REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : Canadian culture

Here's the latest feedback from Grade 12 students from our Seycove Secondary School event in BC. These are the kind of comments that we get all the time and makes what we do worth it!

"It was extremely impressive and I am proud that Canadian make such great movies. I am more enticed to watch another Canadian film after being part of this festival." 

"Before I thought the films would be alright, but for sure the most interesting thing was that the movies seemed to have a different perspective than those we normally watch (Hollywood produced). It was great to see that creativity is abundant in our country." 

"I honestly didn't expect Canadian films to be so good, since you hardly see any on TV or in theatres. I was proven wrong and I'm glad I was. The Canadian films were a breathe of fresh air. The scripts weren't dumbed down like most Hollywood films are; they were clever and had a proper plot. The films were overall very enjoyable and they left me wanting to see more Canadian films." 

"I loved C.R.A.Z.Y. I have never seen a French-Canadian film and I am proud that my country is filled with such brilliance in both acting and directing. I am interested in seeing more films similar to this one and am thankful for REEL CANADA for exposing me to films as interesting as C.R.A.Z.Y. that are made in my home country." 

"C.R.A.Z.Y. changed my idea of Canadian film. I loved this movie so much. The story was much more real and effective than Hollywood movies. This movie was so well done I am hoping to find others like it." 

"I really liked how in THE TROTSKY the high school scene was much more similar to my own than in other movies. In most American movies, school is portrayed completely different than how it actually is. I don't know if American and Canadian high schools are really as different as movies make them seem but THE TROTSKY's depiction of high school is much more "Canadian" than schools with cheerleaders and quarterbacks. I liked this about the movie because it made the characters and their stories much more believable and relatable. THE TROTSKY really showed that there is indeed a difference between American and Canadian culture." 

"I liked THE TROTSKY and found it very interesting. In History class, we recently learned about Leon Trotsky, Stalin, and Lenin. This movie was amazing. They were able to include historical knowledge while still providing the audience with a gripping and funny storyline. THE TROTSKY was very interesting and with my previous knowledge of this historical time, my experience was 10 out of 10!" 

Students at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute

On Tuesday May 8^th, REEL CANADA arrived at Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute to find a super cool DJ playing hot tunes in the cafeteria as a group of kids busily tested a Skype connection.

Soon enough, nearly 250 ESL students descended upon the cafeteria and sat attentively as REEL CANADA’s facilitator, Judith Cockman, explained to them what they were about to see. Judith talked about the films, about the program, and about what she wanted them to look out for so that they could have a discussion afterwards.

Albert Campbell Collegiate Institute student DJ 

We’d been warned by our lead teacher that the ESL students were a pretty shy, quiet bunch, so Judith was trying extra hard to prepare them for sharing their thoughts after the screening.

The short CHILI & CHEESE got quite a few knowing laughs from the audience. The film is about a humorous altercation between a convenience store owner (who used to be a doctor in his home country) and a particularly cheeky customer.

Afterwards, the students watched DOUBLE HAPPINESS, Mina Shum’s film about a young woman trying to juggle her Canadian identity with her family’s traditional Chinese heritage. Albert Campbell has a very large population of ESL students of Chinese origin, most of whom found the film very funny and probably pretty familiar. They definitely caught all the Cantonese jokes that the rest of us may have missed!

Canadian filmmaker Mina Shum answers questions via Skype about her film Double Happiness

After the film, we connected to director Mina Shum in Vancouver via Skype, and gave the students a chance to talk with her and ask questions. In spite of the teacher’s warnings that nobody was likely to say a word during the Q&A, at least seven or eight brave souls spoke into the microphone (much to the shock and delight of the staff who were in the room with us).

REEL CANADA exposes young people to Canadian culture, and brings shy kids out of their shells! Go team.