From Our friends in calgary
Updates and events put on by the Alberta420 crew
By Keith Fagin
The first annual 420 Film Festival in Calgary was held at the Plaza Theatre on Tuesday Apr. 20, 2009, in the trendy Cal- gary community of Kensington. The 420 Film Fest enjoyed strong support from 420 film makers around the world, and strong support from local businesses. Local sponsors included Bongs and Such, Hemp Roots, Hemporium, KDK Distributors, The Next level, The Art Gallery, Mc- Master Technical, Calgary 420 Cannabis Community, and national sponsor Treat- ing Yourself magazine. To date, the second annual 420 Film Fest has added two more sponsors—Cannabis Culture Magazine, and Skunk Magazine.
There were four winners in 2009: 1st Johnny Appleweed, 2nd Blaze, 3rd Bruce Campbell is not in this movie Part 2, and 4th 400 Bowls. All four won some very fine glass art bongs.
Johnny Appleweed is a comedy of comedies about a young man who goes into the wild in hope of finding true freedom. Expect pretty girls and boys, animtion, a few explosive M-80s flushed down the toilet at the probate office to dodge a drug test, and cops chasing Johnny Appleweed as he rebels against the system planting the good seed far and wide.
Blaze is a psychedelic special affects video with a collection scenes from the 1930s reefer madness days to the 1960s psychedelic days, and also includes some crystal cover buds.
Bruce Campbell Is Not In This Movie: Part 2. Dennis is put to the test by his roommates, and all is not made clear in a surprise ending. Dennis, the bloody nose is what you get for trying to get a look at a towel girl without her towel. What ever became of Towel Guy? A better question would be “how does towel girl make her rent money?” Will the film maker answer these questions this year?
400 Bowls is a comedy about couple of 420 dudes that discover the 1st annual 420 Film Fest, one day before the deadline to submit 420 videos. Lacking ideas, the 420 dudes decide they need to consume some cannabis for inspiration. Oh no, they’re out of cannabis. Time to hunt down some product. After consuming copious amounts of cannabis, they forget why they wanted to get inspired.
There were 17 films submitted, including one from the University of Victoria Student Society Hempology 101 Club.
The after party was a hot box event with eight free strains of high quality cannabis on hand for all to enjoy. Even though this was a Tuesday night, it was a full house. Attendees were so impressed by the videos and the after party, that they still claim it was the highlight of the year for them. This year, the party will be on the Saturday before the 420 Film Fest, which is on a Wednesday. A number of quality baked treats will also be available at this year’s two 420 events in Calgary.
All films must be hemp and/ or cannabis related. 420 video categories include: Adult, Animation, Claymation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, General, and Music. A minor change from last year is that 5 minute videos will be allowed (which includes the credits), instead of last year’s 4 minute and 20 second maximum length (including credits). There will be 20 top finalists. The top 12 finalists will be screened at a local theater on Wednesday April 20, 2010. Also new for this year will be a pre 420 art party held on Saturday April 17, at the Art Spot. 420 art submis- sions are now being accepted for the new art show.
Once again free cannabis relat- ed magazines, DVD videos, posters, and much more, will be provided by the ten sponsors and given away to people in at- tendance.
Keith Fagin is the Founder/Director of Alberta 420, Calgary 420, and Canada 420 Cannabis Communities; and Alberta420.org, Calgary420.org, Canada420.org
