Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

held in late May in

Yorkton Yorkton is a city located in south-eastern Saskatchewan, Canada. It is about north-west of Winnipeg and south-east of Saskatoon and is the sixth largest city in the province. Yorkton was founded in 1882 and incorporated as a city in 1928. ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in western

on 11 October. The festival originally was named Yorkton International Documentary Film Festival and latter become known as Yorkton International Film Festival. In 1969, the Yorkton Film Council disbanded and the Yorkton International Film Festival Society was formed. The film festival went through several name changes and currently operates as Yorkton Film Festival. It is known as the longest running film festival held in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. The festival is open to Canadian productions, or international productions directed by

Canadians Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

, and focuses on films that are under 60 minutes in length. It is a qualifying festival for the

Canadian Screen Awards The Canadian Screen Awards () are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media ( web series) productions. Given annually by the Academy ...

. The Yorkton Film Festival includes awards in 29 categories: 18 main categories, 6 accompanying categories, 3 craft categories and 2 special categories as of 2019. In 2020 the festival will include a new category for Mental Health, sponsored by the Mental Health Drop-in Centre for three years. The festival will be the first in Canada to Include an award for this category.

Background

National Film Board of Canada

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

(NFB) instituted a program for

during the war through the projection of NFB films across Canada. Under the leadership of

John Grierson John Grierson (26 April 1898 – 19 February 1972) was a Scottish documentary maker, often considered the father of British and Canadian documentary film. In 1926, Grierson coined the term "documentary" in a review of Robert J. Flaherty's '' ...

, the NFB films produced and distributed nationally and internationally during this time were focused on a range of cultural, technical and educational themes; including the war series,"

Canada Carries On ''Canada Carries On'' () was a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada which ran from 1940 to 1959. The series was created as morale-boosting propaganda films during the Second World War. With the end of the war, the series los ...

" and "

The World in Action ''The World in Action'' (aka ''World in Action'') was a monthly series of propaganda films from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), created to boost morale and show the Allied war effort during the Second World War. The series was inspired ...

." After the war ended, the NFB was faced with a series of budget cuts, which led to the development of film councils across Canada. Under this new system, the NFB would provide the films, and bare the operational costs, to those cities that formed film councils, secured their own projector and organized their own screenings. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council was established to participate in this program.

James (Jim) Lysyshyn

In 1947, Jim Lysyshyn, a National Film Board field officer, was developing the idea of creating a documentary film festival in Yorkton. Having heard that the Edinburgh Festival of the Arts was planning to add film sections to their festival, Lysyshyn believed that the Yorkton Film Council was in the position to take similar action. He was successful in convincing the council members of the merits of this project and first international film festival was scheduled for 1950.

Antoinette (Nettie) Kryski

Nettie Kryski's work with the Yorkton Film Council began in 1947 during a meeting held by the NFB representative and various organizations to discuss the creation of a film council in Yorkton. As the film council's secretary, she wrote letters to various countries requesting films entries which resulted in 40 films being submitted to the first festival held in 1950. In 1979 she was awarded the Golden Sheaf for her hard work and dedication to the Yorkton Film Festival. * In 2012, Nettie Kryski's hard work was acknowledged at the festival's 65th anniversary celebration.

History

Chronology

* In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded. * In 1950, the first international film festival was held in Western Canada. The Yorkton International Documentary Film Festival officially opened on 11 October in Yorkton, Saskatchewan. The event ran for two-days, 11 and 12 October. Yorkton hosted a film workshop in conjunction with the festival, which was attended by 13 film councils and 30 film committees. James Lysyshyn described the festival's purpose: ''"to extend public interest in films; to place documentary films on a higher level; and to give the public a better knowledge of film usage."'' There were film entries from

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, Crawley Films of Canada,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

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Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

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, and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. Prior to the film festival in Yorkton, festivals had been held internationally in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Locarno Locarno (; ; Ticinese dialect, Ticinese: ; formerly in ) is a southern Switzerland, Swiss List of towns in Switzerland, town and Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district Locarno (district), Locarno (of which it is the capita ...

and

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

. * In 1952, the second international film festival was held in Yorkton on 16 and 17 October. Entries were accepted in the following categories: agriculture, sociological, general, non-theatrical and cultural (i.e. music and art). Forty-seven films were entered in the festival from multiple countries. Exhibitors included the National Film Board of Canada, Crawley Films Limited, France, Sweden, India, Norway, United Kingdom, J. Arthur Rank Film distributors, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand,

