YIKES! Film Festival took place last weekend, marking a successful third year of this NAIT alumni-founded event. The local event showed four feature films and various short films, most of them under 20 minutes. In total there were 43 showings over the course of three days. The theme was generally horror, although there were some sprinklings of different genres in there as well.
To say it was fun is an understatement. See, with YIKES!, each of the short films you watch can be of a completely different theme, pacing, quality and style. One film will be clearly shot within a single house; the other will have such a high production value you’re basically watching an A24 film.
When I arrived on Saturday evening, I genuinely got nervous as the lights dimmed. Because with horror like this, what can you expect? Indie filmmakers and smaller local festivals don’t have to conform to audience expectations or generally held movie rules, so what stops them from making or playing something absurdly terrifying or grotesque?
What really put a smile on my face was the visibly Western Canadian outdoor shots in a lot of the films. There’s something very familiar and comforting about seeing your own geography shown on screen, whether it be the Rocky Mountains or a prairie farm.
To add to the joy of locality, the filmmakers were sometimes in the crowd — so you could go talk to them after watching what they’d made. There was also a local vendor market on the side, craft Edmonton beer served at concession and local musicians playing on stage between films. The staff at The Creative Hive venue were so accommodating; they even served my friend coffee at 9 p.m.
There was a photobooth as well, and the festival organizer kept doing giveaways where you had to respond with horror trivia. How anyone knew the answers to the questions is still a mystery to me, but if you’re a horror buff I’m sure you probably had a shot.
My favourite showing, Terroir, depicted a wine hobbyist going to a lone man’s vineyard and facing some freaky happenings — both stars of this Canadian-made film won Best Performance. The Calgary-based film awarded Best Alberta Film, The Death of Somnus, was also a cool watch. 3D-animated, it was more of a sci-fi episode than a conventional horror movie — though still thoroughly disturbing and thrilling.
In the end, I left inspired, thinking “Man, I should go make a short film in the coming winter.” Because when you see people make things so local and so straightforward, it doesn’t seem like such an unobtainable thing; you feel like you want to express yourself just like they did.
If you are a creator yourself, whether of movies or artwork, maybe reach out to them. I think YIKES! has the potential to expand again next year, and it’s a great opportunity to showcase your craft. If you’re just along the ride, consider getting tickets next year — it’s a great time out, and you’ll leave thoroughly YIKE’D.
Feature image via YIKES! Film Festival
