Alberta short filmmakers will get their due at the Okotoks Public library Oct. 1 as part of Alberta Arts Days.
Alberta Arts Days will be held Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 and to comemmorate the occasion the library is presenting a screening of Prairie Tales 13 a touring collection of Alberta short films and video. One of this year’s featured filmmakers, Calgary’s Janna-Marynn Brunnen, will be on hand to speak to the audience after the Saturday afternoon screening.
“They are great films,” Brunnen said of Prairie Tales 13. “The thing I love about the package is it’s a mixture of everything and anything. There are multiple animations and we all have different styles.”
Brunnen revealed she used an old school animation technique for “Little Heart”, her movie in the collection.
“I worked on the film for the last year, animating steadily,” she said. “It is classical animation so I hand drew everything and hand painted it all. Then I took still photographs of it and played it back.”
Brunnen’s seven-minute film is a tale of a young woman’s struggle to understand love. Her film was definitely a passion project for the filmmaker. It had to be to keep her going through the more trying times in the movie’s development.
“I was working a full time job as well,” Brunnen said. “So I’d come in after my job and animate for eight to 12 hours. I think it probably gets most discouraging when you’re drawing for four hours then you test the drawings and they don’t move the way you want them to.”
The “Little Heart” creator recently completed a scholarship program at Calgary’s Quick Draw Animation Society, which gave her access to the old style machines needed to make her film. On Saturday in Okotoks she will speak of working with these antiquated animation devices and the other things she has learned as a filmmaker.
Also being featured at the library for Arts Days will be the creative talents of students at Okotoks’ own Alberta High School of Fine Arts. For a second year displays and presentations will be set up throughout the library highlighting the wide range of artistic endeavors pursued at the Foothills Composite High School.
“There will be visual communication and fine art students featured,” school art instructor Jainie Zwack explained. “There will also be dance and choral represented.”
While visual artists will have actual samples of their work displayed in the library, performing arts students will be represented by video presentations that will be played on an ongoing basis during Arts Days.
“We’ll be featuring some sculptural work, which is new this year,” Zwack said. “Last year we didn’t have any sculpture work. We’ll also have paintings, photography and digital art.”
Wrapping up a busy period at the Okotoks Public Library will be its Snapshot Day on Oct. 3. The event in intended to showcase the impact the library has on the community on a typical day. People are invited to stop by Monday have their photo taken and explain why the library is important to them.
At 11 a.m. Okotoks Mayor Bill Robertson and other local community leaders will be on hand as library patrons enjoy coffee and cake.
For more information on all of these events call the Okotoks Public Library at 403-938-2220.
