Kinnie Starr Inspires Moving Stories Films

Moving effortlessly from spoken word to trip hop, funk and pop, from silk screening to graffiti to acting, Vancouver-based Kinnie Starr has been a member of Canada’s creative community since she emerged on the music scene in 1995. “Hip hop aggro-groove,” wrote the L.A. Weekly after the release of her debut album. Her latest album, Anything, combines all of Kinnie’s strongest talents translating them into a dynamic collection of killer songs. Kinnie’s song la le la la from the Anything album is featured here on the Moving Stories Films book preview, to celebrate Kinnie’s first collection of poems and illustrations, HOW I LEARNED TO RUN. The book will be released by House of Parlance Media in September 2008. We thank the artist and her generous publishers for allowing us to inspire the filmmakers participating in Moving Stories Film Festival!

(c) Moving Stories Film Festival is an program of BookShorts Literacy Program. Thanks to BC co-organizers Vancouver International Writers Festival and Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design; supported by Canadian Heritage. OLE Music and House of Parlance Media Inc.

How it all started

It all began when my roommate Choo-Kien Kua spotted a posting for the Moving Stories competition on the Emily Carr website. Knowing that I was a film maker, he immediately sent me the link and needless to say the opportunity to adapt one of three well respected literary works piqued my interest. I enthusiastically began to read the books and kept in mind interesting elements that would be useful for the adaptation. After a week of reading and research, my enthusiasm began to wane as the reality of condensing a novel with an involved narrative into a terse three minute short film became a daunting task. Most of my free time was spent wearing down the delete key on my computer as a brainstormed for ideas. It wasn’t until I began to collaborate with my friend Brittany Junek were we able to finally decide on adapting David Chariandy’s novel Soucoyant. Brittany had read the novel previously and her understanding of the it immediately propelled the project out of ennui. With only several days before the deadline, Brittany and I hurriedly put together a treatment which we were very excited about. We sent it off at the eleventh hour and waited anxiously for a reply.

 - Ken Tsui, Filmmaker & Winner of the Emily Carr / Vancouver International Writers’ Fest Competition

 

Ken Tsui, Brittany Junek Guest Bloggers

Congratulations to Ken Tsui and Brittany Junek, winners of the Moving Stories MAKE A FILM ON OUR DIME Competition. They will work with author and filmmaker Paul Quarrington and producer Judith Keenan to translate their creative treatment of David Chariandy’s Soucouyant into a short film.  Their film will premiere on October 25 along with the cull curated Moving Stories Film screening.

Read Ken and Brittany’s blog here to follow their progress!

Ken Tsui is a 23-year old from Vancouver, British Columbia currently studying film and media at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Recently participating in Vancouver Asian Film Festival with two films co-directed with Jeff Chan, Ken continues to balance his studies with his work in short film.

Brittany Junek graduated from Emily Carr in 2008, specializing in painting, textiles and the incorporation of language into visual art. Since graduation she has focused her energies namely in writing, including short stories and free verse poetry.

 

The program is sponsored by Emily Carr Institure of Art + Design and Vancouver International Writers Festival.

Emily Carr Call for Submissions now closed - Thank you!

Thank you to all the wonderfully talented and pro-active students and alum of Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design who were respondants our “Make a Film On Our Dime” competition.  Our organizing team at BookShorts and Vancouver International Writers Festival have now closed the call for submissions, and will soon post more information here on the site.  In the meantime, stay tuned for the Moving Stories Film Preview announcements to be made at BookExpo Canada, 2pm Sunday June 15.

Invitation For Emily Carr Students/Alumni To Make A Film On Our Dime

Are you a current student or recent graduate of the University formerly-known-as the Emily Carr Institute? Here’s your chance to apply what you’ve learned about art and design and make it shine on screen. All on our dime!

BookShorts Moving Stories invites you to submit a creative treatment for an up to 2-minute short film. Your entry must be inspired by one of three specially selected literary works in a range of genres: Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry.

Our jury will review all submissions and award the winner with $1,500 and professional mentorship to help bring their treatment up to 2-minute life! The film will be screened at the Moving Stories Film Festival and at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design Theatre as part of the Vancouver International Writers Festival (VIWF).

Hal Wake, Artistic Director of the VIWF is delighted about this new initiative. “Presenting short films about books is an exciting new departure for the Vancouver International Writers Festival”, says Wake. “The opportunity to engage young, talented students and alumni from Emily Carr to produce BookShorts is an added bonus. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.”

The deadline to submit a treatment is 30 May 2008. Get reading and writing today so you can start shooting your short! For eligibility requirements and entry guidelines click here.

For more information, contact Judith Keenan at (416) 855-2425 or judith@bookshorts.com.

Make A Film On Our Dime 2008 is a collaboration of the Vancouver International Writers Festival, Emily Carr University and the BookShorts Literacy Program.