Vox Popular Media Arts Festival
Event Returns for 20th Anniversary this MonthBy Kris KetonenA popular Thunder Bay film and art festival is marking a major milestone this year. The Vox Popular Media Arts Festival will be celebrating its 20th anniversary when it gets underway on November 13.“I just love that it's still going on, because I was always here at the festival when I was a kid.” festival director Adrien Harpelle says. “I've been in a leadership position for a few years now, and I just love seeing it grow [...] especially this year, [when] we have so many local films.”This year’s feature films, Harpelle says, include Kam Theatre Lab: The Same Old Story, a documentary directed by Paula Thiessen that focuses on the Kam Theatre Lab, which was an experimental touring theatre collective based in Thunder Bay. A Sobering Story, the popular feature-length documentary directed by Ryan La Via, will also screen; the film examines Thunder Bay’s addictions epidemic.Other highlights, Harpelle says, are the comedy short The Best Man’s Speech by Jennifer Weller, and Mr. Noah and the Second Flood, directed by Kelly Saxberg and Dianne Brothers. Of the latter, Harpelle says “It's a 23-minute animated film, so that took them many years to accomplish. It's really exciting [that] it's going to be premiering at the festival.”In total, about 20 films will screen at this year’s festival, Harpelle says, with more than half of those being locally or regionally made. “I think the audience has seen the growth of our local film industry,” he says. “I know for a fact that people come to the festival—and I've heard this so many times—people come to our festival and it inspires them to make their own films, to start their own projects.”Vox Popular will also include a regional art exhibition, which is being co-presented with Definitely Superior Art Gallery and will include work by about 50 regional visual artists. That kicks off on November 8 with a gala opening, Harpelle says.
This year’s Vox Popular Media Arts Festival runs from November 13–16 at Definitely Superior Art Gallery on Cumberland Street. For more information about this year’s festival, visit
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