Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film Returns To The ACT Arts Centre 3/23-25

The ACT Arts Centre and The Ridge Film Studios, with the support of the City of Maple Ridge, are thrilled to present the second edition of the Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film. Highlighting films created in beautiful British Columbia, the festival is scheduled to take place at The ACT Arts Centre from Friday, March 23 to Sunday, March 25, 2018.

Tickets go on sale Tuesday, January 2, 2018 and are available online at www.theactmapleridge.org, by phone at 604.476.2787, or in person at The ACT Arts Centre (11944 Haney Place, Maple Ridge). Ticket prices range from $10 for single film tickets to $20 for opening night (opening night films + reception) and $50 for a Festival Pass (all films throughout the 3 days + opening night reception).

The ACT Arts Centre's Acting Executive Director, Philip Hartwick, says, "As an addition to our programming that includes our Golden Ears Movie Series, we are thrilled to once again present the Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film in partnership with The Ridge Film Studios and the City of Maple Ridge. Through this festival, we are able to not only bring more film to the heart of our community, but high caliber, domestically-made films too. We are proud to be able to support our local film industry in this unique way."

The Ridge Studios' John Wittmayer adds, "The Ridge Studios supports a talented and thriving local film community. We are very pleased to collaborate with The ACT Arts Centre and introduce these remarkable films to the public. It's important to create a strong Canadian film industry."

Lino Siracusa, Manager of Economic Development with the City of Maple Ridge, states, "Maple Ridge is regarded as a film friendly community, and this is reflected in the high volume of movies and series that are shot here every year. The film industry provides employment to over 600 Maple Ridge residents. In addition, the wages, which total over $24 million, and services procured by production companies help support local businesses. The Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film contributes to the City's film profile by showcasing some of these exceptional productions filmed in Maple Ridge."

The Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film kicks off with an Opening Reception on Friday, March 23 at 6:30pm and features a total of six shorts, four feature films, and one documentary over the course of three days. Announced today is the lineup:

FRIDAY, MARCH 23 at 8:00pm

Feature Film: The Prodigal Dad

2017 | Comedy/Drama | Filmed in Vancouver & Squamish

Director: Robert Wenzek | Starring: Brad Dryborough, Krystyna Kozlowski, Ryan Cashin, Allie Pev, Andrea Bang, Mackenzie Gray, Jacqueline Samuda, David Lewis, Fred Ewanuick, & Beverley Elliott

Synopsis: After losing his wife, George arrives uninvited at his daughter Lily's shared college house, but she is less than thrilled. Surprisingly, Lily's roommates embrace George and he soon becomes the life of the party - and the instigator of mayhem.

Short Film: No Reservations

2017 | Comedy | Filmed in Maple Ridge

Director: Trevor Carroll | Starring: Lorne Cardinal, Bradley Duffy, & Denise Jones

Synopsis: When Peter and Marilyn Whiteman's peaceful existence is uprooted by an unforgiving yet jovial corporation, they take matters into their own hands to stop the disruptive installation of a pipeline underneath their house.

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 at 5:00pm

Feature Film: Primary

2014 | Thriller | Filmed in Vancouver

Director: Ross Ferguson| Starring: Dustin Milligan, Michael Eklund, & KATHARINE ISABELLE

Synopsis: An insurance executive, seen simultaneously in the future and in the present, is betrayed and left penniless, and then must battle his closest friends to try to gain back his life.

Short Film: The Prince

2017 | Drama | Filmed in Vancouver

Director: Kyra Zagorsky | Starring: Lee Majdoub, Ashé Sabongui, Bodhi Sabongui, Brendan Taylor, Kim Villagante, Scott McGrath, Jennifer Copping, & J. Alex Brinson

Synopsis: Young tap dancer Olivia and her uncle Amir, an actor, struggle with what it means to be Middle-Eastern Canadian in today's racially divided world. When Amir books a role on a film, Olivia uses her dance routine as a way of expressing her true feelings.

SATURDAY, MARCH 24 at 7:30pm

Feature Film: Drone

2017 | Drama/Thriller | Filmed in West Vancouver, Langley, & Mumbai

Director: Jason Borque | Starring: Sean Bean, Patrick Sabongui, Mary McCormack, & Maxwell Haynes

Synopsis: Ideologies collide with fatal results when a military drone contractor meets an enigmatic Pakistani businessman.

Short Film: Cypher

2017 | Drama | Filmed in Burnaby & Vancouver

Director: Lawrence Le Lam | Starring: Jerome Yoo, Alex Barima, James R. Baylis, & Angela Palmer

Synopsis: Tensions still linger in 1997 LA between the Korean-American and the African-American communities after the riots of 1992. After an incident in his father's restaurant, Jay, a Korean-American high school student, finds himself pulled into LA's underground hip hop scene where the two worlds collide.

SUNDAY, MARCH 25 at 5:00pm

Feature Film: Hello Destroyer

2017 | Drama | Filmed in Prince George & Vancouver

Director: Kevan Funk | Starring: Sara Canning, Ian Tracey, & Jared Abrahamson

Synopsis: A young junior hockey player's life is shattered by an in-game act of violence. In an instant, his life is abruptly turned upside down; torn from the fraternity of the team and the coinciding position of prominence, he is cast as a pariah and ostracized from the community. As he struggles with the repercussions of the event, desperate to find a means of reconciliation and a sense of identity, his personal journey ends up illuminating troubling systemic issues around violence.

Short Film: The United Guys Network

2016 | Comedy | Filmed in Vancouver

Director: Tabatha Golat | Starring: Georgie Daburas, David Mackenzie, Meghan Hemingway, Dustin Finerty, John Kerrigan, & Tara Webster

Synopsis: Loving newlywed husband, Paul Seger, is making the other guys in the neighbourhood look bad. Time for the United Guys Network to step in and teach him how to be a "real" husband.

SUNDAY, MARCH 25 at 7:30pm

Documentary: Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux

2016| Documentary | Filmed in the Selkirk Mountains

Director: Damien Gillis | Starring: Craig Pettitt & Toby Spribille

Synopsis: From award-winning documentary filmmaker Damien Gillis (Fractured Land, Oil in Eden) and Valhalla Wilderness Society, Primeval: Enter the Incomappleux is the story of the majesty, magic, and endurance of one of the world's last truly ancient inland temperate rainforests - the incomparable Incomappleux.

Short Film: Send Us Smokes

2017 | Fantasy | Filmed in New Westminster & Mission

Director: Michelle Kee | Starring: Sara Canning, Matthew MacCaull, & Ada Jones-Kuranko

Synopsis: When 7-year-old Adelaide finds that the care package of cigarettes she prepared for her father won't be delivered to him, as he serves on the front lines of World War I, she decides to embark on a fantastic adventure to take it to him herself.

Short Film: Scattered

2017 | Comedy | Filmed in North Vancouver

Director: Ellie Harvie | Starring: Kalyn Miles & Debra Sears

Synopsis: Two women venture into the woods to scatter their friend's ashes and fumble for a way to say goodbye.

For more information, please visit www.theactmapleridge.org/FestivalofBCFilm.