IN THIS ISSUE:
Guests Announcement
Filmmaker Seminar
Ticket Info
Local Shorts Announcement
Away From Her Contest
Loose Reel (with Jon Knautz)

GUESTS ANNOUNCEMENT

The Official Guest List has been released! Each year some of Canada’s most respected industry professionals gather in Kingston, Ontario for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. They participate in seminars, workshops, and Q&A’s and can be spotted at any one of the Festival’s receptions. This year is no different! The 2008 KCFF is bringing some of the biggest, best, and brightest of the Canadian Film Industry to Kingston. Be sure to check out the Official Guest List on the Guests Page to see what stars you may bump into at one of the many screenings, workshops, or receptions! On top of the previously announced guests, this year’s Festival guest list includes the likes of:

TOM ALEXANDER (Director of Theatrical Releasing at Mongrel Media)
PAOLO BARZMAN (Director: Emotional Arithmetic,. Time is Money, Grand Star, 15/Love , Relic Hunter)
NOAH BERNETT (Actor: (Scot) Breakfast with Scot, Gothika , Last Exit, Superstorm, Fatal Trust, Burning Mussolini)
MIROSLAW BASZAK (Director of Photography: Shake Hands with the Devil)
BARRY BLAKE (Instructor of the CSTC Acting Workshop, “A Canadian Actor’s Perspective”)
DOUG BROWN (Actor and Producer: The Death of Indie Rock)
JUSTIN CHENIER (Writer, Producer, Editor and Director: Cabfair)
DARYL CLORAN (Co-writer and co-director: Late Fragment)
AUDREY CUMMINGS (Director: Burgeon and Fade)
K. SHANE DOULTON (Actor: Cabfair)
ROB FITL (Writer and Director: The Death of Indie Rock)
JAMES GALLANDERS (Actor: Major Brent Beardsley in Shake Hands with the Devil)
MATEO GUEZ (Co-Director and Co-writer: Late Fragment)
JENNIFER JONAS (Producer: All Hat)
JON KNAUTZ (Director: Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer)
TRISTAN D. LALLA (Actor:  How She Move)
SHAUNA MACDONALD (Actor: Breakfast with Scot)
DANIEL MORRISON (Actor: How She Move)
DAVID MILLER (Co-producer: Amal)
NADIA MCLAREN (Director: Muffins for Granny)
MATT MCLAREN (Actor: Cabfair)
PATRICK WHITE (Producer: Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer)
SARAH TIMMINS (Producer: The Tracey Fragments)
ROGER SPOTTISWOODE (Director: Shake Hands with the Devil)
ANA SERRANO (Producer: Late Fragment)
VIK SAHAY (Actor: Amal)
GALEN SCORER (Co-produced: Late Fragment)

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FILMMAKER SEMINAR:

What does the future of filmmaking hold? Will today's innovative experiments become tomorrow's everyday reality? Come to this year’s Filmmakers Seminar that will explore how new digital technologies are allowing forward-thinking filmmakers to create the next generation of entertainment. Come discuss where film is headed with the future of digital media and with the possibility of greater audience interaction! This year’s panel features outside the box filmmakers like Sarah Timmins from the Genie-nominated The Tracey Fragments, directors Daryl Cloran and Mateo Guez from the groundbreaking interactive film Late Fragment, and Ana Serrano, director of the Canadian Film Centre's New Media Lab. Don’t miss this amazing chance to meet these filmmakers and discuss what the future holds for filmmaking! The future is... here, don’t let it pass you by!

Friday February 29, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Ellis Auditorium
Admission is FREE

For more information go to Filmmaker Seminar Page.

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WORKSHOPS

There are still a few spots available in all of this year's workshops.

