Local films to get a showcase this Wednesday at Indie Cinema

If you’re feeling a bit blase — bah humbug, even — about the latest offerings of the multiplexes and major streaming sites, here’s your chance to check out some fresh, original cinema being created right here in Sudbury.

Beginning this week, residents will have four opportunities to catch a batch of homegrown short films, as well as meet the teams behind them, as part of a series dubbed Awaken The Creator Within: The Power of Local Cinema.

“It’s about highlighting the talent we have here,” said Mathieu Seguin of Scriptfest, which is organizing the series in collaboration with Sudbury Films. “We do so well to roll out the carpet for Ryan Reynolds or anybody else that comes to town, yet our own people tend to get pushed aside and we don’t recognize them. These events are meant to show that not only do we have great talents here, but that we can inspire each other to make greater stuff.”

The screenings will also provide a rare chance for the filmmakers to see their creations with an audience, and get feedback from fellow cineastes.

“We want to know what people think about our films and what moves them,” said Seguin. “It’s about starting a discussion and getting people who normally work in isolation, or separately, to come together to share ideas.”

The first event in the series is set for this Wednesday at the Indie Cinema, with doors opening at 6 p.m. and the screenings to commence at 7 p.m.

Seguin encourages people to not skip the first hour, as it will offer some good mingling and networking opportunities, as well as “a lot of fun activities.”

Subsequent dates for Awaken The Creator Within are Dec. 17, Jan. 7 and Jan. 21, all at the same Indie venue on Mackenzie Street. Each event will feature a different slate of local films, noted Seguin, so there will be something new to see each time.

The shorts on the bill for the initial evening range from an animated work to one that follows “BMX bikers all across Sudbury and into these crazy, industrial landscapes,” said Seguin. The latter isn’t so much a documentary as a visual essay, he said, while other films are scripted, dramatic works.

Scriptfest — which provides resources for budding auteurs — is now in its second season, supporting four original shorts, but these are still in post-production and won’t be among the films shown on Wednesday.

The interest shown in the initiative speaks, however, to the appetite locally to tell visual stories.

“Last year we had 34 ideas pitched to us,” noted Seguin, adding the mission of the program is to “to inspire and empower local filmmakers to grow into key creators in the industry.”

The winning projects for this year are now in the can, but while they await final edits and sound design, there are plenty more local short films that deserve to be seen.

“Before we can show our films, we really wanted to show other people’s films,” said Seguin. “It just adds to the case we’re making to create a sustainable film industry here. The only way to get better is practising our craft, and that’s the point of Scriptfest — we need to continuously create so we can be making quality feature films, and then we’ll create our own industry.”

Apart from getting an eventual screening in front of an audience, the Scriptfest projects will also soon be archived and streamable at sudburyfilms.com, said Seguin.

“There will be a catalogue of the Sudbury films, so people can see them all in one place,” he said. “It’s in the works and we hope to build a solid catalogue not just with Scriptfest but by having people submit films to us.”

In the meantime, Sudburians can come out Wednesday to see what the filmmakers in their midst have been up to of late, and support the burgeoning scene.

“We have some fun things lined up, some fun films,” said Seguin. “It’s really to get people excited about creating — winter’s coming up, so it’s a good time to start writing your ideas, get ready for springtime when we start producing more films again.”

He’s hoping for a good turnout, as it would provide a vote of confidence for the folks toiling to make filmic art and suggest there is a real future for a local film scene, beyond the productions that come for the tax breaks and then pack up.

“It comes down to community,” he said. “If we want a strong community, a downtown that looks respectable, people who respect each other, we need to make these films — because it will get people out of that funk and connect back to their own humanity.”

Admission to the screenings is on a pay-as-you-can scale, with one option being $10, under the amusing heading: “I am an artist give me a break.” You can also dig deeper if you have the means and wish to support local filmmakers for the fee of $25 (which also makes you eligible for a door prize).

And if you can’t afford to pay at all, that’s fine too.

“Ultimately there should not be a financial barrier to this,” said Seguin. “We want people to appreciate these films. You being there is what matters.”

For tickets, go to tinyurl.com/y2yw5mj3.