Online festival unites immigrant experiences

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Online festival unites immigrant experiences


$25,000 in prizes will be awarded to short films from around the world, voted on by viewers
Oct 18, 2008 04:30 AM
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Nicholas Keung
IMMIGRATION/DIVERSITY REPORTER

This is not your typical film festival.

There's no red carpet, stellar Hollywood casts, big parties or even a proper launch.

This festival spans seven weeks, and audiences are free to watch their choice of movies at any time, anywhere at their leisure – all they need is an internet connection.

The uniqueness doesn't end there with the annual Migr@tions Online Film Festival and Competition, Canada's first and only online film festival dealing with issues of immigration – something close to the hearts of the loyal listeners of the organizer, RCIviva, Radio-Canada International's web-based service.

Now into its second year, Migr@tion 2008, launched without any fanfare yesterday, will feature a total of 80 short documentaries and dramas – 40 each in English and French – from more than 22 countries, including Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, South Korea, U.K., U.S., Zimbabwe and, of course, Canada.

"We believe that the current media environment has excluded many stories of Canada's growing demographics. This is a small but important step toward opening a dialogue to explore the experience and reality of many immigrants living in Canada," explained the festival's project coordinator, Thierry Harris.

Following its move from short-wave frequency to internet podcast in 2006, RCIviva initiated the virtual film festival last year, hoping to enrich its multicultural fan base's experience by adding the visual element on its website.

The inaugural event drew 150 submissions from across Canada, attracting more than 60,000 viewers. By going international, this year's festival received more than 200 entries, each between four and nine minutes, from South African Sarah Van Borek's Xenophobia Unplugged on a musician's journey, to American Alana Kakoyiannis' Cosmopolis, a documentary on Greek immigrants who, having gained social mobility, are passing the torch to the next waves of Mexicans.

Among the Canadian features are Ellen Tang's Girl Any More, which examines if having an anglicized name affects who you are, Radha Rajagopalan's Wires and Words, exploring how second-generation Tamil Brahmins in Canada connect to their heritage through the internet, and Punam Kumar Gill's The Lesson, about the filmmaker's father, who helped his Punjabi community in Edmonton by teaching newcomers how to drive.

Viewers can watch and vote for their favourite films at rciviva.ca/migrations, with a chance to win an iPod each week, leading up to the festival's closing in mid-December, when the winners of the $25,000 in awards are announced. There will be an old-fashioned screening at University of Toronto from 8 to 10 p.m. on Nov.16.

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http://www.rciviva.ca/migrations/

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