Women in Film Festival 2009 New Media Forum

After covering the Vancouver International Film Festival as well as the Vancouver Queer Film Festival and sending a freelance writer to Whistler to cover their Film Festival, I’ve pretty much resigned to the fact that I really like writing about the movie community in our region. The next exciting event is taking place next week and I’ll be providing overall coverage as well as a very special new media angle for the upcoming Women in Film Festival and New Media Day.

What: The Vancouver Women in Film Festival featuring films, panels, spolight awards gala
When: March 3-8 2009
Where: The Vancity International Film Centre and the BC Women’s Hospital (Chan Centre for Family Health Education)

Kicking things off before the opening night screening (and Vancouver premier) of The Baby Formula, the New Media Forum will be taking place March 4th throughout the day at the Vancity Theatre.

From 9:00am until about 6:30pm the day will be peppered with talks and discussions about bridging new technologies and media forms within the industry. Erica Hargreave, one of the organizers for the New Media Forum, has put together all-star panels as well as a new media team to capture and share the day’s events which include discussions on the following topics:

The panelists include these fine women: Gillian Shaw, Monica Hamburg, Carol Sill, Amielle Lake, Maura Rodgers, and Rochelle Grayson (recently named one of the Top 40 under 40 in BC), just to name a few.

There will also be a reception after the New Media Forum that will feature demos from various tools and applications that can be useful and productive for anyone. Tickets to the New Media Forum are $60/$75 for non-members.

The rest of the festival will include highlights such as:

Thursday March 5th
10:00am – 11:30am Panel: Meet the Directors: Reel Women
4:00pm – 5:30pm Panel: In Front of the Camera: The Actors Challenge
(This day has free admission for panels)

Friday March 6th
9:30am -11:00am Panel: The Making of a Filmmaker: Emerging Filmmakers
3:30pm – 5:00pm Panel: Career Advancement Module (CTV/CAM)
(This day has free admission for panels)

Saturday March 7th
9:00am – 10:15am Panel: The Female Voice — Screenwriting with Maureen Medved

Spotlight Awards Gala, hosted by Molly Parker, 6:30pm
Awards, Reception & Silent Auction

Sunday March 8th
International Women’s Day at BC Women’s Hospital Theatre
1:00pm – 5:00pm WIFTI Screenings, Reception, Short Film program

Full ticket information for the gala, screenings, and passes can be found here. Speaking of the screenings, be sure to check out the actual films that are being presented this year which include: Fifty Dead Men Walking, Birthday Girl, and The Professionals.

You can check out the Festival’s blog for more information or my blog during the day on March 4th for coverage and I’ll have other notes to share from the Film Festival the rest of the week.