Grand Forks Film Festival brings B.C. films to Historic Gem Theatre

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready... A series of events has culminated in a big three-day movie screening coming to Grand Forks. Kostya Tyoschin, founder of Wooden Ball Studios, is organizing the Forks Film Festival from Sep. 25 to 27 at the Historic Gem Theatre. His company, which is based in Christina Lake, has been coordinating multiple events in Grand Forks throughout the summer, including a screening at Gyro Park with independent short films, two film summer camps, a 48-hour filmmaking challenge, and more. Through an open submission process on FilmFreeway, Tyoschin and his team have curated a list of B.C. based movies for the upcoming festival, ranging from brand-new to experienced filmmakers. The first day will showcase Short Documentaries followed by Youth Films on the 26th and ending with Short Films on the 27th. 'The biggest push that we're doing with Forks Film Festival is making it accessible and breaking down certain barriers because it can be very intimidating. The screenings will have a big variety from, very experienced filmmakers all the way to brand new filmmakers who are picking up a camera for the first time, and it's about bringing them all together, mixing the pot and sharing experiences,' said Tyoschin. The festival's mascot, Joe the fork, will make a star-studded appearance in the opening film, which tells his story. 'His story is that he comes to life; he has a prophecy to become the Grand Fork. On his journey that he's gone through throughout the summer, he's meeting new people; he's picking up a phone and just starting the film. So he has a storyline that hopefully others can relate to in terms of trying something new, and whether they want to continue to pursue filmmaking or storytelling or whatever art, it doesn't matter. It just matters that they went and they tested it out and they tried it out.' Tyoschin invited everyone to come out and spend the day watching movies at the theatre. 'I hope that people will come out because there's some really incredible storytelling being done here and it's so worth going to the theatre. I hope that film festivals also encourage people to go to the theatre even more because film's all about the experience. And it's so much better than just watching on a TV in your living room.' Tickets are now available for the Forks Film Festival.