The board of the Yorkton Film Festival kicked off celebrations for the festival's 65th anniversary during Culture Days events at the Godfrey Dean on Saturday.
"We're very, very excited. We've been preparing for this for about a year now," said Randy Goulden, the festival's executive director.
A series of about 50 vignettes assembled by freelance writer Kathy Morrell will recall stories of the highs and lows of the festival's tumultuous history. The first 24 of these are already posted on the festival website, www.goldensheafawards.com. The rest will be unveiled in the months to come.
The board has chosen to mark the anniversary with the addition of a new Digital Media Award to the annual festival, an acknowledgement of the recent "blurring of the lines" between traditional film and newer forms of media. The new award will attempt to be "inclusive rather than exclusive," said board co-chair Richard Gustin, while still adhering to the definition of a short film.
"It's a pretty broad category so that we can get our toes in the water with this new world."
Several other, more specific digital media awards will likely be added to the festival in the coming years, said the board.
Organizers are inviting all of the festival's living founders and builders back for the 65th anniversary. Events to recognize their contributions will run in parallel to the main festival.
Other special events are also planned, said Goulden. "We want that to be a little surprise."
The 2012 Yorkton Film Festival is May 24-27.
