As the city creeps ever closer to the 67th edition of the Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) in May, festival organizers will continue their Open Cinema program February 11 with a screening of CBC's 2010 TV special Love Letters.
The YFF is touting the event as a romantic evening just in time for Valentine's day.
The video features vignettes from A.R. Gurney's Pultizer Prize-nominated stage play of the same name performed by some of Canada's most prominent real-life acting couples.
The story centres around two characters, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepiece Ladd III, reading 50 years of notes, letters and cards in which they "discuss their hopes and ambitions, dreams and disappointments, victories and defeats," according to the CBC website.
The film juxtaposes these vignettes with behind-the-scenes interviews with the acting couples discussing their own experience with love.
Gordon Pinsent, one of Canada's most beloved actors hosts while Peter Keleghan (The Newsroom, Made in Canada) and Leah Pinsent (Made in Canada, More Tears), Peter Donaldson (Emily of New Moon) and Sheila McCarthy (Little Mosque on the Prairie); Carlo Rota (24) and Nazneen Contractor (The Border); Colin Mochrie (Whose Line Is It Anyway?) and Debra McGrath (Little Mosque on the Prairie); and Samantha Bee and Jason Jones (both of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart) play Melissa and Andrew at various stages in their fictional lives.
This Open Cinema event will be held at the Yorkton Public Library starting at 7 p.m. and will be hosted by long-time YFF volunteer and past-president Elwyn Vermette.
"He's very knowledgeable and a good host for Open Cinema," said Scott Stelmaschuk, festival coordinator.
Following the screening, which is open to everyone free of charge, Vermette will lead a discussion based on topics raised by the film.
This is the second last Open Cinema event before the festival opens May 22.
The final screening of the 2013-2014 season will be Cyber-Bullying March 11 presented in partnership with Canadian Federation of Women (Yorkton).
"With the topic much in the news, this evening promises to inform and interest," Stelmaschuk said.
The 23-minute, 2012 documentary was produced by Alberta's BearPaw Media Productions. It features interviews with Canadian bullying expert Dr. Shaheen Shariff and follows the experiences of four youths to explore "how technology and changes in communication have affected how kids relate to each other in a world where hurtful information can become public in an instant."
