Chilliwack Independent Film Festival set to take centre stage Friday

CHILLIWACK — Six years in the making and the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival (CIFF) is making waves in the industry. With an expanded line-up of events and films, the 2022 festival is poised to be its largest version yet. CIFF opens Friday and runs through Sunday with more films, more filmmakers and more workshops for young filmmakers to learn and network.

Co-founder and festival director Taras Groves explains “the purpose of the festival is to be a platform for different voices from not just the Fraser Valley, but around the world.” He added, “hopefully it will also help local filmmakers get recognition and learn and develop their skills.”

Opening night will feature a block of five short films connected to the Fraser Valley. The opening film is Acceptance. It is written by youth filmmaker Mikaela Stolz, a recent graduate of G.W. Graham secondary school. It’s a story of the traumatic struggles facing many teenagers today. Funding for the film came through a program advocated for by city councillor Jason Lum. When major films are shot in the Fraser Valley, the filmmaker is required to contribute a small amount of money to the film fund to support up-and-coming filmmakers in the region.

Groves hopes Stolz will be able to use her film to promote herself as a filmmaker and to open doors for her future. “She can hopefully show it to film schools and to other festivals,” says Groves. “The dream would be to have people from Chilliwack learn filmmaking, make films in Chilliwack, show them at the festival and go onto great things.”