County Adaptation Film Festival

Inaugural film festival set to open on September 27

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for Regent Theatre artistic director Alexandra Seay and staff and volunteers as they prepare for the opening of the inaugural County Adaptation Film Festival (CAFF). “It’s been very, very busy,” said Ms. Seay, who is also the artistic director of the festival. “There are a lot of moving parts with any film festival, but particularly with a new festival. There’s no guidebook. We are starting from scratch, bringing together collaborators from all different sectors, mustering the volunteers. It’s been a lot of work for everybody, but it’s going to pay off.” The idea of a film festival has been in Ms. Seay’s vision since she joined the Regent Theatre. But with the County sandwiched between Toronto with its international film festival and Kingston with its Canadian film festival, Ms. Seay had to find a different niche that sets the County apart and which will attract an audience. “The notion of doing a film festival that focuses on adaptation presents an interesting way for two reasons. First, it allows us a really long runway in terms of what we can program, and second, it presents us with a focus to our content. A long runway means that we can do something that was created in 1918 or we could do something currently on the festival circuit. We are release- date agnostic as long as it’s an adaptation. In focusing on screenwriters, what we are able to do is to have conversations. As far as this festival is concerned, the conversations are equally important to the screenings. We have the opportunity to put the screenwriter who has created the adapted content in conversation with the creator of the original source material. So we have two creative visions coming together to discuss the process of adapting source material,” she said. The adaptation process is not necessarily from a book to the screen. The original source material could be a painting or a poem or a symphony. Ms. Seay cites the example of the Barbie movie

The festival extends beyond the walls of the Regent Theatre. There are events at The Eddie, Closson Chase, Base31, Karlo Estates and Macaulay Church Museum. “An important part of the festival is taking it beyond the Regent. It allows us to provide our audience with an experience that is more representative of what the County has to offer. If they can go to the theatre and a vineyard and Base31 and Macaulay Church Museum then they will have experienced more of the County than a film festival that was exclusively at the Regent,” said Ms. Seay.

“For a festival to be successful it needs to be a partnership and it needs to be a collaborative effort. Our best partners are the businesses in the County and other arts organizations in the County. It has always been important to provide an opportunity for our audience to do more than be in this building. If this festival becomes what we want it to become—a stop on the film festival circuit—it needs to have something special. And the most special thing we have to offer here is the County.”

The CAFF is different in that it’s a curated festival, with the selection process dictated by the availability of both the content and the artist. The opening night film is Widow Clicquot, adapted from the biography of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot. After the screening, author Tilar J. Mazzeo will be on stage for a conversation with CBC host Eleanor Wachtel. The maelstrom of the current US presidential election process has also touched the festival. The fictionalized account of Donald Trump’s New York rise to fame, The Apprentice, was initially on the list, but a “Cease and Desist” order from the Trump campaign halted the film’s distribution. That order was recently lifted and the film will be screened at CAFF on Sunday, September 29 at 8 p.m. There will also be a pre-recorded interview between Wendy Mesley and David Frum after the film. The screenings at the Regent are ticketed events, but there are also free events that anyone can attend. There will be a Virtual Reality experience at the Sensory Garden in Base31, an exhibit at Macaulay Church Museum, and a conversation between author Tanya Talaga and writer Courtney Montour at The Eddie. But the big event is the opening night party in Armoury Square on September 27 at 8 p.m. where everyone is invited.

When asked about what Ms. Seay hopes the outcome of this festival will be, the answer is quick. “A second festival!” she said. “This year is about launching the festival so that it can build and grow and become a destination. I’m excited for next year and the year after that, and this year can help us get there.” For more information about CAFF, please visit countyadaptationfilmfest.ca