The Canada China International Film Festival (CCIFF) held its fourth pre-launch event last week at SIGGRAPH in Anaheim, with high profile delegates on hand to introduce the festival to the CG movers and shakers in attendance at the confab. Set for September 16-19 in Montreal as part of the Canada China Year of People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges, CIFF will feature film screenings and competition, an Entertainment Technology Summit, special program Women’s Voice in Film and Television, a co-production project pitch, tech exhibition and more.
At the SIGGRAPH pre-launch event, Dr. Miao Song — Executive Director of CCIFF and an Affiliate Assistant Professor at Concordia University — spoke about the progress of preparations for the event as a whole, while fellow Concordian Dr. Serguei A. Mokhov (Aff. Asst. Prof. of the Department of Engineering and Computer Science) presented a sample lineup for the Entertainment Technology Summit and special guests participating in the conference.
Already on deck for the ET Summit are Rajesh Sharma, tech team leader on Disney’s Zootopia; and USC professor and Google VR researcher Dr. Paul Debevec.
Also speaking at the event were host Deschanel Li, an award-winning young filmmaker and entertainment technology enthusiast who will be a guest speaker at CCIFF addressing Women’s Voice in Film and Television, sharing her experience blending filmmaking techniques with the latest in technology. And Dr. Sudhir P. Mudur, Chair and Professor of Concordia’s Engineering and Computer Science department and advisor to the festival, talked up the new tech frontiers that will feature at CCIFF — including interactive 3D and film applications for VR.
To kick off the press conference, a new generation of Illimitable Space System was shown to attendees. Since 2012, ISS has evolved its reusable pipeline architecture for interactive projection mapping, voice recognition, real time audio/video with gesture and motion controls, pushing the boundaries of immersive VFX and augmented reality. The system was used for stage effects complimenting performances of traditional and contemporary dance, set against a vivid live background.
Also in attendance were Dr. Tiberiu Popa of Concordia University and up-and-coming film director Lu Han.
