REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : student film festival

Students from across Windsor in attendance at the Capitol Theatre

Another successful partnership between REEL CANADA and the Windsor International Film Festival is in the books. This year’s festival at the beautiful Capitol Theatre featured over 500 high school students from eight schools across both local school boards! The morning featured two of our most inspiring films, the ever-popular BREAKAWAY and the environmental documentary SHARKWATER, featuring a special guest, “eco-warrior” and filmmaker Emily Hunter (daughter of Greenpeace co-founder Paul Hunter). Following the screening of BREAKAWAY, a fascinating discussion involving several students regarding what it means to be Canadian and growing up under pressure was led by the co-founder of REEL CANADA, Jack Blum. The students of Windsor were very eager to share their stories with their fellow students.

Windsor Star sports journalist Bob Duff

The afternoon also featured two films, including the hockey epic THE ROCKET. We brought in hockey expert and sports journalist for the Windsor Star Bob Duff to discuss Maurice Richard, today’s NHL and the current lockout with the students. Our other feature presentation in the afternoon was a new film to the REEL CANADA program, director Nathan Morlando’s bio-pic about Canada’s most notorious bank robber, Edwin Boyd. It was a packed house for REEL CANADA’s first official screening of EDWIN BOYD: CITIZEN GANGSTER. We were fortunate enough to reach the director of the film in Los Angeles via Skype for a very interesting post-screening conversation.

EDWIN BOYD director Nathan Morlando via Skype 

Over a dozen students lined up to ask Nathan questions ranging from what it was like to spend time with the family of Edwin Boyd to how to make it in the Canadian film industry. One student asked Nathan, “What advice do you have for [those of ] us who want to become filmmakers?” Nathan replied, “Get a cheap camera or borrow one from your parents and start writing stories and making movies with your friends. Your circle of friends, whether it’s from high school or college, will be the ones you work with over and over again because they share the same love for storytelling and they will work for free!”

Nathan was a great guest to the students of Windsor and we’re looking forward to his followup to EDWIN BOYD.

For two days in April, students at New Westminster Secondary School were treated to several inspiring screenings of short films on issues of Aboriginal identity and social justice.

Thanks to the efforts of teacher Lorena Jones, the school library was transformed into a screening venue and attentive crowds of students filed in to enjoy the films.

REEL CANADA’s own Deanne Esdale attended the event and facilitated discussions with two audiences of 100+ students who were attending the social justice-themed screenings. They discussed issues such as the Rwandan genocide after a screening of the short documentary YESTERDAY IN RWANDA, and perspectives on immigration after a screening of the short film TAXI LIBRE.

Even larger crowds turned up to be part of the Aboriginal issues session, and watched THE VISIT, WAPAWEKKA, and the documentary MEMERE METISSE. Seeing unique perspectives on Aboriginal identity told by young filmmakers was refreshing for the students and sparked much great debate. They’d recently watched a hard-hitting doc about residential schools, and were happy to also see some positive stories and expressions of Aboriginal identity in Canada on the big screen.

The event was a real launching pad for discussions and students were energized and enthusiastic to share their comments. We look forward to connecting with the students of New Westminster Secondary School again next year. 

Iron Road Producer Raymond Massey answering questions via Skype

The students of the Markham region were pumped up for a day of Canadian film!

 
A diverse crowd of more than 500 ESL students from Middlefield HS, Markville SS, Miliken Mills HS, and Thornlea SS packed the Markham Theatre to capacity on the morning of May 15th excited and eager to see IRON ROAD, a film about the story of Chinese migrant workers on the Canadian Pacific Railway. Roars of laughter and screams of excitement came from the crowd throughout the film; it was like nothing I had ever seen at a REEL CANADA screening.

Following the film, the students had a fantastic Q & A with Raymond Massey, one of three producers of IRON ROAD. The students had a lot of questions on everything from what locations in China and British Columbia were used, the difficulties of shooting certain scenes, to plot elements like why a love story was used to tell a piece of history.  It was obvious that Raymond was really enjoying the enthusiasm of the students as they asked about the involvement of Chinese Canadian people in the film and about the business of filmmaking.

Following an amazing morning screening, a couple classes had to return to the “real world” while the rest of the students stayed for another fantastic screening:  Michael McGowan’s ONE WEEK, which featured a      Q & A with star Liane Balaban. Liane joined us via Skype from the comfort of her back yard garden in LA.

The students were thoroughly engaged, asking astute questions about decisions Liane’s character makes in the film. It really showed me how involved the students were and how much they got out of the screening. The students of Markham region got really excited when it was mentioned Liane did some voice work for the popular video game Assassins Creed. Apparently there are a lot of gamers in the Markham region!
 

All in all, our first event in Markham at the Markham Theatre was a complete success. The crew at the theatre, everyone from the tech guys and ushers to the theatre manager, were amazing to work with and we look forward to returning next season and bringing more Canadian films to Markham!

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!

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.