Leading international filmmakers will serve as multicultural mentors for UBC film students thanks to a $1-million donation from Canadian communications and media company Rogers Communications. The gift highlights the UBC Film Production Program’s 40th anniversary events held May 5-8.
The donation comes as UBC’s Film Production Program and its 350 alumni celebrate the program’s 40th anniversary with The Big Picture, a four-day series of events that includes a public screening series, a gala celebration, the production of a historical documentary on the program and the launch of a new annual scholarship fund for undergraduate students.
From May 5-7, Pacific Cinémathèque will run award-winning films by graduates including Mina Shum’s “Double Happiness,” Gwen Haworth’s “She’s a Boy I Knew,” and Bruce Sweeney’s “Betty and Vera Go Lawn Bowling.” Filmmakers will be present to discuss their work and achievements with film historian and critic David Spaner, curator of the seven-film series.
The Big Picture will culminate with a May 8 gala, attended by a number of award-winning alumni including Larry Kent, John Pozer, Bruce Sweeney, Writer/Director Lynne Stopkewich (Kissed, Suspicious Rivers), Dylan Akio Smith, Karethe Linaae, Writer/Director Mina Shum (Double Happiness), Brightlight Pictures Producer Stephen Hegyes (Gunless, 50 Dead Men Walking), Genie Award winning Cinematographer Gregory Middleton (Passchendaele), and Paperny Films partner Cal Shumiatcher (Glutton for Punishment). This event will feature red carpet student-paparazzi, an editing competition between digital and 16 millimetre technology, screenings of student films past and present, live music and DJs.
“The Big Picture brings together the very best that UBC Film has to offer, with hundreds of alumni, students and industry partners celebrating one of the most important film programs in Canada, “says Film Production Alumni Association (FPPA) President Sidney Chiu. “ The FPAA will continue to support the program and its bright future as long as we can.”
Proceeds from the gala will go towards the creation of a new $30,000 Film Production Scholarship Endowment Fund, which will be awarded annually to an undergraduate student entering their final year of film production study at UBC.
The documentary film component of The Big Picture highlights the history of the UBC Film Program. A preliminary version of the film will be screened at the gala, where additional filming will take place.
For more information, visit www.ubcfilmalumni.org
