international |
arts and media |
event notice
Wednesday September 20, 2006 03:24
by Catherine Forbes Dyck - TEAM LUNAFEST
ctdyck at shaw dot ca
Films by...for...or about women
The Canadian premiere of LUNAFEST, short films by, for, about women happens in Thunder Bay on Thursday, October 5, 2006. This year’s LUNAFEST program features nine short films in collaboration with dynamic local talent: singers, dancers and photographers. Films range from quirky animation to touching documentaries; all the films celebrate women in our local and global communities.
Proceeds of the event benefit the Northern Cancer Research Fund and the Breast Cancer Fund, a San Francisco based nonprofit working to identify — and advocate for elimination of — the environmental and other preventable causes of the disease.
The event made its Canadian debut in October 2004 when cancer survivor, Catherine Forbes Dyck, brought the festival to Northern Ontario. It had been travelling south of the border when she saw it advertised in a Minneapolis newspaper. Still recovering from her arduous cancer treatment and recently diagnosed with a brain tumour, Catherine was desperate for a creative project. She was also driven to raise funds for the heroic, compassionate and brave people in cancer care in Canada.
In its first two years, this independently run festival has raised nearly $20,000.00 for research into the causes and treatment of cancer. Thanks to the generous sponsorship the festival receives, it has been extremely successful in its infancy.
Thunder Bay is a centre rich in festivals, with a thriving film community. Events like the North of Superior Film Association Film Festival in March and the Bay Street Film Festival in September demonstrate the appetite for independent film in Northern Ontario.