Since 2001, the Silver Wave Film Festival has been the go-to film event in New Brunswick. The festival have been crucial in providing a venue for local filmmakers and a silver screen for audiences looking to binge on exceptional short films from all over. This year’s festival is showing over 100 films, which might be a bit much to take in with just four days to see them all. So we picked our five favourite films to show you just a bit of what to expect.
Amerika
Alright, sometimes less is more, and we’re intrigued by the ambiguity of the trailer for Amerika and their description of the film: “A portrait of two parents and their 8-year-old son struggling against the harsh realities of inner-city life in an alternate version of modern day America.”
We’re suckers for alternate versions of America. We’ll take anything from The Walking Dead to The Man In The High Castle. If the trailer is pretty enough to draw you in, it’s also got the laurels to back it up. If Amerika is headed where we think it is, we are very excited to see it.
Herménégilde Chiasson: Constraints and Break-offs
As one of–if not the–biggest contributors to the cultural life of contemporary Acadie, Herménégilde Chiasson has cultivated literature, theatre, the visual arts and film for the past 50 years. Committed to bringing Acadie into modernism, Herménégilde Chiasson: Constraints and Break-offs showcases the unconventional style and art of the artist himself. Recognizing the Acadian culture that surrounds us is infinitely important and we are looking forward to seeing how much this Acadian artist has done to help shape our local arts scene.
Pearls
In Pearls, mother Miranda is faced with the realization that her son Donald will only properly be able to transform into the woman she is meant to be by defying her father’s wishes. She leaves the farm wearing an outfit given to her by her mother, including a family heirloom string of pearls around her neck. The topic for the film is real and relatable for so many people today and we are looking forward to seeing how well this tough subject will be portrayed onscreen in Pearls. In addition, we get to see Rob Wells in a serious role, and we are considerably excited to see him tackle another film outside of Trailer Park Boys.
Anonymous Zombie
Anonymous Zombie gets described as “A motley group of addicts attend a secluded rehab farm that gets infested with Zombies,” but we know it’s much more than that. The film is the culmination of years of filmmakers Rich MacQueen, Adam Bunce and Nathan Savage talking about making a zombie film. This project has been so long coming we probably first heard murmurs of it more than a decade ago. It’s great to see it finally come to fruition. More than that, the film’s cast include comedian James Mullinger playing a troubled rehab counsellor.
The Capital Project Presents: Awesome; I Shot That!
Written, directed and produced by Tim Rayne of Raynemaker Productions, The Capital Project takes a unique look into New Brunswick’s amazing music scene, showcasing bands of genres ranging from rock, pop and country to hip hop, jazz, blue and even alternative. Both a film and a proposed web series, The Capital Project will feature 100 performances and 200 interviews with bands, solo musicians, music educators, theatre performers, festival organizers, venue owners and music promoters. If there’s one thing we can all agree on about tiny little New Brunswick, it’s that the music scene is extraordinary and is something well deserving of being captured in what looks to be an extremely promising project.
The 17th Silver Wave Film Festival begins November 2nd, 2017 and goes until November 5th, 2017. Films will be shown at venues around Fredericton. The full schedule can be found online, and passes can be purchased at www.swfilmfest.com.