November Festival Look Ahead
Ralph Lucas – Publisher
(November 1, 2022 – Toronto, ON) There are 16 Canadian film festivals on our list, some of them continuing into this month from October, some of them starting on the last days of the month and continuing into December.
The biggies include the Rendezvous With Madness which is now running and continues until November 11. As their website states, this year’s theme “#MoreThanRebellion embodies the festival’s efforts to normalize informed public discourse around mental health, addiction, recovery and wellness. More Than Rebellion means tearing down a broken system in favour of a generational change. The art showcased at the festival will mend broken hearts and soothe weary minds. This art will challenge, inspire, and enlighten. This art will fuel a rebellion, and so much more.”
The Windsor International Film Festival also wraps on November 11. A few days ago they announced the winner of the 2022 WIFF Prize in Canadian Film. Directed by Anthony Shim, Riceboy Sleeps was described by the festival jury as an “intimate yet sweeping film” that is “poignant, authentic, and visually powerful.” The other nominees were: Brother directed by Clement Virgo; Eternal Spring directed by Jason Loftus; Falcon Lake, directed by Charlotte Le Bon; I Like Movies directed by Chandler Levack; Norbourg directed by Maxime Giroux; North of Normal directed by Carly Stone; Something You Said Last Night directed by Luis De Filippis; The Swearing Jar directed by Lindsay MacKay; and To Kill A Tiger by Nisha Pahuja.
One of the more focused festivals, as in covering one particular area, is the International Vegan Film Festival in Ottawa. It opens on the 5th and for the first time since 2019 the festival returns to in-person screenings as well as a virtual festival that runs November 7-21, 2022.
Many people know about the St-John’s International Women’s Film Festival and the FIN Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax. Not to be overlooked is the Silver Wave Film Festival in Fredericton, New Brunswick. It began life as the Tidal Wave a little over 20 years ago and changed its name in 2005. As they say on their website, the festival “offers a showcase of multicultural, international, French and English programming of all genres and lengths and a comprehensive industry series which brings experienced and emerging producers and filmmakers together.” The Silver Wave begins Wednesday, November 3 and runs until November 10. It opens with the documentary Bernie Langille Wants to Know What Happened to Bernie Langille by writer, journalist, playwright, radio documentary maker and actor Jackie Torrens. It had its World Premiere at Hot Docs earlier this year. It’s a story of a grandson trying to find out what happened to his grandfather & namesake, a military corporal who died more than 50 years ago under mysterious circumstances. Through the use of miniature sets, Bernie use fragments of the bizarre tale almost as jigsaw pieces, to hopefully solve a family mystery and release that family which seems to be emotionally frozen in 1968, the year Bernie Langille died.
Later in the month we’ll have more on the Montreal International Documentary Festival and the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival in Toronto.
Click here to find links to these and other November 2022 film festivals. Don’t see your festival listed? Write to us at news@northernstars.ca
Ralph Lucas is the founder and publisher of Northernstars.ca. He began writing about film and reviewing movies while in radio in Montreal in the mid-1970s.
