111 films make this year's Silver Wave the biggest yet.

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Matt Carter

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Please turn off your cell phones and pagers and make yourself comfortable. The films are about to begin... 111 films to be exact.

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That's right, it's movie time in Fredericton. The Silver Wave Film Festival marks its 9th annual return to the city next weekend and brings its largest and most impressive collection of films to date.

"Things are really exciting this year," said Tony Merzetti, executive director of the New Brunswick Film Co-op. "We've got more films, surprisingly. We always set out each year with the goal of not offering something that's bigger and better, but trying to offer something that's intimate, fun, and something that serves up a lot of great New Brunswick films. This year we ended up having more films which is great for everyone."

Last year, the festival screened 82 films over three days, presenting everything from professional dramas to amateur comedies. This year there are nearly 30 more films on the marquee including 64 made right here in New Brunswick.

"It's a phenomenal leap," said Merzetti.

Silver Wave is the brainchild of the board and staff of the New Brunswick Film Co-op and was designed to help promote and encourage filmmaking at home in New Brunswick.

Merzetti credits two major initiatives by the film coop for the dramatic increase in submissions for this year's event.

"Earlier in the year, we teamed up with UNB to hosts a 48 hour film contest where teams had two days to produce a film from script to final edited project," he said. "That event was a success and a number of those films will be presented at this year's festival."

The second event focused on encouraging young, aspiring filmmakers in the province to take their creativity to the screen. Ten-year-old NB filmmaker Carlee Calver made a promo clip for the event that went on to attract several young filmmakers under the age of 15 to try their hand at using a camera to express an idea.

"Carlee's film got put on Youtube and a few teachers took it into the schools to try and encourage students to produce films," said Merzetti. "This year we've got close to 15 films that came as a result of that. They're all made by kids under 15."

Silver Wave has done a lot to encourage filmmakers over the past nine years and Merzetti has witnessed the number of New Brunswick made films climb consistently since the festival's first year.

"When the festival first started, it really got members of the co-op interested in finishing films that had sat idle for a while," he said. "Knowing that there will be a venue for the finished film makes completing the project more of a priority for many people. We've seen the number of films completed by coop members grow as a result of Silver Wave. It's a definite incentive for people."

This year's festival promises something for everyone. Beginning on November 5 with a gala opening at Tilley Hall on the UNB campus and running until November 8, multiple screenings will be presented at Tilley Hall, The Charlotte Street Arts Centre, and Le Centre Communautaire Sainte-Anne on Priestman Street. Many festival favourites will again be on the program, including a midnight screening on Friday and a great collection of short films.

"Short films are always a highlight," said Merzetti. "I think people are used to bite-sized things nowadays with video games and Youtube being so popular. They are also the buffet-approach to film as well. It's like, you are bound to find something at a buffet that you like and even though there will also be some things that you don't like so much, if you can wait a few minutes something else will come along."

As part of Fredericton's Cultural Capital designation, the NB Film Co-op helped produce a number of Fredericton shorts focusing on individual reflections and historical events related to the city. These will also be included as part of this year's festival.

"This year one of the additions to the festival is a screening of films we did in connection with the Cultural Capitals of Canada designation that Fredericton received this year. We commissioned 10 films and eight of them will be ready for screening at the festival this year. It's really exciting because a lot of these films are based on the culture and the heritage of Fredericton."

Besides catering to film lovers in the area, Silver Wave also focuses on professional development, presenting workshops and discussion groups for the benefit of the province's filmmaking community. This year, the focus is on script writing.

"The key to a good film is a good script," said Merzetti, "so we have Louise Lalonde from PEI giving a day long workshop on script writing. She runs something called The Screen Writer's Boot Camp which has been going on for the last few years where they bring together writers and experts in the field. Basically, they just sit down and focus on writing scripts. Our workshop will focus on writing for television and theatrical films."

There will also be a script writing panel focusing on women in television and film which will bring together several women active in the industry from around the Maritimes.

In addition to celebrating nine years of The Silver Wave Film Festival, Merzetti and his crew are also celebrating 30 years of The New Brunswick Film Co-op. With a membership of between 200 and 250 people from around the province interested in honing their skills in the film industry, it is no wonder the amount of NB made films continues to grow each and every year.

For more information on The Silver Wave Film Festival including complete programming, ticket information, and a list of awards presented each year, please visit their website at www.swfilmfest.com or call the New Brunswick Film Co-op directly at 455-1632.