Nickel Night 1

by Alyson Samson

The LSPU Hall was abuzz upon my arrival, greeted by energetic and bashful hosts Matt Wright and Melissa Carrera. There were 9 films shown, from all across the board, Ireland, American and of course a few from right here, in fact, 58% of this years’ entries are local submissions. The night opened encapsulating the theatre in a music box as local musician Aley Waterman (a.k.a Gala) tinkered with her keyboard alongside Martine Blue’s shadowy, silent, scrim shielded puppet show. The Shadowy Hearts Cafe, started off innocently enough and certainly set a tone for the evening. While films such as Going Gone were over in the blink of an eye leaving me a little addled as to what the plot had intended. I couldn’t keep a smile off of my face for the entire duration of The Magic Ferret, - a film about a young boy hoping to be adopted, and his pet ferret. Its young actor had the audience won over from opening scene to the credit roll. Touching films from local artists, both, Ruth Lawrence and Joel Thomas Hynes heard extended applause from the audience, certainly proud of our own.

For me, these short films were not nearly long enough, I nearly always want to see more - even when they are fully developed in the amount of time they run. The Nickel Film fest is truly an accumulator of exemplary talent, from not just the province but around the world and with the variety of films there’s something for everyone.