Hart House Film Festival Award

ACM alumni Dinitha Vithanage’s short film For a Coffin Full of Gold took home the awards for Best Drama and Best Director at the 20th University of Toronto Hart House Film Festival. Congratulations!

Dinitha is the writer, director, and producer behind the award-winning short film For a Coffin Full of Gold. This film is an homage to spaghetti westerns. Set in Post-Civil War America, the story follows two Confederate officers turned wanted bandits who seek help from a Union Soldier to dig up a coffin full of gold in hopes of changing their collective fates. The filmmakers were lucky to have the chance to film at the properties of Ellie Nash in Pickering and Rob Van Wees in Clarington, Ontario. The production of this film took place during the pandemic and the filmmakers mainly worked remotely. For a Coffin Full of Gold was edited, scored and completed over countless virtual meetups.

Dinitha is currently at the pre-production stage of his next film, Midnight Boulevard.

Click here to watch the For a Coffin Full of Gold (2021)