Joining forces to create the soon-to-be greatest film festival in all of North Vancouver (and hopefully even the whole country) was the great team of us here with the team of the Hollywood North International Film Festival. It was a great opportunity to get invited by the one and only Mostafa Keshvari after a chance visit at VIFF this year, and before I knew it, I was on the judging panel, ranking submissions for the festival. Due to my choice opinions and involvement in submission ratings, I will not be reviewing the limited amount of content that screened that night. But I WILL be telling you all about how much fun was had the very first night and what happened to kick off the festival for many years to come. Oh, and in traditional HNMAG style, I have to give some shoutouts to Mostafa Keshvari (of course) and his team of hardworking individuals including Max Zahedi who I had some great interactions with, Dean Redmond, the judging panel (Jeff Wang, Corey Woods, Wanda John Kehewin, Leigah Keewatin, Jay Kamal, and Mike Dupod) the pre-judging panel who helped out alongside me, and everyone who came on opening night making it more packed than expected. So let’s begin now.
Opening Reception – A great place with great people to interact with, quite a few familiar faces but I have a feeling there will be even more of them next year. Plus there was also the photo wall, and I cannot say how much of an honour it was to have this website’s official logo on there listed as a sponsor. The Hors-d’œuvres consisted of provolone, crackers, and small wrapped burrito type foods, with some ocean spray in little plastic cups. Couldn’t have alcohol in the open with several kids running around. Ultimately, it was a comfortable little spot, and eventually people were shuffling into their seats. Could’ve used some VIP sticker seats for me and my team, but oh well, we got the best in the house (central seating area of the theatre).
Awards Part 1 – Hosted by the incredible Dean Redmond as he got to see how well the sound equipment worked, he opened up with some fine statements about the festival and everyone involved. He also talked about some of the films that came in as he was the head judge of all the selections for this year. ANCiEnT SkY got Best Sound and featured a speech by Jesse Zubot the director, who explained how it was the first film he ever directed, during the COVID period, and how interesting it was. Emine Vildrum got the award of Best Writing for their film, Ill Fortune. Unfortunately, not every filmmaker could attend seeing as this was an international type festival but they still deserved all of these. Best Cinematography went to the DOP’s of Infedelitas, and Pablo Pagan got the Best Student Film Award for his production of Voyager.
Intermission/Screening – All the films that won the awards I just mentioned got screened during this block, but not people stayed around to watch them. And as someone who went through the pre-judging process, thus watching the majority of these films, all I can say is they were worthy of their awards and they were all stunning. The intermission was a great opportunity to mingle again and catch up with some other people.
Awards Part 2 – Before things could get completely started, we had an elaborate skit involving Dean getting back into the theatre after supposedly getting locked out. Following that, he proceeded to give out an audience award for Best Dressed. Given my style, I’d be a shoe-in, but people probably would’ve called the system rigged given my VIP status. Good thing it went to a lady named Denise in a lovely blue dress. She complimented me afterwards. Now for the rest of the awards for the night: Theo Papadoulakis got the award for Best Director with his film, Another One, which was a rather elaborate film about an old man, the sea, and a little boy. I was moved when I watched it. Best Short Film was The Bathtub, which was the very first one I ever saw. Come to think of it, I believe it was the first film ever submitted to HNIFF. And if you think those titles are interesting enough, you won’t believe the Audience Choice Award, which is Coming Soon. I’m serious, that’s what the film is called. It’s about a group of people waiting their turn in an empty white room for a futuristic heaven/hell. After that, the audience got treated to 5 minutes of the film Another One, and the entirety of The Bathtub, which showed a conversation between a man taking a bath and a young lady doing telemarketing work as they somehow form a bond. Given the audience reactions, they would think this one to be both heartwarming and hilarious. I’m glad they all got to experience the awesomeness of the film.
Closing Speech – Dean introduced the lot of the team including myself to come up on stage for a photo op and thank us all for making this event a possibility. It ended on a pretty great experience afterwards as we all went to an afterparty afterwards (sorry, for the HNIFF team only) with pizza and wine. A great time was had by all this year, and I can’t wait to see how things go next year, because HNMAG may get even MORE involved.