Much has been made of how Hamilton is the new central location for artists in Ontario.  Few Hamiltonians believe this more passionately than Martinus Geleynse.

Martinus is the creative director of MG International and the director of the Hamilton 24 Festival, which kicks off on May 1st. The festival, as of this writing, is holding competitions in Film, Dance, Fashion and Music. All of the final products are conceived, created, and finished within 24 hours. Many enter, few sleep, and not all meet the challenge.

I heard about Hamilton 24 through the festival’s director, Martinus Geleynse. As luck would have it, Martinus and I go quite a ways back. (There’s no sense in pretending this is an objective piece.) We met in high school and became friends through a shared love of music. In high school his ambition was hard to miss: he was voted “Most Likely to become Prime Minister”. His passion for the arts was also obvious; it wasn’t uncommon to see him playing guitar in the halls or onstage in any number of capacities.

Martinus’ passion for creating remains. He’s still making music and actively involved in producing media through MG International, which has a broad focus ranging from press kits to corporate media and short films. Still, the Hamilton 24-hour Film Festival gives a great deal of exposure to the creativity of others. And he’d have it no other way. Every bit of the festival is intended to be a showcase for Hamilton’s expanding arts community.

The festival began life in 2008 as the Hamilton 24-Hour Film Festival. The decision to expand, Martinus explains, was sort of a “well, why not?” decision. Already the largest 24-hour film festival in Canada after only two years (following the Toronto 24-hour film festival’s closure), simply expanding the film content would have been an easier option; but limiting the festival to just film was, well, limiting.

Other 24-hour film festivals closed down; even Apple Inc’s Insomnia film festival has been out of commission for two years (ironic, given that many of Apple’s innovations in bringing media creation software to the masses plays a huge role in the very existence of these festivals). According to Martinus, the difference between 24 hour festivals hosted in Hamilton and those in Toronto’s comes down to the passion for the festival.

So the festival grew into the Hamilton 24, with the focus expanded towards music, dance, fashion and a seemingly endless list of directions still to be added. As he explains it, “We want to add categories every year from here on in” to prove that you can make a living in the arts in Hamilton.

“This is the Wild West. Anyone can be anything, anywhere, anytime. You can make yourself here. You can carve a niche in this frontier town. The new economy is emerging, and it has yet to pick it’s leaders. Any idea can float if you push it hard enough,” says Martinus.

Hamilton 24 is itself carving a strange niche in Hamilton’s Wild West. I asked him if he sees the Hamilton 24 growing into something closer to Austin’s SXSW (South by South West) where it’s equal parts film festival and music festival; he has something else in mind. Rather than Hamilton 24 be a festival that celebrates creativity in the arts, Martinus wants the festival to celebrate the act of creating art. Making a permanent “Cultural Olympics” in Hamilton is the long-term goal –an event that would draw even more artists to Hamilton.

If I come off as though I’m trying to sell the festival, that’s probably because I am. My friendship with Martinus aside, the festival is something I find easy to promote. I’m looking forward to producing my third film in the 24-hour film competition, but also excited to see what else Hamilton can come up with this year.