Jenny Mao | Copy Editor
Featured image courtesy of FOFS
The future of Canadian film is here. The third annual Future of Film Showcase, or FOFS, was held at Famous Players Canada Square Cinemas earlier this month to present selected films to a captive audience, which included the friends and family of the young filmmakers featured in the showcase.
FOFS began in 2014 and was co-founded by Eric Bizzarri and Shant Joshi, both fourth-year film production students at York. This not-for-profit film festival showcases the work of Canadian filmmakers age 30 or younger, and this year featured filmmakers as young as 16 years of age.
The night started with a humorous short about finding the right host for this year’s FOFS before the host himself came to the front of the theatre to welcome the audience with a few scripted and impromptu jokes.
“I love when every year rolls around because FOFS always gets bigger and better,” says Bizzarri. “This year, we’ve finally crafted our logo and we have a website where filmmakers and fans have a central location to visit and engage with us.”
Cineplex also came on board as an official sponsor, which Bizzarri describes as being “huge for [FOFS] because we were being recognized by a well-established Canadian company.”
Twelve diverse films were chosen for the showcase, which ranged from romantic comedy to tragedy, animated, mystery and experimental.
“The FOFS team tries to look for story potential above all else when choosing films. What does this film say about the future of Canadian cinema?” says Bizzarri. “My team and I are choosing films that reflect the bright and talented future of Canadian cinema.”
Out of the 12 films chosen, three were directed by York students and alumni: Axis by Raey Ang, Cupid by Maria De Sanctis and Roadkill by Aaron Fauteux.
“This is the first film festival I have gotten acceptance to and it has been such a thrill,” says Ang, a third-year film production student. “To have FOFS select Axis as part of their festival has been a very exciting and humbling experience that I am grateful for.”
“My film was screened at FOFS last year so I thought I had a pretty good shot at getting in again,” says Fauteux, a fourth-year film production student. “It’s something my crew and I worked really hard on and I wanted people to see that – not just for myself, but for my crew as well.”
All the films proved to be captivating as the audience laughed, sighed and gasped appropriately throughout the event. So when the filmmakers were invited to the front of the theatre after the final film finished, the round of applause they received was well-deserved.
“Honestly, the night of the showcase felt like a dream, especially when they called the directors to the front of the cinema to introduce themselves,” adds Ang. “More often than not, I’ve sat in the audience [of other festivals] dreaming I was at the front so this was a really good nod in my direction towards me pursuing my film dream.”
Of course, no festival is complete without a celebration, as the night ended with an official FOFS after-party at the Duke of Kent where the FOFS team, filmmakers and audience came together to celebrate with drinks and a Raptors game.
Asked if he had any advice for young or aspiring filmmakers, Bizzarri says to “stick with it.”
“Seriously, that may be something you hear from anyone that has even a little bit of success, but it’s true. Film is a slow-burning process and you’ll never achieve what you want right away, or even in a few years’ time […] Of course, we’ve made it very far, but the festival still has a long way to go. The reason FOFS is so successful is because everyone on the team is dedicated to continuing on the journey and seeing it grow.”
