Cinéfest opens with a big premiere

Cinéfest kicks-off Saturday at Cineplex’s SilverCity Sudbury Cinemas.

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival has been inviting some of the best film makers from across Canada and around the world for decades. In that time the nickel capital has also grown as a hub for canadian film and television production.

“You know we get excited about trying to do new things and getting bigger, better and bolder, I think just looking at the film makers and the content we see year-over-year, the quality of the productions improves,” said Patrick O’Hearn, the film festival’s executive director.

“We see that here in northern Ontario as they’ve built up a good crew base and more infrastructure that they can access here but we see it nation wide.”

One of the weekend's big premieres is ‘Swan Song’ – a dramatic look at the creative process around ‘Swan Lake’ as artistic director and former dancer Karen Kain, on the eve of her retirement, and a team of young dancers push toward one of the most significant opening nights in the company's history.

Kain gave filmmakers full access through nearly two years of creative conflicts, devastating injuries, personal set backs and a pointed push for equity from within its ranks.

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The team behind the film told CTV News they wanted viewers to feel fully immersed into the action before their eyes rather than relying on interviews.

Director Chelsea McMullan said they didn't know a lot about ballet before making the film. They are hoping viewers will get a unique look at the realities dancers face.

"Like they're both athletes and artists, it's an incredibly arduous art form, they're pushing themselves as hard as they can,” said McMullan.

“‘Swan Lake’ is the hardest of hard classical ballets so what they have to put into it, to achieve this sort of beauty and to achieve this kind of like weightlessness and to achieve this kind of, you know it's like, the thing that to us when we're watching seems almost inhumane what they're able to do."

The film features ballet stars from the past, present and future.

“Canadian Film has really become you know just a great example of the artistry and the talent we have here in this nation,” said O’Hearn.

Cinéfest runs from Sept. 16 – 24.