ABOUT REEL CANADA
HOW REEL CANADA WORKS
WHY REEL CANADA MATTERS
REEL CANADA BOARD
REEL CANADA ADVISORY COMMITTEE
PARTICIPATING GUESTS
CORPORATE STUFF
About REEL CANADA
Executive Director, Jack Blum
Artistic Director, Sharon Corder
Manager of Operations, Katarina Gligorijevic
Project Coordinator, Mark Meeks
Programmer, Stacey Donen
Production Management, BaAM Productions
Technical Direction, Videoscope
REEL CANADA Board member Atom Egoyan with guests Jerry Ciccoritti
and Nicholas Campbell at Marshall McLuhan Catholic Secondary School.
REEL CANADA is an initiative of members of our national film and television industry,
designed to bring Canadian films into Canadian classrooms. It is endorsed
and supported by our National Honourary Patron, the
Right Honourable Adrienne
Clarkson, Honourary Patron
Mayor David Miller, a Board
of Directors and an Advisory Committee that includes some of our most prominent
filmmakers and producers -
Atom Egoyan, David Cronenberg, Norman Jewison, Robert
Lantos, Don McKellar, Sarah Polley, Jean-Marc Vallée and many
others have all put their personal endorsement on this vital project.
Essentially, REEL CANADA is a day-long traveling film festival that moves from one
school to another.
Each event includes films chosen by the students themselves from a curated program
of features, documentaries, animated programs and shorts. Special guest speakers
such as actors, directors and other prominent personalities present the films and
take part in Q&A’s with the students.
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How REEL CANADA Works
Bon Cop Bad Cop’s Colm Feore with some REEL CANADA
volunteers at Parkdale Collegiate Institute.
Several weeks before Screening Day, participating teachers and students are provided
with a catalogue of REEL CANADA selections. Each school chooses its own unique program
of films, and then participants select which of the programmed films they’d
most like to see.
On Screening Day, REEL CANADA moves into the school and transforms two or three
spaces into screening venues of different sizes, depending on the needs and the
capacity of the school. Two or three films are screened in the morning and two or
three more in the afternoon. Student volunteers help set up the screening
rooms, take tickets and present festival guests. Some students act as “media”,
covering the event for their school papers or creating short documentary pieces
about the day.
From first browsing of the catalogue to attending the actual screenings, participants
are sure to appreciate the range and depth of Canadian films, as well as the excitement
of the "film festival experience".
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Why REEL CANADA Matters
Brian Henry and the stars of Allan Kings EMPz 4 Life
at Jarvis Collegiate Institute
With this initiative we are addressing a very serious crisis in our cultural life
in Canada.
Canada faces unique challenges in creating and maintaining a viable cultural identity.
Movies and television from foreign countries, the U.S. in particular, are ubiquitous
and overwhelming. The stories that we consume are increasingly stories
told by, and about, others. At a time when screen-based media is at its peak
of influence, Canadians are threatened by the prospect of invisibility.
Most dangerously, the points of Canadian identification for young people are becoming
fewer and fewer. Without an awareness of Canada as a distinct and sovereign
nation, succeeding generations may find it more and more difficult to defend our
unique social and political values.
REEL CANADA is an attempt to counteract these trends by creating future audiences
and instilling in young people a sense of pride in Canadian cinema, as well as some
understanding of Canada’s place in the world with regards to what is, in the
21st Century, the dominant cultural medium.
As our program grows into new communities across the country in future years, we
believe we can not only increase audiences for our films and help move our education
system forward into the modern currency of screen based media, but also, most crucially,
nurture a sense of cultural identification among young Canadians.
By telling Canadian audiences Canadian stories - we can build a stronger and
prouder Canada.
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REEL CANADA Board of Directors
Board member Atom Egoyan with Advisory Board member Geoff Pevere.
Doug Dales, President
Curtis Barlow
Reg Bronskill
Atom Egoyan
Veronica Tennant
National Honourary Patron
Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson with Harbord C.I. Vice Principal
Susana Arnott and a student volunteer.
