Brandon Film Festival 50th Anniversary

Doors to the Evans Theatre. (Credit: Krista Murray/The Quill)

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Brandon Film Festival. To celebrate a weekend film festival will be hosted at The Evans on March 10th, 11th, and 12th. Over the course of the weekend 11 films will be screened, and there is something for everyone. From cult classics to Academy Award Winners, documentaries and productions by local film makers, The Evans will be showing them all.

The weekend kicks off with two showings on Friday. First up at 7:00pm is The Grand Seduction, which follows a small Newfoundland town as they attempt to charm a doctor into become their full-time physician, whom they need in order to secure a factory contract to keep the town afloat. At 9:30pm Friday evening All the Time in the World will be playing, a Canadian documentary following filmmaker Suzanne Crocker as her and her family leave their regular lives behind in search of a simpler one in the Yukon.

Saturday is one full day with movies playing from 1:00pm all the way through until midnight. Opening the day is March of the Penguins at 1:00pm, this family favourite has an entry fee of just $1 per person. This is followed by Every Town had Soldiers, courtesy of local filmmaker Greg Street. The 1953 classic, and winner of four Academy Awards, High Noon, will play at 4:30pm, followed by the Chinese foreign film Mao’s Last Dancer at 7:00pm. Another foreign film, this one from France, The Intouchables will play at 9:30pm. Rounding out the day is the cult classic Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter.

Things being to wind down on Sunday. The classic 1940 fan favourite, and winner of 8 Academy Awards, Gone with the Wind will kick things off on Sunday at 1:00pm, followed by The Red Violin at 5:30pm. The grand finale with free admission, is The Gold Rush, a Charlie Chaplin silent film, will be accompanied by live piano.

Passes are available at the silver and gold level. A silver pass costs $15 and provides you with entry to 3 films of your choice over the course of the weekend. For $40 you may purchase a gold pass, which provides entry to all of the movies. As always, all concessions are available for $2 each.

Republished from The Quill print edition, Volume 107, Issue 21, February 7th, 2017.