Millefiore Clarkes has 2 films selected for Atlantic Film Festival

Millefiore Clarkes of One Thousand Flowers Productions will have two films shown at the Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax in September.

The P.E.I. filmmaker told Mainstreet her short film, September in Toronto was chosen to be part of the Sunday night gala. Her film, Across America will be screened at the festival in the Reel East Coast Shorts Program 1 on Sept. 16.

"It's really exciting, it's such an honour every time you get the little acceptance email, you know your heart swells cause you know you've been acknowledged by your peers and you're being presented in a formal setting. It's really great."

Online films

Clarkes said she made the films to live in the online world, so to see them being included in a film festival brings a certain formality and prestige to them.

"It's nice to sit down amongst people and watch something on a big screen. So that's great and I'm going to keep submitting them to festivals and once that run is over I'll put them back online and let people see them there."

Clarkes said being a part of the film festival provides opportunities to network with filmmakers and producers from around the world.

Clarkes said her short film, September in Toronto is part of a series of short films. She had made the first, December in Toronto after buying her first DSLR camera and having her partner suggest she make a film about her trip to the city.

"So from the moment I said goodbye to him, I turned on the camera and filmed it, came home and edited it over one long night and posted it online."  

Clarkes said it has been her most popular online film, adding it was picked as a staff pick on Vimeo and got a lot of plays.

"Because of that success and because I had such a wonderful time creating it, I decided to sort of follow that same vein and make some more films in a similar way."

Recreating memories

When asked why she thinks something like that resonates with people, Clarkes said she isn't sure what it is.

"I feel like a lot of the times there are memories in our stories that happen in little flashes and impressions, sort of these sensory moments that we gather. So that's sort of what I'm trying to recreate with these films."

Clarkes said the other film, Across America is also a travel film shot in the same way.

"They all share a theme, I think."

Music important to work

Clarkes said the music she uses in her films is important. "I wouldn't be able to edit without that music because the edits are intuitive based. They're not based on a story, they are based on a pulse and the music gives it that pulse."

As well as a filmmaker, Clarkes makes music videos, documentaries and promotional videos.

Clarkes told Mainstreet she is working with the National Film Board of Canada on a documentary with Catherine MacLellan about her relationship with her father, Gene MacLellan.

"It's also about the relationship between mental health and creativity and how music can lift us up but also, perhaps come from those dark places and experiences that we all have.

"It's a celebration of Gene MacLellan's life and through his daughter's eyes."