{"id":2189,"date":"2013-05-21T15:08:26","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T19:08:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=2189"},"modified":"2013-05-28T14:27:54","modified_gmt":"2013-05-28T18:27:54","slug":"disappearing-acts-and-a-good-dose-of-humour-offered-by-aurora-filmmakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/disappearing-acts-and-a-good-dose-of-humour-offered-by-aurora-filmmakers\/","title":{"rendered":"Disappearing acts and a good dose of humour offered by Aurora filmmakers"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disappearing acts abounded at the Aurora Cultural Centre Thursday as local filmmakers showcased their works in the Multimedia Film Festival of York Region. <\/p>\n

There were the comic disappearances of the most popular girl and hamster in school, in \u201cA Guessing Game\u201d by Aurora\u2019s Josh Conley and in \u201cThe Professional\u201d respectively; disappearing from one world into an idyllic dream in \u201cKazu and Azul\u201d brought by Aurora producer Alex Broughton; disappearing from the connected and co-dependent technological world we live in and reconnecting with nature in \u201cA World Out There\u201d directed by Aurora\u2019s E. Bozhori; and retreating from worlds of bullying and social stigma in \u201cType Away My Pain\u201d and \u201cReversible.\u201d<\/p>\n

While these films provided food for thought for the small but dedicated film-going crowd that filed into Brevik Hall last week, it was not simply a sea of deep thought. Laughs were provided in \u201cPiece of Cake\u201d, a film producers described as an \u201cI Love Lucy-inspired take\u201d on TV cookery, a scent-free whiff of \u201cteen spirit\u201d in \u201cYouth\u201d, an epic chess battle royale in \u201cCheckmate\u201d by Aurora\u2019s L. VanderPloeg, and in the tender love story \u201cSamantha\u201d which turns into something completely different by the time the credits roll.<\/p>\n

Whether filmmakers set out to entertain, or find a voice, there was something for everyone. For Festival coordinator Mona El Baroudi, whether people are looking to be entertained, moved \u2013 or both \u2013 the reception to this year\u2019s crop of filmmakers by the public has been very encouraging. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think people have been really astounded by the production quality, but I think it is the stories that are really something different and make the screening,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you find what the [film] adjudicators see in a theme which is just a little bit different and unexpected, we find the audience responds in very much the same way.\u201d<\/p>\n

The wide scope of filmmaking beyond the confines of Toronto is also something she says resonates with the people who come to the screening, raising questions about the filmmakers in their own back yard. <\/p>\n

The York Region Multimedia Film Festival was originally founded to give youth a voice and an outlet for their creativity. In the common themes exhibited at Thursday\u2019s screening, such as bullying. <\/p>\n

“When we\u2019re getting to our youngest filmmakers, you\u2019re looking at what\u2019s important to you in your life,\u201d she says. \u201cWe\u2019re asking people to speak from their hearts because the more personal something is, the more universal it is. The films that have really touched people is where we have gotten our filmmakers of all ages to be courageous and daring in telling a story that means something personal for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Attending last week\u2019s screening were Mr. Broughton and Mr. Conley. Mr. Conley\u2019s offering covered the disappearance of the most popular girl in school, a story brought to life with humour and cinematic inspiration by him and his fellow St. Maximilian Kolbe Catholic High School students. Mr. Broughton\u2019s efforts were a visual-effects heavy concoction of stop motion animation and live actors green screened into the action. The result was a dreamlike experience as a fisherman heads out to encounter his own mermaid. <\/p>\n

While the two filmmakers took vastly different approaches to their work, creativity won the day and they came to a meeting of the minds. <\/p>\n

\u201cThose guys obviously have some pretty good talent with the writing and pacing,\u201d said Mr. Broughton of his fellow Aurorans. \u201cI am writing a sitcom right now so I am taking classes on acting, writing, and producing so I would love to work with those guys on doing a comedy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they would really kick ass at writing comedies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both men and their films will be vying for awards at May 29\u2019s Closing Night Gala and Awards Ceremony. The event will take place at Newmarket Theatre \u2013 doors open 5.30 p.m. \u2013 and tickets are available for $35 for adults and $25 for seniors and students from 905-953-5122 or by visiting www.yorkregionfilmfestival.com.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Disappearing acts abounded at the Aurora Cultural Centre Thursday as local filmmakers showcased their works in the Multimedia Film Festival of York Region. <\/p>\n

There were the comic disappearances of the most popular girl and hamster in school, in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2105,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/2013-05-21-02.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-zj","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-05 00:08:59","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}