Silver Wave Film Festival Kicks Off this Week in Fredericton

The 12th Annual Silver Wave Film Festival kicks off in Fredericton, NB this Thursday and Bread ‘n Molasses will be live tweeting throughout the event! Follow us on Twitter now so you don’t miss a thing!

Some high profile film industry names will be in attendance including well-known Hollywood actor Billy Campbell and respected producer John Houston (Copperhead, Kings Landing, NB). Houston will also be the Keynote Speaker at the Media New Brunswick Film, Television and Media Industry Summit on Friday, November 9th.

Opening night of the festival sees the New Brunswick premiere of the action packed award-winning visceral film Charlie Zone. Director/writer Michael Melski will be in attendance along with co-writer Joe LeClair and producer Hank White. This gala opening film is followed by New Brunswick filmmaker Jesse Anthony’s gritty low-budget independent feature about urban gangs and revenge, Skate Proof.

Hollywood actor, Billy Campbell

Friday night at 7 pm join a huge group of independent filmmakers, crew, cast, sponsors and a very supportive crowd of general audience viewers for a showcase event, NB Shorts I, at the Centre communautraire Sainte-Anne.

Following the Shorts showcase the feature, The Disappeared, will have its NB premiere at 9:45 pm. It’s September on the North Atlantic and a fishing boat has sunk. It went down fast but the crew escaped in two dories, along with the scant supplies they could grab. They drift further and further from where they sank with no sign of rescue. The decision is made to row for shore; a risky gamble at best. Actor Billy Campbell, Producer Walter Forsyth and Director Shandi Mitchell will be in attendance at this showcase event.

Meanwhile on Friday night at Tilley Hall on the UNB Campus, AIDS New Brunswick will host a screening of the spellbinding feature film, Precious at 7 pm followed by the Student/48 Hour films at 9:30 pm hosted by UNB Film Professor Robert Gray. Gray is the creator of the Fredericton 48 Hour Film Contest, which is co-sponsored by the NB Film Co-op. The always quirky and strangely disturbing Midnight Madness screenings begin at 11:59 pm where the host Pierre Huard is as entertaining and outrageous as the films that are shown.

On Saturday, November 10th, starting at 12 noon, a full line up of Canadian and international shorts will play at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre along with a full slate of documentary shorts. Sixteen Youth Shorts from across New Brunswick will also begin play at noon at the Centre communautraire Sainte-Anne, spotlighting the next generation in NB filmmaking.

On Saturday evening, NB Shorts II screens at the Centre communautraire Sainte-Anne at 7 pm, followed by the Silver Wave Awards at 9 pm, where over 30 major awards will be given out including the Jane LeBlanc Filmmaker Award, 2 Lex Gigeroff Screenwriting Awards, NB Joy Award, the CBC/Telefilm 3-2-1 Award along with Best NB Short Comedy and Best NB Short Drama.

The Festival closes out on Sunday November 11th with a full array of showcase documentaries, Iranian shorts and the Saint John independent feature Calling which will resonate with many, followed by Michael Ray Fox, Richard MacQueen and Michael Meski’s feature film Roaming, which has been described as “Forest Gump meets The Social Network.”

Parties Galore happen every night of the festival at party central, the James Joyce Pub at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Fredericton.

The 12th annual Silver Wave Film Festival takes place this week November 8-11 in Fredericton, NB. Full festival passes can be obtained through the NB Film Co-op, Room 131, Charlotte Street Arts Centre, 732 Charlotte Street, Fredericton; telephone 506-455-1632. Tickets for all events will be available at the door of each screening.

Visit the website www.swfilmfest.com for more information on all of the films and activities and to download the full festival program. You can also receive up-to-date information and Festival highlights by joining the Festival’s Facebook Group or following them on Twitter.