REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : Daniel Keith Morrison

Students and teachers from Toronto District School Board at Sheppard Grande Cinemas

It's amazing to think that we've been doing these multi-school Cineplex events in Toronto for five years. The first year, we started with the nine alternative schools that are part of the Toronto District School Board, and nearly all 500+ alternative school students from across the city attended. The second year, we opened it up to the entire board, and got about a dozen schools in. Every year, the event gets a little bit bigger, and the audiences get more diverse. Some schools come year after year, but we attract new ones every single time. This year, a record 20 schools participated. 

Dwain Murphy (left), Daniel Keith Morrison (left middle), Jack Blum (right middle), and Kevin Duhaney (right).

At this year's event, we kicked things off with a screening of the hilarious short PEDESTRIAN JAR, with director Evan Morgan in attendance to talk to a packed house, before they settled into a screening of GUNLESS. Across the way in another equally full auditorium, another group of students watched SHARKWATER, which was followed by a spirited and inspiring talk with Emily Hunter. But the room (and the enthusiastic crowd) was our HOW SHE MOVE audience, which was treated to a visit by Dwain Murphy (who plays the lead role, Bishop, in the film) as well as co-stars Kevin Duhaney and Daniel Keith Morrison, the only bonafide dancer in the bunch (Kevin and Dwain modestly claim to be actors who only pretended to know how to dance). 

How She Move Q&A

At lunch, Pizza Pizza came in with 100 pizzas to feed the 1000 students who came to the event. It was a madhouse, but nobody was left hungry, and by the time the afternoon screenings started, we saw a lot of happy faces heading back into the cinema (with seconds or thirds of pizza tucked under their arms). 

In the afternoon, students watched BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD, BON COP BAD COP and THE ROCKET - truly a program with something in it for everyone. As we were leaving the Cineplex Sheppard Grande at the end of the day, I overheard one student say to a friend that the film he saw (BON COP) was "dope". I didn't realize that slang was even in use anymore, but back in my day, it meant "awesome". 

On April 23rd, the students of Bloor CI in Toronto's west end will be treated to two special screenings. In the morning, the entire school population (nearly 600 students) will watch the film HOW SHE MOVE, with stars Dwain Murphy, Kevin Duhaney and Daniel Keith Morrison in attendance. In the afternoon, grade 11s and 12s will be watching THE RED VIOLIN, which will be followed by a Q&A via Skype with writer and star Don McKellar. 

The school, which had never hosted a REEL CANADA event before, originally contacted us about doing a small, single-venue event this spring, but their enthusiasm has grown, and now every student at Bloor CI will have the chance to participate in the exciting REEL CANADA festival.

We can't wait to bring this Toronto school into the REEL CANADA fold. 

Our fifth annual Cineplex Day for the Toronto District School Board will be taking place on Wednesday, April 18th at the Sheppard Grande Cinemas in North York. After four successful events with the TDSB, teachers have the annual REEL CANADA event marked in our calendars, and as soon as this year's festival was announced, a staggering 1,300 students signed up for it. 

The students will be watching six films over the course of the day. In the morning, HOW SHE MOVE (with stars Kevin Duhaney and Daniel Keith Morrison in attendance), SHARKWATER (with eco-warrior Emily Hunter in attendance) and GUNLESS, which will be preceded by the short film PEDESTRIAN JAR (with director Evan Morgan in attendance). In the afternoon, BON COP BAD COP, THE ROCKET and BOLLYWOOD/HOLLYWOOD will entertain students and teachers alike. 

Over the course of our seven years in existence, over 75 TDSB schools have participated in the REEL CANADA program, and we're incredibly proud that the enthusiasm of teachers and students within the city continues to grow every year.