Vancouver: The vocal lament of local filmmakers who failed to make the cut at the 19th annual Vancouver International Film Festival should be tempered somewhat with the knowledge that they are not alone – not by a long shot.

According to Michael Ghent, a co-programmer of viff’s Canadian Images showcase, 28 b.c. feature-length productions (including five documentaries) applied and only 10 (including one doc) were accepted. That means only 36% of feature-length applications were successful.

On the short film side, there were 111 b.c.-based applicants; only 18 made it. That’s only a 16% success rate.

Rather than thinking b.c.-producers get preferential treatment with the Vancouver festival, unsuccessful applicants should know that b.c.’s acceptance rate average this year is about 20%, compared with the national average of 22%. Across the country, 414 applications were whittled down to the 91 titles in the Canadian Images program.

‘It’s a strong film year,’ concedes Ghent, who says viff is the largest public exhibitor of Canadian film in the world. ‘Some good films did not make it for space limitations reasons.’

During the selection process by a 10-member screening panel, candidate films may be culled because of content that is, for example, sexist, racist or homophobic, Ghent says, though a specific selection criteria is not laid out.

Sometimes it’s a matter of programming balance. There were a large number of applicants described as ‘intense’ dramas that put the spotlight on accepting lighter fare. Ghent says the programmers also look for balanced regional and gender representation.

Other fatal factors for an applicant may be more technical: formats and running times. ‘For short films, especially, it is doubly hard [to be accepted], he adds. ‘Not only do they have to be good, but they have to fit thematically into a program.’

One short film that made the cut was Abe’s Manhood (director Aubrey Nealon), a film produced by Ghent, who justifies its placement in the local festival by highlighting its successes at Toronto and Montreal.

Other b.c. shorts to make the cut include: Evirati (Simon Capet), Watching Mrs. Pomerantz (Steve Rosenberg), Day Stashi Ran Out of Money (Sonia Bridge), Wonderland (Heather Douglas), When I Was Seven (Jessica Bradford), Body Burden (France Queyras), Cinderella: Single Again (Kellie Benz), Waiting for Jennifer (Dan Duffy), Pyjamas (Aglaya Muravlov), Workshop Junkie (Rob Bruner), Real Thing (Nicholas Racz), Objects Are Larger Than They Appear (Shawn Chappelle), About Face (Marilyn Cherenko), Dissonance (Mitchell Kezin), It’s Me, Margaret (Maureen Bradley), Artist’s Circle (Bruce Marchfelder) and Me, My Shadow and I (Desiree Leal).

-www.viff.org