Nanaimo International Film Screening Society launches new film series
Grunau said their mission is to gather people together by offering films that movie lovers may not be able to see at a typical theatre. Photo: Denise Jans / Unsplash.com
The Nanaimo International Film Screening Society is launching a new film series to connect Nanaimo to a global film community.
Glen Grunau is the president of the Nanaimo International Film Screening Society. He said the society’s goal is to highlight the best in film, not just from Canada but from around the world.
“When we first had our initial organizational meeting, we didn't include ‘International’ in our name, we were simply the Nanaimo Film Screening Society,” he said. “But as we met as a new board and talked about what our vision and mission were for this organization, we realized that we wanted to emphasize the global community aspect of the films that we hope to bring to Nanaimo.”
He said he thinks it is important to offer films that showcase cultures and communities from around the world that may not otherwise make it to the big screen.
“I think, in a world where there's so much emphasis on polarization and border separation, we wanted to invite people into a larger understanding of what it means to be a citizen of this planet. So we hope that films can help with that,” Grunau said.
Grunau said their mission is to gather people together by offering films that movie lovers may not be able to see at a typical theatre.
“I am not a huge fan of many of the films that come to our cinemas in a city like Nanaimo,” Grunau said. “There's a heavy emphasis on North American films, which have their strengths, but that also, I think, don't give as much credit to the viewing audience to sort through things that are going on and to delve deeper into our inner experience of how to interact with film.”
He said because of this he has resorted to relying more on streaming platforms that offer the kind of films he likes. But, he does give credit to the Galaxy Cinemas in Nanaimo which has started offering films similar to the ones the society hopes to offer.
“So that's encouraging, and we actually want to pay a little bit of attention to that, because we don't want to duplicate what the galaxy is willing to offer. But we're pretty confident that many of our films will not even take a passing interest from Cineplex,” he said.
The film series is launching after a similar series called Fringe Flicks ended last fall after 25 years. Fringe Flicks was put on by TheareOne in Nanaimo and was a fundraiser for their live performances, but closed due to dwindling audience numbers.
Grunau said there has been a large response from alternative film fans looking for a place to watch films after the cancellation of Fringe Flicks.
“So when that folded, we didn't feel like we were stepping into a vacuum, we were hoping that we would be able to regather that audience, and they have really come forward,” Grunau said. “We've sold almost 200 season tickets, which was more than we expected, and we're getting close to being sold out for our early screening on Sunday.”
Films will be shown at the Shaw Auditorium at the Vancouver Island Conference Centre in downtown Nanaimo.
The series is launching this Sunday, October 6, with two screenings of the award-winning Canadian film Riceboy Sleeps. There will also be a gala reception at 5:30 p.m. between the two showings.
The series will continue with screenings of the American movie Thelma in November and the Japanese film Evil Does Not Exist in December.
He said while they focus on international, Indigenous and Canadian films, they chose the American film, Thelma, to make sure there was variety for all moviegoers.
“We chose Thelma because it's an American movie, but it's a bit of a crowd pleaser, and I think will be a bit lighter than some of the other international films that we might offer,” he said. “So it's important that we offer variety to our viewing audience. So we feel that our first film series of three offers that variety.”
He said they are still looking for an Indigenous movie to include in their series.
The society is a part of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Film Circuit community and relies on TIFF to curate most of the movies they screen, approaching the distributors on the society's behalf.
The three films are part of society’s first film series. A second winter film series is planned to start in January and run through April.
Season tickets, individual tickets, and tickets to the gala are on sale at the Nanaimo International Film Screening Society website.
Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.