All eyes in the tourism film world are on North Bay.
The Global Tourism Film Festival (GTFF) begins Thursday night with a red carpet opening gala.
Events are taking place Apr. 27-30 at Canadore College, including screenings, seminars, workshops, film panels and much more.
Tanya Bedard, Executive Director of Tourism North Bay, says the intent of the festival is to raise awareness about the vital role that destinations play in the success of cinema and television.
“We have the opportunity this year to be able to spotlight North Bay as the host destination. Its environment, its heritage and the Indigenous focus here,” she says. “We also have a thriving film and television sector here in North Bay so it’s a true honour to be able to host this festival.”
Independent features being screened and highlighted during the festival include:
– ‘Superheroes’ directed by Paolo Genovese
– ‘Kumari’ directed by Nimal Sahadev
– ‘Monkey Beach’ directed by L. Sarah Todd
– ‘Blueback’ directed by Robert Connolly
– ‘Tears of Persephone’ directed by Teppei Isobe, Yasuaki Genda
– ‘The Protector’ directed by Lenin M. Sivam (filmed in Northern Ont.)
“Thank you for the wonderful City of North Bay and GTFF for hosting this incredible event and for supporting both the film industry and the tourism industry,” says Premier Doug Ford in a release. “This is a great opportunity for visitors to take in all that the city has to offer, experience the beauty of Northern Ontario and enjoy some great films.”
Officials say a variety of feature films, documentaries, short films and tourism commercials are also vying for Global Cine Awards.
For more information visit http://www.tourism-festival.org/index.html.
