5 things to not miss at the Women’s Film Festival

The St. John’s International Women’s Film Festival is coming up on its silver anniversary, marking 25 years of celebrating women in film.

"You can’t find any real hard factual information about the first year of the festival," said executive director Sarah Smellie. "As the story goes, it was basically a gathering of women and they watched an NFB documentary about witch-burning."

The festival has come a long way since its first year. This year’s schedule includes 11 feature films, as well as 47 shorts that had been picked from more than 300 submissions. [For the silver anniversary year, the features were handpicked by the board of directors.]

Thirty-seven of the films are Canadian, including 18 from Newfoundland and Labrador, while others span nine countries worldwide.

Smellie is proud of how the festival has progressed.

"For a long time, the women’s film festival was really the only film festival here, so if you wanted to get screened, if you wanted to make a film and show it to your hometown audience, you had to involve a woman in a key role," she said.

"As a result, we now have a ton of women in the film industry here."

Check out the festival for yourself, as St. John’s celebrates 25 years of women in film.

Here’s a countdown of a few highlights we chose that you can’t miss!

5. E-Team

E-team is a feature length documentary airing at The Rooms on Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. The E-Team – short for Emergencies Team – is a group of incredibly intelligent people who document war crimes and report on the powerful images they witness. It was directed by Katy Chevigny and Ross Kauffman. The filmmakers take us to the front lines, as the civil war rages in Syria. 

4. Creating with the National Film Board (NFB)/Interactive

Join in on an innovative collective, the NFB’s interactive programing department, as they "explore the world – and our place in it – from uniquely Canadian points of view." Speaking are writer/interactive producer Jen Moss and acting executive producer Kat Baulu, moderated by the CBC’s own Angela Antle of Weekend Arts Magazine.

They’ll be discussing how their interactive projects work, how to approach your own work with digital media, and how to develop your narrative with user experience in mind. The presentation is at NIFCO on 40 King’s Rd., at 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16.

3. New Funding, New Directions: The Future of Television

The Future of Television panel discussion, presented by the Canadian Media Production Association, is set for 2:45 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 15 at NIFCO, and will explore the rapidly changing television industry, from web series to Netflix. Moderator Lisa Vatcher (Take The Shot Productions) hashes it out with representatives Gosia Kamela (Bell Media), Helen Asimakis (CBC), and Ed J. Martin (Best Boy Productions) on new directions, new funding, mobile extensions and great expectations.

2. Hair of the Dog

Hair of the Dog: A Comedy Talk takes place Oct.18 at 10 a.m. at NIFCO. The panel features Sue Kent, an actress and writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and Deanne Foley, an award-winning filmmaker and writer (Relative Happiness, Beat Down), and will be moderated by Dance Party of Newfoundland’s Dave Sullivan. No need to cry as the festival comes to an end, come share laughs as this dynamic duo talk about writing comedy.

1. The Red Carpet: Opening Night Gala Presentation of October Gale

Join the red carpet event at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. as the festival kicks off a celebration of 25 years of women making movies for everyone. This is an event filled with lots of female directors, producers, writers and actors, as well as some other very powerful women in filmmaking.

The red carpet will lead to the screening of October Gale, starring Academy Award nominee Patricia Clarkson alongside Scott Speedman. This is a masterful look at a grieving woman encountering a strange man with a dark past. Watch the trailer here. 

Daniel Iron, the film's producer, and Emily Alden, VP of Pacific Northwest Pictures will be on the carpet, while writer and director Ruba Nadda (who could not travel, as she is eight months pregnant) will take questions by Skype before the screening.

Post-screening, stick around for some music with the Fortunate Ones. Here's a taste: 

Tickets are for the opening night gala are $25 regular and $18 for seniors/students.

For more information about tickets and schedule, contact the festival at 754-3141, send an email here or check details on its website.