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, Switzerland,

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of U.S.A., Netherlands,

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Germany, Fred G. Bard of Regina, P.G.A. Films Limited. The amateur exhibitors were Ralph Steuck of Abernethy, H. Ferman of Yorkton and J. Hoehn of Regina. An extra day was added to accommodate their screening schedule, making the festival a three-day event. The guest speaker at the festival's dinner was W. S. Jobbins from the National Film Board. * In 1953, the Yorkton Film Council joined the Federation of Film Councils of Northern Saskatchewan, formed under the auspices of the National Film Board of Canada. * In 1954, the third international film festival was held in Yorkton on 20, 21 October and 23. The three-day event, received strong support from community members. The exhibitors included the National Film Board of Canada, Crawley Films Limited, Sweden, India, United Kingdom, J. Arthur Rank Film Distributors of Canada, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Netherlands,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and Imperial Oil by Christopher Capman. J. Soehn of Regina was the only amateur exhibitor. Mrs. A. L. Caldwell, board of governors of the National Film Board of Canada was a guest speaker at the festival's dinner. Mayor, C. G. Langrill congratulated the film council for their efforts and for training over 250 projectionists. * In 1956, the fourth international film festival was held in Yorkton was held on 22, 23 October and 24. The festival received entries from 616 exhibitor that represented 14 countries. There were 52 films shown from 12 countries. The countries competing were Sweden, India, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands, New Zealand, United States, Germany,

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, France, South Africa, Australia,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and Canada. Productions were entered for the first time by Russia and Ireland. First Prize was awarded to the Canadian NFB film ''The Shepherd'', 2nd Prize was awarded to Russia's ''On the Shores of Lake Issik-Kul'', and 3rd Prize was awarded to Britain's ''Heart of England''. * In 1957, the Yorkton Film Council received a special award from the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories of Canada, ''"in recognition of this outstanding International Film Festival."'' The citation on the Certificate of Merit read: ''"The Yorkton Film Council in its International Film festival offers for public viewing a selection of films of high quality from many countries and recognizes and encourages high stand of film production. The special Award is given to the Yorkton Film Council in recognition of its outstanding International Film festival which demonstrates the contribution of the film council movement in Canada."'' * In 1957, a fire led to changes in the way the film council operated. Avalon Studios, the film depot and equipment supplier, was one of several businesses affected by the fire and film council lost almost everything. The council appealed to the local community for donations and help, which flowed quickly and helped the council recover. The Yorkton Public Library took over the responsibilities of Avalon Studios, and became the new film depot, which further allowed the film council to focus on running the festival. * In 1958, the fifth international film festival was held in Yorkton on 20, 21 October, and 22nd. Exhibitors in the festival were Sweden, India, United Kingdom, Denmark, Netherlands,

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, New Zealand, Germany,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, Cinematographers Association,

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, Norway,

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, South Africa, Australia, Russia, Dynamic Films (U.S.A.),

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

, National Film Board of Canada, Crawley Films Ltd., Shell Oil of Canada Ltd. and Imperial Oil Co. Ltd. Adjudicators were Gordon Campbell, Regina – director of adult education division, department of education; Gordon Hawkins, Toronto – associate director of Canadian Association for Adult Education; and Mrs. Lawrence Cherry, Regina – with the Saskatchewan government motion picture division. The National Film Board's ''City of Gold'' won first choice, Israel's ''Israel-An Adventure'' won second choice, and ''Himalayan Tapestry'', produced by Burma-Shell and entered by Shell Oil Co. won third choice. * 1958 marked the 75th anniversary of the city of Yorkton. * In 1958, the Golden Sheaf was awarded for 'Best Film' in all categories for the first time to the Czech film, ''Inspiration''. * In the 1960s, the advent of television reduced the popularity of the festival so much so that the council decided to delay 1966's festival until 1967 in order to provide more time to promote it. *In 1969, the tenth international film festival was held in Yorkton. *In 1969, the festival faced dire straits as the YFC disbanded and all but gave up on continuing the festival. Nettie Kryski, treasurer of the film council for over 20 years, refused to let the festival die sought out Yorkton Mayor Allan Bailey, and his wife Colleen, to aid in keeping the festival going.The festival found a new partner in the

Saskatchewan Arts Board The Saskatchewan Arts Board is an arms-length funding agency that provides support to artists, arts organizations and communities. Established in 1948, it was the first agency of its kind in Canada, predating the Canada Council for the Arts by ...

, and the festival organizers reached out to local businesses and community organizations to sponsor the event. The festival created a new board of directors who worked to ensure the festival's continued survival. This was spearheaded by a succession of volunteers and board members who oversaw and introduced changes that put the festival on secure footing, those people were: Colleen Bailey, Laurence Pearson, Elwyn Vermette, and Brian Woodward. * In 1971, when the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival (, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival held in Venice, Italy. It is the world's oldest film festival and one of the ...

claimed to receive the first ever international film submission from the People's Republic of China the Yorkton organizers were quick to reach out to offer the international community to offer a correction that the Yorkton festival had hosted eight films from China for the 1958 festival and three other films in 1962 and 1964. *In the 1979 festival,

Barry Morse Herbert "Barry" Morse (10 June 19182 February 2008) was a British-Canadian actor, writer, and director. He was known for playing Lt. Philip Gerard, the principal antagonist of the American television series '' The Fugitive'' (1963–67), as ...

