Guest Author - Lorna London Sloukji

The 27th annual Vancouver International Film Festival begins today and runs until October 10, 2008. Founded in 1982, the VIFF strives to foster appreciation for art and cinema as well as to flourish the motion picture industry in British Columbia and Canada.

The VIFF is categorized as one of the largest film festivals in North America, as it usually screens 350 films from all over the world.
Emphasizing international art, the VIFF breaks down its fiction and non-fiction films into comprehensible groups such as:

Dragons and Tigers: The Cinemas of East Asia- this category features a slew of East Asian films
The Ark: Elements and Animals- this group showcases films that reveal nature and our relationship with it
Canadian Images- as one of the biggest groups, this category presents Canadian film
Spotlight on France- as an annual series, viewers can expect France�s notable cinema
Non-fiction Features- for more than a decade, the VIFF has successfully shown documentary films in this popular series

In the name of art and passion, many filmmakers pour their love into making a movie with very little money. Last year, Carl Bessai�s film Normal won the $12,000 Western Canada Feature Film Award at the VIFF. He used the money to fund another film: Mothers & Daughters, a film that was recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and will now be featured at the VIFF.

With a 12-thousand dollar budget and less than a year to produce the entire film, Bessai relied on his vision and persistence to make it happen. On average, a more established Vancouver director spends about $50,000 before making any edits.

With only six people on crew, Bessai and team found film locations through friends and employed non-actors to play some of the roles.

But in the end, the film�s budget rose to $400,000. Although Bessai was able to raise most of that money, he also had to pay some of it using his own money.

It�s no secret that applying that indie touch to filmmaking restores cinematic integrity, eliciting an esteemed response from viewers and critics.
�I'm not saying everyone should work for free, that everything should be done on a dime,� Bessai says. �But I am saying that it's a marvellous way to bring filmmaking back to its essential ingredients.�

The VIFF gives several awards to novice, emerging, and established filmmakers. Awards include:

Dragons & Tigers Award for Young Cinema,
sponsored by Brad Birarda ($10,000)
Citytv Western Canada Feature Film Award ($12,000)
Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film Award ($2000 + Avid Media Composer Software valued at $2500)
VIFF Nonfiction Feature Award
Women in Film & Television Vancouver Award

Audience Awards
Rogers People's Choice Award for Most Popular Film
VIFF Most Popular Canadian Film Award
documentary People's Choice Award
NFB Most Popular Canadian Documentary Award
VIFF Environmental Film Award