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Vote for PEC Syria short film to win spot at Vancouver Film Festival

UPDATE: Helpful Hand was voted the winner.

show-the-worldA short film about Prince Edward County’s Syrian refugee sponsorship is one of three finalists in a “Call to Action” short film competition.

Decided by the public through social media online voting (until Sept. 23), the winning film will receive a $20,000 prize and screening at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF).

Frank Giustra and the Radcliffe Foundation, in collaboration with VIFF, launched a competition urging filmmakers to produce a “Call to Action” short film up to 60 seconds in length that educates, inspires, engages, and empowers Canadians to take tangible action on the refugee crisis.

“Show the World”, by filmmakers Michèle Hozer and Roxana Spicer, features Ian Crerar, who is part of the PEC Syria group which has sponsored 28 Syrian refugees. He explains in the film that although uncertain at first, the experience has unexpectedly changed his life forever.

Hozer and Spicer also won a provincial competition in the winter involving about 50 other top filmmakers in Ontario in a bid for a TVO documentary about the County embracing the sponsorship and resettlement of Syrian refugees into the community.

TVO began shooting May 1 at a PEC Syria potluck in Wellington to thank the community for its ongoing support. Filming has been ongoing throughout the summer. It is expected to be aired in the fall of 2017.

With two films on the Oscar shortlist, Emmy-nominated and CSA-winning Michèle Hozer has been working as a filmmaker and editor in Canada since 1987. Her work has received accolades from the most prestigious film festivals in the world, including Sundance IDFA & VIFF, on such films as Shake Hands with the Devil, Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould and Sugar Coated.

Roxana Spicer is a veteran filmmaker and journalist with documentary directing credits on CBC, Global TV, CTV, Discovery, the US Learning Channel, and TVO that span three decades. Most recently, she collaborated with Hozer, as writer for the feature length documentary, Sugar Coated (2016 CSA Winner: Best Political/Social Documentary).

The other two films in the competition are:

Humanity, by Vancouver filmmaker Zeeshan Parwez, is a 59-second spot to create awareness to support resettlement of Syrians.

Helpful Hand, by Alex Nagy, follows a young girl’s struggle to find a better future.

All the submissions were short listed by a jury that includes Sophie Trudeau, Atom Egoyan and Sarah McLachlan, and are now receiving public votes.

You may vote every day, until Sept. 23 at http://refugeestories.viff.org/

Filed Under: Arts & CultureLocal News

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