2017 Film, George Town Optician “The Eyeball”
Love fashion film? You now have yet another reason to visit Canada (as if the beauty of the landscape and friendly people weren’t enough). Our neighbor to the north is the latest to join the fashion film festival circuit with CANIFFFF (Canadian International Fashion Film Festival) and it promises to join the ranks of other highly attended festivals like the Berlin Fashion Film Festival, the LaJolla International Fashion Film Festival in the US, and A Shaded View of Fashion in Paris.
If you’ve never heard of fashion film, you’re in for a treat. Sure, there is much debate in the fashion, advertising and film world as to just exactly “what” fashion films are, but the main thing you need to know is that they are incredibly fun to watch. The mix of fashion and cinematography brings clothes to life and tells stories about this vital part of our lives giving us new ways to connect and bringing the deeper meanings behind our style choices. Fashion films are engaging, creative, fun, bizarre, dark, romantic, beautiful, depending on the vision of each director.
CANIFFF, based in Calgary, is now in its third year, and will take place May 5th. While many submissions come from Canada, around 80% come from Europe, making this a great festival for viewing films you might not otherwise be able to see in North America. Official nominations will be available to win in any one of 13 categories. The festival will also offer 2 workshops by Josh Brendao of Blitzwerk Studios London most known for Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour DVD. They will also host Lucas Finotti the Italian director known for his work with numerous fashion houses like Armani and Dolce & Gabana to name just two out of an impressively long and illustrious list. His film We Believe in the Power of Love for Nike, garnered two awards in Berlin. He will be talking about Creating Content That Matters. Nicholai Kornum, head of Blitzwerk Studios which has won numerous awards for its fashion films around the world, most notably, Best Director for the 2017 film Robot and Josh Brendao will be on hand to talk about the Aesthetics of Fashion Film which will no doubt foster a lively debate. Fashion films always do.
To wet your appetite, here are three great films that will be featured at this year’s festival.
Not(e) From A Dreamer by Enrico Poli, is a 7 minute film shows us how to reconnect with the wonderful innocence of youth. Nature is a character in the film, providing an almost “Eden-like” world in which two young people splash, swim, explore, run through fields, look at clouds and above all, connect to the beauty and wonder of that exists in the world but that we have perhaps forgotten.
The Greatest Luxury, a film for Selfridges by Kathryn Ferguson takes place in what we assume are the luxurious rooms of the store. It takes on a topic that all luxury houses are striving to answer in a world that no longer yearns for the exclusivity of the past by asking “what is luxury?” It was “Commissioned as part of the Radical Luxury campaign at Selfridges…in an era when the term itself can feel hollow and banal.” The answer? Luxury is as individual as we are. To communicate this message, the film cast artists Mykki Blanco (Rapper, Performance Artist and Activist), Holly Blakey (Choreographer and filmmaker), Gareth Pugh (fashion designer), Sophie Apollonia (Dancer) and set the film to a poem by Lily Ashley. The result is a riveting and thought provoking film.
Start the Buzz a film by Milano Moda Donna directed by Blinkfish Film and Creativity Factory (Giacomo Boeri & Matteo Grimaldi) is a 1950’s fast paced, partially animated, colorful and charming romp that will connect well with Gen Z. It’s iced greens, pinks and yellow windows show interaction between fashionably dressed girls in different apartments (emphasizing the communal nature of today’s youth). One girl pours water from a can and a daisy blooms in the apartment below. The entire film is set to snappy upbeat music.
While many fashion film festivals come and go in the hands of people who get excited about the medium but perhaps don’t have the funding or experience to successfully run a festival, CANIFFF’s founders have the chops, connections and experience to ensure its success. Katrina Olson-Mottahed, one of the founders, who started off in photography and then moved into film, brings extensive experience fundraising for the arts. Her co-founder Rania Al Naimi travels to other festivals in Istanbul and beyond, helping to bring in films from parts of the world that might not otherwise be represented not to mention adding valuable and unique cultural perspectives. She also does screenings for CANIFFF, supports relationships with the filmmakers and manages submissions and social media operations. Her other partner, Zai Mamdani is a co-founder and investor who has been indispensable to the festival through both connections and business expertise. As a result, the festival planned to break even in three years and instead, has managed to do it in only two.
