2023-09-20

Lunenburg Doc Fest celebrates 10th anniversary

LUNENBURG – The Lunenburg Doc Fest is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week.

The event kicks-off Sept. 21 with a showing of a new documentary, Carlos, that will take viewers along the journey of Carlos Santana from the 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy winner.

This begins at 7 p.m. and will be followed by the festival's annual kick-off celebration, the Paint the Town Red Gala, which will be held on Lunenburg's waterfront.

"It is very exciting (to celebrate 10 years). I think back to when we started this festival with a whopping seven films in total, over, I think, two days," said Pamela Segger, co-founder and executive director for the Lunenburg Doc Fest. "I remember there were seven of us in a living room one day and these ideas just came together and before we knew it, we were up and running without any experience, hosting a festival. But we thought it was such a success, we should keep going."

The reason for the event's success that attracts hundreds of people to the area she surmised is that "we really have the community at heard. Our community, first of all cares about these issues and the entertainment and inspirational education that everyone is going to get out of these films."

"It's also the conversations that come out of watching and sharing that experience together. I think that togetherness and those exchanges are really what makes our festival extra special and keeps our audiences going back."

This year's event will showcase about 50 films over seven days. That amount was narrowed down from an estimated 700 films that were submitted this year.

"We had very high calibre selections to choose from and I think our team has done an exceptional job of designing a real diverse, dynamic program," said Segger. "There are films from all over the world. But also this year, we have more Atlantic Canadian films than ever."

She said that there will be something for everyone to see and mentions that a lot are hot docs, new and fresh.

"Many of these will not be able to seen in other places for quite some time, if at all. This may be the only place that you will be able to see some of these films before they move on or becomes unavailable," she said, encouraging everyone to go and check them out."

Documentaries will be held each day and close out Sept. 27 with, The Stones And Brian Jones, Sept. 27 at 7:45 p.m.

All events, with the exception of the opening gala, will take place at the Lunenburg Opera House.

This year's documentaries covers a wide variety of subjects, pressing social issues and inspiring activism; journeys of self-discovery and identity; exploring life's complexities and the strength of the human spirit; exploring the wonders of the natural world and environmental challenges; music and artistic expression; and Atlantic living.

There are a wide variety of passes available from a complete festival pass, a film pass, opening night film and gala pass, an industry pass, and single tickets. These are available at the on-site box office or online at lunenburgdocfest.com, where you can also find a complete schedule of events.

Other events:

The Launch: Lunenburg Doc Fest (LDF) is shining the spotlight on Nova Scotia's aspiring filmmakers. The second annual, Launch $10,000 Documentary Development & Live Pitch Contest, a barrier-breaking initiative aimed at nurturing the talents of emerging underrepresented filmmakers, returns to Lunenburg Doc Fest on Sept. 23 at 3 p.m. Funded by CBC, Bell Fund, and the Province of Nova Scotia, with in-kind support from the Atlantic Filmmakers

Cooperative, 902 Post Inc. and the Centre for Art Tapes, The Launch offers five under-represented Nova Scotian media artists a chance to win mentorship and a prize package to bring a short documentary to life over the next year. The finalists will pitch their project live at the 2023 Lunenburg Doc Fest in competition for a $10,000 prize package including cash and in-kind filmmaking services.

The audience will be able to hear the pitches and vote for their favourite. One lucky audience member will take home some great prizes.

As well, last year's winner, Anna Quon's film, Me and My Teeth, will be shown.

The Dock Market conference runs concurrently with the festival in a hybrid format and offers a platform for industry professionals and documentary enthusiasts to engage in career-boosting discussion and networking opportunities.

The conference and one-on-one meetings are opportunities for guest filmmakers and screen industry decision makers to expand their networks, develop new businesses opportunities and advance projects.

Select sessions include a panel on navigating distribution, round tables, spotlight conversation and a filmmaking workshop. with Nova Scotian Ben Proudfoot, a winner of a 2022 Oscar for Best Short Documentary.

Youth program: There will be a free student and community screening event on Sept. 27 at the opera house. There will be short films shown from around the world. It is being put together for the students from Bluenose Academy, but it is open to everyone.