Cinéfest Sudbury marks 35 years with focus on comedy and vampires

Patrick O'Hearn, executive director of the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, said watching new films shot in familiar territory never gets old.

"Canadian films are just so strong this year," he said.

This year, the 35th edition of Cinéfest will be showcasing a new lineup of local, international and Indigenous films at SilverCity Sudbury Cinemas from September 16 to 24. 

He added films like Close to You starring Elliot Page and Newfoundland drama Sweetland directed by Christian Sparkes highlight a value for Canadian productions.

Sweetland tells the story of a Newfoundland community forced to evict and a long-time resident's fight to stay on the remote island.

Close to You, one of the festival's major Gala film presentations, stars Halifax native Elliot Page as a trans person bracing for a tense homecoming with his family.

Purgatory Jack, a neo-noir crime thriller film partially filmed in Sudbury, Ont. will also show as a Features Canada title.

'People are ready to come back'

According to O'Hearn, the ongoing strikes in Hollywood with The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) encouraged his Cinéfest team to lean on locally made films.

"Not having access to American talent means that you have to search a little bit higher," he said.

But he added a resurgence for in-person screenings from summer blockbusters like Barbie and Oppenheimer are encouraging for Cinéfest's exclusive return to theaters.

"I think it just goes to show that people are ready to to come back as a community and experience films the way they're supposed to be seen."

Cinéfest tells CBC Sudbury viewers with a sense of humour would enjoy this year's bigger selection of comedies.

Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant (Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person). directed by Quebec filmmaker Ariane Louis-Seize, is an anticipated film the committee selected to close out the festival this year.

It tells the story of Sasha, a young vampire looking for a blood supply without draining victims after her parents encourage her to terrorize her neighbourhood.

The Canadian comedy-drama film is also screening at Cinéfest, along with this year's Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the 80th Venice Internaional Film Festival.

From emojis at home, to emotions at theatres

Michael Scherzinger, managing director of Cinéfest Sudbury, said the movie reflects this year's theme of lighthearted emotions.

"It moves from comedy to drama to some horror elements but not nothing too serious and it's such a fun roller coaster ride," he said.

According to Scherzinger, the 35th edition of the festival is themed with emojis to reflect forms of expression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We've gotten used to using emojis to express emotions while we're separated," he said.

"Now it's time to bring those emojis to laugh, cry, get angry, love or not like a movie."

Film Lineup

The extended categorized selection for the 35th Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival is shown below:

2023 Cinema Indigenized:

• Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun [Banchi Hanuse,Canada, 2023]
• Broken Angel [Jules Koostachin, Canada, 2023]
• Café Daughter [Shelley Niro, Canada, 2023]
• Hey Viktor! [Cody Lightning, Canada, 2023]

Cinema 9 Prime Time:

• Daughter of the Sun [Ryan Ward, Canada/France, 2023]
• Leilani's Fortune [Loveleen Kaur, Canada, 2023]
• Satan Wants You [Sean Horlor & Steve J. Adams, Canada, 2022]

Features Canada:

• Backspot [D.W. Waterson, Canada/USA, 2023]
• Daniel's Gotta Die [Jeremy LaLonde, Canada/USA, 2022]
• Echo à Delta (Echo to Delta)[Patrick Boivin, Canada, 2023]
• Une femme respectable (A Respectable Woman)[Bernard Émond,Canada, 2023]
• Hailey Rose [Sandi Somers, Canada, 2023]
• I Used to Be Funny [Ally Pankiw, Canada, 2023]
• Niagara [Guillaume Lambert, Canada, 2022]
• Orah [Lonzo Nzekwe,Canada, 2023]
• Purgatory Jack [Brett M. Butler & Jason G. Butler, Canada, 2023]
• Richelieu (Temporaries)[Pier-Philippe Chevigny, Canada, 2023]
• Rodéo (Stampede) [Joelle Desjardins Paquette, Canada, 2022]

Cana-Doc:

• The Last Stop: Canada's Lost Locomotive [Kaio Kathriner, Canada,2023]
• The Lebanese Burger Mafia [Omar Mouallem, Canada, 2023]
• Subterranean [Francois-Xavier De Ruydts, Canada, 2023]

2023 Gala Film Presentations:

• Swan Song [Chelsea McMullan, Canada, 2023]
• Les hommes de ma mère (My Mother's Men) [Anik Jean, Canada,2023]
• Sweetland [Christian Sparkes, Canada, 2022]
• The Old Oak [Ken Loach, UK/France/Belgium, 2023]
• The Boy in the Woods [Rebecca Snow, Canada, 2023]
• Close to You [Dominic Savage, Canada/UK, 2023]
• Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant (HumanistVampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person) [Ariane Louis-Seize,Canada, 2023]

2023 Special Presentations:

• Les jours heureux (Days of Happiness) [Chloé Robichaud, Canada,2023]
• The King Tide [Christian Sparkes, Canada, 2023]
• Perfect Days [Wim Wenders, Japan/Germany, 2023]
• The Promised Land (Bastarden) [Nikolaj Arcel, Denmark, 2023]
• Rose [Niels Arden Oplev, Denmark/France, 2022]
• The Teachers' Lounge (Das Lehrerzimmer) [Ilker Çatak, Germany,2022]
• Le temps d'un été (One Summer) [Louise Archambault, Canada,2023]
• They Shot the Piano Player [Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal,Spain/France/Netherlands, 2023]
• Total Trust [Jialing Zhang, Germany/Netherlands, 2023]
• Warrior Strong [Shane Belcourt, Canada, 2023]

World Cinema titles:

• Aliens Abducted My Parentsand Now I Feel Kind of Left Out [JakeVan Wagoner, USA, 2023]
• Fathers and Mothers (Fædre og mødre) [Paprika Steen, Denmark,2022]
• How to Have Sex [Molly Manning Walker, UK/Greece, 2023]
• Kidnapped (Rapito) [Marco Bellocchio, Italy/France/Germany, 2023]
• Le Livre des solutions (The Book of Solutions) [Michel Gondry,France, 2023]
• Minore(Μινόρε) [Konstantinos Koutsoliotas, Greece, 2023]
• Raging Grace [Paris Zarcilla, UK, 2023]
• Robot Dreams [Pablo Berger, Spain/France, 2023]
• Sleep(잠) [Jason Yu, South Korea, 2023]
• Sometimes I Think About Dying [Rachel Lambert, USA, 2023]
• Totem (Tótem) [Lila Avilés,Mexico/Denmark/France, 2023]
• Latraversée (The Crossing) [Florence Mialhe, France/CzechRepublic/Germany, 2021]

World Doc titles:

• Another Body [Sophie Compton & Reuben Hamlyn, USA, 2023] & short film Portrait of Consumption [Gillian Fortin, Canada, 2023]
• Rule of Two Walls [David Gutnik, Ukraine, 2023]
• Sur l'Adamant (On the Adamant) [Nicolas Philibert, France/Japan,2023]
• We Dare to Dream [Waad al-Kateab, UK, 2023]

In Full View: Crisis, Conflict, Conscience titles:

• Les chambres rouges (Red Rooms) [Pascal Plante, Canada, 2023]
• Femme [Sam H. Freeman & Ng Choon Ping, UK,2023]
• Irena's Vow [Louise Archambault, Canada/Poland, 2023]
• Praying for Armageddon [Tonje Hessen Schei & Michael Rowley,Norway, 2023]