REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : Andrew Currie

REEL CANADA made its first-ever stop to Saskatchewan on Monday, May 7^th. Students from six different high schools in the Saskatoon Public School Board joined us at The Broadway Theatre in downtown Saskatoon for screenings in the morning and afternoon. 

The morning saw an audience of 250 students viewing Neil Diamond’s 2009 documentary REEL INJUN. Prior to the feature, the students were treated to a screening of Melanie Jackson’s short animation DANCERS OF THE GRASS. A Saskatoon filmmaker herself, Melanie was in attendance to speak to the audience about her film, her work on WAPOS BAY and about filmmaking in Saskatchewan and in Canada at large.  After the screening, REEL CANADA’s production coordinator and facilitator, Ravi Srinivasan, led a great discussion about Hollywood’s portrayal of Native peoples, and other issues illuminated in REEL INJUN.

Saskatchewan filmmaker Melanie Jackson

Following lunch, we screened Andrew Currie’s 2006 film FIDO, a REEL CANADA fan-favourite. A crowd of 150 enjoyed the zombie comedy and had the opportunity to speak to Currie after the film via Skype. Students lined up to ask questions about anything from art direction to film financing, as well as asking about the film’s inspiration.  The students made surprising connections between FIDO and REEL INJUN, raising parallels between the treatment of zombies in Currie’s film and the treatment of First Nations characters in Diamond’s.

We were thrilled by the enthusiasm of the students and teachers and the warm hospitality extended to us by everyone we met. A big thank you goes out to the staff at The Broadway Theatre and to our lead organizing teacher, Joel Dietrich. We had a wonderful day and look forward to returning to Saskatoon next year for round two!

On Monday May 7^th, REEL CANADA we’ll be adding another province to our National Tour – Saskatchewan. An event for 400 students from several schools in Saskatoon will be hosted at the beautiful Broadway Theatre downtown.

In the morning, students will be treated to the documentary REEL INJUN, by Neil Diamond, which deals with representations of native people in Hollywood. The film will be preceded by a beautiful animated short film, DANCERS OF THE GRASS, by local, Saskatoon-based Aboriginal filmmaker Melanie Jackson, who will be attending the event in person and talking to the students about her work.

After lunch, students will return to the theatre to watch satirical zombie comedy FIDO, and participate in a Q&A with director Andrew Currie and writer Dennis Heaton via Skype from Vancouver.

The event is going to be staffed by people from our Toronto and (fledgling) Vancouver offices – east and west meeting in the middle to bring some awesome Canadian films to Saskatoon teens. 

It really is a fascinating experience screening Canadian films in different high schools across the country.  Every community is different, every school its own living organism with its own rules, culture, style.

At one point a teacher sat me down and shared with me some of the history of the place.  Her family had been there for generations and she prided herself on an intimate knowledge of the ages of her city.  The precise origins of the name are lost in the mists of time but she favoured the story of a battle between the Sioux and the Cree in which the combatants faced off on either side of the South Saskatchewan River that now runs through the middle of town.  At one point, according to my tutor, the healer from one of the tribes sensed a looming defeat and defected by crossing the river, losing his hat in the current.  “Medicine Man’s Hat” was eventually shortened to the present day moniker.

Even more fun, and more easily documented, was the story of how in 1910 a committee of the city’s leading citizens hatched a plan to change the city’s name to something more dignified.   Those who were appalled by the idea wrote to none other than Rudyard Kipling, who had been mightily impressed by the place when he visited a few years earlier, and his scathing response to the suggestion was printed on the front page of the Medicine Hat News, thereby quashing any future such initiatives.

As for the films, it seems the 800 students of Medicine Hat High got as much or more out of what they watched as I got from my teacher friend.  THE ROCKET was a revelation to them, having had very little awareness prior to watching it of the Quiet Revolution and the history of Quebec-Canada relations.  Afterwards they were treated to a wealth of further information from Dan Diamond, official publisher for the NHL and perhaps the most authoritative hockey expert in the land.  Dan joined them via Skype from his Toronto office.

Another special highlight was the appearance in person of Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis, fresh from their trip to the Oscars where they had been nominated for their lovely animated short film WILD LIFE (their second nomination!).  Wendy and Amanda were generous enough to make the three-hour drive from their home in Calgary the previous day in order to speak to the young Medicine Hatters (?), guiding them through a brief history of Canadian animation while screening ten of their all-time favourite pieces.

In planning this event, the diligent RC team had the pleasure of alerting Albertans to the fact that they had such talented and accomplished filmmakers in their midst.  They were always surprised and delighted to hear it, and that is a perfect symbol of what REEL CANADA exists to do:  promote our own brilliant storytellers to the people who most need to know about them, namely other Canadians.