Goldstream News Gazette staffer Arnold Lim is living a filmmaker’s dream this week.
The photojournalist and videographer is in T-O, joining director Connor Gaston for the premiere of their short film, Godhead at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Lim is one of three producers for the 11-minute film, the others being Gaston and Chris Orchard. Godhead, filmed in and around Victoria, opened yesterday and also shows today (Sept. 12) as part of the festival’s Short Cuts Canada program.
“I’m excited to see (Greater Victoria) filmmakers represented at the festival, which is one of the largest in the world,” Lim said. “I see this as an opportunity for others who will come after us.
The film is one of 40 shorts accepted into the festival out of more than 800 submissions, he said.
Being a part of a film project being shown on such a large stage has been a goal of Lim’s since he began getting involved in filmmaking, he said.
“This is something I hoped to do by the time I was 40 or even 50,” the 36-year-old Saanich resident said.
Godhead is an offbeat comedy that follows the story of Gary, a young man rendered mute by his autism who spends his days racing remote control boats with his little brother. The ongoing scenario creates stress for the boys’ father, a single parent who just wants his elder son to get a job.
Gary’s condition, however, conceals a powerful gift that goes beyond words. Gaston, whose short film Bardo premiered at the festival in 2012, combines humour and the supernatural in his latest offering.
The group hope to see the film screened at other film festivals, in Calgary and Vancouver and potentially Victoria next February, Lim said.
No plans are in the works yet to screen it here beforehand, he added.
editor@goldstreamgazette.com