Regina Review

A guest review of our 10th Anniversary OTS8 program in Regina from Yvonne Abusow, a participant and membership co-ordinator at the Saskatchewan Filmpool Cooperative. Thanks Yvonne!

This year was Regina’s 10^th year Anniversary of the One Take Super 8 event, 24 films screened on September 30^th. It was a night of excitement and nerves as Filmmakers friends and patrons of the event waited for the films to screen. I myself was a bundle of nerves as my film opened the evening’s festivities. This was my second year participating in the OTS8 in Regina and both events amazed me with the unique voice and vision of each filmmaker. This time I brought friends to experience the creative collective of Saskatchewan’s one take filmmakers and they walked out of the theatre at the end of the night excited that such a thing existed in the city of Regina. They were amazed that there was this small but mighty collection of people who participate year after year to have their films seen for the first time in front of an audience. A lot of things can go wrong on a shoot, I myself have tasted the disappointment of an out of focus image in front of a large audience, but I remind myself there’s always next year, and next time it will be bigger, better, and in focus!

The evening made me really appreciate the way others viewed the world. Ryan Hill’s Circles of Life, made me realize that there are circles everywhere I look I only have to look for them. Eric Hill’s film made me realize that wind-up toys can find true love, and Gerald Saul’s film “Rerun Amok” made me want to know how he did that? There were so many great films from the evening that I can’t mention them all in this blog, but I can say that I am in awe of the filmmakers that look at the world in ways I never would, and the 10^th annual One Take Super 8 event made me awestruck.

AND THE TROPHY GOES TO....

Our first non-invitational golf tournament at WNDX this year was a thrilling success. Our foursome initiated the tournament with a 10am tee time at U-PUTTZ which saw a few of our participants fall away (who can blame them after we got out of a George Kuchar screening/talk after 2am, that was totally worth it).

Dave Barber, Leslie Supnet and Clint Enns, all braved the early hours and luckily U-Puttz serves a mean cup of coffee (which is so nuclear hot, I had to set mine aside during the 18 holes and pick it up after - STILL WARM!) Not much of a breakfast platter, but the pizza pops sort of qualified. As the venerable Mr. Barber mentioned while seated in the suprisingly white and sterile cafeteria room "I could live off that menu. It's filled with my favourite things." I won't go through the list, but Mr. Barber's b-day is coming soon, so if you're wondering what to get him, I would suggest taking him out for a round, and buying him dinner at U-Puttz.

On to the action. The first 9-holes were under-water themed, and as we were submerged Clint Enns showed consistency and caution, scoring par 3 on the first 5 holes, but avoiding some of the risky ramps through shark mouths and octopus tentacles. His caution paid off putting him 2 strokes ahead of Barber and Supnet leading into the back nine. The pre-historic second half surrounded us with neon dinos and palm trees, and Supnet made a charge at taking Enns' lead with many a near hole-in-ones, but the cups continued to cough up the ball, making for an easy 2 putt birdie. The final hole secured the win for Enns, with Mr. Barber sneaking into 2nd and Supnet having a solid 3rd place finish. Yours truly trailed behind, only due to serious risk taking and a philosophy that the more putts you take in mini-golf the more bang you get for your buck.

Post game breakfast celebrations continued at the Don, with Enns proudly carrying his trophy (and almost forgetting it on the table!!!). It's clear this will become an annual WNDX/OTS8 tournament with many challengers ready to take up putters next year and challenge Enns' title.

As a note to those planning to attend U-Puttz on a weekend day. I would highly recommend being onto the 19th hole by 11am, as the place was running rampant with rugrats making the black light environment look like a neon blur of screaming glowing sugared up kids with weapons.

(thanks to Leslie Supnet for supplying the photos).

TONIGHT! CELEBRATE A DECADE OF OTS8

Join us tonight at the RPL theatre at 7pm, as we have a filmmakers' cocktail with light snacks and refreshments to celebrate our 10th anniversary.

We'll be premiering 24 new films at 8pm to what we're anticipating will be another very anxious, excited capacity audience. Stay tuned for a review of the show tomorrow as we highlight the films, and hopefully (fingers crossed) get through another year without a catastrophic projector malfunction. (Don't worry we have a back up or 2)

See you tonight! If you're killing time waiting for the films tonight, check out Greg Beatty's preview of the event at the Prairie Dog.

2010 Poster!

Well, here it is. Our lovingly screen printed poster is on its way to billboards and lightposts near you Regina. Merchguy has done a bang up job again, with this original design. It's a great way to celebrate our first decade of super 8 films.

I managed to compile some statistics from our first 9 years which are quite impressive.

Since 2000 , The Regina OTS8 has screened 226 original super 8 films (add on this year's 25 and we crest the 250 mark!)

Of those 226 films, there were a number of repeating filmmakers (only a few of who have participated all 10 years). In total 113 different artists helped created those 226 films. This does not include the numerous individuals who undoubtedly helped create the masterpieces. If you have any favorite OTS8 memories that you want to share, please do so in the comments field (favorite film, soundtrack, audience interaction). Looking forward to loading up the projector in Regina for the 10th time. Stay tuned for full program details.

MINI-GOLF TOURNAMENT

To celebrate our 5th anniversary at WNDX, the OTS8 is proud to be the presenting partner of our 1st (not really an) invitational mini-golf tournament.

We have a limited capacity for entrants, but for those keen on a Saturday morning tee-time, we'll be kicking things off at 10am at U-Puttz (I think that name is endlessly funny). E-mail us if you're interested in participating. It'll set you back $10, and prizes will be awarded. We might even have celebrity guests. It'll be 18 holes of black light golf madness.

If you want to check out the lay of the land, you can visit their site here. No caddies provided. Must carry your own ball and putter (which are included in the price :)

THE LINE UP

Here's the line up of filmmakers for the 10th Annual OTS8 in Regina.

Some familiar names, and a number of new ones. One thing is guaranteed. All the films will be fresh, and ready for a hungry audience.

Dianne Ouellette, Lesley Farley, Sarah Abbott, Nick Holroyd, Jael Bartnik, Peter Stinson, Don Best, Brian Ganong, William Bessai-Saul, Gerald Saul, Yvonne Abusow, Cory MacLean, Eric Hill, Katherine Skelton, Alex Rogalski, Rob Hillstead, Marcel Petit, Dave Turcotte, Tricia Martin, Charlie Hill, Ryan Hill, Jade Duckett, berny hi, Krystal Lewis, Dan Suchoboki.

Registrations closed

Sorry to disappoint those who weren't able to enter, but the registration period for the 10th annual One Take Super 8 Event in Regina is closed with over 25 participants ready with cameras and films making their 3 minute masterpieces as we speak.

We hope to post a few production notes from filmmakers here, as glimpses of the films proceed in the weeks to come.

So, steady yourselves for a barrage of small gauge cinema at the end of September, with the Regina Event hitting screens on Sept.30 and the 5th WNDX OTS8 on October 4th in Winnipeg.

Keep rolling everyone.