In 2020, the FCFF forged ahead with bringing films connected to this region to our audience despite the pandemic restrictions. We adapted and were proud of the films we were able to show and celebrate. In this fifth year of this festival, the films in competition included 15 short films, 15 short documentaries, 9 feature films, 8 documentaries, 6 animations and 15 music videos. We also streamed 11 films out of competition, a majority of which also had connections to Southwestern Ontario. All films premiered across the 9 day festival which audiences across Canada could stream online and participate in the filmmaker Q&As via live-chat. FCFF filmmakers get a portion of the ticket sales and we have YOU to thank for supporting regional talent!

The fourth Forest City Film Festival opened with an exciting Youth Film Festival on October 23 and continued with back-to-back screenings featuring 64 films at four venues over five days until October 27. We started the festival with a day of seminars for area high school students and then celebrated the best of the youth films in the evening with an amazing show and screenings. The Lerners Opening Night featured a wonderful opening party at Che Restobar, followed by a very special short film that shows the best of the Fanshawe Advanced Filmmaking Program and the important, powerful and engaging documentary, Prey. The emotional Q&A afterward was one that will not soon be forgotten by the nearly sold-out crowd that attended. Friday night saw internationally acclaimed director and Ingersoll native Robert Budreau here for a Q&A for his film, Stockholm. Saturday night was a retrospective of films by critically acclaimed, Sarnia-born director, Patricia Rozema. Sunday morning a sold out house was captivated by Anne Dagg, The Woman Who Loves Giraffes. The weekend closed with our closing celebration where we awarded $4,000 in prize money and sculptures presented to winners in seven categories.

Over the course of the weekend, we had 44 films in competition with 15 shorts, 14 short documentaries, five feature films, five documentaries and five animations. We screened 20 films out of competition. Most of the films had someone from the creative team present for a Q&A after the screening. Audiences were engaged by asking questions at the Q&A sessions and handing in ballots for the Old Oak Audience Choice Award. They could then go and spend time in the Drewlo Filmmaker Lounge to chat one-on- one with filmmakers. It was a full, exciting and engaging weekend of local film!

The third Forest City Film Festival ran from preview night on October 24 at 6 pm to Sunday October 28 at 10pm with back-to-back programming of 48 films all with connections to the region. We started the festival with a special preview night screening of the She Has a Name, a feature film about human trafficing, written by Londoner Andrew Kooman. The Lerners Opening night was on Thursday night with a wonderful starting party at Che, followed by a very special short film that was pitched here last year and then we moved on to the perfect Southwestern Ontario Feature Film. The Drawer Boy by Arturo Perez Torres and Aviva Armour-Ostroff thrilled a full house and Miles Potter charmed the audience with his opening talk. Friday night saw our special Flashback Friday event with famous Londoner, John Kapelos, coming into town for the screening of The Breakfast Club. Sunday afternoon was the inaugural International screening. A sold out house was captivated by On Her Shoulders, a very special film. The Weekend closed with the TD Awards Celebration with local band Waterbaby entertaining us and $4000 in prose money and sculptures given out among all the categories.

Over the course of the weekend, we had 37 films in competition with 11 shorts, 10 short documentaries, 3 feature films and 5 documentaries and 8 animations in our new category. We screened 11 films out of competition. Most of the films had someone from the creative team present for a Q&A after the screenings. The filmmakers had an opportunity to learn and network from Friday through Sunday in eight industry workshops and panels. Audiences were engaged by asking questions at the Start.ca Q&A sessions and handing in ballots for the Old Oak Audience Choice Awards. They could then go and spend time in the Labatt Filmmaker Lounge to chat more one on one with filmmakers. It was a busy, full and engaging weekend of local film.

The second Forest City Film Festival ran from Thursday Oct. 26, 6PM to Sunday Oct. 29, 10PM with back-to-back programming of 46 films all with connections to the region. We started the festival with a sold-out preview night screening of the world premiere for Clearing the Way, a documentary about Canadian military engineers in Kandahar province Afghanistan from London director Paul Culliton. This was a powerful experience that will not soon be forgotten by those who were lucky enough to be there. The emotional night saw Silver Cross families, the loved ones of soldiers killed in action, joining military brass and soldiers profiled in the film, on stage at Wolf Performance Hall. We opened on Friday night with a special screening of the Truth is in the Stars, the documentary by Stratford filmmaker Craig Thompson featuring Williams Shatner’s study on Star Trek’s influence on science. We had 36 films in competition with 11 shorts, 11 short documentaries, three feature films and two documentaries and eight animations in our new category sponsored by Digital Extremes. We screened 10 films out of competition. Many of the films had someone from the creative team present for a Q&A after the screenings. The filmmakers had an opportunity to learn and network fromFriday through Sunday in eight industry workshops and panels. Audiences were engaged by asking questions at the Start.ca Q&A sessions and handing in ballots for the Old Oak Audience Choice Awards. They could then go and spend time in the Labatt Filmmaker Lounge to chat more one-on-one with filmmakers. It was a busy, full and engaging weekend of local film.

The inaugural Forest City Film Festival ran from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13, with back-to-back programming of twenty-eight films, all with connections to the region. We opened the festival with a fabulous sold-out Opening Gala Party and a screening of Room with a speech from screenwriter and Londoner, Emma Donoghue. We had twenty-two films in competition with ten shorts, eight short documentaries, three feature documentaries and one feature film. We screened six films out of competition. Many of the films had someone from the creative team present for a Q&A after their screenings. The filmmakers had an opportunity to learn and network at Saturday and Sunday morning industry workshops and panels. Audiences were engaged by asking questions at the start.ca Q&A sessions and by handing in ballots for the Audience Choice Awards. It was a busy, full and engaging weekend of film with local connections.