Indian Horse was the most anticipated movie at this year’s Kamloops Film Festival and local audiences were not disappointed.
The film, based on the award-winning novel of the same name by late Ojibway author Richard Wagamese, drew a crowd of nearly 1,000 at showings on the one-year anniversary of his death on March 10. Indian Horse was the top-rated film during the 10-day festival, organizers say.
It received KFF’s Most Popular Film Award and the Audience Choice Award, the first time a single film has been given both awards in the local festival’s 22-year history.
The response from festival goers was so enthusiastic, organizers were prompted to put together an additional screening when tickets for showings in two theatres sold out early. It set an all-time KFF single film attendance record of 924.
Indian Horse, which chronicles the life of a Canadian First Nations boy following residential school as he embarks on a hockey career while having to confront the ghosts of his painful past, has a special local significance given Wagamese spent his later years living in Kamloops. Before the show, organizers held a tribute to the late author.
Festival attendees are always asked to rate each film, and Indian Horse received the second-best all-time rating with an audience score of 9.48. Here’s how KFF audiences rated all of this year’s films:
Indian Horse hits theatres across Canada on April 13.
The 22nd Annual Kamloops Film Festival, which ran March 1 to March 10, saw its second-highest all-time attendance, with a total of 5,169 attendees.
Organizers are now gathering feedback on the 2018 event. Fill out their online survey here for a chance to win tickets to next year’s festival.
