What It Is (and why you should care)

Just how did Vancouver get the nickname ‘Terminal City’ anyway? Sure,
when you’re the last stop on the Trans-Canada railway, or the final port
of call on the Pacific Coast, it makes sense, but didn’t anyone realize
that they were making the city sound like a dead end? Oddly enough
however, it’s that very downer of a connotation that makes the name
‘Terminal Cinema’ so apt for Vancouver’s emerging film underground.
These are filmmakers who haven’t found outlets for their work at the
city’s highly touted festivals or in it’s million dollar Hollywood North
industry. The independent creative spirit that fuels Terminal Cinema is
happening at a grass-roots level, without much sleep and even less money.

The seeds of those grass-roots were sown at the now defunct 24 Hour Film
Contest, where many aspiring auteurs tried their hand at frenetic
filmmaking over the past few years. While the obvious impetus of having
a film finished in under a weekend was a big draw, there was also the
satisfaction of having that film screened before an audience, complete
with awards for the audience favorites. The key difference between this
‘contest’ and other Vancouver-based ‘festivals’ was the open-door policy
– any and all filmmakers were welcome, and their work would get exposure.

However, now with the 24 Hour Contest closed, as well as it’s cousin,
the 48 Hour Film Contest, many of these maverick filmmakers are left
without a place to go. Most of the other ‘supports’ for local filmmaking
are sponsored by institutions and organizations with their own agendas,
and many have a rigorous selection process, not the level ‘pay to play’
field of the 24 Hour. While everyone talks about Vancouver’s ‘film
industry,’ the truth is that most of the work done here is as a ‘service
industry,’ catering to Hollywood productions and other outside
interests. The producers of ‘Terminal Cinema’ have sought out those who
have continued to make films outside of the system, and whose work has
not received much previous local exposure.