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Leonard Schein honoured on VIFF opening night: photos
From right to left: NPA councillor Elizabeth Ball, chair of induction committee, Rob Haynes, president at the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame, Leonard Schein and Gregor Robertson, mayor of Vancouver. Photos by Pamela Grcic
Last night, the Vancouver International Film Festival celebrated its opening gala with the induction of Leonard Schein into the Entertainment Hall of Fame at the Centre for the Arts. The induction took place during the screening of Wildby Canadian filmmaker Jean-Marc Valleé.
Schein, who founded the festival in 1982, was also Toronto International Film Festival executive director and Montreal World Film Festival director of English-language films and has owned and operated various local movie theatres for 35 years.
In addition, Schein has previously received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, the BC Community Achievement Award, and the Canadian Cancer Society National Citation of Merit.
It takes four years -- from application time -- to select the recipients of the coveted award, explained Ball.
Schein with Alan Franey, VIFF director of Programming and former VIFF director. Franey worked along with Schein since the festival's early days. Photo by Pamela Grcic.
Gregor Robertson and Jacqueline Dupuis.
During the induction, Jacqueline Dupuis, VIFF executive director announced the winner fan-voted MustSeeBC Award and Screening part of BC Spotlight series.
The winning film was Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story, an eye opening documentary on the excess of production and waste of food by director Grant Baldwin and his wife, producer Jen Rustemeyer.
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