The ACT Arts Centre and The Ridge Film Studio present Inaugural Film Festival

The ACT Arts Centre and The Ridge Film Studios, with the support of the City of Maple Ridge, are pleased to present a new festival highlighting films created in British Columbia. The inaugural Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film is scheduled to take place at The ACT Arts Centre in Maple Ridge from Friday, March 17 to Sunday, March 19, 2017.

"Just as The ACT Arts Centre's 'ACT Presents' performance series is designed to introduce new Canadian and BC talent to our audiences, the 'Festival of BC Film' has been created to bring more attention and access to the work of BC filmmakers," says Executive and Artistic Director, Lindy Sisson. "More and more films are being shot in the Maple Ridge area and with The Ridge Film Studios a block away from The ACT, it felt quite logical to join forces and champion BC filmmakers," she adds.

John Wittmayer, owner of The Ridge Film Studios states, "We are thrilled to be a founding partner, along with The ACT Arts Centre, of the first annual celebration of BC Film. This festival aims to raise the profile of films made in British Columbia, and supporting the awareness of the amazing talent that this province has to offer is truly something to be proud of."

The Festival kicks off with an Opening Reception on Friday, March 17 at 6:30pm and features a total of six shorts and six feature films over the course of three days.

FRIDAY, MARCH 17 at 8:00pm
Feature Film: Numb
Director: Jason R. Goode | Starring: Jamie Bamber, Marie Avgeropoulos, Aleks Paunovic
Synopsis: When a couple in financial distress discovers GPS coordinates that promise to lead to stolen gold, they must partner with a pair of mysterious hitchhikers to enter the remote winter wilderness to recover the coins.

Short: Anxious Oswald Greene
Director: Marshall Axani | Starring: Ryan Beil, Jason Burkart, Trevor Devall
Synopsis: Oswald Greene must cure his crippling anxiety, even if it means trusting a blind nurse, a talking fly, and a flamboyant doctor with a knack for rhyming.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 at 5:00pm
Feature Film: Fractured Land
Directors: Damien Gillis & Fiona Rayher | Starring: Caleb Behn, Janet Annesley, Maude Barlow
Synopsis: With some of the world's largest fracking operations on his territory, a young indigenous leader and lawyer confronts the fractures within his community and himself as he struggles to reconcile traditional teachings with the law to protect the land.

Short: Counter Act
Directors: Heath Affolter, Jon Affolter, Nathan Affolter, & Thomas Affolter
Starring: J. Alex Brinson, Naika Toussaint, Teal Fiddler
Synopsis: When Alice, a naïve young woman having lunch in a diner circa 1960, joins Mary and Ray in their "sit-in" protest, the ire of the racist patrons boils over and Alice learns what it truly takes to stand up for what you believe in.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18 at 7:30pm
Feature Film: Black Fly
Director: Jason Borque | Starring: Matthew Maccaull, Dakota Daulby, Christie Burke
Synopsis: A troubled teenager and his older brother reconnect, setting off a powder keg of buried secrets, paranoia, and murder. Inspired by true events.

Short: The Timekeeper
Director: Scott Weber | Starring: Tom McBeath, Nathan Dashwood, Tammy Gillis
Synopsis: A watchmaker, who pawns time from people who waste it, is forced to question his own use of time when confronted by someone who might value it more.

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 at 2:00pm
Feature Film: The Wingman
Director: Jim Garrison | Starring: Peter Benson, Geoff Gustafson, Iris Paluly
Synopsis: A professional womanizer coerces his relationship counselor into helping him seduce women, only to discover that having him as his best friend is more important than using him to satisfy his insatiable sex drive.

Short: I Wanna Date U
Director: Lisa Ovies | Starring: Laura Adkin, Lisa Durupt, Anthony Konechny
Synopsis: After being stood up by her dream guy, a perpetually single Holly and her best friend Lucy decide to take a stand for women everywhere and hunt him down.

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 at 5:00pm
Feature Film: Lawrence and Holloman
Director: Matthew Kowalchuk | Starring: Ben Cotton, Daniel Arnold, KATHARINE ISABELLE
Synopsis: The dark and twisted story of a cynical and suicidal accounting clerk who gets taken under the wing of a happy-go-lucky, ever-optimistic suit salesman.

Short: Monster
Director: Deborah Burns | Starring: Jodelle Ferland, R. Douglas Hutchinson, Dave Abustan
Synopsis: Monster is a fable set in a pastoral post-apocalyptic time. Hannah, played by Jodelle Ferland, draws the winning lot to feed a terrifying hungry monster waiting in the forest.

SUNDAY, MARCH 19 at 7:30pm
Feature Film: Into the Forest
Director: Patricia Rozema | Starring: Ellen Page, Evan Rachel Wood, Max Minghella
Synopsis: A mesmerizing and powerful story about two teenage sisters in their remote woodland home who are forced to fend for themselves in a society that may be on the brink of collapse.

Short: Bedbugs: A Musical Love Story
Director: Matthew Kowalchuk | Starring: Shauna Johannesen, Sebastien Archibald, Blu Mankuma
Synopsis: Just when flannel-clad Tracy Polokowski thinks her 'yes' day has come, her hipster boyfriend breaks up with her, she discovers she has bedbugs, and she is ostracized by everyone she knows.

Tickets for the inaugural Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film are available online at www.theactmapleridge.org, by phone at 604.476.2787 or in person at The ACT Arts Centre, located at 11944 Haney Place in Maple Ridge. Ticket prices range from $11 for single tickets, $27 for a 3-pack of tickets, and $50 for a 6-pack of tickets. Tickets purchased for the screening on March 17 will also be honoured at the Festival's Opening Reception at 6:30pm.

For more information on the Maple Ridge Festival of BC Film, please visit www.theactmapleridge.org/FestivalofBCFilm

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