Oh, Canada, do you have eight hours to spare?
A local filmmaker has organized The Surprisingly Canadian Live Stream, a free online film festival featuring the work of other Canuck creatives to mark Canadian Film Day on April 19.
Joel Ashton-McCarthy, a graduate of Port Moody secondary school and the filmmaker behind the flicks Taking My Parents to Burning Man, Shooting The Musical and I Love You So Much It’s Killing Them as well as the soon to be released first season of of the web series Inconceivable, put together the streaming event, which starts at 4 p.m. PST.
It will feature eight hours of films, shorts and web series episodes by Metro Vancouver filmmakers, followed by Q&A sessions hosted by Ashton-McCarthy.
As well, the filmmakers will respond to comments from viewers online.
The lineup of films that are not otherwise publicly available is:
• 4 to 5 p.m. — Web Series Speed Dating: Want to get introduced to new web series? For this hour, you can view the pilots of a number of web series, followed by short Q&A’s with the filmmakers. Titles to be screened include Derek and Sally Bathtub Killers, The Actress Diaries, Best Friends Forever and Food Flix.
• 5 to 6:45 p.m. — The feature film FSM, followed by Q&A with director Melanie Jones and actor Georgie Daburas (synopsis: FSM explores the world of underground raves and online dating through the eyes of Samantha, a female DJ grappling with the ups and downs of hookup culture in her search for meaningful connection).
• 6:45 to 7 p.m. — Counter Act by the Affolter Bros., a Hot Shot Shorts grand prize winner (synopsis: When Alice, a naive young woman having lunch in a diner circa 1960, joins Mary and Ray in their “sit-in” protest, the ire of the racist patrons boils over and Alice learns what it truly takes to stand up for what you believe in).
• 7 to 7:45 p.m. — The Lawrence Lam Jam. Multi award-winning Lawrence Lam is known for his diverse immersive films all centred around music.
• 7:45 to 8 p.m. — Akashi, a Storyhive Short Film 2017 grand prize winner, followed by Q&A with director Mayumi Yoshida (synopsis: After the death of her grandmother, Kana returns to Japan in order to find some resolution and ends up examining her own life).
• 8 to 9:30 p.m. — Ashton-McCarthy’s This is a Spoon Studios Mystery Screening and Q&A.
• 9:30 to 10 p.m. — The Jamie and Sarah Experience Project with Jamie and Sarah (synopsis: Jamie and Sarah are a Canadian comedy duo waiting to be discovered. Check out some of their past work as well as a preview of their new show coming soon).
• 10 to 11 p.m. — The Butt Floss Comedy Hour Takeover: Christian and Matty take take over the stream to share some classic Canadian YouTube comedy entertainment — likely not be suitable for all ages.
• 11 p.m. to midnight —- Luchagore Late Night Horror Hour with Gigi Saul Guerrero and Raynor Shima. The most prolific Vancouver horror director, Guerrero, will host a very NSFW short film block that will have you at the edge of your seat. Luchagore productions have become one of the biggest names in international horror films — the shorts are gory, intense and all made in Canada.
The Surprisingly Canadian Live Stream will be viewable at www.surprisinglycanadian.ca.
