This week not only brings together filmmakers, but actors, writers, producers, editors and film fanatics packed into four venues, six days and over 100 films. Here’s an inside look into some of the Fredericton artists and their projects involved in the 14th annual Silver Wave Film Festival.
Student festival passes are $20 with a student identification card.
Emily Bossé: Actor
Film: Pop
When & Where: Saturday Nov. 8 beginning at 7 p.m., at the Sainte Anne Community Center.
Price: $8 for students.
Emily Bossé is making her first on-screen appearance in Pop. She plays a singer named Leslie who is just starting to make a name for herself, but suffers from an identity crisis when she returns to her hometown.
“Leslie is an awkward character who doesn’t know who she is and doesn’t know where she’s going.”
Bossé is part of the Fredericton theatre community, but says film was much simpler than on-stage acting.
“Getting into character is different from plays to film. It’s a different kind of emotional experience over a long stretch of time, instead of studying a text and putting it together in one chunk of time.”
Bossé has been attending the festival for years and suggests checking out any film that catches your eye.
“Honestly I go for all of them. This is the first time being in one, but I always try to go to two nights and find something I enjoy there. The great thing about the festival is if you don’t like one thing you see another and the price is right for students too.”
Jared Carney: Director & Producer
Films: Waiting, People Are Strange, Good Me and Oasis.
Where & When: People Are Strange: Saturday Nov. 8 beginning at 7 p.m., at the Sainte -Anne Community Centre.
Oasis, Good Me and Waiting: Friday Nov. 7: Midnight Madness at UNB’s Tilley Hall, films begin at 11:30 p.m.
Price: Friday: $3. Saturday: $8 for students.
This is Jared Carney’s third year having his films screened at Silver Wave.
“Ever since I was a kid it’s what I wanted to do, nothing else other than filmmaking. I’ve always written since I was very young but I’ve been filmmaking for only four or five years actively.”
Carney has four films in this year’s festival.
“Waiting is an experimental film about a woman sitting in a waiting room of a hospital after a home invasion. People Are Strange is a mockumentary about a man who is in a relationship with his four-wheeler. Good Me is a film about a delusional man shopping in a hardware store, and Oasis is a film about a man who is exploring the decayed wasteland. It has an apocalyptic feeling.”
Carney graduated last May with a certificate in film production from the University of New Brunswick. Oasis won Best Cinematography and Best Horror Film in the 48 Hour Film Competition in 2013. He said he’s been nominated at Silver Wave before and is excited to see what will happen this year.
“I get more excited the closer I get to it and I look forward to it every year. It’s a good venue to get my work out there, but it’s also a great networking opportunity.”
Ryan O’Toole: Director/ Actor/ Writer / Producer
Films: Acted: Crates, Zac & Luc.
Wrote/ Directed: Pop
Where & When: Pop & Crates, Saturday Nov. 8 beginning at 7 p.m., at the Sainte -Anne Community Centre. Zac & Luc, Friday Nov. 7 at 7 p.m, at the Sainte- Anne Community Centre.
Price: $8 for students.
This will be the fourth Silver Wave Film Festival for O’Toole. The first was when he was 18 and had a film in the student category. This year he has written and directed one short film, Pop, and appeared in two other New Brunswick shorts.
“In Crates I play a young record collector who accidentally falls into a moral dilemma. The character strives to be tougher than he actually is, so I got to be covered in fake tattoos, which was fun.
“I play Zac in Zac & Luc, the more introverted, bookish of the two lovers. The film was a bit of a challenge as an actor, as the film contains no dialogue. It was a lot of acting out small moments that don’t usually get a focused treatment, which I loved.”
O’Toole is also a part of the Fredericton theatre community and believes that Silver Wave is the best way to get his work shown while displaying to the community that film has the potential to be something more.
“Silver Wave is important because it gives New Brunswick filmmakers the spotlight and offers an opportunity for our work to be seen. I feel like film in New Brunswick is underappreciated, largely, and I don’t know what would happen to the film community without the festival. It also reminds Frederictonians of film’s potential—instead of going to see “Paul Blart Mall Cop 9” at the mall, they can see original work by local talent for a cheaper price.”
Jon Mann: Director/Writer/Producer:
Film: Project Power
Where & When: Sunday Nov. 9 12 p.m. at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre
Price: Free
This will be Mann’s second time at Silver Wave, he’s the filmmaker behind the sociopolitical documentary, Project Power. The feature-length film follows the attempted sale of New Brunswick Power to Hydro Quebec by the provincial government in 2010.Mann studied the issue for six months, and interviewed over 45 people including lawyers, journalists, politicians, engineers, and students. The film premiered on June 12 at the Cineplex theatre in Fredericton.
His first documentary, Drink em’ Dry was about the Moosehead brewery lockout and premiered at Harvard University. The film won best Low-Budget Documentary in 2012. This year, he’s hoping for Best Documentary.
“I’m really excited to see the other documentaries coming out of New Brunswick. I think filmmakers sort of have a responsibility to question and critique the world around us.”
With files from Alex Vautour.
