Niagara Integrated Film Festival
The Niagara Integrated Film Festival (NIFF) is gearing up for their third annual showcase and will feature 30 plus films in venues throughout the Niagara peninsula. This year’s event will run the weekends of June 10th and June 19th and will add locations such as the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre, Trius Winery, The Stone Mill Inn and The Seneca on Queen Theatre in Niagara Falls.
If you’ve never attended the NIFF and haven’t planned to this year, let me tell you what you’re missing. Last year’s event was my first film festival and sadly I only had time to see two flicks. Both movies were enjoyable and very well done and when the films finished we had the distinct pleasure of meeting the directors and some of the cast in a 20 minute question and answer period. Neither film was issued in wide release so you could never see them in your local movie theatres.
The Cocksure Lads was an indie movie in the vein of Spinal Tap. It was about a Brit Pop band that comes to Canada looking to break into the music scene. Written and directed by Murray Foster of the bands Moxy Fruvous and Great Big Sea, it was a full circle lesson in how a band breaks up, and then gets back together before they blow their big opportunity. The Colossal Failure of the Modern Relationship was a poignant movie about a wine reviewer caught in a dead end relationship. Directed by Torontonian Serge Navaretta, the movie was filmed here in Niagara and was a spectacular tribute to the beauty of our wine region.
This year’s NIFF will open on June 10 with the Canadian Premiere of Meera Menon’s drama Equity which received great reviews at the Sundance film festival in Park City, Utah. Equity stars Anna Gun (Breaking Bad) who plays a young investment banker trying to climb the Wall Street ladder under the watchful eye of a prosecutor looking for corruption. It is showing at The Film House at the First Ontario PAC at 7:30 p.m. Also on screen June 10th are two offerings from local filmmakers. How to Build a Time Machine is a documentary from St. Catharine’s native, Jay Cheel and Niagara Falls native April Mullen’s latest flick Farhope Tower can be seen the same evening. Farhope Tower is a horror film about a team of paranormal investigators hoping to make a reality show out of mysterious tower that is the location of many suicides. How to Build a Time Machine and Farhope Tower can be seen at The Seneca on Queen at 8:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. respectively.
Okpik’s Dream was written and directed by St Catharines filmmaker, Laura Rietveld, it is the story of a dog musher and takes a look at Inuit tradition and modern society, and it is showing Sunday, June 12th at the Seneca on Queen at 7:00 p.m. Another film with a local slant is the world premiere of Sam C. Avery’s Minor, which was filmed in Niagara Falls.
A host of foreign films will also show at this year’s festival and for those who don’t mind subtitles the lineup is exceptional with movies such as Jean-Francois Richet’s comedy One Wild Moment and Paula Ortiz’s award winning La Novia. The Canadian premieres of two movies from Hong Kong will also be shown including The Bodyguard and the crime thriller Travisa.
Other notable highlights include Spotlight Italy, a series of the very best Italian short films and Niagara Rises Shorts which features the best of Niagara talent in a showcase of short films by locals.
A series of discussions is scheduled for an Industry Day event, Friday, June 17, 2016. This is a great opportunity for aspiring young people who wish to work in the industry to get up close and meet members of the film and television business.
The Niagara Integrated Film Festival has something for everyone, and if you love film you won’t want to miss this opportunity to see great films in your local theatres. For a full schedule of events and details on how to buy tickets visit their website at http://www.niagarafilmfest.com
By Jenifer Cass
Pictured – Slider – April Mullen’s Farhope Tower, Story Photo Above from Okpik’s Dream
