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Front Page, Industry News
New era in Canadian film possible
Wednesday February 12th 2014Director Sturla Gunnarsson says the national broadcaster’s loss of Hockey Night in Canada could, and should, be the start of a whole new era in Canadian film.
“If you want a national cinema the broadcasters have to play ball, and the only one in a position to play ball is the CBC and it should be their mandate,” said Gunnarsson, a veteran director and president of the Directors Guild of Canada.
“I’ve spent many years making movies, and there’s always been a lack of airtime available, and the threat of being bumped by hockey,” he says. “But now that the CBC is finally untethered from HNIC, let them become the driving force of authored, scripted, long-form entertainment. Why not?” says the director of Air India, Force of Nature and Rare Birds.
“If you look at any one of the countries that has a flourishing national cinema whether it’s France, Germany or Denmark, the central player is TV. You cannot have a cinema if the broadcasters are essentially not in the game.”
Gunnarsson says the Canadian feature landscape is a wasteland at the moment as a result of poor policy, budget cuts and general audience apathy. The only way to make movies with a big enough budget to carry into the international market is through co-productions, which present their own set of limitations.
Gunnarsson says co-pros can also be good because they keep people working and bring an international flavour to the unique Canadian landscape. He points to his most recent film, Ice Soldiers, opening in select cities Friday, as a case in point.
An international co-production starring Dominic Purcell, Adam Beach and Michael Ironside, Ice Soldiers is a science-fiction yarn about genetically modified killing machines
discovered in the high Arctic. A Nazi experiment gone awry, the soldiers were buried in ice until a group of scientists looking to mine the North’s riches find them and thaw them out.
Shot in 24 days around Sudbury, Gunnarsson says he used snow-covered slag heaps to substitute for the high Arctic moonscape. The rest was shot around a nearby reserve. “I had actually had my eye out for a genre film for some time because I’m always trying to figure out how to reach an audience,” says Gunnarsson. “As a Canadian, this is what you struggle with all the time because you make a film and then you lick your wound afterwards,” he says.
“My challenge was how can I do that in a way that will still be fun and interesting?” Gunnarsson says the most important thing is to keep working, and try not to let the demons of cynicism get the best of you.
“I am in a constant state of existential crisis about what I do. Ten years ago, Piers Handling (director and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival) told me nationalist cinema was dead.”
Funding bodies believe demographic and marketing concerns take priority in the new global marketplace. Creative integrity, originality and artistic ambition all come second to audience.
“After I did Air India, I wanted to do a movie based on Christie Blatchford’s book about Afghanistan, and the first time Canada was at war since Korea. But I couldn’t get any traction,” he says.
“To this day, there has not been a treatment of the Canadian military’s adventure in Afghanistan in any narrative form. That kind of stuff does matter … because if you don’t have a story, you don’t have a country.”
Source: The Gazette
Front Page, Industry News
New era in Canadian film possible
Wednesday February 12th 2014Director Sturla Gunnarsson says the national broadcaster’s loss of Hockey Night in Canada could, and should, be the start of a whole new era in Canadian film.
“If you want a national cinema the broadcasters have to play ball, and the only one in a position to play ball is the CBC and it should be their mandate,” said Gunnarsson, a veteran director and president of the Directors Guild of Canada.
“I’ve spent many years making movies, and there’s always been a lack of airtime available, and the threat of being bumped by hockey,” he says. “But now that the CBC is finally untethered from HNIC, let them become the driving force of authored, scripted, long-form entertainment. Why not?” says the director of Air India, Force of Nature and Rare Birds.
“If you look at any one of the countries that has a flourishing national cinema whether it’s France, Germany or Denmark, the central player is TV. You cannot have a cinema if the broadcasters are essentially not in the game.”
Gunnarsson says the Canadian feature landscape is a wasteland at the moment as a result of poor policy, budget cuts and general audience apathy. The only way to make movies with a big enough budget to carry into the international market is through co-productions, which present their own set of limitations.
Gunnarsson says co-pros can also be good because they keep people working and bring an international flavour to the unique Canadian landscape. He points to his most recent film, Ice Soldiers, opening in select cities Friday, as a case in point.
