Vancouver: The 1999 Moving Pictures: Canadian Films On Tour wrapped May 10 in Quesnel, b.c. with a 33% increase in attendance compared with 1998 audience tallies.

Vancouver-based festival director Michael Ghent – who accompanied Moving Pictures through b.c., Alberta, Manitoba and the Northwest Territories – says the festival attracted nearly 12,000 filmgoers in 10 cities.

‘Moving Pictures exceeded our expectations this year,’ says Ghent. ‘Of the eight returning venues on the tour, seven reported increases in ticket sales.’ In Edmonton, the increase was 238%.

‘We’ve been overwhelmed by the passion of audiences for the films that we bring to them,’ says Ghent. ‘It demonstrates that Canadians will go to see Canadian movies if they’re made available and properly promoted.’

The festival also includes workshops by directors and performers.

Canadian films on view included Manon Briand’s 2 Secondes and Don McKellar’s Last Night. The festival toured Cranbrook, Brandon, Prince George, Kelowna, Yellowknife, Nanaimo, Whistler, Edmonton, Nelson and Quesnel. The top audience draws on the tour were Francois Girard’s The Red Violin and Jonathan Tammuz’s road movie Rupert’s Land, a recent Leo award winner.

This year’s edition of Moving Pictures resumes with a fall tour starting in Whitehorse, Yukon at the end of October.