Civic Impact

Even before the first screening of the inaugural Scarborough Film Festival last June, festival founder and co-director Sergi Petrov knew he wanted it to become an annual event. 

He also knew it might be difficult. Not only did Petrov have to convince sponsors to take a chance on a then-untested project, he also had to build a program, secure venues, and get people into cinema seats. And he had to do it all with volunteer staff.

But though he was uncertain of what form the festival might take, Petrov, a filmmaker and 15-year Scarborough resident, believed it was "something that Scarborough needed."

The efforts, it seems, have paid off. Not only is the Scarborough Film Festival back for a second year, it's also got the backing of two significant new sponsors: the Toronto Arts Council and the University of Toronto.

"It was very, very tough approaching sponsors last year," says Petrov. "There was definitely a lot of hesitation and we were a first-time festival so basically we had to say 'trust us.' 

"Thankfully though, our first year went well which is why, I think, we have all these new partnerships. We've had partners and sponsors approach us, ask us to be involved. This is a big change from our first year when it always us asking them to join. People inside and outside of the industry have become aware of us. There's information and pictures [from the 2013 festival] on our website and in the news. And the people that came out last year really enjoyed it."

Thanks to the new funding, Petrov says, the festival has been able to expand its programming even quicker than he had hoped was possible.

"I know from experience that new businesses or new projects like this usually take about three years to really get going and I really didn't expect to expand so much so soon. It's very exciting."

Last year, the Scarborough Film Festival screened 17 films, including features and shorts, at two venues over six days. This year, the festival will screen more than twice that number, showing between 35 to 40 films at five different venues across the Scarborough area. 

In addition, Petrov says, this year will include significant community programming. Something that was always important to organizers but, in their first year, they didn't have the resources to pull off. 

Among other initiatives, this year's festival will include free film screenings for young adults in the weeks leading up to the festival, filmmaking workshop drop-ins at the Scarborough Town Centre, and free outdoor evening screenings. 

"What we want to do is to make a film festival that is really inclusive and affordable for all residents of the city and gives people access to films they haven't seen before, that haven't been shown before in Ontario, in Canada or North America."

While the festival's only official selection criteria is "great film," Petrov and the selection team are working on a program that will showcase local Scarborough talent alongside a diverse range of international shorts and features. 

"The submissions coming in this year have almost doubled, last year we had about 300, this year it's more than 500. Because we have so much to choose from and we're expanding, we're able to bring great films that represent many different ethnic groups and filmmakers of different backgrounds. Given how diverse Scarborough is we really focus on showcasing a diversity of cultures.

"We need to celebrate Scarborough culture, it often has a lot of negative attention in the media this is about doing something positive. It's about engaging people from Scarborough to come and watch films, but also encouraging people from the GTA to come into Scarborough."
 
This year's festival runs from June 3rd to June 8th. The official program will be made available online on May 15th.

Writer: Katia Snukal 
Source: Sergei Petrov