The Vancouver Independent Film Festival is a seasonal and yearly event, with the most recent season taking place between March to June 2022. Winners of the seasonal film festivals may have an opportunity to be considered for their yearly competition based on selection by the programming committee. These are a few select award-winning filmmakers for the March to June 2022 season to look out for in the film festival circuit.
THE GLADIOLUS BLOSSOMS – Category: Best Canadian Narrative Short
Director: Matt Haley, Canada
Anne, a recent breast cancer survivor, struggled with her insecurities after going to chemotherapy and her husband leaving her to her demise. Her life hit rock bottom, until one of her friends named Sue came over to her place right before she was going to drug herself to suicide. Her friend Sue came to provide the strength and support to guide Anne to overcoming her fears of her current self, and build a new life around who she is in present day.
TOGETHER – Category: Best COVID-19 Short
Director: Pedro Conti, Brazil
COVID-19 was a wake-up call to the world as everyone had to take a step back from their regular lives. Director Pedro Conti took this opportunity to create this beautiful independent animated short film that focuses on the small but impactful moments between two neighbours who leaned on each other to keep in touch. The short also commemorates the victims who succumbed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, this is a feel-good short to reflect on how life can be special when humans connect and support each other in dire times.
¿QUIÉN ANDA AHÍ? (Eng: Who’s There?)– Category: Best Horror (Short)
Director: Jose Luis Anaya, Mexico
¿QUIÉN ANDA AHÍ? (Eng: Who’s There?) takes home the award for Best Horror (Short). The story is about a man living a nightmare when a demon is messing with his phone and in the apartment. It starts off with the man walking around taking photos of his apartment. Suddenly he finds his phone with pictures of himself taken by someone else, slightly seconds in the future of what is going to happen to him. The sound design is the main highlight in driving up the intensity of the horror to its climatic ending.
EXPEDITION RECLAMATION – Category: Best Environmentalist Film
Director: Erin Joy Nash, United States
12 voices from the Black, Indigenous, and women of color (BIPOC) are featured in this environmentalist documentary, discussing about their “outdoorsy” life and reclaiming the sense of belonging in the outdoor culture. The film is split into three chapters. The first chapter focuses on the discussions about their experience with colonialism leading to disconnect with their homeland. The second chapter is about the title name, ‘Expedition Reclamation’, where the characters are reconnecting with the outdoor life for healing. And the last chapter is about bringing inclusiveness to the outdoor culture.
VIRUS – Category: Best Music Video
Director: Juan Camilo Palacio, Canada
Written and performed by jazz singer-songwriter Ori Dagan and rapper Erik Flow, ‘Virus’ fuses a romp of jazz and lyrical rap. The song is about how the Internet is plagued with viral content, fake news, and identity theft. The music video showcases how the world is connected to the clicks for likes, and how people can be absorbed into the idea that anything on the Internet must be true. The lyrics emphasize the idea that “viruses, they’re everywhere”, as a calling to be mindful on the individual’s responsibility when surfing the Internet, as one click can lead to something dangerous.
BETHANY AND BEER SANTA – Category: Best Comedy (Short)
Director: Matt Laud, United States
Bethany decides to go on a date with Terrance, the “Beer Santa”, whom she connected with on Tinder. This was her first using Tinder to go on her date, and when she met up with Beer Santa, things take a turn for the worst. This comedy short takes the risk of blending some shock horror, while attempting to keep the dialogue light-hearted in the bizarre situation Bethany put herself in. Just a note, while the main theme is comedy, keep in mind you will be seeing some gory scenes that carry out the story.
SHADOWLANDS – Category: Best Canadian Narrative Short
Director: Cameron Liardi, Canada
‘Shadowlands’ takes a trip back to the golden age of Hollywood in the 1940s and 1950s, featuring Walter Crane, who makes a living hiding the scandals from wealthy people in Tinseltown. The cinematography is shot in letterbox, entirely in black and white, with themes around the film noir of crime dramas. The audio design, costumes, and dialogue contributed to the finer details of the film, supported by very talented actors in bringing out the characters of the golden age. This one is worth a watch.
© 2022. UniversalCinema Mag.