Film buffs in Windsor-Essex got some good news and bad news Wednesday.
First the bad news. The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) announced Wednesday that it has cancelled the festival for the second year in a row due to the uncertainty surrounding gatherings in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
WIFF Executive Director and Chief Programmer Vincent Georgie said the motivation is everyone's safety and well-being.
"The unknowns of the pandemic create a number of challenges for our staff, volunteers and patrons," said Georgie. "We look forward to the festival returning in 2022 and to welcoming everyone downtown for exceptional film experiences."
Then for the good news, WIFF is bringing back the WIFF Under the Stars summer series, which brought hundreds of vehicles to the Windsor riverfront for each open-air screening.
"We’ve heard resoundingly that residents loved the drive-in style event that was last year’s WIFF Under the Stars," said Georgie. "We look forward to bringing back that fun, nostalgia and celebration of movies."
The 2020 WIFF Under the Stars series, which allowed vehicles to watch movies outdoors in the guise of an old-fashioned drive-in at Festival Plaza, included family favourites such as A League of Their Own and even a James Bond-themed weekend.
Additional information on this summer's outdoor lineup and tickets will be forthcoming on the official WIFF website. Movie lovers can also keep up on recommendations as WIFF provides a weekly what-to-watch feature.
WIFF has grown into Canada's largest volunteer-run film festival, and it has generated a reputation for showing films that have gone on to get awards season buzz. During the most recent festival, 2019, the most talked-about films included Parasite, the darkly-comic thriller from South Korea. Parasite went on to make history, becoming the first foreign-language film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.