Recently, The Food Film Festival in Nova Scotia has wrapped up and proven itself to be a successful event. Known as Devour 9.5, the festival offered the opportunity to see it both in-person and online. There were over 40 films screened online and nearly 40 in-person screenings and events that happened at the venue. Despite social distancing protocols put in place, chefs were still able to showcase their work online providing for a show much like those cooking programs that have been on TV. While it may not have been the same approach they have used for years, Devour’s Exectuive Director Michael Howell has stated how impressed he was with how things turned out saying, “Although we can’t wait to bring back our full programming, we’re excited about the possibilities of becoming more accessible online, and we even had the pleasure of experiencing some unexpected downtime to enjoy staff bonding together as a core team.”
Whistler Film Festival is counting down the days until its online premiere, and they’ve announced the 8 directors hosting the WIDC Story & Leadership Program. WIDC stands for Women in the Director’s Chair and they have chosen some of the finest most talented ladies to get together crews and make compelling elaborate productions and will now be making a feature or even series as a part of this program. The participants include Lindsay Mcintyre (The Words We Can’t Speak), Liz Cairns (Inedia), Hayley Gray (Dry Year), Rachel Cairns (Glo, In the Dark), ZhiMin Hu (Under the Red Umbrella) Emily Diana Ruth (I Can’t Even), Michelle Muldoon (Last Stand to Nowhere), and Rachel Beaulieu (Coupon Kids). The program will be opened by Dr. Dorothy Christian Cucw-la7 and Dr. Rita Shelton Deverell C.M. who have a steady background in TV and film work as well as promoting diversity. There will also be some directors mentoring the program including Siobhan Devine, Gloria Ui Young Kim, and Sonia Bonspille Boileau who have won WIDC awards in the past.
And these ladies aren’t the only ones with good fortune coming their way thanks to what they’re doing, Loretta S. Todd’s feature Monkey Beach has won multiple awards over at the American Indian Film Festival. Awards for this feature include Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and the two supporting actor categories in AIFF. Monkey Beach has done pretty well in its festival run going through VIFF, TIFF, and is even screening at Cineplex. It also happens to be a favourite among writers here at Hollywood North Magazine.