North Bay Film Festival 2020 | November 13-15
2020 Award Winners + We’ll be back in 2021!
On behalf of the North Bay Film and the Near North Mobile Media Lab, we would like to We realize that this has been a very stressful year, so we very much appreciate you taking time out of your weekend to hang out with us and watch some great films as a community.
We are very grateful for the generous donations that we received and would like to personally thank all of those who supported us this year by donating.
This year’s festival drew in over 1,100 views from across Canada, including attendees located in British Columbia all the way to Prince Edward Island. As we begin looking forward to next year’s 2021 festival we hope to adopt more online aspects to the festival, allowing us to reach new audiences and creating greater Canada-wide participation in the scheduled events.
We appreciate all feedback on this year’s virtual screening process and welcome all comments.
2020 North Bay Film Festival Award Winners
We would like to congratulate all of the filmmakers who won awards during this year’s festival.
Audience Choice Award Winner: Happy Place Dir. Helen Shaver
Student Shorts Showcase Winner: Bad Omen Dir. Salar Pashtoonyar
Canadian Shorts Winner: Tsi Teyoto:te (Even In the Silence) Dir. Jonathan Elliott
We would like to sincerely thank all the members of our community that helped make this year’s North Bay Film Festival a success and we can’t wait to have you all join us again next year. Stay tuned for more info in the new year about virtual winter North Bay Film screenings.
Thank again you to all of our Sponsors:
Canadore College, Kennedy Insurance Brokers, Nipissing University, Gateway City Brewery, Ryan and Arwyn Team, Century 21, Ontario Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts.
Happy Place
Audience Choice Award Winner
“Welcome to the zoo,” Samira (Clark Backo) is advised as she’s admitted to an in-patient care facility in the wake of a suicide attempt. As she slowly familiarizes herself with her fellow residents and their idiosyncratic traits – be it foul-mouthed Mildred (Mary Walsh), hyper-competitive Joyce (Sheila McCarthy) or highly vulnerable Nina (Liisa Repo-Martell) – a makeshift community takes shape. But if a sense of solace is ever to be achieved, Samira must face the demons that have left her with PTSD.
87 mins
Canada, 2020
Dir. Helen Shaver
Language: English
TSI TEYOTO:TE (EVEN IN THE SILENCE)
Canadian Short Showcase Winner
Inspired by true events, an imaginative Asian-Canadian girl attempts to fold a thousand cranes as she learns to lose her father during his final days in the hospice.
3 mins 30s
Canada, 2019
Dir. Jonathan Elliot
Language: Kanien’keha
Bad Omen
Student Short Showcase Winner
Kabul, Afghanistan. Pari, an in-house tailor, must find the means to purchase her prescription glasses in order to save her job. The armed conflict has made Afghanistan one of the world’s most prolific producers of orphans and widows. According to the recent studies by Afghanistan’s Ministry of Social Affairs, and Human Rights organizations, Afghanistan has over two million widows, 94 percent of whom are illiterate; 32 percent are afflicted with mental disorders and 22 percent have severe physical problems. Despite all this, they are forced to look after themselves and their young children in the face of stigmatization and violence while lacking social support.
18 mins 55s
Canada, 2022
Dir. Salar Pashtoonyar
Language: Persian