Bienvenido Cruz

Resfest got some ink in the local entertainment weekly.

The CanCon program, now in its fourth year, includes music videos by MSTRKRFT, the Constantines, and Circlesquare (filmed by local director Bienvenido Cruz). Local filmmaker Jamie Travis’s short “Saddest Boy in the World”, which Travis describes as “a dark comedy about a boy who prepares to hang himself at his ninth birthday party”, is also in the mix.
- Craig Takeuchi, The Georgia Straight

I’m local!

News from Hollywood North By Craig Takeuchi
Publish Date: November 16, 2006

Style is Substance at Visual Smorgasbord
In our daily consumption of music videos and ads, it’s easy to overlook the artistry that goes into their visual effects. Local Resfest producer Nathan Whitford of Urban Visuals points out that “We’re so used to seeing these crazy effects—and that’s a lot of what Res is about—but a lot of what we see now are things that 10 years ago that if you saw that on TV you’d be like, ‘Whoa! That is crazy!’” Resfest (named after the RES Media Group that launched the film festival) puts that talent front and centre on the big screen when its 10th annual showcase of some of the world’s most cutting-edge short films and music videos comes to the Vancouver International Film Centre from Friday to Sunday (November 17 to 19).

Retrospectives are a focal point of this year’s programming, such as A Decade of Resfest: 10 Seminal Short Films, which highlights 10 shorts from the past decade. Musicwise, there’s Basement Jaxx, Beck, Nada Surf, Japanese hip-hoppers Hifana, and even a survey of Radiohead’s visual portfolio (“Radiohead, the Visionaries: A Decade of Breaking New Talent”).

Whitford adds that it’s not all just pretty pictures. Programs like By Design feature content that is “really heavily composited, total eye-candy kind of stuff”. He emphasizes out that “we’re getting to the point where people are realizing that if you’re going to do all that stuff you still gotta have some good content or a good story to tell people.” A case in point is Everything Under the Sun: Filmmaking With a Purpose, which presents innovative ways to tackle serious contemporary issues from environmental crises to antiglobalization.

The CanCon program, now in its fourth year, includes music videos by MSTRKRFT, the Constantines, and Circlesquare (filmed by local director Bienvenido Cruz). Local filmmaker Jamie Travis’s short “Saddest Boy in the World”, which Travis describes as “a dark comedy about a boy who prepares to hang himself at his ninth birthday party”, is also in the mix.

Takeuchi, Craig. “Style is Substance at Visual Smorgasbord.” The Georgia Straight 16-23 November. 2006: 71