“Cinema knows no borders”: Opening night at the Forest City Film Festival
The opening ceremonies of the 10th annual Forest City Film Festival (FCFF) were held Friday evening. The ceremony saw more than 200 attendees gather to celebrate film, music and the festival’s 10 year milestone.
“Cinema knows no borders — and neither do we,” said festival director Dorothy Downs in a letter to festival-goers. “Each festival year is a celebration of how our stories connect to the world, and how the world connects to us.”
The opening ceremony, held at the Wolf Performance Hall, celebrated London’s role as UNESCO City of Music. It presented a collection of 16 music videos, recognizing the artistic marriage of film and music in the city. The music videos were split into four categories championing the film qualities of the music videos such as storytelling and artistry.
Between the music video showcase, the audience saw live performances from Southwestern Ontario-based artists Amanda Keeles, Burn Unders and Ron Leary.
The opening ceremony also included an awards ceremony, with Brittany Farhat’s music video for Aysanabee’s “Gone Baby Gone” winning best music video and the UNESCO Music Exchange award going to Tina Powell of Tean Dream, whose song “Radio” screened with a music video directed by Alex Chapman. Directed by Danny Dunlop, Phosphorescent’s “The World Is Ending” music video won the award for best technical merit.
Dunlop himself additionally took home $60,000 as the winner of the narrative feature award at Project Pitch, the festival’s annual pitch competition, for his feature film project “Hi, My Name Is Mike.”
The festival runs from October 24 to November 2, with over 100 films screening across theatres across London, including Imagine Cinemas and the Wolf Performance Hall at the London Public Library. Tickets are available via the FCFF website.
