(Kamloops Film Society).

By Aaron Schulze

Pandemic Film Festival

Running a festival during a pandemic showcases films, fun, and learning curves for Kamloops Film Society

Apr 25, 2021 | 2:40 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s not the same theatre ambience as the previous 24 years, but the 2021 Kamloops Film Festival has adjusted to new avenues.

The Kamloops Film Society (KFS) are showing films at Twin Rivers Drive In at McArthur Island and on an online streaming service until May 2.

Since the festival began on April 21, Kamloops Film Society Executive Director Dusan Magdolen said the drive-in portion has been easier to figure out after a pilot tryout in 2020, but the online shift has brough some learning curves.

“It’s part of the fun; evolving and staying with the times and just being able to do what you can,” Magdolen said. “It’s always hard to fully tell in the thick of it. You’re just going on to the next thing and it’s quite busy, but it seems to be going well. The drive-in has had some sell outs and online has been selling well. It seems like people are into it and watching some movies.”

KFS turned to drive-in screen times and online streaming after COVID-19 health protocols prevented them from showing films at Paramount Theatre. However, learning new ways to run the festival has given KFS more options even when in-person viewing is allowed again.

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“Our mandate is to bring people together over film, so we want to return to in-theatre screens,” Magdolen said. “But drive-in is something we would love to pursue in the future as well. We probably wouldn’t run it April to October, but maybe a couple of months every summer would be exciting.

“I think [online] can work for a festival format, and it might be something we keep in our back pocket as well for future festivals. It depends on what our audience is in to, what the industry is doing, and what’s possible.”

Magdolen said all the films are still available online and there are still some tickets available for the Twin Rivers Drive In showings.