From animation to live-action shorts, St. Clair College students, graduates, staff members and faculty have produced several films that are set to appear at the 22nd annual Windsor International Film Festival.
Between Oct. 29 and Nov. 8, the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) will take place in multiple theatres in downtown Windsor, showing 232 feature films from 55 different countries.
The local contingent features 53 films, including 6 features and 47 short films which are scheduled across six distinct blocks.
"It's great to see the community show up for a local film festival," said Vincent Georgie, the executive director and chief programmer of WIFF. "I think it's an indicator of the level of talent in Windsor and I think Windsor gets behind people and Windsor likes to see Windsor stories up on screen. And this year, genuinely, was an embarrassment of riches on the local film side."
Georgie said this is by far the most local films that have been selected to run by a panel of external adjudicators during WIFF.
"And seeing that it's coming from grads of the journalism and film program, grads of your animation program, those are good indicators," Georgie added.
Marta vs. The Bugs Movie Poster. (Michael Poirier)
Marta Vs. The Bugs
St. Clair College Video Production Technologist Michael Poirier is no stranger to WIFF. He submitted a full feature entry two years ago (Thundersnake), and this time around, Poirier wrote and directed a submission in the local short category, Marta vs. The Bugs.
"Marta Vs. The Bugs was filmed over nine short days, but in that time the cast and crew became my second family," said Poirier.
It's a tale of a young woman who is incredibly confident but has a crippling phobia of bugs. The story is based on one of Poirier's former roommates, Clara Benedeck (a graduate of the Media Convergence program at St. Clair College) and details how two roommates deal with that phobia.
"The film is about two very different people learning to overcome their differences, and turn their fears into strengths," said Poirier, who also turned to students and graduates at St. Clair when it came time for casting.
Graphic Design graduate Laura Naranjo Calderón plays the leading role of Marta, while Sarah Eby, a current student in the Music Theatre Performance program, plays Beverly.
"Working on Marta Vs. the Bugs was the most fun I've ever had on a project, and at the same time my first opportunity portraying a challenging character that I ended up loving and also missing! I would love to play Marta again in the future," said Calderon, who hails from Medellín, Colombia. "I cannot wait to hear the audience laughing and having fun with these characters, knowing that every single person behind this film poured life into it every day off and on set."
"Working on Marta vs. The Bugs was an unforgettable experience that I am lucky enough to call my first-ever film project," said Sarah Eby of Kitchener, Ont. "I am honoured to have worked alongside such a talented cast and crew, learning lessons I will carry throughout my acting career."
"I look forward to attending WIFF and being able to discover more short films, connect with fellow artists, and celebrate our wonderful film," Eby added.
Shahad Al-Haddad, a graduate of the Fashion Design program at St. Clair College, was the lead cinematographer and said the group quickly grew attached to the script.
"We all became like a big family, whether we had ups or downs, we were able to adapt so well, and work like a well-oiled machine. It was pretty incredible," Al-Haddad said.
The film has also had great success on the film festival circuit, already claiming top prize for best comedy film at the Kitchener Waterloo International Film Festival (KWIFF), nominated for best international comedy short film at the International Comedy and Art Festival (TICAFF), best narrative short at the Chicago Indie Film Awards, and are official selections at the Commffest Global Community Film Festival as well as WIFF.
"This one was a lot of hard work, put together by very talented people who were very dedicated to their craft, and it truly showed with the reception we got at KWIFF/TICAFF/TINFF in Toronto," said Al-Haddad. "The audience laughing at all the jokes and getting the punchlines was the best part about it, and we ended up snagging the win there, so it was a lot of fun!"
The film will be screened on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 9:20 p.m. at the Kelly - Capitol Theatre as part of WIFF local shorts, block five.
