The filmmaking siblings, Matthew and Jeff, had worked their tails off to get the inaugural Mississauga Independent Film Festival off the ground. They'd put out the call to aspiring filmmakers, scouted locations, spoke with City of Mississauga staff and secured corporate support.
But the Mississauga siblings couldn't find a theatre willing to show the films. Until, that is, they got in touch with the owners of Cine Starz, located at what was the old Central Parkway Cinemas in the Central Parkway Mall.
"The timing was very serendipitous," Jeff told The News. "I just happened to think about the theatre and called the mall management and found out it was going through renovations. I like the idea that an independent company and independent festival are going to work together."
The brothers said the larger theatre chains in the city had no interest in partnering with them.
"We actually picked this weekend because there's only one major movie release (Hellboy II)," said Matthew. "I certainly didn't expect (the large chains) to not support the community that supports them."
The festival opens Thursday with a noon-hour concert at the Civic Square and continues until Sunday. MIFF includes screenings of four documentaries and four feature films as well as 25 shorts.
There will also be workshops for burgeoning filmmakers covering topics such as marketing your film at a festival and selling your movie. The Campagnas recently had their feature-length film, Six Reasons Why, purchased by THINKFilm with a North American release date of July 22.
In total, there were 120 film submissions. The brothers said they didn't care what story the filmmakers were telling, just as long as they told it well.
"Our criteria was so wide open," said Matthew. "We weren't necessarily just looking for Canadian stories, but for creative ways of approaching a film. We didn't censor for content and we were looking for people who knew how to tell a story."
"They're not just a bunch of suburban films," added Jeff. "I mean, we have an Oscar Award-nominated short (I Met the Walrus)."
The brothers also had high praise for the closing night film, Acuity, saying its "craftsmanship and commitment to telling a story" elevated the film in their eyes.
MIFF closes Sunday with an awards ceremony at West 50 Pourhouse.
The festival also includes movies by Mississauga filmmakers Pasquale Marco Veltri (The Politics of Fear), Darrell Faria (Apples and Oranges), Alvin Campana (Premier) and Mazi Khalighi (Foreign Soil).
For more information, visit www.miff.ca.
cclay@mississauga.net
