A new series of feature movies is screening in Vernon starting Monday, April 25 at the Towne Cinema.
Hosted by the Okanagan Screen Arts Association, organizers are focusing on new British, Canadian and American independent films, with an emphasis on directors, filmmaking techniques and choice of genre.
Independent films are produced and marketed outside of the Hollywood studio system, explained organizer and host Jim Elderton.
“With small budgets and sometimes limited distribution (coming to very few theatres), many of these films prove to be a springboard for writers, directors and actors. They have, on occasion, enjoyed incredible box office success,” he said.
“One British film within this category was the wildly successful Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which astonished Hollywood with excellent production values and stellar casting despite its miniscule budget.”
An independently owned theatre, the Towne Cinema is able to take full advantage of these films and is able to host screenings for local groups, including the Okanagan Screen Arts Assoc., added Elderton.
The association will also screen classic films, featuring iconic directors and actors. Featured in May will be notable films by Canadian director Norman Jewison, whose successes include Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck and The Cincinnati Kid.
This Monday’s screening is the new independent film Eadweard, a psychological drama about the world famous turn-of-the-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge.
He photographed nude and deformed subjects, became the inventor of moving pictures, murdered his wife’s lover, and was the last American to receive the justifiable-homicide verdict.
As one critic wrote: “It’s the kind of film I wish I could see again for the first time, so full of revelatory moments.”
It will be followed May 9 by No Men Beyond This Point, a mockumentary on gender politics by Vancouver director Mark Sawers, who films a world where women have become asexual and are no longer giving birth to males. The dwindling population of men decides that it’s time to stage a revolt, and find themselves at the centre of a media frenzy spurred on by more extremist female government leaders.
Both films come from independent distributor Media Events International, based in Vancouver. Screenings will be introduced by Elderton, and whenever possible, there will be a speaker connected with the presentation.