Full fall slate of Smithers Alternative Film Festival confirmed
Published 5:30 am Sunday, November 9, 2025
The Smithers Alternative Film Series has confirmed all of its fall offerings.
On Nov 16, the festival will screen The Ballad of Wallis Island a dramedy with music from the UK. Described as a “big-hearted crowd pleaser,” it is the story of a reclusive lottery winner on a remote Welsh island who invites a famous musician to perform, while also secretly inviting his ex-bandmate and ex-girlfriend, and her new husband to perform.
I’m Still Here is next up on Nov. 30. This Academy Award winner for Best Foreign Film is said to be “profoundly moving.” It is both personal and political set against the backdrop of a tightening military dictatorship in Brazil.
The festival’s fall series is rounded out on Dec. 14 with Sentimental Value a Norwegian Comedy/Drama. After the death of their mother, two sisters confront their father, a once-famous but now almost forgotten film director, who abandoned the family and is trying to revive his artistic legacy.
All screenings take place at the Roi Theatre starting at 5 p.m. Organizers ask people to show up at 4:30 p.m., so everyone can get their tickets and popcorn so the films can start on schedule.
The Smithers Alternative Film Series was founded in 1996 by Bill Price and Anne-Marie Findlay so Smithereens could experience the best of independent, classic and foreign films on the big screen.
The very first screening was the classic British film noir, The Third Man, starring Orson Welles, at Smithers Secondary School. Since then, the Roi has been the venue for the 12-14 films the society screens each year.
So far this year, the series has showcased The Quiet Girl (Ireland) on Oct. 5, Meet the Barbarians (France) on Oct. 19, and Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight (South Africa) on Nov. 2.
Offerings for the winter series are yet to be announced.
