South of the border

Well, we're 6 sleeps away from the 9th Annual OTS8 in Regina (excitement is building!). Hopefully, we can pick up the films from the lab before the weekend to splice them together. Looks to be an exciting mix of 28 films from across the province. The program is being designed at the moment, and soundtracks are trickling in.

While the wheels turn there, films are being finished up in Montreal, and will be sent to the lab soon. Anxiously awaiting their poster, and seeing the films projected with a Xenon lamp projector (it's an OTS8 first!).

But the reel excitement today is to announce a super 8 festival in Florida that the OTS8 is proud to present. We had the joy of going to Fort Lauderdale way back in 2006, and Shane Eason at Florida Atlantic University has organized another festival. The 1:1 Super 8 Film Festival is accepting submissions, and film is being handed out. The festival will be comprised of 30 South Florida filmmakers making single cartridge films.

The screening will take place at 7:30pm Friday December 11th, 2009 at Independent Working Artist Network's (IWAN) The Bubble - 810 NE 4th Avenue, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

So, that makes 4 OTS8 events across the continent this fall. whew! and, as we always like to leave our fans with a teaser. Stay tuned for some big announcements for some interesting OTS8 adventures that are lining up for the new year. 2010 could start with a bang.

2009 Poster!

Voila! As promised, here's your first look at the 2009 poster for the 9th annual OTS8 in Regina.

They're being screenprinted as I type this, and will be hanging up around your fair city within the week.

We'll have some available on sturdier paper at the event in Regina for those interested in a limited edition copy.

1 down, 2 to Go!

Sorry for the delay in posting a review of the Winnipeg show, but festivals and flights have a way of exhausting people.

Where to start. Well, the first thing to say is that a combination of winter come early, and Russell Peters' sold out shows, still can't keep people away from the One Take Super 8 Event. Winnipeg showed up en masse (and early!) to witness the premiere of 34 new films at the Gas Station Theatre. It's our 4th year in Winnipeg, with 4 different venues, and this may have been the best yet. Big screen, great seats, full audio system, and a lobby with beer.

The projector held up yet again! I consider this the major achievement of every show, as I still haven't purchased back up belts, which seems to be the biggest risk at this point for projector failure. But the films played very smoothly and brightly.

With 34 films, there's too many to mention them all, but the night got off to a great start with Mathue Plouffe's Lumberjack: A Love story (which was an ironic follow up to Heidi Phillips beautifully rendered ektachrome film of a bonfire). Plouffe's humourous environmental tale created tree lovers of the bunch of us. Hard to top that film, but Curtis Weibe brought down the house with this B&W throwback ROCKET JOHN. This is a super hero we hope will make return trips to WNDX, and anyone who hooks up fireworks to someone's back for a One Take, surely deserves respect for that level of commitment. It was a flawless in camera edit, and a film worth seeing repeatedly. The narrative films are getting more sophisticated every year, from genre homages, to quirky 'only in Winnipeg' films. Hats off to Leslie Supnet for her animation which continues to experiment with the form, creating visual patterns that thrive on illusion.

A documentary that stood out in the evening came courtesy of Sunny Sidhu. A simple, yet very effective portrait of his father's daily rituals. It added depth to the evening's program that showed how much is possible in only 3 short minutes.
Another doc, which makes WHIP IT! seem like a hack effort was Kristin Andrews '$0 per Gallon'. This is the first roller skating super 8 film i think I've seen as a One Take, and it just showed how some things never go out of style (I'm talking super 8 and roller skates!) Melanie Safka's 'Brand New Key', was the perfect soundtrack, and I won't be surprised if this starts a roller revolution in the 'peg.

It's no stretch to say that Jaimz and Karen Asmundson created a super 8 film for the ages with their newest work 'GOTHS! ON THE BUS!'. People were doubling over at the visuals alone, but when you add their original soundtrack (which I've been singing to myself for days), it was clear that with a good idea, a few friends, a couple bus tokens and a super 8 camera, nothing is impossible.
I'm keenly awaiting the chance to see this film again, or for the soundtrack to be released ASAP.

So many more films to highlight, but sadly, unless you were there, any review won't do them justice. It was a fantastic evening and a perfect ending to arguably the best WNDX so far. No blizzard was going to hold down this festival, and there's no doubt anticipation is already building for next year.

But no time for looking back now, we're on the cusp of 2 more great OTS8's this fall. Regina is just around the corner. Later today we should be getting our poster proof (another Stacey Case collectible screenprint), and then the campaign begins to let the Queen City know it's about to be overtaken by super 8 madness. Films and soundtracks are pouring in, so now's the time to get the word out about seeing these great films.

Check back soon to see our spiffy new poster, I'll post a pic here.

WINTERpeg

it's october 9th.
in Winnipeg.
and it's snowing. hard.

Winnipeg likes making visitors believe in its myths.

WNDX is off to a great start. great films. great filmmakers. and fantastic audiences. can't wait till sunday night to unleash the torrent of super 8 suprises on this wintery city.

Did our projector test at the Gas Station theatre yesterday. beautiful venue. we're using the white backdrop cyc as our screen, so it'll be super 8 LARGE! only 230-some seats in the venue, so it'll be cozy and full. the seats themselves are fantastic. the old style recliners that rock out unexpectedly if you're not used to them. just like the kind at Massey Hall in Toronto. they don't make them like that anymore. and the Gas Station theatre is pondering replacing them, as they don't have many left with spare parts as replacements. The seats have a history. they still look in great shape, but the theare tech was reticent to tell me where they came from. after some prodding,and assurance that they were cleaned well before they were installed, he fessed they came from an old 'adult' theatre on Main Street that was shuttered. classic. underground seats for underground cinema.

Mike Maryniuk from the filmgroup has been gathering the soundtracks (meanwhile finishing his newest film to follow up on CATTLE CALL, which is a 3-D blast and will premiere next week at the Ottawa Animation Festival). Mike has a new film in WNDX OTS8 this year, it includes robots and blurry lights. should be awesome.

more updates tomorrow. in the meantime I'll pass along the advice I received about walking at night in Winnipeg.
'it's safe walking around at night, just keep at least an arm's length away from passerby.' supposedly this is the best technique to avoid any unforeseen knifeplay. how can anyone not love this city.