The filmmaking talents of a few Invermere locals will be on display this Saturday (February 2) at Mount 7 Rec Plex for the 5th annual Golden Film Festival. And this year’s festival, organized for the second year in a row by the Gentlemen’s Leisure Club of Golden, will feature films not only from the East Kootenay, but also from further afield in Canada and beyond.
“We have received entries in our Short Film class from countries as far away as Serbia, Spain, Slovenia and Israel,” said club member Brian Coles. “These will compliment the mix of Canadian films we have received, from amateur films from Golden, Invermere and all the way from Halifax to a yet-to-be-released Salomon FreeskiTV production out of Whistler, the films will appeal to everyone.”
The all-ages festival is comprised of two categories: under 10-minute Short Films and a new category called The Pure Golden Award.
“Our sponsor, Golden Area Initiatives, was looking for a tourism promotion video
so we created another category, 90 seconds or less, about why you love Golden, to essentially create that commercial,” said Coles.
The total run time of the evening will be roughly 2.5 hours with an intermission, and at the end of the night, prizes will be given out for the best films in different genres such as action and comedy, with $500 cash going to first place for The Pure Golden Award.
“It’s not just mountain; it’s anything, any genre,” said Coles. “It’s not just the winning ones that get played; it’s everything that’s worthy.”
In the past, the festival has attracted upwards of 600 people and Coles said the club is hoping to achieve a similar turnout again.
The Gentlemen’s Leisure Club of Golden is a non-profit organized by a group of friends with the mandate of animating Golden and the surrounding area. Each event goes into subsidizing the next, said Coles. Any surplus at the end of the year is donated to various community groups.
“We’ve made donations to the local women’s centre, the Avalanche Centre, to different organizations around town that will have some sort of effect on kids and recreation,” Coles said. The club also distributes donated skis to children in the community.
Admission is $10, doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. For more information on the Golden Film Festival, visit www.gentlemenofgolden.org/filmfestival.