The Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival is gearing up for its 56th edition and continues as the longest-running short film fest in North America. The festival takes place in Yorkton, SK May 22-25.

Attendees and delegates at this year’s Yorkton can look forward to a number of workshops covering topics from interviewing techniques for docmakers to a comprehensive look at researching.

‘It’s such a different festival and such a relaxed atmosphere, the people can really get back to the craft of filmmaking and storytelling and all that’s involved,’ says Fay Kowal, the festival’s executive director. ‘The atmosphere offers great opportunities for people to network.’

Attendees will also be privy to a visit from filmmaker Ric Burns (New York: A Documentary Film) of New York’s Steeplechase Films who, in addition to being in attendance for a special screening of the Burns-produced Ansel Adams (a coproduction of Steeplechase and Sierra Club Productions), will sit in on an interview session called The Storytellers with directors John Walker (John Walker Productions), Audrey Mehler (Paperny Films) and Raymonde Provencher (Macumba International).

Burns will also take part in a panel called Research: It’s All in the Details during a luncheon sponsored by production house Partners in Motion.

Other panel discussions/workshops include Getting the Break, Making Films for TV, the Independent Filmmakers’ Workshop and others.

ACTRA will present Saskatchewan actor Gordon Tootoosis with a special lifetime achievement award during a luncheon presented by CTV. The festival will also feature events like the eighth annual Yorkton Short Film and Video golf tourney, the Pitchfork Fondue and Ballgame, and Screening Under the Stars (the fest’s night-time outdoor screening). There will also be a mini-cinema venue where attendees can view some of the 440-plus Yorkton short film entries over the course of the weekend.

The marquee event of the weekend will likely be the annual Golden Sheaf Awards, where winners of the competitive component of the festival will be recognized. The event will be hosted by Canada AM’s Jeff Hutcheson on the Saturday night, and a screening of the Golden Sheaf winners will follow on Sunday.

Kowal (who started at the fest in a contract position 11 years ago) is hoping for about 225 patrons and delegates at this year’s event.

‘There is still a demand out there for short films and this is a niche we can fill through the festival and the Golden Sheaf awards,’ says Kowal.

-www.yorktonshortfilm.org