Honorary Patron
Mayor David Miller
Mayor David Miller with a student from RH King Academy
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REEL CANADA Advisory Committee 2009
Advisory Board member Paul Gross at York Mills C.I.
Hussain Amarshi
Denys Arcand
David Booth
Tim Brown
Gary Burns
David Cronenberg
Anne Marie Flemming
Prem Gill
Paul Gross
Norman Jewison
Nicholas Kendall
Robert Lantos
Ron Lea
Bruce McDonald
Don McKellar
Deepa Mehta
Charlotte Mickie
Geoff Pevere
Marguerite Pigott
Gordon Pinsent
Sarah Polley
Ben Ratner
Peter Raymont
Patricia Rozema
Mina Shum
Charles Martin Smith
Scott Smith
Tara Spencer-Nairn
Lynne Stopkewich
Jean-Marc Vallée
Carol Whiteman
Elizabeth Yake
Advisory board member Deepa Mehta with students and press at West
Toronto C.I.
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Participating Guests
We’d like to thank the following people for giving their time, sharing their
knowledge, insights and stories with our students, and truly making our first two
seasons an unforgettable experience.
Our guests and presenters:
Short filmmakers Adam Brodie and Dave Derewlany at Canada Square
Jim Allodi
Tré Armstrong
Sylvain Arseneault
Harvey Atkin
Joel Bakan
Clé Bennett
Sonja Bennett
Devon Bostick
Pierre-Luc Brillant
Adam Brodie
Jaden Brown
Gary Burns
Dave Calder
Keyon Campbell
Nicholas Campbell
Marsha Cesley
Jerry Ciccoritti
Kamar Clarke
Sadiki Clarke
Kevin Courrier
Richard Crouse
Andrew Currie
Michael D’Ascenzo
Robert Deleskie
Norma Dellagnese
Lee Demarbre
Dave Derewlany
Dan Diamond
Andy Dick
Stacey Donen
Angie Driscoll
Hon. Ken Dryden
Kevin Duhaney
Atom Egoyan
Chris Ellis (C-Jewlz)
Shelley Fairfield
Colm Feore
Niv Fichman
Gerry Flahive
Jill Frappier
Sarah Galea-Davis
Colin Geddes
James Genn
Rob Gray
Timothy Green
Paul Gross
Brian Henry
David Hyde
Renuka Jeyapalan
Jennifer Jonas
Winnie Jong
Siblings’ Sonja Smits at Parkdale C.I.
Marvin Karon
Allan King
Greg Klymkiw
Ron Lea
Marcelle Lean
David Lewis
Nadia Litz
Keith Lock
Peter Lynch
Michael Mabbott
Rishma Malik
Stephen McHattie
Don McKellar
Jesse McKeown
Ian McLatchie
Tom McSorley
Deepa Mehta
Jordan Mendez
Mayor David Miller
Michael Miller
Jay Molloy
Annmarie Morais
Dwain Murphy
Peter O’Brien
David Ostry
John Paizs
Geoff Pevere
Sarah Polley
Paul Quarrington
Josh Raskin
Peter Raymont
Sajean Reed
Patrick Reid
Brent Robinson
Ronika Sajnani
Devyani Saltzman
Paul Scherzer
Patrick Sharangabo
Mina Shum
Smiley Guys Animation Studios
(Matt Cassan and Shona Neil)
Sonja Smits
Kathleen Smith
Tara Spencer-Nairn
Rob Stewart
Marvin Thomas
Kevin Tierney
Jean-Marc Vallée
Jivon Walker
Myrocia Watamaniuk
David Weaver
Robert Wertheimer
Claire Wihogora
George Willis
Vanessa Wood
Hon. Kathleen Wynne
Don Young
Erin Faith Young
Patricia Zentilli
Guests Patrick Sharangabo, Ron Lea and Luke Kirby with REEL CANADA Artistic Director Sharon Corder and Executive Director Jack Blum (far right) at Emery C.I.
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Corporate Stuff
REEL CANADA is a registered charity. For all donations over $10 a charitable tax receipt will be issued.
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