Four Films, Four Nights, Four Parties – the Meaford International Film Festival confirms the interviewees, featuring live/pre-recorded interviews with film directors and special guests this coming Labour Day Weekend at Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre.
Opening night film this year on Thursday August 29 is The Parade. Director, Srdjan Dragojevic, joins us from Serbia to discuss the film. Dragojevic was once called “the bad boy of Serbian Cinema” he started out as a guitar player in a local punk band. No stranger to controversy, his 1996 antiwar film “Pretty Village, Pretty Flame” was the first in Serbia to portray “the inglorious underside of the country’s 1992-1995 war in Bosnia.” He caught flak from the Milosevic regime and the far right. Ironically his latest film about Serb homophobia has been chosen by the government to be shown in local schools. “It took a great deal of work to nail this interview down, but it was worth it. Srdjan is an astute observer of a gritty but optimistic change underway in the post-war Balkans,” says MIFF Artistic Director Christopher Thomas.
Next up on the roster of award-winning directors is Rome’s Andrea Segre, Director of Shun Li and the Poet. A director of both films and documentaries, Andrea is also a researcher in the sociology of communication. His ten year dedication to the study of immigration led him to founding “ZaLab”, an association that develops production projects and video-workshops. He often seeks out unprofessional actors and loves finding “locations in the real world with some aesthetic tension, in the hope of promoting knowledge and cultural exchanges.” Expect to be enlightened and moved by this interview for the 2013 Meaford International Film Festival.
On Saturday August 31, Searching for Sugar Man is the feature film, with a live interview between MIFF Artistic Director and Robert Harris, popular CBC Radio Host and author. Harris just completed a major series on the history and decline of the recording industry from Edison to the iPad called “Twilight of the Gods”. Robert is also the author of 2 books, “What to Listen for in Mozart” and “What to Listen for in Beethoven”. Robert comes to MIFF fresh off from giving a 3 part lecture series at the Stratford Festival on “Music that Changed the World.” Don’t miss this special feature interview!
Four Films, Four Nights, Four Parties, MIFF promises to be another exciting long-weekend event featuring contemporary artistic and cultural films wrapped up in a neat package featuring fine food from local establishments, select wines, micro brewery beer, and of course, socializing to tie it all together. Tickets are selling like gangbusters so get yours today. MIFF is again pleased to present the Audience Choice Award, now known locally as the Pomme D’Or: the best of the fest as voted by festival-goers, sponsored by Barbetta Orchards. Also on the “screenplay” for this year is film knowledge trivia! Hone your film skills each night to win a huge gift basket, sponsored by local businesses. NEW! for this year are casual, catered dinners served up in the Party Tent in advance of the Thursday and Saturday night films. This fresh idea to add more to the festivities proved so popular it is now sold out.
Presented by the Meaford Hall & Culture Foundation, MIFF delivers on the Foundation’s promise to both sponsor community events and programs in arts and culture, and support arts and culture at Meaford Hall and in the Municipality. Tickets for matinee and evening films and parties and catered dinners are available from the Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre Box Office daily or by phone 1-877-538-0463. For more information regarding MIFF and other Meaford Hall Arts & Cultural Centre events visit www.meafordfilmfest.ca or www.meafordhall.ca, call the Box Office or stop by. Historic Meaford Hall is located at 12 Nelson St E, Meaford, ON.