GUELPH, ON, October 21st, 2009 – The SharpCuts Indie Film and Music Festival is returning for its third straight year with old favourites and new additions. This year’s SharpCuts will take place over three days starting on Friday November 13th and wrapping on Sunday November 15th. Just as ever admittance to all screenings will be free.
For local high schoolers, SharpCuts kicks off early with the Blended Film Challenge. On November 5th, teams of up to 6 students, representing high schools from across the city, will gather at the Synnema, Guelph’s only underground film screening venue at 121 Wyndham St. Suite #106, to begin this new addition to the festival. These teams will compete to finish in one week, a short film that “blends” three randomly selected film genres. The entries will then be screened as part of the SharpCuts Sunday program on the 15th.
The winning team will receive the SharpCuts Sharp Cup, a trophy that will reside for the year in the winning team’s school as well as the first choice of three grand prizes. A local charity will also benefit from the challenge as the winning team will choose a recipient for half the proceeds collected from the challenge’s submission fee.
More importantly, media students from Centennial CVI and John F. Ross will be receiving course credit. The Blended Film Challenge was been integrated into the curriculum at both schools. More information on the Blended Film Challenge, including a complete set of rules can be found on SharpCuts’ website, http://www.sharpcuts.ca/
The second new addition to the SharpCuts line-up is Sunday’s closing event, The SC Lounge. The SC Lounge will offer a unique interactive experience between musician and audience with Hamilton’s own Ascot Royals being the featured performers in the inaugural Lounge. The Ascot Royals will be performing several songs from their new, self-titled album, and will be interviewed by Adam A. Donaldson, local writer and journalist and member of the SharpCuts organizing committee. The entire event will be filmed for web distribution.
SharpCuts’ Saturday program will remain the same, a day long presentation of indie short films from Guelph, across Ontario and beyond. This year’s Saturday program will be screened in the council chamber of the New Guelph City Hall. As always Friday means Fright Night for SharpCuts, and the festival organizers are pleased to be able to celebrate the first ever Friday the 13th Fright Night with a variety of horror shorts and features. The Fright Night will be held at The Synnema.
For all the updated information and details about SharpCuts, please visit the Festival’s website at
http://www.sharpcuts.ca