Arts and Entertainment

Tickets now on sale for 2nd Annual Dufferin Film Festival

June 26, 2025   ·   0 Comments

By Constance Scrafield 

There were over 100 films submitted to the Dufferin Film Festival this year and Kelly McDowell watches every film that comes in.

She told the Citizen, “The whole board watches all the films; while we can,” she said. “In New York, they get 13,000 films.”

Next year the plan is to have a team of jurors for which the qualifications are experience in the business, a well-rounded approach to films, being a filmmaker or having involvement in the Canadian art scene for film.

They are short films but they are given all the respect.

The DFF team actually moved the date of the festival this year to accommodate Theatre Orangeville’s plans for their annual Summer Arts Festival on Aug. 8 to 10, being staged at the Opera House (87 Broadway).

The Dufferin Film Festival is on for the weekend of Aug. 15 to 17, beginning with a red carpet welcome on Friday evening, when the screenings will commence at 6:30 p.m.

For the highlights, McDowell said there are 17 films, six of which have female directors; three are world premiers; two are Ontario premiers and they run from seven to 20 minutes.

Two student films were entered and of them, McDowell commented, “We would have never known they were by students. Last year none of them qualified. We are passionate about guiding any age into the film industry.”

Why short films are important? In McDowell’s opinion, it’s because they are a sample, a small piece of that director’s perspective. One can watch not just one film but more.

“You don’t need to be long to be impactful.”

With the tremendous enthusiasm the DFF has attracted, McDowell’s ambitions for DFF are lofty goals: to be successful in representing Canada’s voice and offer people the opportunity to meet directors who don’t necessarily have the chance. This is done through the networking event at DFF taking place on Sunday (Aug. 10) of the festival to make it possible.

She listed the perks for everyone to drive to Orangeville for this weekend: “Parking is free, the town is gorgeous and there are so many lovely restaurants and shops.”

McDowell was happy to report that the festival received funding through a grant from the Ontario government, promoted by Dufferin–Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones, through the Experience Ontario and Central Ontario Tourism Program.

McDowell encourages people who are interested in attending DFF to secure their tickets early. Last year there were phone calls at the last minute but it was sold out.

“There were disappointed people,” she said.

For this year’s preview of the DFF, McDowell suggested speaking with Alex Caucean, who sets the film programming. He handles the filmmakers and the jury. Caucean has been a filmmaker for many years. He owns his business, Filmmetry, and has often worked with McDowell and her partner Nick Rose through their business, Rose Digital Media Group.

As a film programmer, Caucean had plenty to tell the Citizen. 

“We have 17 official selections,” he began. “A lot of powerful, emotional drama, documentaries and four student films. There are funny films too.”

The successful submissions came from all across Canada – British Colombia, Alberta and three from Quebec.

A lot of the films were very personal. So, he told the Citizen about some of them.

“A Good Day Will Come” is what happened in 2020 in Iran, the story of Navid Afkari, an Iranian wrestler, unfairly executed.

“It’s a powerful, important film,” said Caucean “Written and directed by Amir Zargara, who was born in Iran and came to Canada – this is a very powerful piece. In the director’s statement when he came here, he gained the freedom to express himself. He brought it to the festival as a service to his country.” 

Caucean noted that art is a way for people to show their perspective in the world – touching on hard matters is important – it’s important for the festival to show these stories. Most people won’t understand otherwise.

A film from Turkey, “The Window,” directed by Ace Kazkayasi, talks about and touches on child marriage; about her parents back home. Kazkayasi was shocked about a woman who was married at the age of six.

She channelled her anger into this film about this little girl. By the end of the last shots you understand – someone cared about this story.

“We made our selections weeks ago,” Caucean told the Citizen. 

Midnight Coachman is reminiscent of artsy experimental filmmaking. 

“At 18 minutes, even if you can’t really explain what’s going on, the audiences will have to pay attention.” said Caucean. “You will have an aha moment. It’s a beautiful film.”

“The Allure,” directed by Josh Wood, is about a fisherman ice fishing when he snags a bottle with a note in it – and he realizes he is connected to his late wife.

There is the challenge of using a limited budget for these short films.

“We will do everything in our power to make a film,” Caucean assured us.

Caucean opined that short films can speak volumes more than big movies and he attributes the powerful impacts they carry to the necessarily condensed storytelling that limited budgets demand. There’s a shift that has to happen, he maintains.

There was a film with a very low budget and an actor said to use the money for more people who are eager to make films but don’t have the budget.

“The DFF should shine these films,” he said. “We care and we will do everything in our power to make sure your film is seen.”

Caucean is doing his best to get filmmakers to come to Orangeville. The festival is a lot of work and coordination for one weekend of the year; planning was started last year.

“Nick, Kelly and I worked for a lot of years together,” he commented.

Caucean said for him, his drive to get involved is to help filmmakers and ensure they have a great time. Every decision they make is for the filmmakers because they are filmmakers themselves. The work and money a person puts into these films matters. 

“We’re going to show what a great filmmaker you are,” he promised. “Come and see your film being watched by an audience.”

For details and tickets go to www.dufferinfilmfest.com

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