Edmonton, Alberta–The capital of Alberta province, Edmonton is a city of over a million people. Located on the North Saskatchewan River and as flat as the eye can see, Edmonton is, of course, home to the Oilers, a lot of oil…and the Edmonton International Film Festival. Now in its 22nd year, the Edmonton International Film Festival runs from September 26 through October 4 and features an impressive roster of films from Canada and around the world. A view of the river from my hotel room

I was lucky enough to get an invite to attend, and arrived last night, just in time for a reception for some of the filmmakers, where I met the members of Anvil, the heavy metal band featured in the documentary Anvil! The Story of Anvil. This documentary debuted at Sundance to great acclaim and I look forward to seeing it later today.

Member of Anvil

I also met local favorite, filmmaker Bruce McDonald, whose film Pontypool was the centerpiece of last night’s opening gala. Pontypool, which starred Stephen McHattie, Lisa Houle and Georgina Reilly, is the story of a shock jock Grant Mazzy whose abrasive personality and wildman antics have gotten him kicked off the big city airwaves. He’s doing the morning show in tghe small town of Pontypool when he, his producer and the production assistant start getting news of people behaving in strange and horrifying ways. Though they first believe it’s a prank, it turns out that people are becoming infected with some unknown virus and then begin hunting and destroying each other like wild animals. In a Q&A after the film, McDonald revealed that the film is the first Canadian movie to be shot with the RED camera. It will have a U.S. release in March. I’ll report later in the pages of Film & Video magazine how the film was made and posted.

Today I’m planning a long day in a dark movie theatre. I’ll report later on the films I see.