The Vancouver Island Short Film Festival continues Saturday, July 24 at 7 p.m. (VISFF)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

lights, cameras, action

Film festival looks to broaden reach with virtual event

Jul 24, 2021 | 6:03 AM

NANAIMO —Organizers of an emerging film festival are confident the event can reach more people, despite the event shifting online due to the pandemic.

The 16^th annual Vancouver Island Short Film Festival (VISFF) featuring 14 films continues Saturday, July 24 after debuting the night prior featuring a range of work by local and international talent.

Festival director Hilary Eastmure told NanaimoNewsNOW the event is streaming on their website free of charge, with seven films available for viewing live for the Saturday night offering starting at 7 p.m.

“It actually enables even more people than we’ve ever been able to accommodate in the past to tune in to watch the festival because normally we sell out the theatre, but this year it’s actually free to watch the live shows.”

Documentaries, dramas, comedies and unique animation entries are among this year’s films — five of which were created by Vancouver Island based directors, Eastmure said.

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She noted festival has proven to be an effective place for producers to expand their careers in a number of ways.

“The quality of the films being submitted to us is really increasing, that speaks to the quality of the film-making that’s happening here on Vancouver Island. The film industry is really strong.”

Award winners in five categories will be revealed following Saturday night’s show.

The element of surprise is an alluring draw of the event, since some of the work is being shown publicly for the first time.

“When was the last time you watched something and didn’t know exactly what you were going to watch?”

Last year’s VISFF staged an in-person event in February, just prior to widespread pandemic shutdowns.

All VISFF entries are a maximum 15 minutes in length.

Local media personality Matt Carter is hosting the event in a theatre setting to give the festival a more authentic feel.

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