Stratford Winter Film Festival returns for third year

In the dark of winter, a bright light shines through when the Stratford Winter Film Festival (SWFF) returns with its third annual event. Beginning Jan. 30 and spread over two weekends, co-founders Leslie Marsh, Craig Sangster and Bruce MacInnis are thrilled to bring the third edition to the Stratford City Hall auditorium.

Since the inception of the festival the co-founders have remained steadfast in their vision, to bring together the community and surrounding area for a shared experience.

“I think we have stayed true to the vision. When we first conceived of it, we were at the tail end of COVID and things weren’t particularly vibrant in town especially at that time of year. We have remained motivated to bring people in and offer something that is family friendly with broad appeal, and cost-effective,” said Marsh.

Together, they celebrate this achievement, the third annual festival, as three individuals who came together to share a love of film and togetherness with the community. It was purely out of goodwill with a lot of moving parts in the first year, and an outrageous storm the second year.

“But we learned from it and I think this year is going to be the best one yet because there are no surprises. There will be one venue at the city hall auditorium, which solves a lot of logistics,” said Marsh.

The theme this year will be Friends, Foes and Strangers. On Friday, Jan. 30, the trio are planning a free community event that is sure to appeal to those who love musicals and sing-a-longs. Jan. 31 will feature independent films of varying lengths broadcast throughout the day.

“This is new this year, the independent films. We’ve had an online presence for independent filmmakers, and it is global thing where people submit from anywhere. Our technical man, Robert Smith is an independent filmmaker and will be helping with the weekend. We’ve had, I think, 15 submissions so far,” said Marsh.

The main event will be the following weekend, Feb. 6-8, where the curated collection of films will be screened over the three days. The current plan is that movie-goers can look forward to nine films beginning Friday evening and four each day following with sufficient time built in to allow for refreshments at local establishments surrounding the venue.

“We didn’t do that last year but that was because we had three venues and the logistics of planning for this and different times for different films was a massive Rubick’s Cube, which I’m pleased to say we don’t have this year,” said Marsh.

The growth this year is due in thanks to the local community’s support in the past. Grants and donations have helped them to develop the festival over the two weekends.

“Hopefully people, who would want to come to the main weekend will also take the time and support the young independents the weekend before. It’s all at city hall, with the same tech to treat them with same technical respect we are treating our main program,” said Marsh.

For more information as it is released, visit stratfordwinterfilmfestival.ca