More than 12,000 short film lovers came out for the Canadian Film Centre’s 2003 Worldwide Short Film Festival, held June 3-8 in Toronto, an attendance increase of 20% from the 2002 edition.

The big winner of the festival’s $25,000 best Canadian short film prize, sponsored by Sun Life Financial, was Dale Heslip for The Truth About Head. Heslip’s short about a head that wants a body also recently made a splash at Cannes, winning four awards including the Rail d’Or.

Brad Peyton received an honorable mention in the best Canadian short category for his Evelyn: The Cutest Evil Dead Girl.

Quebec’s Rosa Zacharie won the Kodak Award for cinematography in a Canadian short for Une eclaircie sur le fleuve.

Austria’s Virgil Widrich took the C.O.R.E. Digital Animation award for best animated short for Fast Film. France’s Lionel Bailliu won for best live-action short with Squash, while Toronto’s Richard Fung took home the best experimental short prize for Islands. New York’s Stefan Nadelman picked up the best documentary short film award with Terminal Bar, while Toronto’s Jonathan Hayes’ won the Volkswagen audience award for favorite short with The School.

-www.worldwideshortfilmfest.com

Canucks win down south

Vancouver filmmaker Michelle Mason’s one-hour doc for VisionTV, The Friendship Village, picked up the Columbine Award at the 2003 Moondance International Film Festival, held last month in Boulder, CO. Moondance’s mandate is to present international films with ‘non-violent conflict resolution,’ and the Columbine Award specifically reflects that.

Mason’s film, which first aired on Vision in November, is about Vietnam vet/peace activist George Mizo. Mizo helped develop a special village for Vietnamese people affected by illnesses stemming from Agent Orange, a weed-killing chemical used by the U.S. during the Vietnam War.

Meanwhile, Regina’s Independent Moving Pictures’ The Risen was honored with a special jury prize in the feature made-for-TV or cable category at the recent 36th WorldFest-Houston Awards. The Risen, starring Alberta Watson, shot in Moose Jaw, SK and was directed by Jeff Beesley, written by Jim Osbourne and produced by IMP’s Gail Tilson.

VanCity sponsors VIFC theatre

VanCity will sponsor the new 183-seat theatre at the 14,000-square-foot Vancouver International Film Centre, future home of the Vancouver International Film Festival. The sponsorship, the value of which is undisclosed, allows Canada’s largest credit union to name the theatre.

‘This partnership is an ideal fit for both of us,’ says Bruce Ralston, chair of VanCity’s board of directors. ‘We are both strong local organizations with a long-standing relationship, and a commitment to supporting the cultural diversity and the exchange and expression of new and fresh perspectives and ideas.’

VanCity and VanCity Capital provide financing to independent Vancouver productions. Among the winners of last year’s annual $1-million VanCity Award for culture was Out on Screen, Vancouver’s gay and lesbian film festival.

The new film centre and VanCity Theatre are under construction and on target be completed by fall 2004. The next VIFF runs Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.