WIFF is back in 'full force.' Here's what you need to know
177 films screening as part of 11-day festival
The Windsor International Film Festival is back in action this year, making a return to its usual format for the first time since the pandemic began.
The full schedule was announced Thursday and tickets are on sale.
There are 177 feature films and more than 300 screenings.
The offerings include Empire of Light, which was produced and directed by Oscar winner Sam Mendes, Women Talking, an adaptation of the Miriam Toews novel of the same name directed by Sarah Polley, and Triangle of Sadness, which won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
Executive director Vincent Georgie said there's pent-up demand for the return of the festival after its pandemic hiatus.
"No one could ever imagine that having a health pandemic. So, to be back in full force with a major festival, to come back in person, I think you appreciate it more," he said.
"I think that's where the audience passion and appetite has come across so clearly already in the weeks leading up to today's announcement. We've never been contacted or had so much outreach, ever. Not even close. I think people are just so ready to be back."
In addition to its other offerings this year, WIFF is featuring 19 local films — five of which are feature length.
One of those films, Boblo Boats: A Detroit Ferry Tale, is a documentary about the former Boblo Island amusement park and its ferry.
Another documentary, Walkerville's Willistead Manor: A Home that Shaped a Community, explores another Windsor landmark.
"Any city wants to see itself up on the screen and tell its stories and its perspective, and also to show the work of people here that make films and what our point of view of the world is and those stories that we're interested in telling. That it's absolutely critical," said Georgie.
WIFF runs from Oct. 27 to Nov. 6.