“>
2017 Film, George Town Optician “The Eyeball”
Love fashion film? You now have yet another reason to visit Canada (as if the beauty of the landscape and friendly people weren’t enough). Our neighbor to the north is the latest to join the fashion film festival circuit with CANIFFFF (Canadian International Fashion Film Festival) and it promises to join the ranks of other highly attended festivals like the Berlin Fashion Film Festival, the LaJolla International Fashion Film Festival in the US, and A Shaded View of Fashion in Paris.
If you’ve never heard of fashion film, you’re in for a treat. Sure, there is much debate in the fashion, advertising and film world as to just exactly “what” fashion films are, but the main thing you need to know is that they are incredibly fun to watch. The mix of fashion and cinematography brings clothes to life and tells stories about this vital part of our lives giving us new ways to connect and bringing the deeper meanings behind our style choices. Fashion films are engaging, creative, fun, bizarre, dark, romantic, beautiful, depending on the vision of each director.
CANIFFF, based in Calgary, is now in its third year, and will take place May 5th. While many submissions come from Canada, around 80% come from Europe, making this a great festival for viewing films you might not otherwise be able to see in North America. Official nominations will be available to win in any one of 13 categories. The festival will also offer 2 workshops by Josh Brendao of Blitzwerk Studios London most known for Madonna’s Rebel Heart Tour DVD. They will also host Lucas Finotti the Italian director known for his work with numerous fashion houses like Armani and Dolce & Gabana to name just two out of an impressively long and illustrious list. His film We Believe in the Power of Love for Nike, garnered two awards in Berlin. He will be talking about Creating Content That Matters. Nicholai Kornum, head of Blitzwerk Studios which has won numerous awards for its fashion films around the world, most notably, Best Director for the 2017 film Robot and Josh Brendao will be on hand to talk about the Aesthetics of Fashion Film which will no doubt foster a lively debate. Fashion films always do.
To wet your appetite, here are three great films that will be featured at this year’s festival.
Not(e) From A Dreamer by Enrico Poli, is a 7 minute film shows us how to reconnect with the wonderful innocence of youth. Nature is a character in the film, providing an almost “Eden-like” world in which two young people splash, swim, explore, run through fields, look at clouds and above all, connect to the beauty and wonder of that exists in the world but that we have perhaps forgotten.
The Greatest Luxury, a film for Selfridges by Kathryn Ferguson takes place in what we assume are the luxurious rooms of the store. It takes on a topic that all luxury houses are striving to answer in a world that no longer yearns for the exclusivity of the past by asking “what is luxury?” It was “Commissioned as part of the Radical Luxury campaign at Selfridges…in an era when the term itself can feel hollow and banal.” The answer? Luxury is as individual as we are. To communicate this message, the film cast artists Mykki Blanco (Rapper, Performance Artist and Activist), Holly Blakey (Choreographer and filmmaker), Gareth Pugh (fashion designer), Sophie Apollonia (Dancer) and set the film to a poem by Lily Ashley. The result is a riveting and thought provoking film.
Start the Buzz a film by Milano Moda Donna directed by Blinkfish Film and Creativity Factory (Giacomo Boeri & Matteo Grimaldi) is a 1950’s fast paced, partially animated, colorful and charming romp that will connect well with Gen Z. It’s iced greens, pinks and yellow windows show interaction between fashionably dressed girls in different apartments (emphasizing the communal nature of today’s youth). One girl pours water from a can and a daisy blooms in the apartment below. The entire film is set to snappy upbeat music.
While many fashion film festivals come and go in the hands of people who get excited about the medium but perhaps don’t have the funding or experience to successfully run a festival, CANIFFF’s founders have the chops, connections and experience to ensure its success. Katrina Olson-Mottahed, one of the founders, who started off in photography and then moved into film, brings extensive experience fundraising for the arts. Her co-founder Rania Al Naimi travels to other festivals in Istanbul and beyond, helping to bring in films from parts of the world that might not otherwise be represented not to mention adding valuable and unique cultural perspectives. She also does screenings for CANIFFF, supports relationships with the filmmakers and manages submissions and social media operations. Her other partner, Zai Mamdani is a co-founder and investor who has been indispensable to the festival through both connections and business expertise. As a result, the festival planned to break even in three years and instead, has managed to do it in only two.
Let’s block ads! (Why?)
