Island News & Views
Events · 15th April 2008
Jamie Downie
Friday, April 25
Quadra Community Centre – 7pm
The Reel Youth Film Festival is coming to Quadra Island, on Friday, April 25th at the Quadra Community Centre, 7pm.
The program of short films, in partnership with Quadra Islands Elementary Parents Advisory Council., will feature a selection of local films from Quadra Community Centre’s Claymation and Computer Animation Programs. The festival will also feature Reel Youth’s ‘Goonda’; a film made with a gang of Mysore street kids about living on the streets in India. The funds raised at the screening will go toward the Quadra Elementary PAC.
Showcasing the best of youth filmmaking, the Reel Youth Film Festival (RYFF) is a collection of surprisingly insightful and entertaining short films made by youths aged 19 years and under.
Ranging from the comedic to the dramatic, using video and stop motion animation, this year's films explore a wide range of themes, reflecting the diversity of the culture and concerns of youth today.
According to festival organizer Mark Vonesch, “The Reel Youth Film Festival is discovering and promoting the next generation of film makers. The Festival empowers young people to speak up and express themselves through film. It is an opportunity for audiences to see the best of youth filmmaking while gaining insight into youth culture and the issues affecting young people today”.
By providing a safe and creative space for culturally, socially and economically diverse opinions to be expressed the RYFF supports filmmakers with a message.
“It is incredible what young people are doing with digital video cameras these days. This festival is proof that you don’t need a Hollywood budget to make an entertaining film. I think we have a lot to learn from young people in our society”.
The Reel Youth Film Festival is a project of Reel Youth -- a registered Canadian non-profit whose mandate is to empower young people through the media arts. Reel Youth’s facilitators deliver claymation and video making programs to youth groups throughout the Pacific Northwest. Last year marked Reel Youth’s first major international project, in which facilitators travelled to India to support youth living on the street in making a film about their lives.
Film festival submissions come from independent collectives, youth filmmaking organizations, school media classes and the Reel Youth program series. A youth jury chooses the films to be screened from over 300 submissions from across Canada, the US and beyond. The jury makes their selections based on entertainment value, technical merit and the messages the films portray.
Following each screening, a panel of local youth filmmakers will be on hand to participate in a facilitated discussion with the audience. This community forum creates an important opportunity for dialogue around the issues raised by the films, and recognizes and empowers the youth voice in each of the communities.
Audience members can vote for their favourite films in eight categories including: Best Film Promoting Positive Social Change, Best Film Promoting Environmental Awareness, Best Claymation and Best Local Film. The winning local filmmaker will recieve a “Reel Youth Best of the Fest” DVD and “Best Local Film” certificate. Votes for non-local categories will be added to the votes from the other festivals to define the People’s Choice Awards, whose prizes support future youth filmmaking with prizes ranging from film camp scholarships, equipment, and professional mentorship. All winning films will also be hosted on the Reel Youth website.
RYFF is touring 24 communities in Canada and the United States from September thru June, 2008. RYFF is also featured in several major North American film festivals including the Vancouver International Film Festival. The tour will also reach: Toronto, Montreal, Victoria, Ottawa, Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Frederickton, Yorkton, St. John’s, Halifax, Portland and Seattle, and more.
Major sponsors of the Festival include The Vancouver Foundation’s Youth Philanthrophy Council, Mobius Media, QuantumShift.tv, Tides Canada Endswell Fund, The Hamber Foundation, and The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation.
For more info on the Reel Youth Film Festival see www.reelyouth.ca
ph: (604) 676 9779, or markreelyouth.ca
MEDIA ROOM: www.reelyouth.ca/media2.html
Quadra Community Centre – 7pm
The Reel Youth Film Festival is coming to Quadra Island, on Friday, April 25th at the Quadra Community Centre, 7pm.
The program of short films, in partnership with Quadra Islands Elementary Parents Advisory Council., will feature a selection of local films from Quadra Community Centre’s Claymation and Computer Animation Programs. The festival will also feature Reel Youth’s ‘Goonda’; a film made with a gang of Mysore street kids about living on the streets in India. The funds raised at the screening will go toward the Quadra Elementary PAC.
Showcasing the best of youth filmmaking, the Reel Youth Film Festival (RYFF) is a collection of surprisingly insightful and entertaining short films made by youths aged 19 years and under.
Ranging from the comedic to the dramatic, using video and stop motion animation, this year's films explore a wide range of themes, reflecting the diversity of the culture and concerns of youth today.
According to festival organizer Mark Vonesch, “The Reel Youth Film Festival is discovering and promoting the next generation of film makers. The Festival empowers young people to speak up and express themselves through film. It is an opportunity for audiences to see the best of youth filmmaking while gaining insight into youth culture and the issues affecting young people today”.
By providing a safe and creative space for culturally, socially and economically diverse opinions to be expressed the RYFF supports filmmakers with a message.
“It is incredible what young people are doing with digital video cameras these days. This festival is proof that you don’t need a Hollywood budget to make an entertaining film. I think we have a lot to learn from young people in our society”.
The Reel Youth Film Festival is a project of Reel Youth -- a registered Canadian non-profit whose mandate is to empower young people through the media arts. Reel Youth’s facilitators deliver claymation and video making programs to youth groups throughout the Pacific Northwest. Last year marked Reel Youth’s first major international project, in which facilitators travelled to India to support youth living on the street in making a film about their lives.
Film festival submissions come from independent collectives, youth filmmaking organizations, school media classes and the Reel Youth program series. A youth jury chooses the films to be screened from over 300 submissions from across Canada, the US and beyond. The jury makes their selections based on entertainment value, technical merit and the messages the films portray.
Following each screening, a panel of local youth filmmakers will be on hand to participate in a facilitated discussion with the audience. This community forum creates an important opportunity for dialogue around the issues raised by the films, and recognizes and empowers the youth voice in each of the communities.
Audience members can vote for their favourite films in eight categories including: Best Film Promoting Positive Social Change, Best Film Promoting Environmental Awareness, Best Claymation and Best Local Film. The winning local filmmaker will recieve a “Reel Youth Best of the Fest” DVD and “Best Local Film” certificate. Votes for non-local categories will be added to the votes from the other festivals to define the People’s Choice Awards, whose prizes support future youth filmmaking with prizes ranging from film camp scholarships, equipment, and professional mentorship. All winning films will also be hosted on the Reel Youth website.
RYFF is touring 24 communities in Canada and the United States from September thru June, 2008. RYFF is also featured in several major North American film festivals including the Vancouver International Film Festival. The tour will also reach: Toronto, Montreal, Victoria, Ottawa, Yellowknife, Winnipeg, Frederickton, Yorkton, St. John’s, Halifax, Portland and Seattle, and more.
Major sponsors of the Festival include The Vancouver Foundation’s Youth Philanthrophy Council, Mobius Media, QuantumShift.tv, Tides Canada Endswell Fund, The Hamber Foundation, and The Leon and Thea Koerner Foundation.
For more info on the Reel Youth Film Festival see www.reelyouth.ca
ph: (604) 676 9779, or markreelyouth.ca
MEDIA ROOM: www.reelyouth.ca/media2.html