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Canadians go big at Sundance
Monday January 24th 2011Canadian films, including Oscar hopeful Incendies by Denis Villeneuve, are in abundance at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Villeneuve’s Incendies is Canada’s biggest gem at the 10-day festival, which launched on Thursday in Park City, Utah. The film, based on an acclaimed play by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad, is one of nine semifinalists for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars.
Villeneuve, who will find out Tuesday if his film makes the Oscar short list, said he already feels gratified that Incendies, made in Quebec, has resonated with audiences around the world.
“Its very touching to see an audience abroad … Taiwanese, Italian, French, to react with emotions to something we made in Quebec. … This sharing of ideas between countries is a blessing. I feel overwhelmed.”
Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun.Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun. (CBC)One of the boldest Canadian films at the festival is Hobo With a Shotgun by Nova Scotia’s Jason Eisener. Starring Rutger Hauer, Eisener’s debut feature has sold out its first four midnight showings. The gore-soaked B-movie centres on a vagrant vigilante who blows away bad guys with his own brand of justice.
Eisener, whose short Treevenge was shown at Sundance in 2008, says he enjoys the festival for the gathering of film enthusiasts.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet people who come from all over the world to celebrate cinema.”
Reaction at the first screening has been keen, with one review calling it a piece of “bloody” fun.” An online review by Screen Junkies said the movie “kills children in a way you won’t believe, and graphically, too” but concluded it “delivers the extreme fun it promises.”
New York Magazine said the film was very squirm-worthy and “most of the time we laughed so hard we cried.”
The Canadian contingent also brings aboriginal stories to the screen at the popular Park City in the Midnight program. Among the filmmakers is Danis Goulet, whose short film Wapawekka is a personal exploration of native family life.
“It was based on my experiences growing up in Saskatchewan,” Goulet told CBC News earlier this week. “It’s really about the intergenerational differences in a family.”Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. (Danis Goulet)
Wapawekka is the name of the lake near La Ronge where Goulet, a Métis, grew up and where she shot the film. She cast her father, uncle and cousin in the film.
Goulet says Sundance provides some inspiration.
“It gets you noticed as a artist [and] gets you thinking about next projects.”
Other native directors with films at the festival are Helen Haig-Brown of B.C., whose movie The Cave is about a hunter who accidentally discovers a portal to the afterlife, and Choke b y Michelle Latimer.
Canadian features to premiere include:
* I Melt with You, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Mark Pellington.
* The Salesman (Le Vendeur), by Sébastien Pilote.
* Vampire, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Iwai Shunji.
* Family Portrait in Black and White, a documentary by Julia Ivanova.
A total of 120 feature films and 90 shorts will unspool over 11 days at the festival.
Source: CBC News
Front Page, Industry News
Canadians go big at Sundance
Monday January 24th 2011Canadian films, including Oscar hopeful Incendies by Denis Villeneuve, are in abundance at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Villeneuve’s Incendies is Canada’s biggest gem at the 10-day festival, which launched on Thursday in Park City, Utah. The film, based on an acclaimed play by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad, is one of nine semifinalists for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars.
Villeneuve, who will find out Tuesday if his film makes the Oscar short list, said he already feels gratified that Incendies, made in Quebec, has resonated with audiences around the world.
“Its very touching to see an audience abroad … Taiwanese, Italian, French, to react with emotions to something we made in Quebec. … This sharing of ideas between countries is a blessing. I feel overwhelmed.”
Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun.Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun. (CBC)One of the boldest Canadian films at the festival is Hobo With a Shotgun by Nova Scotia’s Jason Eisener. Starring Rutger Hauer, Eisener’s debut feature has sold out its first four midnight showings. The gore-soaked B-movie centres on a vagrant vigilante who blows away bad guys with his own brand of justice.
Eisener, whose short Treevenge was shown at Sundance in 2008, says he enjoys the festival for the gathering of film enthusiasts.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet people who come from all over the world to celebrate cinema.”
Reaction at the first screening has been keen, with one review calling it a piece of “bloody” fun.” An online review by Screen Junkies said the movie “kills children in a way you won’t believe, and graphically, too” but concluded it “delivers the extreme fun it promises.”
New York Magazine said the film was very squirm-worthy and “most of the time we laughed so hard we cried.”
