It's a big day for film in Canada, as April 19th marks the Canadian National Film Day.
To celebrate the event, more than 1700 screenings of Canadian films are being shown around the world just for one day.
Kelowna is even taking part in the event with screenings at various locations.
While some of the films were shown earlier on Wednesday, there are still some screenings to take in at Kelowna locations.
Reel Canada is hosting the National Film Day event is expected to be four times larger than last year.
Reel Canada executive director, Jack Blum told KelownaNow that after all the hard work of putting the event, he joked that he's most looking forward to the after party.
"It's really exciting for us," he said.
"I think I'm really looking forward to the day and hearing from Canadians across Canada and around the world that they're watching a Canadian film or that they've enjoyed a Canadian film," said Blum
Blum adds that the films also provide an experience where people get to know various Canadian cultures and landscapes through film.
Since many of Blum's friends have produced or directed a lot of the films, he feels obliged to protect his friendships and keep his favourites to himself.
What he did say however, is there are few films that are continually being selected for screenings across Canada and around the world.
"The English adaption of the Grand Seduction that Don McKellar directed a few years ago is going to have something like 90 screenings across Canada and around the world," said Blum.
Still, Blum admitted that this was the type of challenge that Reel Canada was hoping for.
"We couldn't have dreamed that Canadians would have embraced this so enthusiastically."
So for one day only, Canadian filmmakers will get to bask in some of the spotlight that Hollywood filmmakers regularly enjoy. Blum says that's one of the most thrilling parts of the day for him and the others at Reel Canada.
"You know, for Canadian filmmakers who are used to very, very short runs in the theatre - and they're used to not being heard of - we're really proud of the fact that some of these films are being embraced so deeply and so widely," said Blum.
If you get value from KelownaNow and believe local independent media is important to our community we ask that you please consider subscribing to our daily newsletter.
If you appreciate what we do, we ask that you consider supporting our local independent news platform.