MASTER CLASS: ROGER SPOTTISWOODE

Roger Spottiswoode is a successful Canadian and Hollywood director. His body of work includes Shake Hands with the Devil (KCFF8), the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr., and Turner and Hooch with Tom Hanks. Spottiswoode received a 2008 Genie nomination for Achievement in Direction and Shake Hands with the Devil is nominated for Best Motion Picture; in total the film is nominated for 12 Genie Awards. In this 3 hour class, Spottiswoode will present a special screening followed by a one hour in-depth career discussion.

CELL PHONE FILMMAKING WORKSHOP

This year’s Cell Phone Filmmaking Workshop will be facilitated by MATEO GUEZ. He is the co-director and co-writer of the interactive film Late Fragment! This is an amazing opportunity to explore new forms of interactive filmmaking with new digital outlets such as the Internet! With modern cell phones now anyone can make a movie any time, anywhere. Come learn from one of the best in this exciting new field of filmmaking. For the past three years Mateo Guez has worked with Motorola to direct mobile phone films such as Labour Day. He is an award-winning director, writer and producer, and an internationally recognized filmmaker. He has worked with Bernardo Bertolucci on the film The Dreamers (2002), and received much acclaim at the Toronto and Berlin international film festivals in 2003 and 2004 with his short film L’Ultima Notte. Guez is a filmmaker that embraces innovation in film, don’t let this opportunity be a missed call, pick up your phone and learn how to use it as a filmmaking tool!

“A CANADIAN ACTOR'S PERSPECTIVE" ACTING WORKSHOP

 Back by Popular Demand!

You've seen great performances on film or television, and thought to yourself: "I could do that!" Perhaps you have some experience on stage, and want to make the transition to other media. Or maybe you've worked in other areas of film or television production, and feel you want to try your hand in front of the camera. Well, this is your chance to spend a couple of hours with veteran actor, Barry Blake, and learn about the art, the business and the craft of acting for film and television. Don’t miss out on this Acting Workshop!

Topics covered will include:
               • Surviving as an actor
               • What’s expected on set
               • Preparing for auditions

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TICKET INFO:

There are only a few V.I.P. passes left, so don’t forget to get one before they are all gone!

Rush Tickets for all films will be available 20 minutes before screening time. Be sure to arrive early make sure to get a good spot in line! For more information please check our Tickets page.

People interested in viewing Late Fragment (which is free), please e-mail alison@kingcanfilmfest.com with “Late Fragment” and the screening date and time in the subject line to reserve a seat. Registration will be first come, first serve. 10 seats are available at each screening.

Late Fragment screenings are as follows:
Saturday March 1: 10:00am, 12:00pm, 2:00pm & 4:00pm
Sunday March 2: 10:00am, 12:00pm & 2:00pm
*Please note we are no longer offering Friday Screenings of Late Fragment.

Location: Four Points Sheraton Hotel

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LOCAL SHORTS:

As with every year, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival received numerous submissions for the Local Shorts program! It was, as always, a very difficult task selecting which films to fit into this year’s program but today we are proud to present this year’s roster!

Some of the highlights of this year’s selection includes: Zombie Jesus!, a horror/comedy in which “Jesus has returned to lead and eat his flock, one brain at a time!”; Desmond Coy, a 9 minute thrill ride that will have you guessing all the way until the end; Talking About Snails, the recipient of the Best Picture Award and the People’s Choice Award at the 2008 Focus Film Festival ; The Art of a Successful Handshake, starring Little Mosque on the Prairies Carlo Rota; A few documentaries including one about the debate over Wind Power Turbines on Wolfe Island, called Harvesting Nature; and many, many more!

In addition, the Kingston Canadian Film Festival is pleased to announce the return of the "Local Shorts" award to be presented at this year's festival. The Local Shorts award represents a special partnership with Movieola, The Short Film Channel in which several Local Shorts will be selected to play to a national television audience as part of a KCFF Special to air after the Festival. The winners will be announced on Thursday.

To view the entire line-up and screening times of this year’s Program, please visit the Local Shorts page.

