More than 100 films from around the world will be getting screen time at the Dawson City International Short Film Festival, set to take place on Easter Weekend in the Yukon.

“This fest is a cultural nugget, and there’s a magic that comes in this town,” Dan Sokolowski tells Playback Daily.

The festival producer says there are more Yukon films than ever as part of this year’s fest, celebrating its 12th year. What began as a project of the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (KIAC) in 2000 has evolved into a vibrant fest that averages 1,600-plus attendees, a combination of local folks as well as several out-of-towners.

He notes that pairing the international slate of films from Europe, Africa and Australia alongside those from Yukon filmmakers draws more excitement from the community.

“It’s a competitive festival, not everything submitted gets in,” says Sokolowski. “[But] we have more Yukon films than ever before.” That includes 44 local works along with another 10 from young filmmakers.

The opening screening will include the works of several Yukon filmmakers as well as the world premiere of Dugout by Alan Code, which looks at the Sundog carving camp; a beluga whaling documentary Water Islands by Hugues Latour from Inuvik; and closing with Max Fraser’s doc Never Happen Here: The Whitehorse 9/11 Story.

But the whole weekend goes beyond what’s on the big screen. “The town really gets behind the fest and it becomes a social event,” he notes.

One of the highlights of the fest is the 3rd Annual 1-Minute Film Challenge – KIAC artist in residents Rozalind MacPhail will be creating soundtracks for these films. MacPhail will also be coming to Dawson with 13 short films from the Newfoundland Independent Film Cooperative as part of the Painted Houses program, and she is slated to play live music to a projection of these films.

Toronto Filmmaker Brenda Longfellow will also be on hand to lead an interactive workshop to turn documentary source material into innovative forms, and the short film created by the participants will also be screened on opening night.

The Dawson City International Short Film Festival runs April 21-24 in the Yukon. For more information, check out www.dawsonfilmfest.com.