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w w w .in sid e h alto n .co m | O A K V IL L E B E A V E R | Friday, July 2 8 , 2 0 1 7 | 5 6 Film festival announces Film.ca audience choice winners by Marta Marychuk Oakville Beaver Staff This year, the W illson Oakville Film Festival screened 19 fea ture length hlms and docum en taries and 25 shorts, and the race for a winner in each cat egory was tight. Some clear favourites quick ly rose to the top of the ballot count, but in the end, two Ca nadian-made hlms were chosen as the winners. The Oakville-shot feature hlm The Meaning o f Life was selected as the 2017 Film.ca Audience Choice Award Winner -- in the category of Audience Choice Award Feature Film or D ocu mentary. The Meaning of Life was se lected as the Film Festival' s Sat urday evening gala and screened to a sold-out house. This hlm follows the story of a struggling musician as he learns about life from a terminally ill nine-yearold girl he has been hired to en tertain. Musician Tyler Shaw stars in his hrst hlm role. Shaw charmed the audience before the screen ing with a special live musical performance. Previous to the film' s Canadi an premiere at the Oakville Film Festival, The Meaning o f Life held its world premiere in L.A. at the Dances with Films Festival, where it screened at the famed Chinese Theatre. Earlier this year, director Cat Hostick w on Director of the Year at the Canadian Urban Television Awards. "We are so blessed on w in ning best feature -- never w ould have guessed," said Ho stick. "The w hole process from hlming in Oakville to having our Canadian premiere here has been so enjoyable... what a way to top it off." The Talk also chosen The Talk was selected as the 2017 Film.ca Audience Choice Award Winner, in the short hlm category. The screening of The Talk at the Oakville Film Festival marked the Canadian premiere for this 12-minute hlm follow ing two parents as they try to navigate through the m ost un comfortable conversation of all -- the sex talk with their teen age daughter. Previously, The Talk w on the Gold Award for Best Short Film, and Best Director, along with the Platinum Award for Best Screen play at the L.A. Shorts Awards. The short hlm also w on the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Top Indie Film Awards 2017. "Thank you so m uch to the W illson Oakville Film Festival for this great honour. It was an absolute privilege to have been selected, let alone w in the Au dience Choice Award for Best Short Film ," Tanner Sawatzky, w ho wrote and produced the hlm, said in a media release. "It was the h rst time w e got to see our hlm play on the big screen and it was such a joy to listen to the laughs and the chuckles from the audience, beginning to end. Having the chance to screen our hlm in Oakville m eant a lot to us, being that myself, Tyler Boyco, and the majority of our crew all m et at Sheridan College just down the street. "This was a hlm Tyler and I had been longing to do, but I think I speak for both of us w hen I say w e couldn't have done it w ithout our incredibly talented cast and crew. It' s fes tivals like yours that give us a chance to showcase our hard w ork and tell our stories. Thank you again for this incredible honour. " 1f M r !. I i 1 fa Ft f* I i * ^ I I ... S U fltH U ir The Meaning o f Life, a film about a starving musician who gets a temporary job as a therapeutic clown at a hospital entertaining sick children, was selected as the 2017 Film.ca Audience Choice Award Win ner in the category of Audience Choice Award Feature Film or Documentary. BURLINGTON DOWNTOWN JAZZ FEST FREE EVENTS IN AUGUST RAIN OR SHINE ON THE PLAZA AT 440 LOCUST STREET AUGUST 11 7pm-9pm AUGUST 12 3pm-5pm AUGUST 12 7pm-9pm AUGUST 13 3pm-5pm Jane Bunnett & Maqueque Amanda Martinez Laila Biali A J TM bur ung to n Kellylee Evans Join us outside on the plaza at The B urlington Performing A rts Centre fo r four FRE performances by outstanding Canadian women in Jazz! In the event o f rain, the performances w ill be moved inside the venue. Visit www.burlingtonpac.ca fo r more information. y' PERFORMING ART5 C E N T R E BURLINGTON DOWNTOWN