Drown those winter blahs in a tub of popcorn as miles of film from independents unwind during the 10th anniversary of the Local Heroes International Screen Festival in Edmonton March 3-9.

Since its modest beginnings, Local Heroes has grown from an $8,000 affair to a $300,000 event with 10% of its proceeds raised from box office sales and the rest from sponsors.

Jan Miller, executive director of the National Screen Institute, which organizes Local Heroes, says it’s the only festival where the patrons move together to each venue. ‘Our goal is not to exhaust the audience in this city with a plethora of films playing all at once,’ says Miller. ‘This is not a buffet, it’s a seven-course meal.’

At the heart of Local Heroes is Declarations of Independents, a daily showing of Canadian short dramas recommended by a selection committee of local Edmonton industry folk. The Global Heroes series lets international independent films in from the cold, starting with the Canadian premiere of 100 Years Ago: Lumiere, narrated in person by Thierry Fremaux (Institut Lumiere).

Receptions following each Global screening feature their filmmakers, including Fremaux, producer Doug MacLeod, director Randy Bradshaw and writer Pauline LeBel (The Song Spinner), writer Colin Welland (War of the Buttons) and actor Andre Eisermann (Elias in Schlafes Bruder [Brother of Sleep]). Also featured are director Dan Mirvish and producer Dana Altman, whose $38,000 omaha (the movie) spooling should halt any plans for a Canadian sequel to the Slamdance splinter festival they created after a royal shunning from Robert Redford’s Sundance Film Festival.

Preceeding each Global Heroes screening are last year’s short drama prize winners (five teams selected by industry sponsors who receive $6,000 from the nsi, $5,500 in sponsorship and raise $2,000 on their own to produce a short film).

Framing the international component, Midnight Madness will feature Finland’s Total Balalaika Show!! and Peter Lynch’s Arrowhead.

An integral part of Local Heroes remains the industry seminars. In ‘Conversations with,’ Werner Hertzog and Geoff Pevere will discuss independent voice in cinema.

‘Star Bucks’ moderator Andy Thomson (chair, Great North Communications) will guide panelists Ralph Zimmerman (president, Great North Artists’ Management), Peter Lower (executive producer, drama, ctv) and Ted Riley (president, Atlantis Releasing) through a look at how to package a project and when to choose new talent over name.

Paul Gratton (station manager at Bravo!) hosts ‘Dreams for Sale’ where Neil Seiling (executive producer, Alive tv), Loren Mawhinney (vp Canadian productions, CanWest Global), director Velcrow Ripper and Nicky Wood (Channel 4, u.k.) will weigh artistic vision with demands of the marketplace.

In ‘Scenes From a Marriage,’ Welland, MacLeod and LeBel will join writer/producer Laura Phillips (Jake and the Kid) and writer Pete White (Legend of the Ruby Silver) as producer Jana Veverka (Bordertown, Lonesome Dove) helms a discussion about the relationship between producer and writer.

The Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television is holding a lunch March 5 in conjunction with the festival where David Asper, vp programming CanWest Global Systems, will speak about a third national television franchise in Canada.