We held our AGM on November 2nd at 3:30 pm, after our screening of Santosh. Here is the text of Glen Grunau's Presidents Report.
NIFSS 2025 Annual General Meeting - November 2, 2025
President’s Annual Report
Glen Grunau | President, NIFSS
I returned home on Thanksgiving Day after enjoying the 44th annual Vancouver International Film Festival. I saw 29 films over 11 days, plus the two NIFSS films screened on October 5 when I slipped back to Nanaimo for one day. It seems I can never get enough good cinema!
At our cohousing Thanksgiving Dinner, someone asked me what I was thankful for. My immediate response was “films in community”. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this report is a good opportunity to express my gratitude for our growing international film community.
Being on the NIFSS board has been a great privilege, an unexpected source of gratification and fulfilment in this chapter of my life. I am so grateful for our board, each member contributing their own unique talents and a wealth of wisdom and life experience. NIFSS has no paid staff and relies completely on volunteers. We’re also grateful for our volunteers who have stepped up to assist on our film screening days. We could not operate without them!
It was just over a year ago when we were wondering how to ensure the financial viability of NIFSS after the recent demise of Fringe Flicks. None of us expected to finish our first year with such a significant bank surplus! This allowed us to further enhance flexibility for our ticket holders and offer a free ticket voucher to everyone who purchased an early bird season ticket.
To all of our season ticket holders, we thank you for trusting us with our film selections. 158 of you purchased early bird season tickets before we even announced our fall fill lineup! Our aim is to offer a balance between “crowd pleasers” and films that “push boundaries” and challenge our audience. We learned last year that some of the most challenging films provoked the most conversation among viewers afterward. Do you remember which films they were?
No Other Land had broad appeal across our region and brought many to NIFSS for the first time. However, we anticipated that some would find it a difficult film to watch, so we decided to offer an uplifting matinee alternative. A number of season ticket holders chose to transfer their ticket to Every Little Thing, resulting in a new NIFSS attendance record at a matinee film.
We hope you have enjoyed some of the extras we have included on our film screening days: recorded interviews with film directors, door prizes, and this year our new audience film rating system. Our aim is to hold an event each month that will enhance our sense of community.
Lastly we are grateful for the generosity of our sponsors and the collaboration and cross- promotion enrichment we are enjoying with a growing number of arts, cultural, and media partners. You will see their logos during our pre-screening slideshow and on our website.
Soon we’ll be releasing our winter/spring season film lineup. We have one favour to ask of you. When you receive our email campaign that includes our new season lineup, consider those in your life who might enjoy watching Canadian and International films together in community and forward this email to them. Word-of-mouth has been our most successful promotion strategy.
Glen Grunau