By Breanne Massey
Pioneer Staff
A cinematic celebration will be offering a plethora of short films over the holidays.
Chris Jones, Cinefest co-ordinator, Columbia Valley Arts board member and former Saskatchewan-based independent cinema operator, has helped to bring the Cinefest independent film series known as The Shortest Day 2015 to the Columbia Valley this winter.
Twenty-eight short films will be shown starting at 2 p.m. at the Pynelogs Cultural Centre on Monday, December 21st. Admission is free.
Theyre organized into packages, said Mr. Jones. Kids under eight have an hour-long package; family-rated 16 and older (films will screen) for 74 minutes; dramas and comedies rated 16 and over (will play for) 90 minutes. Theyre going to be screened in 50 countries around the world in 60 or more venues across Canada for free with a huge variety.
The Shortest Day, an annual cross-country short film marathon, is offering free screenings between December 18th and 21st.
The wide variety of short films has made the worldwide event popular among cinema-goers and movie fans.
One of the best parts of the program is that if it just isnt working for you, you just have to wait about two minutes and there will be another film popping up, he said. This is the very first time its come to Invermere.
The Shortest Day first began airing in France in 2011 by the Centre National du Cinema et de Limage Animee (CNC) and has spread to over 50 countries.
In 2014, The Shortest Day featured 179 free screenings of short films at 91 venues ranging from movie theatres to cultural centres, along with schools, hospitals and libraries to celebrate talented filmmakers.
A second Pynelogs film event will take place shortly after Christmas.
The next one will be a feature-length film from France and its based on the long-running cartoon series Asterix, Mr. Jones explained about the December 27th screenings at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. for Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods.
Its a fabulous large comic book set in 50 BC, whereby Asterix was a Gaul warrior and theyre forced to defend their Brittany village from a Roman invasion, which takes the form of every country dwellers worst nightmare: new condominiums. These are crazy Gauls out of France, and these guys wont give up.
The Columbia Valley Arts board has secured an English version of Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods.
Tickets for Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods will be $5 for children or $12 for adults.
For more information about The Shortest Day, visit www.theshortestday.ca. For more information about Cinefest, visitwww.columbiavalleyarts.com/CVARTS/event-type/cinefest.
