The Okotoks Film Festival is back and bigger than ever.
Put on by the Okotoks Film Society, the festival kicks off May 31 and runs through June 4 at the Okotoks Cinemas, featuring films from 24 countries.
“We’re going into the seventh year of the Okotoks Film Festival, and that went by in a flash,” said festival director Katie Fournell.
"During the pandemic, we went to a four-day festival because we could, we were online, and we tried it in person again when we had our festival last year, and so this year, we were like, ‘Well, let’s keep growing.’”
The core components are all there, all growing with the festival and all featuring at least one local filmmaker.
“We have something for everybody,” Fournell said. “Our opening film, Father of Nations, is an Alberta-made feature film, as we always try to open with.”
Included in tickets for the opening night is a party after the show, up on the rooftop patio of Hub Town Brewing.
Various films on the docket are straight out of the Foothills, such as Family Secrets by Diamond Valley filmmaker Andrew Dunning, who branched out from his regular trade as an adventure filmmaker.
The film tells the story of a politician undergoing a routine background check, only to find out he has a long-lost sister.
"This is Dunning’s first delve into a more narrative project, and it’s very current, very poignant, and I think people will be very interested in how it plays out,” Fournell said.
Another film with a local tie is Jerkwater, produced by a group of Vancouver Film School students. Among them is former Okotoks youth Chase Ashbaugh, who won Audience Choice and Best Picture for his films Discovering Joel and Flip, respectively, at the 2019 Zooom Youth Film Festival.
“So he’s a graduate of Zoom, of the youth screening, so it’s really exciting to see him back with this film, Jerkwater,” Fournell said.
That film is part of the Lunch Break Shorts segment taking place on the Friday, geared toward those maybe working a 9-5 during the festival.
“We want you to come and have your lunch break with us,” Fournell said. “We’ll show you some comedy films, we’ll feed you, and your ticket’s only 10 bucks.”
With the extra elbow room in their program, some segments have been expanded in turn.
“The new thing we’ve added with that fifth day is we’ve created a bigger scope for the youth package, so the Youth Film Screening is now the Thursday night (June 1) and that ticket will bring everybody over to The Point, a teen hangout spot," Fournell said. “The kids get to have a bit of a party and celebration around their films because those are all local filmmakers, we want to encourage them to continue to make film.
“So we’re making it a huge party, Boston Pizza is giving us some pizzas to give to everybody, so it’s just going to be a really fun time.”
One of the largest components of the festival, the 48-Hour Film Challenge, has already sold out space for screenings, as well as team entries.
For that challenge, 13 teams of local filmmakers were given a kit with props, prompts and treats at 6 p.m. May 19, with 48 hours to film, edit and submit their film.
“The 48-Hour (Film Challenge), which is one of our biggest events of the festival, is currently sold out,” Fournell said. “So, we’re possibly going to see about adding some other screens this year, so that’s really exciting for us.”
As the festival has grown, so has its pool of submissions and talent to draw from.
“It’s a mix of a few things; as our festival grows, we get higher calibre films,” Fournell said. “As we’re making contact with filmmakers throughout the past festivals, we’ve been able to maintain a relationship with them, and filmmakers know other filmmakers.”
One perfect example of this is their country highlight segment.
“Our entire Egypt shorts package is because we met an Egyptian filmmaker who worked with the Cairo Film Society, and he said, ‘Guys, submit your films to Okotoks, you’ve got to show at this festival,’” Fournell said, adding other filmmakers have returned multiple years, and their reputation has grown worldwide.
They also endeavour to make the festival accessible to everyone from all backgrounds.
“In some countries, a $10 Canadian fee can sometimes be a lot of money to filmmakers depending on what country they’re from, so we do try to work with filmmakers to make sure they can submit their films so we can consider them for the festival,” Fournell explained.
