Student Shorts | Panel | World’s Best Shorts | Pro Shorts | Awards | Judges | Photos
Pier Pressure | Borrowtime | 8:20
It’s a cold, dark and stormy night. And day. Detective Belding is a man on a mission. He’s looking for the stooge that murdered his partner, Regan Wright. Right in front of him. The culprit: Spuds Mulligan. After a midnight affair in a seedy motel, his old flame, Lana Harrington gives him some information about a man who keeps things ‘close to his heart.’
State of Yo | Apt 9 Productions | 8 mins.
2009 Kitsilano Film Festival Grand Prize winner
2009 Cine-Asie’s National Portrait Contest National Award winner
2008 Vancouver Asian Film Festival 3rd Place Canadian Short Film Award winner
Harvey Lowe won the worlds first yo-yo championship in 1932. He experienced the early loss of his father, political and economic unrest, and a brain tumour. The yo-yo, which made him famous, helped him regain his identity.
God’s Squad | LadyBug Productions/Black Sunrise Pictures | 3:37
The leader of a door-to-door Jehovah’s Witness sect, Elsebeth Staford and her husband Jeremy are on a mission from God. Elsebeth and Jeremy have “alternative” ways to communicate their practices and beliefs to new friends.
Postcards | 5 mins.
Postcards was filmed on a high speed SLR camera as roughly 2400 still photos, then merged together to form a live action film. No motion camera was used in creating it. A woman strolls through the tired streets of a city, searching for a secret left behind by her family a generation ago. Her only guide is a set of postcards, written by her grandmother years ago, hinting at a past that many people would choose to leave locked away. The journey she takes draws her into a physical and emotional passage through darkness and light, until she finally discovers what her mother and grandmother worked to keep hidden from her for over 30 years.
Let’s Play Boccia! | 14:01
Let’s Play Boccia! is a glimpse at the lives of three Canadian Paralympic athletes. Paul Gauthier, Alison Kabush and Caroline Vietneks are all part of the Canadian Boccia Team. Under the leadership of Coach Herb Torrance, they will represent Canada in the Americas Championships in Montreal on October 24-29, 2009. Their dedication to the sport is admirable and undeniable. Let’s Play Boccia! is more than just a documentary about throwing balls or shooting them down a ramp. It’s about finding inner strength and living with dignity through many of life’s challenges and adversity.
Tofu Meets Greens | Storybubble Pictures | 3:33
Tofu Meets Greens is a community building experiment that brings together elements of Vancouver’s dance, food, and music scenes. It features David and Diane of Night and Day Dance, music by Denzal Sinclaire, food from Superior Tofu and the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts, and, best of all, some swingin’ dancin’ on Granville Island.
Kodiak | Ninelight Pictures Inc | 12 mins.
2008 Leo Award for Best Edit of a Short Drama; 2008 Portable Choice Award
Lucky Doucette, a young man who must find the resolve to play in the biggest ball hockey game of his life, the day after his longtime girlfriend has left him. A close exploration of the backbones of Canadian culture, Kodiak is a story about love, passion and understanding set again the backdrop of an urban Vancouver setting.
For the Birds | Malcontent Pictures | 2:16
2008 Somewhat North Of Boston (S.N.O.B.) Film Festival Best Short
The film is a humourous example of obsession. A Scottish man narrates how he has kept up a rather odd obsession. Over one hundred years ago, there was an expedition to Antarctica. While there, they performed one specific “experiment.” The narrator explains that since he is a descendant, he must continue and expand the experiment, despite how controversial, or ridiculous this project is.
The Light of Family Burnam | Awkward Moment Productions | 15 mins.
As terminally ill, ten-year-old Wyler Burnam plans for his upcoming funeral with the help of his juvenile grandfather Richard, his father, Michael, struggles with the fact that his son will soon be gone. Having already experienced the loss of his wife a few years earlier, Michael is helpless to the fact that the people he loves most are slowly being torn from his life. With little time left, Michael is forced to finally open up in the hopes of becoming the father that Wyler needs, and in doing so it may be his last chance to embrace the lighter side of death, find some redemption within himself, and fully enjoy the time he has left with his son.
Centigrade | Yellowcrow Film Conspiracy
2008 Cinequest Film Festival Best Narrative Short
2008 Leo Award winner for Best Short, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Sound Design, Best Make up
New Hampshire Film Festival Best Short winner
Method Festival Best Actor winner
Fastest Live Action Short to break iTUNES Top 10 downloads (US, UK & Canada)
‘THE ROAD TO HELL BEGINS HERE.’ Centigrade is a contemporary thriller about a Man who lives in an old, busted up camper trailer… but wakes up one morning to find himself (and it) rolling down the highway. Towed by a mysterious black pick-up truck, the Man is taken hostage aboard this rolling nightmare and will have to use his wits in order to survive.
We are happy to screen the multi award-winning Centigrade as the closing film of this year’s VSFF!
