It’s not just a great year for film at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, but one that’s filled with local talent, Northern Ontario-shot films, and maybe a few genres films. Horror, anyone?
The 37th annual Cinéfest hits Sudbury Sept. 13-21. This year, the peacock image logo for the 2025 festival designed by 50 Carlton is “truly indicative of the diversity and vibrancy of our programming this year, and you're going to see it when you're at the festival,” said Patrick O’Hearn, executive director at the Aug. 21 lineup announcement at Silver City Sudbury Cinema on Marcus Drive, where the films will be shown.
Receiving well over 10,000 submissions, but only able to schedule a fraction of that, O’Hearn told Sudbury.com it was about making sure the smaller cultural communities that make up Sudbury are offered new showings, and it’s a chance for everyone else to learn something new. “We love our Francophone communities, just a great supporter of ours, but we love being able to bring films in Farsi or Persian, South Korean films (Like Park Chan-Wook’s No Other Choice) films that really resonate with our core audience, but are also available to people who are first generation living here in Canada.”
There’s also returning directors, new films from favourite filmmakers like Ken Scott, or Nunavut’s Zacharias Kunuk, director of the “Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner”. It was the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inuktitut with an all Indigenous cast, and his newest film, “Uiksaringitara” (Wrong Husband) will be presented at Cinéfest.
With attention to the Indigenous peoples of Canada are films that include “Clear Sky” and “Aki”.
Shawn ‘Clear Sky’ Davies is both the subject of and director of the film “Clear Sky”, which depicts his life after he was given up for adoption the day he was born. Davies' life spirals into addiction as he struggles with a broken connection to his Anishinaabe culture and a deep resentment toward the mother who abandoned him.
Through intense psychedelic therapy and the relentless grind of distance running, Davies makes a cross-country trip to confront the mother who left him.
Closer to home is the work of Darlene Naponse, a film called “Aki”, which will see its world premiere in Sudbury to a theatre of people from Aikameksheng Anishnawbek, where the visual documentary is shot. The film is almost completely wordless — except for some Anishinaabemowin — and features soundscapes and the beauty of the area.
“It does feel like there's more returning filmmakers this year than maybe we have on a year to year basis, which is great,” said O’Hearn. “Our audiences are familiar with them.”
O’Hearn was tapped for the top job after 17 years as Cinéfest’s managing director, and his knowledge of films is vast. He also has his favourites, clear from the descriptions he’d add as he announced the 2025 lineup of films.
But he’s not really a “genre” fan, he told Sudbury.com. Calling something a “genre film” can often be derogatory, denoting a film that is easily classified: horror, action, thriller or romance. Filmgoers will know exactly what to expect, but cinephiles don’t always enjoy the simplicity.
But “Deathstalker”? Shot in Sudbury and scored by Slash of Guns ‘n’ Roses, this one isn’t to be missed, said O’Hearn.
The movie is being directed by Steven Kostanski, of “Psycho Goreman” fame, and is a reboot of the low-budget 1980s sword and sandals movie series. It's not a full reboot of the original, but a “a refreshed remake,” said O’Hearn.
And despite it being out of his usual choice, “I loved this film, really. Sudbury should be so proud: in terms of the fantasy element, the special effects are out of this world. Incredible. The acting is incredible — take a look at the cast list, it’s filled with people audiences wouldn't expect in a particular film like that,” he said.
Other horror offerings include Mermaid, about a drug-addicted Florida man who finds a wounded mermaid at his lowest point, starring Saturday Night Live alum Kevin Neelon. And for a documentary with a horror and senior twist, there’s “Silver Screamers”, described as a documentary that follows a group of spirited senior citizens as they embark on an extraordinary adventure far outside their comfort zones: creating a horror film.
The scheduling will also reflect the best time for horror: the dark. “We know people want to go late at night as well, so we program these films so that people can make a full event.”
The full program will be out soon, and for now, you can find more information about the films by visiting Cinefest.com.
But the best way to do it, said O’Hearn, is to show up for the Sept. 13 gala opening, and see every film you can. Starting the festival will be Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie a 2025 Canadian time travel mockumentary-adventure film directed by Matt Johnson (from a screenplay by Johnson and Jay McCarrol.) You might just get to meet the filmmakers.
Other gala evening presentations have already been announced, including those from actor-turned-director Scarlett Johansson, Eleanor the Great, and the Colin Hanks, Ryan Reynolds ode to a Canadian comedy great with John Candy: I Like Me
Tickets are on sale now, and that includes single-film tickets. Prior to this year, audiences could only purchase full festival passports ahead of time, but now, you can pre-purchase a single event ticket. “It’s great for people who want to come, but know they're only going to be in town one day,” said O’Hearn.
You can find all the information you need to attend the Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival here.
Jenny Lamothe is a reporter at Sudbury.com.