Important Notice: Situation at Tonight’s Opening Gala Reception
VIFF has decided to proceed with plans for the invitational opening gala reception at the Rocky Mountaineer Station following our gala screening of The Skin I Live In. VIFF board and senior management were not informed until late yesterday that a picket line will be in put in place on the perimeter of that venue this evening. Neither was the VIFF board or Festival Director properly informed by the venue or by union representatives of this labour dispute. We don’t know why.
This is very unfortunate and has put us in an impossible situation not of our own making. We have done our best within the available hours since early evening yesterday to consult with a wide range of our stakeholders, sponsors and participants about the options available to us. Efforts at finding a good solution have failed. Unfortunately there has simply not been time to move this large event elsewhere, given the complicated logistics involved.
At times today we have been convinced that the best course of action would be to cancel the Gala entirely. However, the majority of stakeholders and supporters of VIFF are encouraging us not to cancel this once-a-year event. We acknowledge the legitimacy of widely divergent points of view and are grateful for everyone’s support. We count on it to survive, so we hope that people do not for forget our purpose as a not-for-profit arts organization.
Our gala tonight was planned to include approximately 1500 invitees ranging from visiting international filmmakers to sponsors and supporters at all levels of involvement with VIFF. One of the principal means of us repaying their support is through our production of this large-scale celebration. We will proceed with that. We are assured by the Rocky Mountaineer Station of safe access for all attendees.
