101 Films in Reel Shorts Film Festival Program

The Reel Shorts Film Festival held May 2-6 in Grande Prairie announced its program of 101 films from 26 countries that were chosen from 1,000 films considered.  The festival has 2 world premieres of Peace Region films – Found a Peanut written and directed by Rio Fitch of Rolla, BC, and The Last Laugh by Grande Prairie filmmaker Dion Burry.  Found a Peanut will have its European premiere at the Fastnet Short Film Festival in Ireland at the end of May.  The festival will also have 4 North American premieres, 12 Canadian premieres, and 20 Alberta premieres.

Children of the Dark, an award-winning drama written and directed by Vancouver filmmaker Scott Belyea who grew up in Grande Prairie, will have its Alberta premiere at the festival.  He and Director of Photography Scooter Corkle will participate in a Q&A following the screening of their film in the Post-Apocalypse Now film package on Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 pm.

The Reel shorts Film Festival was founded by Terry Scerbak in 2007 and now has the largest program of short films in Alberta in addition to having the largest school program of any film festival in Alberta.  It is the 4^th year that the 2 ½ day Youth Filmmaking Challenge workshops will be offered.  Led by Scott Belyea, Scooter Corkle, and Grande Prairie filmmaker Michael Bourree, the workshops offer a chance for junior high and high school students to make a film under the mentorship of professionals working in the industry and to have it screen in front of hundreds of people in the Best of the Fest packages that wrap up the festival on May 6.

Screenwriting consultant and award-winning director and producer Michelle Steffes will travel to the festival from Los Angeles to teach a 2-day feature screenwriting workshop called Clubbing Inspiration (Writing a Screenplay) on Wednesday and Thursday, May 3-4.  She will also teach a 2-hour workshop called Writing  Your Short Film at 2:00 pm on Saturday, May 5^th.  She directed the award-winning film The Interview which will be in the Post-Apocalypse Now film package on Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 pm.

Udo Prinsen from the Netherlands will be at the festival for the North American premiere of his film (Audition), an animated tale about a young Auschwitz prisoner who auditions for the camp’s orchestra.

New to the fest this year is a Films, Fossils & Fun package that combines tickets to a film package for a family of 4, a family day pass to the dinosaur-themed aquatics centre at the Eastink Centre, and a 2-hour dinosaur fossil bonebed tour conducted by the Education Manager at the Pipestone Creek Dinosaur Initiative.

The festival will also collaborate with Grande Prairie Regional College to offer a 2-week unpaid internship training program July 9-20 called Shoot for Reel.  Led by Scott Belyea, Scooter Corkle, and Michael Bourree, as well as a location sound recordist.  There is no fee for interns to apply or for the program.  These are volunteer positions, but the interns will learn in 2 weeks much of what a film school will teach in the first year.  Eligible applicants must be Peace Region residents aged 16 or over.

Festival passes are $50 and tickets are $10 ($5 students) except for the Friday late-night Pizza Party and Psycho Shorts which is $15.  More information can be found at www.reelshorts.ca.