A quartet of Nanaimo filmmmakers will have their work shown at the upcoming Vancouver Island Short Film Festival.
Michael Chen’s The Wrestler, Maxwell Dowie’s Roses and Stitches, John Gardiner’s How to Hide a Dead Body and Raymond Knight’s Living With are four of the 13 films from Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom that are part of the 14th annual VISFF, which takes place at Malaspina Theatre on Feb. 1 and 2. Knight and Gardiner also had work in last year’s event.
This is Dowie’s first time making it into the festival after submitting for around the last eight years. He describes Roses and Stitches as “Frankenstein meets Beauty and the Beast.”
“It is so exciting to see that my film was unique enough to stand out and be included in the festival,” he said.
Dowie said making the cut means that he and his team are all becoming better filmmakers and suggested that the film’s genre might have appealed to the selection committee.
“It’s a darker dramatic piece, a fantasy film, and I don’t know if they get many of those,” he said.
Gardiner has been submitting films to the VISFF since almost the beginning and How to Hide a Dead Body is his seventh film to be screened. He said making it into the festival is an annual goal.
“This is such a really good festival with great attendance and because it’s the local festival it’s one that I always want to get into and it’s always the first thing on my mind.”
Gardiner said his film is a dark comedy about two people trying to hide a dead body before a local gangster finds out about it. He said it’s one of his more ambitious projects.
“I was super excited to get in, especially this year because it’s a bigger cast and crew than I’ve ever worked with and I really wanted them to have the reward of seeing their film in front of a big audience,” he said.
Both Chen and Knight’s films were created with the help of $10,000 grants from the Telus Storyhive program, which supports Western Canadian filmmakers.
Knight’s film, Living With, is a documentary about living with cancer. It’s a personal topic for Knight and his producer Zachary Tannar, as both had parents affected by the disease. He said making it into the festival “meant a lot to us on many different levels.”
“It’s really exciting for people to see what we’ve done and also see this local story that takes place right here in Nanaimo,” he said. “And you don’t really realize these things are happening until you go and document them.”
This is Knight’s third time being featured in the VISFF and his first narrative to be accepted.
Knight’s previous films were both music videos. He credits the Storyhive grant for providing the resources to get it right.
“Music videos are great because you can express a lot with not a lot of budget and they’re not long … so you can really focus on quality of performance from actors or bands and spend time lighting it really well,” he said. “Whereas with a narrative it takes a lot of effort, especially with a documentary, to do that properly.”
Chen is also a returning filmmaker. He said his submission, The Wrestler, has deeper themes that make it “more than just a wrestling film.”
He said he looks forward to sharing the experience with his cast and crew.
“A lot of people took a leap of faith with me on this project, so the fact that they’re able to screen this film now locally in front of their family and friends, that was probably the biggest thing,” Chen said.
Chen said the fact that four Nanaimo filmmakers are being featured this year indicates that local talent is improving.
“That has to do with the individuals in the community but it also has to do with the film festival…” Chen said. “The fact that we have a platform, a place to show our films to our family and friends, I think that fuels a lot of people in terms of getting out there and making a film.”
WHAT’S ON … The 14th annual Vancouver Island Short Film Festival takes place at Malaspina Theatre on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. followed by a filmmaker Q and A and Feb. 2 at 2 and 7 p.m. followed by the award ceremony. Tickets are $16.50, available at the Port Theatre.
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