The first ever Cariboo Chilcotin Film Fest was a huge hit Friday evening with the Gibraltar Room filled to capacity.
“The place was packed, people were happy and upbeat, the atmosphere was great,” said event organizer Krista Liebe. “I am still so happy and grateful to everyone for their wonderful support.”
She said it had been a long-time dream to have a local festival featuring different films created by local directors.
“I tried for a while, but gave up on this a few of years ago. And then it suddenly came all together, just in a couple of weeks,” Liebe said.
Mayor Walt Cobb and Yunesit’in Chief Russell Myers-Ross opened the festival with welcoming comments.
The evening included four short films and a 60-minute film.
Mt. Timothy (12 minutes) is part of the Shred the Nar project about B.C. and Alberta ski resorts by Oliver Berger and Morgan Day who were there to introduce the film.
Clouds of Autumn, a 15 minute art film about the impact of residential schools on First Nations family life was also introduced by the director Trevor Mack.
Portage the Legend, a 22-minute film about canoeing adventures on and around Quesnel Lake by Colin Labelle and Wesley Gregg, was introduced by Labelle.
My Legacy (festival version) a 60-minute film written and directed by Helen Haig-Brown was introduced by Helen’s mother Maria Myers, who was a key subject of the film.
In an interview during the reception following the festival Myers said My Legacy was six years in the making.
“It is a story of all residential school survivors and raising the next generation,” Maria said. “A lot of us are not healing at all.”
After suffering years of depression, Maria said she started working on healing her herself through art therapy sessions taken locally and in Vancouver.
“I did it and then Helen followed,” Maria said.
The result of that work, she says her daughter has finally found love in her 30s and is enjoying her first baby, living with her husband in Haida Gwaii.
“The film was a healing journey for her,” Maria said.
Trevor Mack said he will be heading to the Los Angeles area in April to make another short film about the 2003 invasion of Iraq and how various influences and mainstream media play a role in our perception of those events.
He said he will also be working on another bigger project for television which he can’t talk about just yet.
Liebe says the films Shred the Nar and Portage the Legend are available on YouTube and it is expected Clouds of Autumn and My Legacy are expected to be available on DVD in a few months.
After expenses and presenting small stipends to the film creators during the evening, Liebe said the Williams Lake Film Club, which hosted the festival, will be able to donate $1,500 to the Williams Lake Chapter of the Association for Students with Learning Disabilities for one-on-one tutoring.
