I Heart Edmonton

The Cinema By Emil Tiedemann Every time I drive down 111th Avenue, past the former A1 Trading pawn shop, I think about David Woolfson . He was a Jewish immigrant who ran the pawn shop on the corner of 94th Street, and he was the focus of Rosie Dransfeld ’s Broke. documentary.  Shot entirely at A1 Trading, the movie was a raw look at the real desperation of many of his shop’s inner city clients, focusing on an Aboriginal regular named Chris Hoard . The pair sparked up an unusual kinship, giving way to moments only real life could script.    The screening of 'Broke.' at the then Global Visions Film Festival. Broke. kicked off the 2009 Global Visions Film Festival (now called Northwestfest ), Canada’s longest-running non-fiction film and art fest, screening mostly documentary features and shorts since 1983, when it was known as the Third World Film Festival. This wasn’t my first film fest in Edmonton though, nor would it be my last.  Shortly before Glob...

Some of the latest happenings in Edmonton (Blues Festival, Dedfest, Corn Maze...) BY EMIL TIEDEMANN T ICKETS are still available for the 12th annual Labatt Blues Festival , which will hit up The Heritage Amphitheatre ( Hawrelak Park ) from Friday, August 20 to Sunday, August 22 . Western Canada's premier blues event will include performances this year by Jimmie Vaughan (pictured left), Monkey Junk , Candyce Kane (Friday), Tom Rigney & Flambeau , The Twisters , Henry Gray & the Cats (Saturday), James Harman , Bob Brozman , Boogie Woogie Blowout (Sunday), and many others. There are no longer any weekend passes ($75-$90) or Saturday tickets ($45) left, but Friday and Sunday tix ($40, $45) are available at Ticketmaster . Shuttle transportation is available at the University of Alberta Stadium Parkade each day. M OST of you are simply gonna ignore this blurb, but for those who care, the Intact Insurance Canadian Derby Edmonton Marathon is this weekend ( Augus...

The living dead and psychologically-challenged make for one hell of a good time at the country's best fest of its kind BY EMIL TIEDEMANN D O you enjoy watching decapitations in slow motion? How about reanimated corpses snacking on fresh " BRAINS "? Perhaps you're into gory torture scenes that test your gag reflexes? If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, then you're either demented like myself or you'd be a shoe-in for Canada's premier horror film festival, DEDfest , which runs through until this evening (Sunday, Oct. 18). Friday night was Day 2 (of 4) of DEDfest, which is the reincarnation of last year's Deadmonton Film Festival , a gathering of horror movie fans that went "on hiatus" when co-founder Matt Acosta decided to pursue filmmaking on a more full-time basis. The news left me balling on my bedroom floor, screaming "Why?! Why?!" at the top of my smoke-cloaked lungs, clenching my reddened fists at the Lord...