Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

KAMLOOPS FILM SOCIETY

Kamloops Film Festival set to light up the silver screen for silver anniversary

Mar 2, 2022 | 4:47 PM

KAMLOOPS — 2022 marks the silver anniversary of an event that highlights the silver screen. The Kamloops Film Festival kicks off on Thursday evening for the 25th time. Movie-goers will be happy to learn that this event is back in-person at the Paramount Theatre.

After a virtual version of the event and a year of uncertainty, the Kamloops Film Festival is back for its 25th year, in-person and with all the festivities folks have come to expect.

“Really, what we’re about is bringing people to movies here [at the Paramount Theatre],” Dusan Magdolen, Executive Director of the Kamloops Film Society explains. “Then having events throughout the community where people can talk about the movies, or engage with Q & A’s, y’know, just sort of celebrate — like our Pizza & Donut party.”

To celebrate its silver anniversary, the Kamloops Film Festival features 25 films, with a little something for everyone. The festival opens with the latest film from Paul Thomas Anderson and will close with a coming-of-age Canadian comedy set in Penticton, starring Eric McCormack.

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“All of our films are great,” Magdolen says. “We look at reviews, we look at trailers, obviously, we look at awards they’ve been winning. We try and have a really strong lineup, but go outside your comfort zone a bit. That’s when it’s exciting — when you see something unexpected and it moves you.”

And of course, there are the events that go along with the films. There’s a red carpet on opening night and the aforementioned Pizza and Donuts Party after the first couple of screenings. There are also wine and whiskey tastings, a sustainability night, and the ever-popular Short Short Film Festival on Saturday at 11:00 am.

“I think that sort of personal shared experience you have with a movie, when a movie moves you in a certain way and somebody else in another way,” Magdonlen explains. “People who know me know I like a good debate, so I love the discussion, even just in the lobby, when people have watched the same movie but have different experiences. I think that’s what festivals are about.”

The 25th edition of the Kamloops Film Festival starts March 3rd, 2022 and runs until March 12th. For more information on what movies play when you can click here.