New West Film Fest 2022

The 12th Annual International New West Film Festival runs from October 21 - 23, 2022 at the New Westminster Landmark Cinema. A grass roots film festival showing films from all over the world, we feature documentaries, features, shorts, and experimental films. Our first full capacity in-person festival in two years, we celebrate building community through film. Our festival includes a free film panel event, and one free screening with community discussion.

PLEASE NOTE PROGRAMMING SUBJECT TO CHANGE. $1 Membership to Attend Festival; membership included in Festival Passes and individual tickets. You will be presented with a pass when you attend your first screening. You must show your pass at each screening. You must be 18+ to attend. You must be a member to attend the film festival, as our films are not rated, so by law, membership is mandatory. Thank you!

New West Film Fest 2022 Schedule:

Friday, Oct 21, 2022

5:00 pm Paper Dreams

Paper Dreams (USA/Iran) is the story of a poor man, who falls for a woman who wants to promote him as a mock candidate in an upcoming election, working with him to satirize the political system. A film with humor and heartbreak, exploring class divide, and the universal longing for human connection. In Farsi, with English subtitles

7:00 pm Citizen of Moria , with Black Till I Find Darker, Blanket Song, and Digger Dan

Citizen of Moria (Canada) When Ahmad’s life comes under threat by the Taliban in Afghanistan, he leaves his family behind for survival, without saying good bye, and ends up in Europe’s worst Refugee Detention Camp, Moria. Through the stress of leaving his family, and the anxiety of not knowing how many years it will take, Ahmad decides to pick up a camera and document his journey and story.

With short documentary films:

Black Til I Find Darker (Iran) A young woman sewing a black shawl...; Blanket Song (Canada) My 奶奶 (nainai, grandmother) isn't an avid writer, but she writes stories in her own way: sewing them into her blankets and quilts. ; Digger Dan (BC) Digger Dan is a musician based in Vancouver. He is a singer/songwriter, and guitarist. Disability is not a barrier to creativity.

8:30 pm Opening Night Social Gathering

Saturday, Oct 22, 2022

11:00 am My Mom's Co-op, with Steven Brunell- New Paintings

My Mom's Co-op (Canada) Filmed over two years, My Mom’s Co-op reveals a place where, despite the challenges of collective management, 40 families successfully resist the pull of the individual. This intercultural, intergenerational melting pot is the new face of the co-operative movement where everyone, no matter their hardships, can find peace, security and most importantly a home. In French with English subtitles.

With documentary short Steven Brunell - New Paintings (Canada), which follows Indigenous artist Steven Brunell as he prepares for an art showing.

12:45 pm Rematriation

Rematriation (BC) British Columbia's Old Growth forests represent one of the last lines of defense against climate change. Only one of hundreds of valleys (outside of parks) remains entirely uncut on Vancouver Island - Fairy Creek (Ada'itsx). An indigenous led movement to prevent the cutting of this last Old Growth watershed has now become Canada's largest act of civil disobedience.

2:15 pm Love In the Time of Fentanyl - followed by community panel discussion (FREE EVENT)

Love In The Time Of Fentanyl (BC) Set in the Downtown East Side, this is an intimate, observational look beyond the stigma of injection drug users, revealing the courage of those facing terrible tragedy in a neighbourhood often referred to as ground zero of the overdose crisis in Canada. Please note this screening is FREE, and will be followed by a panel discussion by the filmmakers and participants.

4:15 pm Émilienne & The Passage Of Time, with Letter to Heal A Broken Heart

Émilienne & The Passage Of Time (Canada) Retired after a long career as a flight attendant, Émilienne Belhumeur is fulfilling the dream she had while up in the sky: “Having chickens and coffee while leaning against a fence.” Through the seasons, Émilienne’s small farm becomes a quiet retreat. As a keeper of forgotten knowledge, she introduces us to her time-based way of life that she might have to give up. In French with English subtitles

With documentary short Letter To Heal A Broken Heart (Canada): Allison Stevens presents a vulnerable self-portrait of a woman experiencing the angst of a breakup.

5:45 pm Fragile Seeds

Fragile Seeds (BC) A therapist treating sex offenders uncovers haunting secrets and answers to her family's past through the disturbed men she counsels every day.

7:40 pm The Noise of Engines

The Noise of Engines (Canada) Alexandre is a young firearms instructor at the Canadian customs college in the midst of an internal investigation, led by the director of the institution, which diagnoses him with a sexual addiction. This diagnosis, without scientific basis, leads the director to find him unfit for duty and to place him on compulsory leave for ten days. Alexandre takes the opportunity to make a surprise visit to his mother, owner of a drag strip 45 kilometers from Montreal. In French with English Subtitles

9:15 pm After Dark Shorts & Social Gathering: I Don't Want Him Either; Reformat; 3 Pride Flags; Devoured; Guess What's Coming To Dinner; Wrought; Final Touches; Minus Twenty; The Sprayer; Dissós

AFTER DARK SHORTS & SOCIAL GATHERING

I Don't Want Him Either (BC) A comedy action micro short about a woman faced with a big decision regarding saving her father.

Reformat (BC) After the body of an AI student is found on school grounds, an investigation into the last 7 people who interacted with the student takes place.

3 Pride Flags (USA) "Thinking about Jasper Johns in anticipation of the joint retrospective exhibitions, I was inspired to use three pride flags permutating at different speeds."

Devoured (BC) A man struggles to escape the monster in his bed.

Guess What's Coming To Dinner (BC) In the near future, a man struggles to come to terms with the fact that his daughter is dating an android.

