Independent cinema celebrated at Hamilton festival

Theme for the 16th annual Hamilton Film Festival is ‘Coming of Age’

Films from Germany, Spain, Israel and Britain will be featured in this year’s Hamilton Film Festival.

The nine-day festival and celebration of independent cinema kicks off Nov. 6, at the Westdale Theatre.

It will be the 16th edition of the festival. Other venues include the Staircase Theatre, Playhouse Cinema and the Starlite Drive-In in Stoney Creek.

An evening revolving around making music videos (Nov. 7) called “Moving Music” is set for the Casbah.

The Ontario government gave the festival a boost Oct. 9 when it lifted COVID-19 restrictions on movie theatres. As of that date, theatres could go back to full capacity.

Each festival has had a theme and this year’s is “Coming of Age.” The festival is put on by Ancaster musician and filmmaker Nathan Fleet.

Opening night on Nov. 6 is a ‘Sweet 16 event’ and will feature “Lune,” directed by Aviva Armour-Ostroff and Artaro Perez Torres.

Nov. 7 features three events apart from the music session. At the Westdale Theatre, there will be three short films directed by youths and the team behind “Wild Child” will talk about their show that features outdoor challenges for children. It is being filmed in Hamilton, at such places as Valens Conservation Area.

Three authors will be featured at an event called “Page Turner” at Westdale, including special effects Oscar winner, Colin Chilvers.

Nov. 8 at the Staircase will feature six coming of age shorts from filmmakers from Canada, Australia and Britain. On Nov. 9, eight short comedies will be shown at the Starlite Drive-in.

“The Revolution Generation” and “Abducted” will be shown at The Staircase on Nov. 10.

Emerging filmmakers will be highlighted on Nov. 11 at the Staircase. There will be six shorts featuring filmmakers from Canada, Germany and Australia. This also includes Hamilton filmmaker Dane Cecchelli who will show his 28minute movie “Overplay.” It will be followed by four international short films.

Eight comedy and dramatic shorts will be shown at the Westdale on Nov. 12, including “Cucumber” from Hamilton filmmaker Christian Corbett. It will be followed by “Brain Freeze” from Montreal filmmaker, Julien Knafo.

On Saturday Nov. 13, there will be a Hamilton Film Summit at the Westdale and then an interview/ talk with David Hamilton, “The Most Famous Canadian Producer No One Knows.”

Ten short films from Hamilton filmmakers will be shown that evening at the Westdale, and the films “I’m Sorry if I took a Toll on You,” “Fragile Seeds,” and “Flee the Light” will be shown at the Westdale and Staircase also that night.

On the final day, Nov. 14, there will be short films by female filmmakers at the Playhouse, and the film “Drinkwater” at the Westdale.

For more details and tickets, go to hamiltonfilmfestival.com.

Three projects have been announced by local filmmakers.

Just in time for Halloween, David J. Fernandes has unveiled his new made-in Hamilton horror web series called “Creepy Bits.” There are six episodes and they are all under three minutes.

It premiered on Sept. 24 and one is being released each Friday night, up to the finale on Halloween.

Friday’s is called “The Gift.” On Oct. 22, you can watch “Pitter Patter” and on Oct. 31 the show is called “Soul.” Other episodes are called “Baby Face,” “Occupied,” and “Special Guest.”

They are available to watch on the following social media platforms by searching creepybits: YouTube, Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and Vimeo.

White Dwarf Pictures has announced the completion of its TV show “Dirt Fishing.” It started airing Oct. 4 on Cable 14.

“Dirt Fishing” is a 30- minute show following Mike Guarascia (known as Mike Relics) as he uses his metal detector to look for treasure at various sites around the area. The first episode featured Albion Falls, the site of a former grist mill and a small town. Episode 2 featured a hunt at the former Wentworth Incline Railway.

White Dwarf is headed by filmmaker Scott Newman and his friend Victor Bohm. Further episodes are set to air Oct. 18, Nov. 1, Nov. 15 and Nov. 29.

Haldimand filmmaker Graeme Bachiu has announced completion of the documentary series “Canfield Roots.” The six-part series shines a light on the village of Canfield’s connection to the Underground Railroad, which spirited slaves out of the United States before the Civil War in the 1860s.

Some of the former slaves settled around Canfield. The show will debut on Bell Fibe TV1.