international film shorts.
"Really, all we care about is having the festival be in the spirit of scrappy, kick-ass, truly independent filmmaking," says Darling. "You just want to encourage people in their development and evolution, and then get everyone else in the community excited about filmmaking."
Darling says that one of the highlights of the festival will be The Story of a Lifetime, a short by local filmmaker John Driftmier about his relationship to the stories of his grandfather. Driftmier’s grandfather was a missionary in the Sudan in the 1940s.
"(Driftmier) took footage that was shot years and years ago by his grandfather in the Sudan," says Darling. "And he manipulated that film and used his grandfather’s old tapes. There’s a great story there about his grandfather shooting this gigantic python and prying a goat out of its mouth. (The film) is incredibly and impressively done."
As well, filmmakers have teamed up with local musicians for Film Music Explosions. Local filmmakers created shorts based on songs by The Magpie Collective, Gerd Krause and BOGART!, and to kick off each night of the festival, one of these artists will perform with their respective film.
With each evening featuring at least 15 shorts that clock in at just under two hours, the festival is a great way for newbies to flirt with the world of independent film. It’s an equally good way for indie film junkies to see something new.
"It’s really good for people to see that this is what’s going on out there," says Darling. "This is what’s happening in Italy, in England, in Seattle. These are things that you would never see otherwise." |
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