Record showing for SFU film students at major film festivals
Colin Browne, SFU Film, 604.626.2143, colinbrowne@mac.com
Tony Massil, SFU Film grad, 604.313.7780, tonymassil@hotmail.com
North Vancouver native Tony Massil’s short film Forty Men for the Yukon was selected from an international field of competitors. Massil completed the film, which tells the story of two long-time Yukoners, as part of his SFU Contemporary Arts graduation requirements.
“This is indeed a significant nod of appreciation,” says Colin Browne, one of Massil’s film instructors at SFU. “It follows on the heels of Evan Crowe’s Starlight Tour, which screened at TIFF in 2006, and I think it shows we’re on the right track.
“Our students work on many different productions over the four-year program. They write, produce and direct, and every year we’re impressed all over again by their drive and their willingness to take creative risks.”
Massil’s film will also be among the 13 short films by SFU Film students selected to appear as part of the Montreal World Film Festival, Aug. 21-Sept. 1.
“This is arguably the most important student film festival in the country,” says Browne, “and there are more entries by SFU Film students this year than ever before.”
Massil, who credits SFU Film for giving him “the freedom to explore the different aspects of filmmaking,” says “being selected for these festivals is a wonderful opportunity to make connections with other artists from around the world.”
Backgrounder:
The 39th Canadian Student Film Festival, part of the Montreal World Film Festival, will feature 13 films produced by SFU Film students:
• Boreal Forest Expedition, by Lindsay and Nick Bradford-Ewart
• Bruiser, by Jessica Parsons
• Dead Air, by Ace Dixon
• Forty Men for the Yukon, by Tony Massil
• In Transit, by Dan Pierce
• Into the Fountain, by Evan Warner
• Presidio Modelo, by Pablo Alvarez
• Skies Falling, by Marly Reed
• Surviving Film School, by Tyson Hepburn
• Xylophobia, by Jelena Stefulic
• A City in Five Minutes, by Laurynas Navidauska
• Firebear Called Them Faith Healers, by Kelvin Redvers
• Our Hero Dave, by Kelvin Redvers
SFU Film is the largest film school in western Canada. It is one of the seven distinctive creative arts programs offered through SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts, which will relocate to the Woodward’s District in downtown Vancouver in late 2009.