Anyone attending screenings of the Shadows of the Mind Film Festival this week at the Grand Theatre is going to notice a huge improvement in image quality over previous years.
WIth help from the Ontario Trillum Foundation, the popular festival has a brand-new Christie E-series 1080p digital projector.
Bill MacPherson, festival co-director, was proudly showing off his new Christie this afternoon to SooToday, after the device had its local premiere before 100 Saultites at a pre-festival screening of Rita Kotzia's documentary Bipolarized: Rethinking Mental Illness.
"We're pretty happy with it," said MacPherson. "It's going to revitalize this old projection booth from years ago."
The festival's new portable projector will be used to show 17 films on a 26-foot by 15-foot screen at the Grand Theatre, plus a couple of events at Sault College, including tomorrow night's gala opening.
The Bipolarized documentary followed Ross McKenzie, a Toronto man who managed to wean himself off lithium - a drug he had taken for 16 years and had been told he would need for the rest of his life.
The film showed McKenzie's quest for wellness through a variety of traditional and alternative approaches.
After the screening, McKenzie answered audience questions in a live Skype interview from Costa Rica.
The Shadows of the Mind Film Festival has a 16-year history of showing award-winning films focussed on mental health, addictions and other social issues.
The festival runs tomorrow through Sunday.
For more Shadows of the Mind information, please go to the website
For a chance at free Shadows of the Mind tickets, click here
To learn more about Ross McKenzie's journey to wellness, click here
(PHOTO: Bill MacPherson canoodling with Christie HD-1080p this afternoon in the projection booth at the Grand Theatre. David Helwig/SooToday)
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