Edmonton: This year’s Local Heroes International Screen Festival in Edmonton, its 10th anniversary, was indeed a dynamic meeting of filmmakers and film professionals from all around the country and the world.

The tone of the festival, held March 3-9, was set by the last-minute appearance of Werner Herzog and his conference that opened the morning series of panel discussions. Moderated by Canada’s guru of pop culture analysis, Geoff Pevere, Herzog’s message of uncompromisingly driven personal vision galvanized the audience with such pithy comments as, ‘Money will follow you around like a common cur in the streets with its tail between its legs.’

His captivating presence combined with his all-out endorsement of guerrilla filmmaking hit a chord with the crowd and he received a standing ovation.

The effect of his call to arms was felt all week during the festival, and the industry panelists who came during the next few days felt the echo of this in the pointed questions heard from the now-inspired audience. Smug television executives, who obsessed on artistic compromise, were quickly put on the spot by up-and-coming filmmakers no longer willing to be brushed off. Herzog’s spirit was present even if he was gone.

The clash of independent filmmakers and the television industry was what made this year’s festival dynamic. The festival, for as long as I have known it, has always had a kind of schizophrenic side to it: young independent filmmakers show their work in the afternoon and in the mornings are treated to panel discussions by mostly television industry types, a combination that is sometimes like oil and water.

This year the filmmakers have reached a critical mass and the differences were more apparent than ever. It’s not a bad thing, it’s important for the young filmmaker to be familiar with the black arts of television.

This meeting of minds has always been an interesting factor at the festival. Where else can a Prairie producer/filmmaker bum a smoke from John Taylor, see what color socks Ralph Zimmerman is wearing, or corner a Toronto executive who hasn’t been returning their phone calls?

It is the one film event in this region where filmmakers can meet, and because of its intimate nature, actually get to know one another.

The festival is increasingly becoming a place to sell short films and various buyers and programmers show up to cull the new crop of Canadian talent.

The filmic highlight of the festival was the Declaration of Independents, the afternoon screenings of short Canadian films. This year’s selection was as diverse as ever, from Tim Folkmann’s poetic camp in the beautifully lensed Perennia to more conventional narrative of Curtains, a wonderful 16mm anamorphic look into a relationship at its end.

Other gems included Katie Tallo’s Split Shift, a clever portrayal of a waitress at the end of her patience, Steve Sanguedolce’s Away, a challenging and thought-provoking mix of found footage and artifice, and Sandra Sawatzky’s ’70s coming-of-age flashback, Passing Lane.

Having a question and answer after every film, hosted this year by Lulu Keating and Pevere, gives the filmmakers a rare opportunity to field compliments and barbs alike. It is this attention to format that makes the festival feel like it is truly for the filmmakers.

Even after cutbacks this year, Jan Miller and her team at the nsi managed once again to put on a world-class festival

At the 10-year mark, this festival is maturing into something much needed in this corner of the country. Definitely an event well worth attending for filmmaker and jaded executive alike.