The Canadian contingent also brings aboriginal stories to the screen at the popular Park City in the Midnight program. Among the filmmakers is Danis Goulet, whose short film Wapawekka is a personal exploration of native family life.
“It was based on my experiences growing up in Saskatchewan,” Goulet told CBC News earlier this week. “It’s really about the intergenerational differences in a family.”Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. (Danis Goulet)
Wapawekka is the name of the lake near La Ronge where Goulet, a Métis, grew up and where she shot the film. She cast her father, uncle and cousin in the film.
Goulet says Sundance provides some inspiration.
“It gets you noticed as a artist [and] gets you thinking about next projects.”
Other native directors with films at the festival are Helen Haig-Brown of B.C., whose movie The Cave is about a hunter who accidentally discovers a portal to the afterlife, and Choke b y Michelle Latimer.
Canadian features to premiere include:
* I Melt with You, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Mark Pellington.
* The Salesman (Le Vendeur), by Sébastien Pilote.
* Vampire, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Iwai Shunji.
* Family Portrait in Black and White, a documentary by Julia Ivanova.
A total of 120 feature films and 90 shorts will unspool over 11 days at the festival.
Source: CBC News
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Front Page, Industry News
Canadians go big at Sundance
Monday January 24th 2011Canadian films, including Oscar hopeful Incendies by Denis Villeneuve, are in abundance at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.
Villeneuve’s Incendies is Canada’s biggest gem at the 10-day festival, which launched on Thursday in Park City, Utah. The film, based on an acclaimed play by Lebanese-Canadian Wajdi Mouawad, is one of nine semifinalists for best foreign-language film at this year’s Oscars.
Villeneuve, who will find out Tuesday if his film makes the Oscar short list, said he already feels gratified that Incendies, made in Quebec, has resonated with audiences around the world.
“Its very touching to see an audience abroad … Taiwanese, Italian, French, to react with emotions to something we made in Quebec. … This sharing of ideas between countries is a blessing. I feel overwhelmed.”
Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun.Rutger Hauer is shown during filming of the ‘ugly’ Hobo With a Shotgun. (CBC)One of the boldest Canadian films at the festival is Hobo With a Shotgun by Nova Scotia’s Jason Eisener. Starring Rutger Hauer, Eisener’s debut feature has sold out its first four midnight showings. The gore-soaked B-movie centres on a vagrant vigilante who blows away bad guys with his own brand of justice.
Eisener, whose short Treevenge was shown at Sundance in 2008, says he enjoys the festival for the gathering of film enthusiasts.
“It’s a great opportunity to meet people who come from all over the world to celebrate cinema.”
Reaction at the first screening has been keen, with one review calling it a piece of “bloody” fun.” An online review by Screen Junkies said the movie “kills children in a way you won’t believe, and graphically, too” but concluded it “delivers the extreme fun it promises.”
New York Magazine said the film was very squirm-worthy and “most of the time we laughed so hard we cried.”
The Canadian contingent also brings aboriginal stories to the screen at the popular Park City in the Midnight program. Among the filmmakers is Danis Goulet, whose short film Wapawekka is a personal exploration of native family life.
“It was based on my experiences growing up in Saskatchewan,” Goulet told CBC News earlier this week. “It’s really about the intergenerational differences in a family.”Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. Wapawekka, set in Saskatchewan, explores the generational divide in a First Nations family. (Danis Goulet)
Wapawekka is the name of the lake near La Ronge where Goulet, a Métis, grew up and where she shot the film. She cast her father, uncle and cousin in the film.
Goulet says Sundance provides some inspiration.
“It gets you noticed as a artist [and] gets you thinking about next projects.”
Other native directors with films at the festival are Helen Haig-Brown of B.C., whose movie The Cave is about a hunter who accidentally discovers a portal to the afterlife, and Choke b y Michelle Latimer.
Canadian features to premiere include:
* I Melt with You, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Mark Pellington.
* The Salesman (Le Vendeur), by Sébastien Pilote.
* Vampire, a Canada-U.S. co-production by Iwai Shunji.
* Family Portrait in Black and White, a documentary by Julia Ivanova.
A total of 120 feature films and 90 shorts will unspool over 11 days at the festival.
Source: CBC News
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