Wrought (Canada) begins with that universal moment of disappointment: despite all best efforts, our food has gone bad! But instead of turning away in disgust, Wrought zooms in, approaching the usually hidden world of decay with curiosity and stunning time lapse photography.

Final Touches (BC) A Make Up Artist is pushed to the edge when she has to deal with a misogynistic crew.

Minus Twenty (Canada) A cold storage worker's job follows him around.

The Sprayer (Iran), Animated. In the land occupied with the sprayers army, no one has the right to grow any kind of plants either in public or private.

Dissós (BC), Animated. A man enters an abandoned house...

Sunday, Oct 23, 2022

11:00 am Part of the Pack, with Inside the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone '88

Part of the Pack (BC) explores the ambiguous love story between humans and wolves. The boundary between wild and domesticated is shifting. Following stories where people have developed a unique relationship to wolves, Part of the Pack explores the ethical and behavioral questions around creating intimacy with the wild.

With documentary short Inside the Grand Canyon (USA) This film captures a Colorado River rafting expedition through the Grand Canyon. This rafting trip will soon be a thing of the past, with record draughts continuing, due to ongoing global climate change.

Animated short Yellowstone '88: Song of Fire (USA), a poem about the effects on the creatures of Yellowstone national park after the 1988 wildfires.

1:00 pm FACING INJUSTICE: Awasisak; Nomoto: A BC Tragedy

Two short documentaries address past Canadian injustices.

Awasisak Our Future (Canada). The title is Cree for the The Children our Future, and the film tells the story of a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous walkers, who in 2021 embarked on a learning journey in Treaty 6 Territory.

Nomoto: A BC Tragedy (BC) How did one of the first Japanese Canadian UBC graduates, Kyuichi Nomoto, until 1942 a successful Steveston church minister, suffer a breakdown deep in the BC Interior and die just two years later back in the Vancouver area from where his community had been displaced?

2:15 pm FREE FILM PANEL:

The Truth, The Whole Truth, & Nothing But The Truth: Creative Equity and Authenticity

3:30 pm Afternoon Shorts and Social Gathering - Lauren In the Bathroom; Wishing Fall; Conduit; To All That We Are; F**k; Cat & Moth; Vegan Vampire; Work It Class!; Macaroni Soup; The Hot Shot;

AFTERNOON SHORTS AND SOCIAL GATHERING:

Lauren In the Bathroom (BC) After scrutinizing herself in the mirror, Lauren comes face-to-face with moments from her past and future, giving her the push to step towards accepting herself.

Wishing Fall (BC) When Graham takes his new step-son Emil on a camping trip, his hope is that they will finally find a way to bond through the traditions and lessons he learned from his own father. However, the scars of the recent death of Emil's father hang heavy over the pair and Emil resists Graham's attempts to get closer to him.

Conduit (USA) A running body powers the cycle between states of being. A tribute to Korean musical rituals and the wonder of locomotion, both spiritual and physical

To All That We Are (Canada) A dreamlike love story exploring the newfound relationship between two queer twenty-somethings.

F**K (BC) A dinner party goes horribly wrong.

Cat & Moth (BC), Animated short. A fluffy white cat wants nothing more than to find the most comfortable spot in the universe, but little does she know someone else has their eye on it too.

Vegan Vampire (BC) Jackie is a lonely, immortal, vegan vampire, who embarks on a mission to start a support group, uniting vegans and vampires.

Work It Class! (Spain) During a fancy New Year's Eve party, two dancers will try to mock the upper class audience by changing the song of their performance.

Macaroni Soup (BC), Animated. A young woman falls in love with a waitress in a greasy-yet-nostalgic Hong Kong-style cafe, but a language gap divides the two - or is there something more?

The Hot Shot (BC) When the sudden death of his troubled worker threatens his own sobriety, blue-collar landscaper, must balance between saving his personal relationship and seeing to the dead-man's funeral.

5:30 pm Handshake, with Feeling The Apocalypse

Handshake (USA) After a chance encounter in the Montana wilderness, mild mannered family man Bill Burdick and failed drug dealer Devin Fowler form an unlikely bond, and soon find themselves concocting an unorthodox scheme to solve their respective financial problems. Loosely based on actual events, Handshake charts the enigmatic trajectory of two ordinary men whose toxic chemistry and dire circumstances give way to greed, violence, and far-reaching psychological trauma.

7:45 pm Trapper Radio Series, with Langar: Beyond Temple, Wherever You Are, Wherever I Am

Trapper Radio Series (Canada) A 5 part film series showcasing 20 + NWT artists in their local regions talking about their art, living through the pandemic, and sharing stories and music about their connections to the north and the land.

With documentary shorts: Langar: Beyond Temple (New Westminster), which follows New Westminster Gurudwara's Free Food programs, that helped communities in the Lower Mainland and the Downtown Eastside during pandemic; Wherever You Are, Wherever I am (Canada) follows a pair of Two-Spirit Métis-Chinese youth softening a deer hide together. An experimental film about belonging and honoring your full self and ancestry, no matter where you are.

Come out to celebrate local and international cinema at the 12th Annual International New West Film Fest, featuring a wide range of cinema in one action-packed weekend, running Friday, October 21 to Sunday, October 23 at the New Westminster Landmark Cinema.

NWFF is grateful to live, learn, work and create on the traditional and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including of the Qayqayt First Nation, as well well as all Coast Salish peoples. including the territories of the Katzie, Kwantlen, Kwikwetlem, Musqueam, and Qayqayt First Nations.