, star of TV series '' The Fugitive'', presented the newly redesigned Best of Festival Golden Sheaf to multiple recipients. This was first, and only, time in festival history in which multiple films were considered Best of Festival. * In 1983 the festival changed its name to Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival. Previous to this it had been known as Yorkton International Short Film and Video Festival and prior to 1981 it had been known as Yorkton International Film Festival. * In 2013, on 4 November Ruth Shaw died at the age of 95. She was the last surviving original founder of the Yorkton Film Council in 1947. The festival established the Ruth Shaw (Best of Saskatchewan) award to recognize the best film made in the province on her 90th birthday.

Awards

Certificates of Merit

Up to 1954, the audience participated in judging the films through ballot casting: rating films as excellent, good or fair. The winners were issued Certificates of Merit. In 1956, the audience approval was still registered by ballots; however, for the first time the films were adjudicated and rated by film experts and professionals. The first adjudicators were Professor. A J. Wrick, supervisor of adult education division at

University of Saskatchewan The University of Saskatchewan (U of S, or USask) is a Universities in Canada, Canadian public university, public research university, founded on March 19, 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatch ...

; Gordon Campbel, director of adult education division at the department of education in Regina; and Frank Morriss, drama and film editor of the

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

Golden Sheaf Awards

After the 1956 film festival, Frank Morris recommended to the council that the film festival adopt a grand prize. The award was designed to be representative of the community and was named the Golden Sheaf Award. The Winnipeg Brass company cast the original design. In 1958 the festival awarded the Golden Sheaf, for the first time, for 'best film of all classes' to the Czech film ''

Inspiration Inspiration, inspire, INSPIRE, or inspired commonly refers to: * Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production * Biblical inspiration, a Christian doctrine on the origin of the Bible * Inhalation, breathing in Inspiration and rel ...

''. The Golden Sheaf Award, for 'best film in all categories', was awarded in 1960 to the NFB film ''

Universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

''. In the 1960s, the festival moved away from the heavy and expensive brass award and moved towards an engraved metal plaque and then to an acrylic standalone trophy. In the 1970s,

Saskatchewan Government Insurance Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI) is a Canadian insurance company and a Crown corporations, Crown corporation wholly owned by the Government of Saskatchewan. SGI's operations consist of the Saskatchewan Auto Fund, the compulsory public auto ...

sponsored a new design for the Golden Sheaf Award. The winning design, by Jerry Didur proved to be too complex and costly to mass-produce. As a result, the board asked Yorkton artist Jim Trinder to re-design a new Golden Sheaf Award that is still used to this day. In 1993 at the 31st film festival, referred to at this time as the Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival, Terry Steyn's ''Something to Cry About'' won five awards. This film went on to be nominated in 1995 for four Gemini Awards. In 1996, the Yorkton Short Film & Video Festival, hosted a four-day event and honoured the best in 13 categories with the Golden Sheaf Awards. ''Utshimassits: Place of the Boss'' a documentary directed by John Walker (NFB) and produced by Mike Mahoney won 'Best of the Festival' Award. At the next festival, 'The Fifty Years Celebration', an additional four categories for international entries will be added. In 2002, the documentary ''Nuliajuk: Mother of the Sea Beasts'' won the Golden Sheaf 'multicultural' award at the Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival. In 2013 the Golden Sheaf Awards were awarded in nineteen Main categories, three Craft awards , the Ruth Shaw (Best of Saskatchewan),Indigenous and Emerging Filmmaker Awards as well as the Founder's Award, awarded to a production depicting historical Canadian characters or events. In 2019, ''"Finding Big Country"'', ''"El Toro"'', ''"Beauty"'', ''"Tomorrow"'' and ''"Fast Horse"'' all were award winners. Awards were handed out in 29 categories at the Yorkton Film Festival Golden Sheaf Awards Gala, including the 'Ruth Shaw (Best of Saskatchewan)' was awarded ''"Bridging Borders – Season 2"'' and 'Best of Festival', 'Indigenous' and 'Multicultural (under 30 minutes)' were awarded to "Fast Horse."

Golden Sheaf Awards gala

In the 1980 festival, the first Golden Sheaf Awards gala was introduced as part of another initiative by the Board of Directors to increase community participation in the festival. The gala included a traditional Ukrainian supper, celebrating Yorkton's Ukrainian heritage, the Golden Sheaf Awards presentation, a clip from winning films, and a dance to serve as a finale to the fun filled evening. The gala has become a staple of the festival, and has been hosted by personalities like Shelia Coles,

Jeff Douglas Jeffrey Lloyd Douglas (born June 8, 1971) is a Canadian actor and broadcaster, best known as the cohost of CBC Radio One's daily news program '' As It Happens'' from 2011 to 2019. He has hosted the mainland Nova Scotia afternoon show ''Mainstreet' ...

, and Costa Maragos.

Golden Sheaf Award categories

Special awards

References

{{reflist

External links

Festival website
Film festivals in Saskatchewan Short film festivals in Canada 1947 establishments in Saskatchewan Film festivals established in 1947