There's plenty of Windsor-Essex content to enjoy at WIFF 2026

The 2026 edition of the Windsor International Film Festival is well underway. Hundreds of movies from around the world are being shown, but it's always been part of WIFF's mission to showcase cinema with local connections. Next week, Windsor-born filmmaker Preston Chase will be premiering his documentary on Alton C. Parker, the Windsor cop who became the first black police detective in Canadian history. As a Windsorite, I am so sick and tired of actually people looking down at this area. It's so... important in North American history. I wanted to tell the story of someone that broke barriers. He was a pioneer. He was referred to, or has been referred to, the Jackie Robinson of policing. For my generation, he was a hero. So I wanted to make sure that I preserve his memory and just how he paved the way for so many others. Police Detective Parker is about Windsor's real history but Essex filmmaker Jacob Skripa is happy to provide some outlandish fake history. His comedy series called The Historical History of Canada screens on Sunday. So the idea behind this show is we take a real Canadian historical event and then completely flip it on its head for ridiculous comedy. We ask if the Toronto Maple Leafs really won the 1967 Stanley Cup or it was all a hoax. We asked if the Canadian Mafia was involved in the creation of Canadian tire money. We asked if the 1916 Parliament fire could have been started by a fart. So we were actually able to have about 200 people involved in this project, which is amazing. And then as far as local places, we filmed at Walkerville, we filmed out in Essex at the Heritage Village. It's a very local made series, yeah. Those are just a couple of examples of what's Windsor-Essex about with 2026. Windsor-raised filmmaker Gavin Michael Booth will also be premiering his newest movie, a relationship drama titled Sydney vs. Sean. Writer-director Scott Anthony Cavallaro, who studied at the University of Windsor, will be showing his crime thriller called Plan C. And don't forget the many screenings of WIFF's Local Shorts Contest. A total of 47 locally made short films will be shown over the next week, starting Saturday. Dawson Chen, CBC News, Windsor.