Plenty on screen for film fans at Kamloops Film Festival

Kamloops Film Festival is happening from March 7 to 16.

As the glitter of the recent Academy Awards settles, film fans in Kamloops will be able to watch some of the best movies that didn’t necessarily have the marketing push of Hollywood blockbusters, from March 7-16 during the Kamloops Film Festival.

“Our mandate is to show the best films from Canada and around the world which wouldn’t otherwise get shown to Kamloops audiences on the big screen,” said Dušan Magdolen, executive director of the Kamloops Film Society.

This year, the event will feature 23 diverse films, all of them screened at the Paramount Theatre (503 Victoria Street).

“I always like to use the phrase that there’s something for everyone and everything for someone,” Magdolen said.

Many are shot in B.C., such as This Mountain Life, a documentary following an elderly mother and her daughter who embark on a six-month ski trek through the treacherous Coast Mountains of B.C.

Basketball fans will enjoy Finding Big Country, a documentary about the hunt for the whereabouts of former Vancouver Grizzlies’ seven-foot-tall centre, Bryant “Big Country” Reeves.

Foreign language film buffs will be able to see all five films nominated for Academy Awards in that category.

And those looking for a laugh will delight in France’s Sink or Swim, a comedy about the travails of a band of middle-aged men who start their own synchronized swim team.

Then there’s the Kamloops Independent Short Short (KISS), films which are five minutes or less that compete for prizes on March 10.

Outside the screenings, there are numerous events around Kamloops connected to the festival.

On March 9, there is a family party in the Kamloops Art Gallery and the TNRD Library that will feature some of the characters from the popular Disney animated movie Frozen and will have princesses from Kamloops Princess Parties in attendance.

There will also be discussion groups held in various venues following other film screenings.

Overall, the festival is designed to reach a broad audience.

“People may be excited by all 23 films in the lineup,” Magdolen said. “Others may want to just take their kids to see Frozen. And some will show up only for the foreign films.”

Whatever the interest, Kamloops film fans are sure to be entertained.

For more information about the Kamloops Film Festival - from ticket prices to the full lineup of films - visit kamloopsfilm.ca.