Day One Musings from the 2017 Victoria Film Festival

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The 2017 Victoria Film Festival‘s Gala film certainly painted the night a pretty shade of pink with its opening film Window Horses to kick off the night. I thought the heroine Rosie Ming was wearing this event’s colours before putting on the black chādor, before arriving in Persia. Intentional or not, the first day was certainly fun, bright and cheerful. The morning and afternoon were wrought with continuous snowfall, and some of the organizers worried that it might cause problems since social media was on fire with reports of icy conditions and accidents already happening.

Thankfully, the troublesome weather faded away by evening so filmgoers can safely drive instead of slide to and fro from home. But for those who want an early start, Fort Tectoria is running virtual reality demos during this 10-day event to show off this technology as the coming thing. Eventually, some futurists predict it will integrate with cinema to create enhanced experiences. By the time I arrived downtown, I had a tough call to make: to go see Journey to the West 2: The Demons Strike Back at Cineplex Odeon or play video games. Very rarely, does a film festival offer this kind of opportunity for nerds like me!

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One Foodie & A Nerd’s Guide to the 23rd Annual Victoria Film Festival

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Tickets can be bought online or at the door. A one time $2 membership fee is required to attend all movies.

The 23rd Annual Victoria Film Festival takes place from Feb 3 to 12, 2017, and the selection is as regularly diverse as my tastes. Missing this year is the In Conversation series, and this particular aspect has always been of interest to me. I love hearing about the thought processes of these talented filmmakers. Sometimes, one might get to meet some really big names. One year had Gareth Edwards present, talking about his work prior to Godzilla. Now that he has helmed one of the biggest movies of 2016, Star Wars: Rogue One, how many people can say they have met him?

Taking the Frame Off  is a new program examining the coming trends, but will it be the same? With topics ranging from “What’s App, Doc” which looks at how content is consumed in a digital age to “Storytelling in Virtual Worlds,” my guess is in how media is created for the modern age will be at the forefront. Plenty can be said about how this new medium, VR, can work. This year, it is getting the spotlight at Play @ The Fort at Tectoria on 777 Fort Street. Here, demos of how virtual reality works will be offered free of charge and the games that’s playable now will be the spotlight. If we ask nicely, perhaps they might have a presentation of Allumette or Henry the Hedgehog.

More about this up and coming technology will be explored in an upcoming interview to be published on otakunoculture.com with Vincent McCurley, a technology specialist working for the National Film Board of Canada. They will be offering eight titles, two of them are shorts, at this year’s event! Of course, leading the charge is my top pick, which is also this year’s opening gala.

Window Horses (drama, animation)
Feb 3, 7pm – Cineplex Odeon Downtown

The unique character designs and visual styles are at the heart of why I’m loving this film, and it is topping many of my lists of movies to must see. With a story about young Rosie Ming (voiced by Sandra Oh) going to Iran, just what will she find there? She’s a poet yearning to visit Paris, but this Middle Eastern country is nowhere close to the City of Lights. Here, she will discover secrets to her mixed heritage and I suspect this coming of age film will be a true delight. This movie is selected as the opening Gala for this festival.

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