Yorkton Film Festival
Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in western Canada on 11 October. The festival originally was named Yorkton International Documentary Film Festival and latter become known as Yorkton International Film Festival. In 1969, the Yorkton Film Council disbanded and the Yorkton International Film Festival Society was formed. The film festival went through several name changes and currently operates as Yorkton Film Festival. It is known as  the longest running film festival held in North America. The festival is open to Canadian productions, or international productions directed by Canadians, and focuses on films that are under 60 minutes in length. It is a qualifying festival for the Canadian Screen Awards. The Yorkton Film Festival includes awards in 29 categories: 18 main categories, 6 accompanying categories, 3 craft categories and 2 special categories as of 2019. In 2020 the festival will include a new category for Mental Health, sponsored by the Mental Health Drop-in Centre for three years. The festival will be the first in Canada to  Include an award for this category. Background. National Film Board of Canada. During World War II, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) instituted a program for Canadians during the war through the projection of NFB films across Canada. Under the leadership of John Grierson, the NFB films produced and distributed nationally and internationally during this time were focused on a range of cultural, technical and educational themes; including the war series,"Canada Carries On" and "The World in Action." After the war ended, the NFB was faced with a series of budget cuts, which led to the development of film  councils across Canada. Under this new system, the NFB would provide the films, and bare the operational costs, to those cities that formed film councils, secured their own projector and organized their own screenings. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council was established to participate in this program. James (Jim) Lysyshyn. In 1947, Jim Lysyshyn, a National Film Board field officer, was developing the idea of creating a documentary film festival in Yorkton. Having heard that the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts was planning to add film sections to their festival, Lysyshyn believed that the Yorkton Film Council was in the  position to take similar action. He was successful in convincing the council members of the merits of this project and first international film festival was scheduled for 1950. Antoinette (Nettie) Kryski. Nettie Kryski's work with the Yorkton Film Council began in 1947 during a meeting held by the NFB representative and various organizations to discuss the creation of a film council in Yorkton. As the film council's secretary, she wrote letters to various countries requesting films entries which resulted in 40 films being submitted to the first festival held in 1950. In 1979 she was awarded the Golden  Sheaf for her hard work and dedication to the Yorkton Film Festival. * In 2012, Nettie Kryski's hard work was acknowledged at the festival's 65th anniversary celebration. Awards. Certificates of Merit. Up to 1954, the audience participated in judging the films through ballot casting: rating films as excellent, good or fair. The winners were issued Certificates of Merit. In 1956, the audience approval was still registered by ballots; however, for the first time the films were adjudicated and rated by film experts and professionals. The first adjudicators were Professor. A J. Wrick, supervisor of adult education division at University  of Saskatchewan; Gordon Campbel, director of adult education division at the department of education in Regina; and Frank Morriss, drama and film editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. Golden Sheaf Awards. After the 1956 film festival, Frank Morris recommended to the council that the film festival adopt a grand prize. The award was designed to be representative of the community and was named the Golden Sheaf Award. The Winnipeg Brass company cast the original design. In 1958 the festival awarded the Golden Sheaf, for the first time, for 'best film of all classes' to the Czech film "Inspiration". The Golden  Sheaf Award, for 'best film in all categories', was awarded in 1960 to the NFB film "Universe". In the 1960s, the festival moved away from the heavy and expensive brass award and moved towards an engraved metal plaque and then to an acrylic standalone trophy. In the 1970s, Saskatchewan Government Insurance sponsored a new design for the Golden Sheaf Award. The winning design, by Jerry Didur proved to be too complex and costly to mass-produce. As a result, the board asked Yorkton artist Jim Trinder to re-design a new Golden Sheaf Award that is still used to this  day. In 1993 at the 31st film festival, referred to at this time as the Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival, Terry Steyn's "Something to Cry About" won five awards. This film went on the be nominated in 1995 for four Gemini Awards. In 1996, the Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival, hosted a four-day event and honoured the best in 13 categories with the Golden Sheaf Awards. "Utshimassits: Place of the Boss" a documentary directed by John Walker (NFB) and produced by Mike Mahoney won 'Best of the Festival' Award. At the next festival, 'The Fifty Years Celebration', an  additional four categories for international entries will be added. In 2002, the documentary "Nuliajuk: Mother of the Sea Beasts" won the Golden Sheaf 'multicultural' award at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival. In 2013 the Golden Sheaf Awards were awarded in nineteen Main categories, three Craft awards , the Ruth Shaw (Best of Saskatchewan),Indigenous and Emerging Filmmaker Awards as well as the Founder's Award, awarded to a production depicting historical Canadian characters or events. In 2019, ""Finding Big Country"", ""El Toro"", ""Beauty"", ""Tomorrow"" and ""Fast Horse"" all were award winners. Awards were handed out in 29 categories at the  Yorkton Film Festival Golden Sheaf Awards Gala, including the 'Ruth Shaw (Best of Saskatchewan)' was awarded ""Bridging Borders – Season 2"" and 'Best of Festival', 'Indigenous' and 'Multicultural (under 30 minutes)' were awarded to "Fast Horse." Golden Sheaf Awards gala. In the 1980 festival, the first Golden Sheaf Awards gala was introduced as part of another initiative by the Board of Directors to increase community participation in the festival. The gala included a traditional Ukrainian supper, celebrating Yorkton's Ukrainian heritage, the Golden Sheaf Awards presentation, a clip from winning films, and a dance to serve as a finale to the  fun filled evening. The gala has become a staple of the festival, and has been hosted by personalities like Shelia Coles, Jeff Douglas, and Costa Maragos.