By Steve Hubrecht

steve@columbiavalleypioneer.com

A new monthly film festival series is set to kick off in the Columbia Valley Centre next week, taking advantage of the centre’s brand new, state-of-the-art digital laser cinema projector.

The series is dubbed IFF Movie Nights and is being put on by the nonprofit Invermere Film Festival group. The plan is to show a different film on the first Tuesday of each month. The first one is next week on Tuesday, Nov. 7, when IFF will screen ‘Blackberry’.

“It’s going to be great,” enthused series co-organizer Chris Jones. “The projector is brilliant, the new screen is huge and I’m sitting beside a lot of boxes of popcorn here in the office.”

Jones is quick to give credit for the new film series to Invermere Film Festival organizer Bill Johnston, who thought that if Invermere is receptive to an annual film festival (which is held in February each year) then a monthly movie series would be a hit too.

The new projector, new screen (which is 36 feet wide) and a new audio system were co-funded by the IFF society and the District of Invermere, and Jones explained that the new equipment creates a movie-going experience unlike anything ever before experienced in Invermere.

“It really is top-calibre,” he said. “We could be playing ‘Barbie’ here. It’s that good. It’s commercial quality … it’s going to knock people’s socks off.”

The films will come from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) catalogue.

‘Blackberry’ is a comedy-drama telling the story of the dramatic rise and the subsequent equally dramatic collapse of Waterloo-based company Research in Motion (RIM), the creator of the once ubiquitous Blackberry devices.

“It’s got an amazing cast, a great soundtrack and a lot of really good reviews,” said Jones.

The film series will continue in December and January, take a break in February (when the Invermere Film Festival happens), then resume from March through June.

Tickets for the first screening are $12 for general admission, $10 for children and seniors. 

For more information about accessing the films including tickets, visit iffmovienights.eventive.org.