An international co-production starring Dominic Purcell, Adam Beach and Michael Ironside, Ice Soldiers is a science-fiction yarn about genetically modified killing machines
discovered in the high Arctic. A Nazi experiment gone awry, the soldiers were buried in ice until a group of scientists looking to mine the North’s riches find them and thaw them out.
Shot in 24 days around Sudbury, Gunnarsson says he used snow-covered slag heaps to substitute for the high Arctic moonscape. The rest was shot around a nearby reserve. “I had actually had my eye out for a genre film for some time because I’m always trying to figure out how to reach an audience,” says Gunnarsson. “As a Canadian, this is what you struggle with all the time because you make a film and then you lick your wound afterwards,” he says.
“My challenge was how can I do that in a way that will still be fun and interesting?” Gunnarsson says the most important thing is to keep working, and try not to let the demons of cynicism get the best of you.
“I am in a constant state of existential crisis about what I do. Ten years ago, Piers Handling (director and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival) told me nationalist cinema was dead.”
Funding bodies believe demographic and marketing concerns take priority in the new global marketplace. Creative integrity, originality and artistic ambition all come second to audience.
“After I did Air India, I wanted to do a movie based on Christie Blatchford’s book about Afghanistan, and the first time Canada was at war since Korea. But I couldn’t get any traction,” he says.
“To this day, there has not been a treatment of the Canadian military’s adventure in Afghanistan in any narrative form. That kind of stuff does matter … because if you don’t have a story, you don’t have a country.”
Source: The Gazette
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Front Page, Industry News
New era in Canadian film possible
Wednesday February 12th 2014Director Sturla Gunnarsson says the national broadcaster’s loss of Hockey Night in Canada could, and should, be the start of a whole new era in Canadian film.
“If you want a national cinema the broadcasters have to play ball, and the only one in a position to play ball is the CBC and it should be their mandate,” said Gunnarsson, a veteran director and president of the Directors Guild of Canada.
“I’ve spent many years making movies, and there’s always been a lack of airtime available, and the threat of being bumped by hockey,” he says. “But now that the CBC is finally untethered from HNIC, let them become the driving force of authored, scripted, long-form entertainment. Why not?” says the director of Air India, Force of Nature and Rare Birds.
“If you look at any one of the countries that has a flourishing national cinema whether it’s France, Germany or Denmark, the central player is TV. You cannot have a cinema if the broadcasters are essentially not in the game.”
Gunnarsson says the Canadian feature landscape is a wasteland at the moment as a result of poor policy, budget cuts and general audience apathy. The only way to make movies with a big enough budget to carry into the international market is through co-productions, which present their own set of limitations.
Gunnarsson says co-pros can also be good because they keep people working and bring an international flavour to the unique Canadian landscape. He points to his most recent film, Ice Soldiers, opening in select cities Friday, as a case in point.
An international co-production starring Dominic Purcell, Adam Beach and Michael Ironside, Ice Soldiers is a science-fiction yarn about genetically modified killing machines
discovered in the high Arctic. A Nazi experiment gone awry, the soldiers were buried in ice until a group of scientists looking to mine the North’s riches find them and thaw them out.
Shot in 24 days around Sudbury, Gunnarsson says he used snow-covered slag heaps to substitute for the high Arctic moonscape. The rest was shot around a nearby reserve. “I had actually had my eye out for a genre film for some time because I’m always trying to figure out how to reach an audience,” says Gunnarsson. “As a Canadian, this is what you struggle with all the time because you make a film and then you lick your wound afterwards,” he says.
“My challenge was how can I do that in a way that will still be fun and interesting?” Gunnarsson says the most important thing is to keep working, and try not to let the demons of cynicism get the best of you.
“I am in a constant state of existential crisis about what I do. Ten years ago, Piers Handling (director and CEO of the Toronto International Film Festival) told me nationalist cinema was dead.”
Funding bodies believe demographic and marketing concerns take priority in the new global marketplace. Creative integrity, originality and artistic ambition all come second to audience.
“After I did Air India, I wanted to do a movie based on Christie Blatchford’s book about Afghanistan, and the first time Canada was at war since Korea. But I couldn’t get any traction,” he says.
“To this day, there has not been a treatment of the Canadian military’s adventure in Afghanistan in any narrative form. That kind of stuff does matter … because if you don’t have a story, you don’t have a country.”
Source: The Gazette
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