The Syracuse International Film Festival featured “Dragons: Real Myths and Unreal Creatures” by Marc Fafard as one of its first presentations. Fafard also directed “Dinosaurs: Giants of Patagonia”, and was motivated to turn to dragons for a follow up. He gave the audience a visual feast at the Museum of Science and Technology’s I-MAX theater.
The film follows Skye Ingram, an inquisitive young woman troubled by recurring nightmares of dragons. The peculiar Dr. Alistair Conis, the dragon expert, takes her on a fascinating journey to discover the mysteries and realities about this ancient species.
The movie gradually unfolds around the stories of the mythical dragons from around the world including Tiamat, the Babylonian goddess of salt water, the vicious Wyvern of the British Isles, and the virtuous Chinese dragons.
The special effects of the creatures themselves wow the viewers. They also get to see the world from the perspective of the first mammal on Earth, being chased up and down by dinosaurs and gain the feeling of a virtual roller-coaster.
Fafard showed up at the screening to share his passion for this legendary creature.
“Dragons are universal and timeless,”
Fafard said that this film took almost two years to complete and around $7.5 million to make.
Undeterred by the sudden weather change, many people came to enjoy the film. Christopher Esterguard, a long-time frequenter of the festival and local sound producer, was one of them.
“I loved it,” Easterguard said after watching the movie, “it felt like you are inside a narrative story with unrealistic creatures.” He added the festival “gives me hope as a local film industry professional because it means that the industry here has been growing.”
Fafard expressed his appreciation about having a well-organized film festival in Syracuse,
It’s fun to see a city of this size having an international festival, “Fafard said, “I like the dynamism and enthusiasm here in general.”
The Syracuse International Film Festival Continues through Sunday.
Some Friday Events include:
- "Behind the White Glasses" 6:00 p.m. at Manlius Art Cinema
- "Next Week in Bologna" 6:30 at the Palce Theater
- Sophia Loren Tribute "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" at 7:00 p.m. & "Marriage Italian Style" at 9:00 p.m. at Genesee Grande Hotel, Mayflower Theater
- "Miss Sharon Jones" at 9:00 p.m. at the Palace Theater
- Pedro Cuperman Tribute: "Incident Light" at 9:15 at the Carrier Theater, Oncenter.
More Information on the films and a full schedule can be found here: Filminsyracuse.com
