REEL CANADA Blog : Tags : TDSB

We're excited to present a unique opportunity to GTA high schools over the next couple of weeks!

Kate Melville, writer-director of the award-winning feature film PICTURE DAY, will visit more than a dozen TDSB schools with a workshop about the making of the film designed especially for secondary students. Melville will present selected scenes from the film and discuss the challenges of bringing her low-budget story to the screen.

“I’m so thrilled to share my story with high school students,” says Melville, “I grew up in this city, and I wanted PICTURE DAY to be an authentic and funny view of adolescence in Toronto.” Especially exciting for Melville is the chance to engage the students of Don Mills Collegiate, where some of the film was actually shot. “I think it’ll be fun for the students to see their own high school starring in a movie,” she says.

About PICTURE DAY:

Forced to repeat her senior year of high school, Claire’s (Tatiana Maslany) reputation is sliding from bad-ass to bad joke. Armed with an acid tongue and shielded by ever-present headphones, Claire locks onto the only student clueless to her sordid rep: Henry (Spencer Van Wyck), a nerdy freshman she used to babysit. At night, Claire escapes to raucous concerts where she catches the eye of 33-year-old Jim (Steven McCarthy, frontman of The ElastoCitizens), a would-be rock star who feeds on young fans’ adoration. Jim leads her into an intoxicating world of hard-partying musicians, while at school, Claire takes Henry under her wing. She reinvents her dorky friend as the mysterious rebel, throwing Henry’s life into hilarious turmoil. As Claire dances across the surface of these relationships, she eventually learns hard lessons about the difference between sex, intimacy, and friendship. 

PICTURE DAY links: Official Website|Facebook|Twitter|YouTube

"It's not too late for a do-over ..." ~ Picture Day Clip from Picture Day on Vimeo.

PICTURE DAY screens in Vancouver @ Vancity Theatre April 14th – April 25th and in Toronto @ TIFF Bell Lightbox May 24th – May 30th 

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".