The Chatham-Kent International Film Festival hits another growth spurt as it continues to attract quality films from across the globe.
Advertisement 2
Article content
“We’ve had over 200 films submitted this year, which is the most we’ve ever had,” said Kristina Garant, who co-founded the festival with Rob Bellamy.
Not only were more films submitted for the sixth annual film festival held on the weekend at the Kiwanis Theater in Chatham, the quality of films was also impressive, Garant and Bellamy said.
Bellamy attributes the growth to word of mouth, noting there was a 110 per cent growth between years two and three of the festival.
When speaking with filmmakers about how they found the local festival, Bellamy was told they heard it from others in the industry.
“Since then, we’ve been seeing at least 40 per cent growth every year,” he said. “I strongly believe it’s because people are learning about it and want to be a part of it.”
Advertisement 3
Article content
Films from nearly 50 countries were submitted to this year’s festival compared to 58 countries in 2023, Bellamy said.
But the festival attracted more multiple film submissions from different countries, including Bangladesh and South Africa, he said.
Garant said many films were also submitted from Windsor and London that made it in the festival.
“We do films ourselves, so we have a lot of friends and we just network with our friends,” she said.
The festival introduced the Chatham-Kent Youth Film Awards geared toward students in elementary and high school. Noting the contest was initially geared to local students, Bellamy said once it was posted online, the competition attracted submissions from Taiwan, China and Alaska.
Advertisement 4
Article content
Garant said youth submissions from around the world were accepted because it is an international film festival.
Although the final numbers for people who took in the 47 movies screened over the weekend wasn’t immediately available, “the numbers are up,” Bellamy said.
“So, more people are starting to hear about it, starting to come out and enjoy the films, so that’s perfect.”
After six years, more local residents are discovering the festival.
Michael Bolohan and Sally Mahoney came out to the festival for the first time on Saturday to see the short film Robot Friend by their friend local director Megan King.
When asked about Chatham-Kent hosting an international film festival, Bolohan said, “We see that it’s the sixth annual, so to be repeated there has to have had been some success there, some attraction, for sure.”
Advertisement 5
Article content
Mahoney said she never thought about Chatham-Kent having a film festival.
“It’s interesting, it’s good,” she said.
Bolohan said they were looking forward to watching a number of short films being screened on Saturday afternoon.
Naomi Macklem, born and raised in Toronto and now living in Dresden, and fellow Dresden resident Nancy LaPointe, both attended the festival for the first time Saturday.
When they saw the lineup of films they decided to go.
“There wasn’t anything we didn’t like,” LaPointe said after watching the first block of films on Saturday. They were also staying to watch the second block of short films.
Macklem said she’s never attended the famous Toronto International Film Festival “because it’s too expensive.
“This is much more reasonable,” she said.
LaPointe said the local film festival “feels more home-grown, a little closer to us.”
Bellamy said organizers are “learning never year” they hold the festival.
As an example, he said, instead of having a 9:30 pm film screening Saturday, they decided to host a Halloween party followed by screening a scary movie at midnight.
“We’re going to try to keep fun stuff in the festival as well as all the films so when you come for the weekend you’re entertained for the whole weekend,” Bellamy said.
Article content