The South Western International Film Festival is returning to Sarnia with in-person film screenings and events in one week.
Executive Director Ravi Srinivasan said COVID-19 public health measures will be followed.
"We have to follow the guidelines that are obviously set by the province, but also established by the venues themselves, and so all of the venues that we are operating in have the rule to show or prove that you're double vaccinated in order to enter the space," said Srinivasan.
SWIFF Sarnia. Image courtesy of Cassidy Crowe and Zen Turczyn.
The seventh edition of the festival will include a full lineup of Canadian and international feature and short films at the Imperial Theatre and Sarnia Library Theatre November 17-21.
"The opening night film is going to be a really exciting Indigenous feature film, called 'Night Raiders,' directed by Danis Goulet, who is a Cree Metis filmmaker. This film premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and then had a North American premier at the Toronto International Film Festival."
Live Q&As with filmmakers, free workshops for students led by leaders of the film and television industry will also be held.
"The film industry, even during the pandemic, has continued to boom in terms of production, and so we want to offer avenues for people who have trade skills in various fields that may want to pursue a career in film making and working on set," Srinivasan said.
For those who are unvaccinated, or still uncomfortable with in-person activities, a number of films will be available online.
"Not all of our films that are going to be available in-person will be available online and that's due to restrictions that are imposed from the distribution company that are providing the films to us."
Due to capacity restrictions a limited number of passes are available for the festival.
More information is available at swiff.ca.
