'A year you don't want to miss': Vaughan film festival kicks off its 10th edition with captivating stories

June 20-23 festival features diverse films from 10 countries

Thestar.com
June 20, 2022
Yoyo Yan

The Vaughan International Film Festival (VFF) is celebrating a special milestone at its 10th edition with diverse lineups of film screenings from 10 different countries.

"It's definitely a year you don't want to miss," said Antonio Ienco, co-founder of the festival. "The quality of films could rival some of our best programming to date."

The festival will run June 20-23 at Cineplex Cinemas in Vaughan, with two days of film screenings on the Monday and Wednesday, student films screening on the Tuesday, and the VFF Awards on the Thursday.

"Lioness," an award-winning U.S. short film, will have its Canadian premiere on June 20.

"It's interesting to see artists being challenged with the limitations of filming during a pandemic and how they faced that challenge with captivating stories," said Ienco.

The festival is also celebrating the career of Canadian actress Kim Roberts with this year's Indie Leader Award, as well as Canadian Emmy-winning sound mixer Frank Morrone with the Sandra Piccolo Trailblazer Award.

In addition, this year's headline musical performance is by none other than Canadian superstar Chantal Kreviazuk.

Since 2013, the "small-but-mighty" festival has accomplished so much, according to Ienco. From donating roughly $40,000 to local high schools and student filmmakers to bringing top industry talent into the city--including William Baldwin, Enrico Colantoni, and Kim Roberts--VFF continues to strive to secure the future of the short film industry.

"The festival has grown exponentially in the last decade," said Ienco. "We have aimed to be a launchpad for student and emerging filmmakers and are really starting to see the fruits of our labour."

For the next decade,  the festival is looking to place an even bigger focus on year-round filmmaking education.

"We are looking to expand our student initiatives to reach more high schools across the province and also include more seminars and workshops that can support emerging artists all year round."

Get tickets on vaughanfilmfestival.com.