South Western International Film Festival

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The South Western International Film Festival was an annual film festival in Sarnia, Ontario, staged from 2015 to 2022. [1] Launched in 2015, the festival programs a lineup of Canadian and international films in November each year, [2] at the city's Imperial Theatre and Judith & Norman Alix Art Gallery. [3]

The inaugural festival was opened with a gala screening of Into the Forest , a film by Sarnia native Patricia Rozema. [4]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2020 festival was staged online. [5] The 2020 festival included a retrospective program of the work of Sami Khan, a filmmaker from Sarnia whose short documentary film St. Louis Superman was an Academy Award nominee for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 92nd Academy Awards. [6]

The festival's longtime executive director was Ravi Srinivasan, [7] until his death in January 2023. [8] He was also an associate programmer with the Toronto International Film Festival, specializing in South Asian and Philippine films. [8] His death resulted in the festival cancelling the 2023 edition. [9]

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References

  1. Louis Pin, "Local film festival touts bigger-than-ever lineup". Sarnia Observer , October 7, 2019.
  2. Barbara Simpson, "Film festival hopes to reel in new industry". Chatham Daily News, October 17, 2015.
  3. Carl Hnatyshyn, "Film festival marks five years of bringing the world to Sarnia". Sarnia & Lambton County This Week, October 9, 2019.
  4. Paul Morden, "Rozema still calls Sarnia 'home'". Sarnia Observer , October 31, 2015.
  5. "Festival will home stream films to counter winter blahs". Sarnia Journal, August 27, 2020.
  6. "Sarnia film festival offering retrospective of hometown director". Sarnia Observer , October 20, 2020.
  7. Paul Morden, "Sarnia film festival supporters step up". Sarnia Observer , September 23, 2020.
  8. 1 2 Barry Hertz, "Ravi Srinivasan, TIFF programmer and ‘champion’ of Canadian film community, dies at 37". The Globe and Mail , January 16, 2023.
  9. Paul Morden, "Sarnia's South Western International Film Festival ending". Sarnia Observer , September 22, 2023.