Film buffs have reason to celebrate.
The Timmins Film Society is hosting its first Timmins Film Festival Nov. 8 - 10 at Imagine Cinema 6. It will feature five films, a gala, panel discussion, and a short-film contest.
Throughout the year, the society hosts monthly one-night screenings of films that normally wouldn't be on the big screen in the city.
“When the film society was created, the mission was to bring films to Timmins that normally wouldn’t be released here for everyone to enjoy. Before you had to drive 3.5 hours to Sudbury or seven hours to Toronto just to see some of the movies that were getting a lot of buzz because Timmins was a smaller market and unfortunately we never got the movies here,” said Paul Charette, who's a society board member.
Since it started in the early '90s, Charette said a festival has always been in their plans.
“The festival is going to feature five films as part of the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) film circuit. Now we’re currently in the process of finalizing the films of what we’re going to be bringing up,” he said.
The lineup for the festival hasn't been announced yet, and will be posted in the coming weeks.
It will feature a variety of movies.
There will be an Indigenous film, and Charette said they are trying to get a French film as well, along with standard films such as dramas.
“The films that we’re hoping that we’re going to be able to secure, we’re really excited to be showing them to everybody here,” he said.
When Kristin Murray, a health promoter at the Misiway Milopemahtesewin Community Health Centre, heard about the festival, she noticed it was happening during National Treaty Week.
“I do a lot of work in the community regarding treaty week and really sharing with the community about what a treaty is and how that impacts us because we’re all treaty people. I suggested that they showcase an Indigenous film and I think the response was amazing because right away they said yes,” she said.
Murray helped shortlist the Indigenous films, and is excited about the film that was chosen.
She is also trying to work a little magic to have an actor or actress from it in town for the festival.
The film festival is also a chance for local film makers to get creative.
Filmmakers over the age of 19 years are encouraged to submit a six to eight-minute film for a contest.
The top three films will be screened at the gala on the Friday night, which is also when the winner will be announced.
The winning film will be shown on the big screen. Full details on the contest will be available at timminsmuseum.ca.
Tickets for the festival will go on sale Sept. 9 at the Timmins Museum, as well as online at the Timmins Film Society Facebook page.
They will be limited, and organizers are encouraging people to puchase them early.
For prices, a film festival package for all five films and the gala will be $65. Limited individual tickets will be available for $15. Individual tickets for the after party are $15.
Watch the full festival announcement here:
