The Lockpicker (VIFF)

Wow, did I pick a great film to kick off my VIFF experience! Filmmaker Randall Okita (in photo above) does a fantastic job with The Lockpicker of showing us the teenage dilemma through the main character’s eyes. The cinematography, visuals, music, sounds . . . all envelop the audience as though it is their own experience. Simply fantastic, but overwhelming too. A great reminder of the traumatic chaos that exists as a teenager tries to manoeuvre through their high school experience. Randall does a superb job of capturing the intensity of this experience.

Some quotes from the Q&A that followed:

Origin? “I wanted to explore a certain kind of space: a young person whose life intersected with difficult incidents and circumstances — without the safety net that some of us have.”

Motivation? “My own experiences and people close to me growing up; how close we all can get to making wrong decisions and the wrong path; from vulnerable to acting out…A couple of intersecting events can take you there.”

See this film for yourself. You will be richer for it.