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AWAY FROM HER CONTEST

Congratulations to Shana Pereira, winner of the 2008 KCFF Ultimate VIP Contest. Shana will receive 2 VIP Passes to this year's festival along with 2 festival t-shirts and 2 festival poster for correctly indentifying Away From Her as the 2007 KCFF film recently nominated for a Golden Globe.

To celebrate Away From Her's Golden Globe® and recent Oscar® nominations we are giving you the chance to win an Away From Her Poster signed by Sarah Polley!

To win, correctly identify 1 of the KCFF ’08 films nominated for an Academy Award® and send your answer to contests@kingcanfilmfest.com.

Persons who correctly identify the film will be entered in a random draw to win one (1) Away From Her Poster signed by Sarah Polley!

The "Away From Her" Contest closes March 3rd. The winner will be notified by e-mail on or around March 3rd.

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LOOSE REEL (Dir. Jon Knautz, JACK BROOKS: MONSTER SLAYER)

Sean Cartwright (SC): Why should people see you your film?
Jon Knautz (JK): Anyone who is a fan of the classic 80’s horror films should enjoy Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer. We packed in as many practical effects as possible, so whoever lost interest in the genre once CGI came into play should appreciate a throwback to the good old days.

(SC): What do you think people’s reception will be?
(JK): As long as they don’t take things too seriously they should have a great time. Believe it or not, this film isn’t based on true events!

(SC): Why did you decide to make a horror/comedy?
(JK): I’ve always been a fan of the horror genre, after all they were my original inspiration for getting into filmmaking. We had no intentions of actually scaring the audience so we decided to push it as far as we could by adding over the top comedic elements. It made for a fun shoot and hopefully a fun watch.

(SC): How do you feel it will stand out against films of a similar crossover genre, such  “Shawn of the Dead” and “Severance”?
(JK): Shawn of the Dead was hilarious. Competing against it’s clever humor was not our intention. It was no doubt an inspiration but we were determined to create our own original story with an original hero. As much as we love Zombies, we didn’t want to limit ourselves to one type of creature. The term “Monsters” became exciting because it freed us up and allowed us to become more creative with our creatures. The point was to show the birth of a new super hero who would do battle with any kind of evil, not just one type.

(SC): The monsters are quite unique, and look as though a lot of effort was put into their design, what was the inspiration for these monsters?
(JK): Any film that used practical effects for a monster was an influence. Especially the way in which they were executed. I enjoy creating things practically because it teaches you to think in reality rather than saying, “We’ll worry about in post”. It forces you to be creative in order to pull off what the script requires. We wanted each monster to feel different from the other, so the inspiration was to not be repetitious with each creature rather than pulling from other monsters that already existed.

(SC): What do you hope to do in the future in terms of filmmaking (as well as the horror genre in specific)?
(JK): We are by no means attached to the horror genre exclusively. It was something we wanted to do for our first feature, and who knows, maybe we’ll do it again. We are interested in any kind of story of any genre as long as it’s good. We plan to continue developing and producing as many films as possible.

Thank you director, Jon Knautz, on behalf of the KCFF8, and all the readers, for taking your time with this interview! For information, and screening times visit the Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer Page.

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CONTACT US:

General Inquires: info@kingcanfilmfest.com

Feature Film Inquiries: Alison Migneault, Festival Director Alison@kingcanfilmfest.com
Local Shorts Inquiries: Sean Cartwright, Local Shorts Coordinator Sean@kingcanfilmfest.com
Media/Press Inquiries: Alison Migneault, Festival Director Alison@kingcanfilmfest.com
Sponsorship Inquiries: Siobhan Hitchmough, Festival Coordinator Siobhan@kingcanfilmfest.com
Workshop Inquiries: Siobhan Hitchmough, Festival Coordinator Siobhan@kingcanfilmfest.com
Website Inquiries: Andrew Gurney, Communications Manager Andrew@kingcanfilmfest.com
Volunteer Inquiries: Stephanie Wilson, Volunteer Coordinator Stephanie@kingcanfilmfest.com