REEL CANADA Blog Archives

We began our day for the Picton Film Festival early - I mean really, really early - 4:00am early. But that’s the kind of team we’ve got here at REEL CANADA. No school is too far to bring Canadian films to students across the nation. This morning the students of Prince Edward Collegiate Institute (PECI) viewed Jay Dahl’s hilarious short film, Backjumping, followed by the thoroughly Canadian feature, One Week, by director extraordinaire Michael McGowan.

For those of you who have not seen One Week (tisk tisk), it’s a story about a young man named Ben, played by Canada’s own Joshua Jackson, who discovers he has a very aggressive form of Cancer throughout his body. Read More...

This year’s Hot Docs Festival is closer than you might think. It begins April 28th and runs until May 8th, and it will be jam-packed with screenings, forums, amazing youth programming and a sizeable amount of hobnobbing.

In my excited anticipation, I have decided to dive in a little early and do a bit of a Hot Docs meets REEL CANADA crash course. The list of films that pop up in our catalogue that have screened at Hot Docs is a lengthy one, so I’ll keep things short and sweet and cover just a couple filmmakers at a time…

The first filmmaker on the list is Charles Officer. An incredibly talented man responsible for the exceptional film, Nurse.Fighter.Boy. Read More...

Right off the top, I need to get something off my chest. I was, in fact, not a huge fan of Dolly Parton at the beginning of the week. This has since changed. Between her massive support of the film, her real life generous spirit, and the on-screen subtle reminder that she writes ALL of her songs, I am now a fan with a capital F!

Canadian film turns my crank for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because we are REALLY good at making movies, and secondly, because I absolutely love seeing Canadian landscapes and hearing regional speech dialects from across Canada. Both of my loves were present in the film The Year Dolly Parton Was My Mom, written and directed by Montreal filmmaker Tara Johns. 
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The memories of our time spent at Earl Haig Secondary School may be dimming, but that doesn’t mean we can’t pause and reflect on how AMAZING the day really was…

Right off the top I would like to say that my new goal in life is to create a machine with which I can travel back in time to attend Earl Haig. The students, faculty, and overall school vibe is a delicious mix of kindness, intelligence, and a heavy dose of creativity.

Take for example this art installation, with circular cut-out “peeps” into tiny dioramas relating to the films being viewed that day – too cool (and too on topic, as one of the films was Peep Culture, based on the book The Peep Diaries by Hal Niedzviecki)! Read More...

 I got a chance to do a little Q&A with the producer, writer, and star of the film New Year, Julian De Zotti. 

RC – What was the writing process like coming back to a script on and off for a year?

JDZ - I think it was a good thing. You really have to let a script breathe. It gives you time to step back, be objective about what really works and what doesn't. Something that was a great idea then can be terrible months or a year down the road. Also, usually in that time someone else has read the script and gives you feedback that can be incorporated.  Read More...