2024 Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival Explained
The 2024 edition of the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, the 36th edition in the event's history, was held from September 14 to 22, 2024 in Sudbury, Ontario.[1] The first titles in the program were announced on August 13, 2024,[2] with the full program announced on August 22.[3]
In part as a response to a minor controversy earlier in the year, when the Sudbury Wolves limited ticket sales to North Bay residents during the 2023–24 OHL season playoff semifinals against the North Bay Battalion,[4] Cinéfest executive director Patrick O'Hearn announced that the festival was "putting a stop to this", and would offer a special $45 "North Bay Day" pass covering admission to the four North Bay-filmed titles in the festival lineup (Drive Back Home, We Forgot to Break Up, All the Lost Ones and Seeds).[5]
On September 7, the festival announced changes to the final schedule, pulling the previously announced Lucky Star and adding three other titles.[6]
Awards
Award winners were announced on September 26.[7]
| Award | Film | Filmmaker |
|---|
| Audience Choice, Feature Film | The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte Cristo) | Matthieu Delaporte, Alexandre de La Patellière |
| Audience Choice, Feature Film Runner-Up | All Stirred Up! (Tous toqués!) | Manon Briand |
| Audience Choice, Documentary | Porcelain War | Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev |
| Audience Choice, Documentary Runner Up | Never Look Away | Lucy Lawless |
| Audience Choice, Short Film | Karatéka | Florence Fauquet |
| Audience Choice, Short Film Runner Up | Save Solace | Matt Steeves |
| Outstanding Canadian Feature | The Mother and the Bear | Johnny Ma |
| Outstanding International Feature | My Favourite Cake (Keyk-e mahboob-e man) | Maryam Moqadam, Behtash Sanaeeha |
| Outstanding Female-Led Feature Film | Bird | Andrea Arnold |
| Cinema Indigenized Outstanding Talent | Red Fever | Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge |
| French-Language Feature Film | Blue Sky Jo (La petite et le vieux) | Patrice Sauvé |
| Inspiring Voices and Perspectives | Black Box Diaries | Shiori Itō |
| Outstanding Short Film | Thirteenth Night | Xiaowen Song |
| Outstanding Animated Short Film | Tennis, Oranges | Sean Pecknold |
| Outstanding Northern Ontario Short Film | Ephemera | Cici Clancy |
| CTV Best in Shorts, Open Category First Place |
| CTV Best in Shorts, Open Category Second Place | The Stain | MJ Dionne |
| CTV Best in Shorts, Northern Flicks | Save Solace | Matt Steeves | |
Official selections
Gala Presentations
Special Presentations
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| 40 Acres | | Canada |
| Anora | | United States |
| The Apprentice | | Canada, Denmark, Ireland, United States |
| Bird | | United Kingdom |
| Blue Sky Jo | La petite et le vieux | | Canada |
| Can I Get a Witness? | | Canada |
| Darkest Miriam | Naomi Jaye | Canada |
| Disco's Revenge | Omar Majeed, Peter Mishara | Canada |
| My Favourite Cake | Keyk-e mahboob-e man | | Iran, France, Sweden, Germany |
| Neon Dreaming | Rêver en néon | Marie-Claire Marcotte | Canada |
| Never Look Away | | New Zealand |
| Rumours | | Canada, Germany |
| Samia | | Italy, Germany, Belgium |
| Shepherds | Berger | | Canada |
| Sisters and Neighbors! | Nos belles-sœurs | | Canada |
| The Substance | | United Kingdom, United States, France |
| Treasure | | Germany, France, Poland | |
Features Canada
Cana-Doc
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| 7 Beats per Minute | | Canada |
| Curl Power | Josephine Anderson | Canada |
| The Hobby | Simon Ennis | Canada |
| Intercepted | | Canada, France, Ukraine |
| Kina & Yuk | Kina et Yuk | Guillaume Maidatchevsky | France, Canada, Italy | |
World Cinema
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| Crossing | | Sweden, Denmark, France, Turkey, Georgia |
| A Different Man | | United States |
