The County Adaptation Film Festival (CAFF) has announced its full programming lineup with five feature films, three free community experiences, two conversations and one giant party with special guests including authors, screenwriters, singer-songwriters and more, as part of their inaugural film festival September 27 – 29, 2024.
What’s on the program
Thomas Napper’s Widow Clicquot opens the festival as a nod to the rich wine heritage of PEC, presented by Harvey Kalles Real Estate Broker with Suzanne White. Special guests for the evening will include New York Times best-selling author Tilar J. Mazzeo whose biography of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin Clicquot formed the basis of Erin Dignam’s script in a moderated conversation with Eleanor Wachtel. This will be followed by a giant – free – party in Armoury Square next to the theatre, with support from Wentworth Landscapes & Construction and the Picton Business Improvement Association.
Day Two opens with a reflection on Truth & Reconciliation beginning with a musical performance by Jennifer Grant immediately followed by a screening of the Bawaadan Collective’s Mohawk language short film Six Strings and Gord Downie’s The Secret Path, based on the graphic novel by Jeff Lemire. This ticketed event leads off the Pathways to ReconciliACTION series which includes a selection of indigenous-led participatory activities open to the public presented by the Elderberry Fund and supported by the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) and Tsi Tyónnheht Onkwawén:na (TTO) at Macaulay Church Museum and Base31.
The afternoon continues with a programmer’s choice film: Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, starring Alicia Vikander and Jude Law and adapted for the screen from Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel, The Queen’s Gambit, presented by the Flicker Foundation (Jeremy Guth & Nina-Marie Lister). The next conversation happens in the Closson Chase Vineyard garden between award-winning author Mark Sakamoto and producer David Hamilton as they discuss the development process for Deepa Mehta’s upcoming feature based on Forgiveness. This industry-centric event is an opportunity for local industry to mix and mingle presented by the new Bay of Quinte Film Office.
The day ends on a cheeky note with Spike Jonze’s classic film Adaptation followed by a conversation with best-selling author/screenwriter and Kingston native Iain Reid on the trials and tribulations of page-to-screen metamorphosis.
Photo by Logan Somers-Barbie
On September 29, the final day of the festival begins with Tanya Talaga in conversation with Courtney Montour co-writer/co-director of the four-part CBC docuseries based on her latest book, The Knowing presented with support from community partners, the Kingston Writers Festival and Books and Company; and ends with a screening of Ru featuring a post-show discussion between Charles Olivier-Michaud and Catherine Hernandez (Scarborough) on the challenges of adapting traumatic personal narratives for screen, presented by Betty-Ann & Wade Heggie.
Throughout the festival, visitors are welcome at the Festival Lounge at Karlo Estates which features an exhibition of paintings and behind the scenes footage from The Peasants which was presented by the festival at a special screening in May.
The full schedule can be found on CAFF’s website. Festival passes ($150) are available until September 15 and provide access to all ticketed festival events. Single tickets ($25/ea) will go on sale September 1, 2024.
