What a year!
2025 was all about community, momentum, and supporting local creators. From packed events to major grants, new leadership, and homegrown productions making waves, check out some highlights from the year:
✨ 12 meetups & screenings, and 6 crew spotlights thanks to Carla Sinclair, KSBI Community Engagement Coordinator
✨ Secured key funding:
- A $191,600 REDIP grant to build a sub-regional film office in the Columbia Valley (thanks to Theresa Wood from Columbia Valley Ec Dev, Wendy Van Puymbroek from Kootenay Rockies Tourism and Lynn Trinh, KSBI Program Manager)
- A $5,000 CKCA Touring grant to tour KBSI meetups regionally, with meet-and-greets with the film commissioner (thanks to Lynn Trinh)
- A $46,000 ETSI-BC grant to build Kootenay Film’s regional resilience (thanks to Lynn Trinh)
✨ A new chapter began with Film Commissioner Sarah Kapoor 👉 Dive into her full 2025 Year in Review on our blog). Thanks to Creative BC for their support.
✨ Women in Film Panel Discussion hosted by Lynn Trinh, featuring the ‘Her Vision’ Mentorship Cohort, celebrating women and non-binary filmmakers (special thanks to CKCA for making this possible)
⭐ 2 Momentum Masterclass film workshops (thanks again to CKCA)
- Base to Peak: Making Mountain Films with Trixie Pacis
- Lighting for Video: From Basics to Bold Effects with Colin Burwell
✨ Location scouts recruited and trained in Columbia Valley (Thanks to Theresa Wood, Sarah Kapoor adn Sylvia O’Connor (KRT) for making it happen)
✨ Local productions premiered, streamed, and hit festivals:
- Feature films ‘All Night Wrong’ & ‘Stranger in Town filmed in Columbia Valley
- Watershed Productions’ sketch comedy series ‘Southern Interior’ premiered and streamed on KindaTV
- Skimmerhorn Productions’ latest dark drama, ‘Exophoria’ debuted
- Trixie Pacis’‘Ahon’ made it to Banff Mountain Film Fest
- Juxt TV’s ‘Burger Month’ filmed their pilot episode
- CK9’s docuseries Wildfire streams on Knowledge Network
- Carlo Alcos’ auto-biographical documentary ‘Outsiderness’ premiered
- Jonathan Robinson (FMRL Productions) ‘Daffodils’ won Best Dance Film at the Experimental, Dance & Music Film Festival
- E.K. Brackett’s independent feature ‘Mile 15’ went into production
- Jackie Atkins’ short documentary Swabber screened
And more!
✨ Shoutout to these local film community events & programs
- STOODIS Indigenous Film Festival
- Whitewater Ski Resort’s Kootenay Coldsmoke Powderfest: Stellar Film Competition
- Selkirk College’s Youth Summer Film Camp
- Hidden Strength’s Screenwriting competition sponsored by Watershed Productions
- Nelson & Area Green Film Festival
- Greater Nelson Economic Development and the Economic Trust of the Southern Interior of BC’s Video Storytelling Mentorship for youth
- Creston’s Bleeding Tree Dark Drama Film Fest
- Rossland Mountain Film Festival
- Mount Sentinels’ Channel Surfing: 6th Annual Film Festival
- BroadKAST – A film festival celebrating entrepreneurs of the Kootenays
- The Basin Food Film Festival
- Empty Cup Media’s Youth Lens-Based Art Showcase – Sponsored by Watershed Productions
This is what happens when a film community shows up for itself 🤝💛 The biggest thanks to YOU for joining us and being a part of this vibrant creative community.
What were your highlights and what do you look forward to? Did we miss anything? Tell us in the comments! 👇
Happy New Year! We can’t wait to see what 2026 brings 🎉
