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RIFFA Day 1: Opening Night and Saskatchewan Shorts


       Film Festivals, critic and academic Klaus Eder emphasized at the RIFFA opening ceremony, are the only places people can see those movies that major studios and industries won't give a second glance at. As often as they're touted for introducing great movies to the world, they're also avenues for young, ambitious, and experimental fringe artists to have their work seen, their voices heard, their messages conveyed. Festivals are also living celebrations of film, it's wildly diverse forms and perspectives, offering opportunities to truly make or experience something new.
       Eder noted that the Regina International Film Festival and Awards is quite new, "a baby" as far as film festivals are concerned. But it has so much promise given the local pool of Saskatchewan talent it's accessible too, as well as its expansive reach. I was invited to RIFFA this year, a special guest thanks to my work in and outside of this blog as an "influencer" -and I'm honoured and delighted to get the chance to participate, to watch some never-bef0re-seen films, attend a panel or masterclass, and learn more than Hollywood and conventional media are capable of teaching about what film can be. Even from the opening night, such preconceptions were challenged.
Director of Programming
and former Director General
of the National Film Board of
Canada, Ravida Din
       The opening festivities at the Casino Regina show lounge were hosted by CTV Regina's Brit Dort, and featured speeches from local MP Ralph Goodale (representing the federal government), Regina Mayor Michael Fougere (representing the local government), and Lieutenant-Governor Vaughn Solomon-Schofield (representing the monarchy) -it's perhaps not surprising there was no representation of the provincial government, who rather infamously killed the Saskatchewan Film Industry by eliminating their lucrative tax credit in 2012. Some shade was thrown. 
       But the poor state of this provinces' arts prospects hasn't stopped filmmakers or those curious about becoming filmmakers as the nights' round of short films proved. First there was a trifecta of student films produced through the Mental Health Initiative LOOK, each made by young people suffering with mental illness, and by and large about mental illness. There was Can You Hurry Love?, an exploration of relationships through parallel interviews of a student couple and a middle-aged couple; Clouding Around, an abstract, allegorical piece that combined simple sketches with double exposure editing; and Romeo & Mental, a quite impressively composed documentary on two Indigenous students living with depression.
       Following these were the five Spotlight on Saskatchewan films made by local new filmmakers. There was The Confessional, directed by Tyson Poulin, a comedy-drama about the repercussions of a high school coach discovering an affair between his wife and a former student; and a pair of experimental films by John Graham, Unfold and Being (the latter of which was divided into three shorter films itself), opaque meditations that in their fascination with visual illusions and trick mirroring effects, hearken back to Georges Melies and early cinematic expressionism. Possibly my favourite of these was How Father Lawrence Briefly Considered a Career in Landscaping, directed by Nathan Raine, a lightly absurdist take on a priest's crisis of faith, shot with impeccable cinematography. The longest and most important film though was Waniska -An Awakening of Indigenous Knowledge, commissioned and directed by various members of the Elders Circle of the First Nations University of Canada. Essentially a doc on the importance of maintaining and passing on Indigenous culture and tradition in defiance of centuries of erasure, it features interviews with dozens of students, teachers, and First Nations figures in and around Saskatchewan -a good rebuttal against anyone who would grumble about land acknowledgements at public events.
A few of the showcased filmmakers
including Tyson Poulin (centre).
       A few of the filmmakers were present for a brief panel and Q&A, including the young director of Romeo & Mental. It was particularly satisfying to hear her say she wants to continue her education in film -a live testament to its transformative power. There was such a broad range of films showcased in just this opening night, a microcosm of the limitless expression of the medium the world over. I can't wait to see what's next.
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