Reel 2 Real Film Festival

As our 26th annual Reel 2 Real Film Festival for Youth comes to a close, we want send a big thank you to all of our sponsors, partners, and funders for their continued support! Our festival wouldn't be possible without the support of each and every one of you. Thank you for helping us bring together a community of young artists, educators, filmmakers, mentors to ! 💗

Learn more at: https://r2rfestival.org/support/funders_and_sponsors/

Selected by our Adult Jury, SISTER & SISTER directed by Kattia G. Zúñiga won this year's award for Best Feature Film! A semiautobiographical film about two teenage Costa Rican sisters travelling through the Panamanian tropics, the film had its Canadian premiere at .

Congratulations to the SISTER & SISTER team for this recognition! 🏆 See the list of this year's award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

Taking home the award for Best Feature Film (Senior Jury), BOYZ directed by Sylvain Cruiziat connected with our youth jury and audiences for its authentic depiction of young male friendships.

The senior jury shared at our Closing Gala that this film was "a sincere documentary about adjusting to new stages of life" and made note of its "raw and unique style". BOYZ also received an Honourable Mention for Best Feature Film from our Adult Jury.

Congratulations to the BOYZ team! 🏆 Explore this year's list of award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

Impressing our Senior Jury members with its beautiful use of animation and live-action techniques, THE OLD YOUNG CROW directed by Liam LoPinto took home the award for Most Innovative Short Film at ! Congratulations to the The Old Young Crow team! 👏

See the full list of this year's award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

Selected by our senior jury, 250KM directed by Hasmik Movsisyan won the award for Most Inspirational Short Film at !

The senior jury shared at our Closing Gala that this film was "a powerful reminder of the resilience that can emerge in the darkest of times"" and that it ""touched audiences in a deep and profound level". Congratulations to the 250km team! 👏

See the full list of this year's award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

Touching the hearts of many audiences, SALEEM directed by Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha won the award for Best Feature Film (Junior Jury) and the Edith Lando Peace Prize for its use of storytelling in film to further the goal of social justice and peace.

"We aim to shed light on the refugee experience that effects countless of children around the world...[this award] fuels our passion for making meaningful films," says director Cynthia Madanat Sharaiha in her thank you video shared with us at our Closing Gala. Big congratulations to the Saleem Film Digitales Media team! 👏

View the full list of this year's award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

Wowing the jury with it’s unique animation style, RETURN OF HAIRY HILL took home two awards at - Most Innovative Short Film (Junior Jury) and the NFB Award for Best Animated Short!

We were thrilled to have have director Daniel Gies share a thank you video and behind-the-scenes look into the making of the film and have his sister in the audience to accept the awards on his behalf at our Closing Gala.

Congratulations to the RETURN OF HAIRY HILL team! 👏 See the full list of award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/awards-and-jury-2024/

🏆 And the winner is...

Over the few days we will be announcing this year's award winners chosen by our Junior and Senior Youth Jury, and the Adult Jury. Starting with the Junior Jury's selection for Most Inspirational Short Film, congratulations to REINCARNATION MALL directed by Eric Giessmann and Piers Goffart! We were lucky to have director Eric Giessmann send through a heartfelt thank you video at our Closing Gala last week.

View the full list of award winners at: https://r2rfestival.org/thats-a-wrap-on-our-26th-r2r-festival/

A big shoutout to our wonderful youth juries! 👏 Made up of young film enthusiasts our Junior Jury (9-12 years old) and Senior Jury (13-18 years old) met over a number of weeks to evaluate the short films in competition at !

The winners are officially selected! Join us for our public Closing Night Awards Gala on Tuesday, April 16, to find out who is taking home this year's top prizes! Followed by a screening of COCO FARM.

Get tickets at: https://r2rfestival.org/festival/r2r-2024-schedule/

Celebrating the next generation of BC filmmakers, we were honoured to award a group of talented young artists at our Youth Filmmakers Showcase last night. Join us in giving all of the winners and YFS selected films a round of applause! 👏

⭐️ Music and/or Sound Award: REFLECTIONS dir. Sanique Hunt (runner up: STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM dirs. Leah Park, Linnea Logie, & Sarah Wang)

⭐️ Editing Award: LOVE IS UNIVERSAL dirs. Rylie Siraj, Kyonna Clarke, Kael Gough-Johnson, Jared Magale, & Mason Fraser (runner up: TIMELESS INFECTION dir. Zachary Nabi)

⭐️ Camera and/or Lighting Award: MY FRIEND, FRANCIS dir. Vlada Hayvoronska

⭐️ Animation Award: STRAY dir. Alek Gorczycka (runner up: MISSION RESCUE NOVA dir. Camdyn McLaughlin)

⭐️ Acting Award: Ella Dixon, Kennedy Kopke, and Salihah Ali from PROMISES

⭐️ Screenwriting Award: SMILE FOR ME dirs. Ayush Senanayake, Ben Bueckert, Wesley Eeagles, C-Jay Bryce (runner up: THE SUMMONERS dir. Lyra Murphy)

⭐️ Documentary Award: THE POTTINGERS dir. Calille Pottinger

⭐️ Directing Award: TERRIFYING TALES of səl̓ilw̓ət dirs. Kadence, Harley, & Takiyah (runner up: HEY DARLING dir. Elliot Walker)

⭐️ Best Film Award: THE SUMMONERS dir. Lyra Murphy

⭐️ Audience Award: LOVE IS UNIVERSAL dirs. Rylie Siraj, Kyonna Clarke, Kael Gough-Johnson, Jared Magale, & Mason Fraser

A special thank you to our generous sponsors for providing our fantastic prizes that will help these emerging artists on their filmmaking journey!

Learn more about the 2024 YFS selections at: https://r2rfestival.org/youth-filmmakers-showcase/yfs-2024/

Welcome to our annual Behind the Scenes Expo at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre! 🙌 Part of our Youth Media Conference, high school students get the unique opportunity to discover the multitude of career opportunities that await them.

Thanks to our industry participants and reps from Animation and VFX studios, post-secondary recruiters, and union and guild reps, students get to speak one-on-one and ask questions about career planning in Vancouver’s flourishing film, television, and media industries.

Learn more about how to get involved at our BTS Expo at: https://r2rfestival.org/festival/high-school-programs-2024/youth-media-conference-2024/behind-the-scenes-expo-2024/

Animal Logic, Atomic Cartoons Inc, Cinesite, Industrial Light & Magic, Mainframe Studios, Image Engine, Bardel Entertainment Inc, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, SFU School for the Contemporary Arts, Langara College, InFocus Film School, Vancouver Film School, Film at UBC, Creative Pathways, ICG 669, IATSE 891, Vancouver Independent Filmmakers Network, Directors Guild of Canada, BC District Council, NFB, Telefilm Canada

Join us for all-day breakfast and movies at our annual Sunday Fun Day on April 14 at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre! Welcome to all ages, the event includes four fantastic short film programs, drop-in animation workshops (including Pixilation, Cut-out Animation, and Objects in Motion), and our signature all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast!

🎟️ There's still time to get your tickets at: https://r2rfestival.org/festival/sunday-fun-day-2024/