Image Credit: CFJC Today

By Adam Donnelly

THAT'S A WRAP!

Big crowds and great films mark 27th edition of the Kamloops Film Festival

Mar 13, 2023 | 4:21 PM

KAMLOOPS — Another year, another Kamloops Film Festival finished — this one, the 27th annual. For Kamloops Film Society Executive Director Dušan Magdolen, the 2023 edition of the event was a huge success.

“Numbers-wise, it was one of our top festivals ever, in terms of attendance — the highest attendance we’ve had since we’ve taken over the theatre,” Magdolen says. “Obviously COVID was in there, which didn’t help that, but it was a big leap forward from last year.”

With those big attendance numbers, there was big audience participation. That means Magdolen is still tabulating the votes for the fan favourite film. However, one night was sold out, which is its own measure of success.

“The Whale was sold out, so obviously [that was] our most popular film,” Magdolen says. “We do our most popular film and then the audience choice. Most popular was The Whale, selling out, which is part of the reason we’re bringing it back for the rest of March.”

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Along with The Whale, this year’s festival featured several other Oscar winners and nominees, including Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, and The Banshees of Inisherin.

Magdolen was quick to give the Film Festival Committee credit for their selections.

“We do have some skills in picking films. Sometimes we play stuff early in the year, and sometimes it ends up on the awards circuit,” he says. “Having the festival be as popular as it was, and people wanting to connect with those great films is just awesome.”

With the festival wrapped up for another year, the Film Society will continue to show some of the Best of the Fest, including the locally written and produced Outrunners. The KFS is also working with the Kamloops Francophone Association on a French film festival, set for April 13 to 15.

“That’s where our focus is going to shift to now, and we’re going keep growing these micro-festivals. We’ve done our Indigenous one, and now we’re doing the French one. We’re working on some more, so that’s really exciting for us.”