Organizers have decided to move NewWest FilmFest to November.
The board’s Deni Loubert said many of the attendees usually hit up the Vancouver International Film Festival (Sept. 24 to Oct. 9) the same month, so moving the dates a few weeks ahead made sense.
“There’s kind of a fatigue that they’ll get, and yet, we still wanted to stay as part of the circuit, so we decided to move it down a little bit,” she added.
Formerly known as the New West Doc Fest, the festival’s name changed last year after organizers officially formed into the New West Film Society.
Although the slate of films has yet to be decided, Loubert said movie-goers can expect to see many documentaries related to social justice, as well as issues in the New Westminster area.
“One is locally produced. It deals with the pipelines up north and deals with the whole question of, ‘Can we sustainably continue to be an oil-producing nation?’” Loubert noted. “Also, films that explore the price of creativity; that when different people in different creative mediums pursue their dreams, sometimes they pay a price, and sometimes that price is in those of us who consume the medium.”
Asked about what she’d like people to take away from the 2015 film fest, Loubert said it’s realizing that there’s a lot of great local talent out there.
“In looking for films, we have run across a lot of great American films, but we want to bring our own viewpoints. We want them to see that there’s some young people, some creative people, who are out there voicing the concerns of the B.C. people.”
Some of last year’s titles included Boyhood and a documentary about food waste called Just Eat It.
The festival runs Nov. 5 to Nov. 7 at Landmark Cinemas at New West station. There will be between 10 and 12 films, including special programming for families. Like always, there will be entertainment and some special speakers. More details about the lineup and ticket prices will be announced at a later date.
