One evening. One focus. Three documentaries.
On Sunday (Jan. 20), the Brackendale Art Gallery unveils its year-long Brackendale Relevant Film Festival, with a night of films focused on the Great Bear Rainforest and Canada's growing oil industry.
Throughout 2013, twice a month, the gallery will screen movies following two themes — the environment and art.
"We're only doing what is relevant," BAG owner Thor Froslev joked. "We don't do love stories and all the rest of the stuff."
The films picked for the festival by Glenne Campbell, a Squamish resident and Emmy Award-winning costume designer, have "refuelled" Froslev, he said, noting they challenge one's views and beg for questions.
The event will focus on B.C. and Canadian productions, before looking further afield, Campbell said. She invites local filmmakers to submit their work to the festival.
Down the road, if successful, Campbell aims to add more themes to the evenings.
"This is something a little different," Campbell said. "I hope that I can grow it."
The inaugural event starts at 8 p.m. with the screening of "Reflections: Artists for an Oil Free Coast." Produced by the Raincoast Conservation Society and StrongHeart Productions, the documentary follows 50 of B.C.'s most celebrated artists who journey up the coast and into the heart of the 70,000-square-kilometres area that makes up the Great Bear Rainforest. The 22-minute piece looks at the wild coastline which abuts the proposed tanker route for oil company Enbridge's Northern Gateway Pipeline. Squamish painter Chili Thom was among the artists on the trek.
Next up is Squamish's own Norm Hann. The 35-minute flick, "Stand Up 4 Great Bear," documents his 400-kilometre paddleboard expedition along the proposed north coast oil tanker course in B.C. Hann's goal for the tour was to bring awareness to First Nations traditional food harvesting regions and the area's marine ecosystems.
Last up is "Oil in Eden," a 16-minute film piecing together the relationship between Alberta's oil sands and the Great Bear Rainforest's future. The Pacific Wild production highlights three areas of concern regarding the Northern Gateway Pipeline — emerging Asian economies, risks around the pipeline and the danger of introducing supertankers to this section of the province's coastline.
For more information on the film festival call (604) 898-3333 or visit www.brackendaleartgallery.com.
