Get Reeled In
By MURTZ JAFFER, TORONTO SUN
Source: TORONTO SUN

REAL FILMS with real heart are the order of the day at an upstart Toronto film festival.

The ReelHeART International Film Festival (RHIFF) runs until Saturday at the Bloor Cinema. It showcases the work of indie filmmakers including Noah Kadner's Formosa and, according to RHIFF Director Shannonn Kelly, stresses an open-door policy.

"We were looking for films with real heart," she says. "It's open in every sense of the word. We want filmmakers to be recognized for their art and not for where they are [in their filmmaking careers]."

Founded in 2002 by K. Irenaeus MacKinnon, RHIFF does not require Spanish or French films to be subtitled. Kelly says because of the costs of subtitling, many of these films would usually not make it into a festival, so making it a non-requirement highlights the multicultural fabric of the city. "If you were to take the Dufferin bus, one of the things that you realize is that very few people speak English," Kelly says. "There's this beautiful melody of all these different languages on the bus. Why couldn't we have a film festival where that continued?"

Kadner's Formosa makes its Toronto premiere at the Festival on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The film parodies the social guidance flicks of the '50s, which offered teens advice about life, love and alcohol. "I have probably seen it several hundred times," the 33-year-old director says. "When I see it with an audience that's brand new, there's always some part that gets a laugh different, or gets some sort of new vocal reaction. That's exciting!"

Kadner says that the RHIFF is a good venue for the film, because Formosa isn't a typical festival movie. It is not provocative and has more of a commercial appeal, he says. A labour of love, the film was funded partly by Kadner and partly by actors (including Steve Gilborn) only making between $75-$100 per day of the three-week shoot. "I am very proud of it. If you had come to the set and seen what we were starting with in terms of resources, it was literally like rubbing two sticks together and praying for fire," he says.

"When you look at a real period film like Back To The Future, they have all the money in the world to get people in period costumes and fill the streets with period cars. For us, it was like we could afford a car, two people in a costume and just pray that we could find a location that would remotely resemble something from the '50s."

From the opening scene, students giggle at one of the typical social guidance movies. Kadner says that this still happens. "I think it's still an issue, but I don't know how you teach a kid these days any more effectively than you might have back then," he said. "It's definitely still a problem ... now more than ever."

For more info on the RHIFF: www.reelheart.com.