| Flow | Straume | | Latvia, France, Belgium |
| The Girl with the Needle | Pigen med nålen | | Denmark, Poland, Sweden |
| Good One | | United States |
| In the Summers | | United States, Mexico |
| Mamifera | Liliana Torres | Spain |
| Memoir of a Snail | | Australia |
| Misericordia | Miséricorde | | France, Spain, Portugal |
| The Missile | Ohjus | | Finland, Estonia |
| My First Film | Zia Anger | United States |
| Reinas | | Switzerland, Peru |
| Rent Free | Fernando Andrés | United States |
| The Second Act | Le Deuxième acte | | France |
| To a Land Unknown | | United Kingdom, France, Germany, Netherlands, Greece, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Palestine |
| Victoria Must Go | Victoria må dø | Gunnbjörg Gunnarsdóttir | Norway | |
World Doc
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| Black Box Diaries | | United States, United Kingdom, Japan |
| | | France |
| Mediha | Hasan Oswald | United States, Iraq |
| Porcelain War | Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev | United States, Australia, Ukraine |
| Stories and Pictures | Joanna Rudnick | United States |
| Union | | United States | |
In Full View: Crisis, Conflict, Conscience
Cinema Indigenized (Nishnaabek Dbaajmawaat)
Cinema 9 Prime Time
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| Home Free | Avi Federgreen | Canada |
| Morningside | Ron Dias | Canada | |
Short Circuit
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|
| Anywhere | Nooj Goji | Evelyn Pakinewatik | Canada |
| Le Charade | Erika Totoro | United States |
| Curveball | Igor Petrov | Canada |
| Deadpan | Aidan Cheeatow | Canada |
| The End of Love | Yanwenjun Liu | China |
| Ephemera | Cici Clancy | Canada |
| Karatéka | Florence Fauquet | France |
| The Painted Night | Ben Bruhmuller | Canada |
| Rapture | Le Ravissement | Camille Trudel | Canada |
| Save Solace | Matt Steeves | Canada |
| Simp | Gabriel Carnick | United States |
| Summer Love | Virgile Ratelle | Canada |
| Tennis, Oranges | Sean Pecknold | United States |
| Thirteenth Night | Xiaowen Song | China |
| Unclean | Simon Chouinard | Canada |
| Wifi | Ted Sakowsky | Canada |
| Zoé | | Canada | |
CTV Best in Shorts
The festival's dedicated competition for amateur short filmmakers from Northern Ontario.[8]
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Community |
|---|
| Cupid's Assist | Richard Barlow | Sudbury |
| Ephemera | Cici Clancy | Sudbury |
| How to Eat a Rainbow | Tom Reid | Sudbury |
| Lucy's Birthday | Liam Siebolt | North Bay |
| The Painted Knight | Ben Bruhmuller | Sudbury |
| Save Solace | Matt Steeves | Temagami |
| The Snipers | Kelly Saxberg | Thunder Bay |
| The Stain | MJ Dionne | Sudbury | |
Notes and References
- https://www.sudbury.com/lifestyle/set-your-sights-cinefest-reveals-2024-festival-image-9314148 "‘Set Your Sights’: Cinéfest reveals 2024 festival image"
- https://www.nugget.ca/entertainment/local-arts/sudburys-cinefest-offers-early-look-at-its-2024-film-lineup "Sudbury's Cinefest offers early look at its 2024 film lineup"
- https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/cinefest-sudbury-international-film-festival-1.7302184 "Plenty to savour at this year's edition of Sudbury's International Film Festival"
- Chris Dawson, "Diehard Battalion fan angry about Wolves' ticket tactics for Game 3". Sudbury.com, April 10, 2024.
- Heidi Ulrichsen, "Forget hockey rivalry: Sudbury’s Cinéfest 2024 showing love for North Bay". Sudbury.com, August 22, 2024.
- https://www.thesudburystar.com/entertainment/local-arts/cinefest-sudbury-adds-three-films-to-its-roster-including-donald-trump-drama "Cinefest Sudbury adds three films to its roster, including Donald Trump drama"
- https://www.sudbury.com/lifestyle/the-count-of-monte-cristo-big-winner-at-cinefest-sudbury-9580887 "‘The Count of Monte-Cristo’ big winner at Cinéfest Sudbury"
- Chelsea Papineau, "Film finalists announced for CTV Best in Shorts competition". CTV Northern Ontario, September 12, 2024.
