Description

In this episode of I Love Cambridge, our guest is Michael Clark from the Grand River Film Festival. He is going into his third year as chair of programming. They would be in the middle of their 13th season, which began on May 6th and would last through May 9th for their primary festival. Michael shares how they manage each film festival they’re hosting and the changes they’ve made because of the pandemic.

Standout Quotes:

• “What's also been wonderful to see is the increase in the number of films that are by and about indigenous peoples.”
• “This is the wonderful thing about film festivals is that every film you choose speaks to an entirely different audience.”
• “That's the great thing about filmmaking is that filmmakers will go out there and they will do the passion projects that they want. And it will speak to someone.”

Key Takeaways:

• More than half of the seven films they planned to screen were Canadian. More than half of the directors were female, and almost half of the protagonists were female.
• With the city empty, it's become abundantly clear how many people are suffering from homelessness during this pandemic.
• It's much more difficult when you're at a film festival dealing with primarily independent films, in terms of determining who owns the film, determining who distributes the picture, arranging a time, and occasionally incurring a payment to bring a movie in.
• Ticket sales very rarely pay for the movies that you're watching.

Episode Timeline:

[0:30] Meet today’s guest, Michael Clark from the Grand River Film Festival

[2:19] Are there any contingency plans in terms of going to an online venue?

[4:21] Tell me a few of this year's entries, some of the films that are on the docket.

[7:45] What kind of crowds does the Grand River Film Festival attract?

[12:13] Tell us a bit of yourself, how long you've been involved with this organization.

[16:37] With regards to the actual funding of your organization, is it simply through ticket sales of the event?

[19:19] Any favorite thing to do in the region at all?

[20:17] Do you have a particular favorite restaurant that you go to in Cambridge?

[21:09] If you had a magic wand, and you could change anything about the region, what would it be?

Learn more about the Grand River Film Festival at:

Website: https://www.facebook.com/GrandRiverFilm/

Email: info@griff.ca