How To HIFF • 2020 Festival Guide
WHERE TO START
We're just days away from kicking off the 14th annual Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival, with a packed slate of online films, filmmaker Q+As, artist talks, and professional development sessions from November 12–15.
Our opening night double feature will begin at 7 p.m. on November 12 with L.A. Tea Time, presented by Telefilm Canada and The Talent Fund, followed by a virtual Q+A with director Sophie Bédard Marcotte. At 9 p.m. we've got Bait, the 2020 BAFTA winner for Outstanding Debut Feature, a co-presentation with Carbon Arc Cinema. After the film, check out our insightful chat with director Mark Jenkin.
Everything HIFF 2020 has to offer is coming to you free of charge, and when you pre-order a ticket or unlock a film you'll have the option to donate to the fest. All funds raised will go to the Delmore Buddy Daye Learning Institute, an Africentric education centre in Halifax's north end, and to support the Mi'kmaw Native Friendship Centre's upcoming move to its new Gottingen Street home. We hope you'll consider donating!
WHAT TO SEE
From daring pieces of non-fiction like L.A. Tea Time, The Giverny Document and Belonging, to masterworks like Bait, So Pretty and This Is Not a Burial, It's a Resurrection, HIFF's 2020 lineup brings together some of the most exciting new voices pushing cinema forward today.
All feature films are available only in Nova Scotia. The Canadian shorts program can be viewed across Canada and the Atlantic Auteurs program and Emerging Lens Retrospective are available everywhere!
Here's a glimpse at what's in store. Click the images below to learn more:
WHAT TO DO
HOW TO ALL WORKS
1) HIFF 2020 is taking place online with films streaming through Eventive's online platform.
2) Unlock any film or shorts program in our 2020 lineup for free at watch.eventive.org/hiff. You'll need to create or log in to your free Eventive account to unlock or watch a film.
3) Watch in your computer's browser at the film pages here or on your Apple TV (generation 4 or higher) by downloading the Eventive app in the app store. Films you unlock on your computer will appear automatically within the app.
You can also stream from your Chrome browser to a TV connected to a Chromecast-enabled device, or by connecting your computer or laptop to your TV with an HDMI cable.
4) Films can be unlocked within 48 hours after the listed screening time. Once you start watching, you'll have 24 hours to complete or re-watch the film.
5) Be sure to stick around after the credits for our filmmaker Q+As—check our film listings HERE to see which films have them. Our Q+As have been pre-recorded and will be available whenever you finish the film.
Have any questions? Send us an email at communications@afcoop.ca
For more tips, check out https://watch.eventive.org/help.
Where are you from?
I am from Head of Jeddore. Just outside of Musquodoboit Harbour, Nova Scotia.
What was the inspiration for the film you’re presenting at HIFF?
We took inspiration from lots of different horror films for Head Down, most notably '80s horror. There’s lots of Stuart Gordon inspired characters and physical acting in there. We took camera movements from Sam Raimi and Jason Eisner (with all those crash zooms & whip pans). Special effects and lighting were inspired directly from George A. Romero’s Creepshow to give it that comic book feel. From Mr. Bean to Friday the 13th, we used a little bit of everything.
How did you get your start as a filmmaker?
I got my start in filmmaking in my backyard when I was a teenager. My friend Quenny and I would take our parents' digital cameras and make dumb skits to try and entertain our friends at school. Here we are a decade later still doing it—it's pretty cool.
What do you miss most about pre-pandemic life?
I guess having the ability to get up and go and shoot something; it’s a little harder to do that now. I don’t miss a whole lot—this pandemic opened my eyes to a lot of things, so I’m grateful for it in some ways. I miss people not living in fear. It travels and spreads and really messed up the mental health of my family, friends, and myself included.
What's your favourite, worst or weirdest memory of making this film?
My favourite memory from this shoot was definitely our first night of shooting. It was the end of November. The band was coming home from a gig in PEI and was late because of a high-wind storm. They shut down the Confederation Bridge for a few hours, but we still had to get the shoot in because of everyone’s availability. So they showed up on set at 10 p.m., like five hours past call time. We all downed energy drinks and went at it.
When we got up to the cemetery set it was super cold, like minus-20ish, and we just said, “OK guys, this night is gonna suck, but this is just one night in the grand scheme of everything. So let’s make a movie." We filmed until four in the morning, freezing our butts off in borderline hypothermic temperatures. You can see our breath the video.
After we thawed and rubbed the corn syrup from our bones, we all looked at the footage and everyone was pumped. I literally said, “This is it. This is why I started Weird Wolf, to do this. I want to do this forever." It was the footage and tenacity we all showed that night that really kept the momentum up for every shoot after. I knew the crew could tackle anything after that.
Where are you from?
Dartmouth, NS.
What was the inspiration for the film you’re presenting at HIFF?
The film I am presenting at HIFF is an exploration of childhood sexual-assault trauma, which is part of my thesis at Concordia University.
What’s your favourite memory of making this film?
This film is so short! It is strange to think that I even made it. Sometimes I think filmmakers can get overwhelmed by the work that a film could take and put so much pressure on ourselves (I know I do). It is nice to not think so much about the outcome or scope of a project and just make something because you have an image in your mind.
What films or filmmakers inspired you to make your own?
The first animated film I saw that really made me want to make animated films was Pustulations by Lisa Morse. After that I really started to discover a whole world of independent animation that would change my life. When the Day Breaks by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, Eager by Allison Schulnik, Gloria Victoria and The Physics of Sorrow by Theodore Ushev to name a few of my all-time favourites. In the past year, the films that have really wowed me have been L'Heure de L'Ours by Agnès Patron and the VR film The Orchid and the Bee from Frances Adair Mckenzie. My favourite feature films are The Breadwinner from Cartoon Saloon, anything by Andrea Dorfman, and La Casa Lobo by Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña, which played at the 2019 Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival.
What's the most memorable experience you’ve had watching a film at home?
I've loved watching films with friends from all over the world. I have a friend in Colorado and we watched a lot of films together (virtually) through the pandemic. This was really special. I think there is also something nice about being home and letting yourself cry at something cheesy and just being free to feel without your ego.
These films will screen along with nine others made by established and up-and-coming filmmakers from across the region in HIFF's Atlantic Auteurs shorts program, available online Friday, November 15 at 7 p.m. Learn more about the full program here.