Movie lovers rejoice; the Okotoks Film Festival is kicking off its 9th year tonight.
The festival runs until Sunday, May 8, and according to Festival Director Katie Fournell, there will be plenty of films to watch.
"We have five days this year, and over the five days we are doing 20 different events," Fournell explains. "We're showing 92 different films in the five days."
They have short film packages, feature films, Canadian films, international films, horror films, family films, and films for animal lovers.
"We have a whole package just dedicated to animal lovers."
As part of their opening night tonight, they will be playing Ties That Bind, which, as they always do with their opening film, is an Alberta-made feature film.
"And then, right after that, we are having a red-carpet gala out in the lobby of the theatre. We will have servers walking around with food. We will have a whole mocktail bar, we'll have live music, and it's just a chance to mingle with the filmmakers of the Ties That Bind and celebrate their films, celebrate the beginning of the festival."
Right after the red-carpet gala, people will head back into the theatre for a short awards presentation, where they will announce the winners of everything but the Audience Choice and the Best Youth Film.
"We show tiny little clips of all of the films that have won awards or been nominated so that people can kind of get a sample of, like, oh these are the kinds of films that are being shown at the festival and also to kind of entice people."
Fournell adds that they announce the winners on the first night, so if people want to watch the films that won, they are able to choose which screening to go to.
"Instead of announcing all the winners at the end and people might have missed the one that won, and they're like, oh, I wish I had seen the Best Picture. Well, now, you know what the Best Picture is before it gets shown.
Opening night starts at 7 p.m., with Ties That Bind, as well as a documentary about French 50.
Ties That Bind is a drama about three brothers and their relationship with the people around them during the Great Depression, and one of them is one of the MLAs who is dealing with the Alberta Funny Money Crisis.
"One thing that we try and do with the Film Festival is to add a little bit extra to some of the screenings to make it more enticing to come to the theatre and also to make the experience at the theatre more immersive," says Fournell. "So, you feel like there's a celebration going on. It's not just sit down and watch the movies."
For example, as part of a Feature Film called Lucky Star, they are playing Saturday night at 9:30, and there will be a surprise.
Part of the Festival, they also highlight specific countries, and this year they have chosen Nigeria.
As part of that package, there will be four films, as well as traditional Nigerian snacks and some Nigerian drumming, art, and storytelling for people to enjoy.
The festival is also hosting their Lunch Break Shorts again this year, where people are able to come down for an hour on their lunch break on Friday, watch some short films and eat a light lunch that the Festival is providing.
"Also, brand new this year, we have a package called Shorts After the Bell, which is also on Friday at 4 p.m., and that one is specifically films targeted at ages 16 to 25."
Fournell says that if people show their Student ID at the box office when they buy tickets, the tickets will be 50 per cent off.
On both Saturday and Sunday, there are shorts that are specifically about animals, and the Okotoks Pound Rescue will be bringing some animals to visit before the screening starts.
To help close out the festival, they are screening the films made during the 48-hour filmmaking challenge, which Fournell says is their most popular package.
The films in that package were all made over a 48-hour period on the May long weekend.
As part of the wrap party for the festival, there will be a BBQ and tailgate party in the theatre parking lot on Sunday night.
During the festival, they will also be hosting workshops that people can come to and learn about AI in film, puppetry, and one with the filmmakers of Ties That Bind.
Tickets for the festival are $10.
To see the full list of film packages and showing times at the Okotoks Film Festival, check out their website.