The Cinevic Society of Independent Filmmakers is having its first annual Short Circuit Short Films Festival. Although one of the shorts does include a robot, Short Circuit was not named after the 1986 feature length John Badham film.
Actually, the Short Circuit Short Films Festival is the original name of the Victoria Film Festival… kind of. It was approximately 1998 that the Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival (VIFVF) focused on showcasing short films and video, known as Short Circuit. Through a few changes and expansions, the Victoria Film Festival (VFF) came to be.
“Last year we were looking through our archives for our 20th anniversary, and came across something from the early days called Short Circuit,” says Cinevic’s executive director Bryan Skinner. “It was a screening or festival that just focused on short film.”
After lengthy discussions, six months ago the Cinevic board decided to make a regional presentation that includes Alaska, Yukon, BC, Washington, and Oregon. Over 30 submissions were received, of which eight were selected to showcase.
The festival will screen a variety of shorts such as comedy, documentary, narrative, and experimental. (Experimental is when a director uses techniques unknown to him/her and that are often intensely personal.)
“We wanted to do more presentations because at the most we’re a production center. So we wanted to involve the public and show the work that’s being created,” says Skinner. “The films are really great; in fact, Jeremy Lutter’s short, Joanna Makes a Friend, just won the Toronto International Film Festival Kids (TIFF Kids) award for audience favourite.”
Not only has Lutter won the TIFF Kids award, he recently won Monday Magazine’s M Award for favourite local filmmaker. Saturday’s screening of Joanna Makes a Friend will be the film’s sixth screening overall.
“I’m looking forward to having another screening in Victoria; it’s been awesome that the film’s been so well received,” says Lutter. “I’m excited to be showcased with all the other amazing talents that Victoria has, having participated in a lot of Cinevic events in the past.”
A strong list of shorts from Victoria are included in the festival: Liam Sherriff’s Gorsky, Michael Johnstone’s A Temp at Crime, Peter Sandmark’s Shambala Alley, Melissa de Haan’s Surreal, and Michael Korican’s Seeing Is Feeling.
Other selections are from up North: Andrew Connors’ Mad Miner’s Muck-up from Whitehorse, Yukon and Mary Katzke’s community effort, Day in Our Bay, from Anchorage, Alaska. Then closing the night is Joe Shapiro’s Claustrophia, from Seattle.
Cinevic plans on growing this festival organically, as its reputation increases, more films will be added to the line-up. Most directors will be in attendance for a Q&A session after the screenings. The shorts are from 4-18 minutes long.
Short Circuit
7 pm, Saturday, April 28
Intrepid Theatre Club (#2-1609 Blanshard), $8
cinevic.ca