On Screen Manitoba

Telefilm Canada celebrates Canadian cinema at the 35th edition of TIFF

Telefilm Canada salutes the Canadian contingent at the 35th edition of TIFF. A total of 29 Canadian feature films will be presented at the Festival, taking place from September 9 to September 19, 2010. Of the 29 Canadian feature films, 19 were financed by Telefilm Canada through various programs of the Canada Feature Film Fund.

Click here to view the TIFF 2010 Canadian selections

“As one of the world’s leading film festivals, TIFF will put these Canadian features in the international spotlight, reaching audiences both at home and abroad,” said Sheila de La Varende, Director of National and International Business Development at Telefilm Canada. “The strong Canadian line-up is a significant recognition of both our engaging stories and our storytellers.”

As previously announced, Score: A Hockey Musical from Canadian director Michael McGowan (One Week, Saint Ralph) will have its world premiere when it opens the festival on September 9th.

“My two previous experiences at TIFF have been vital in validating me as a filmmaker, and to be selected to open this year’s festival is a huge honour,” said director Michael McGowan. “As a filmmaker, you hope that your film will get into a festival with as much credibility and respect as TIFF. It provides an important international showcase for films, and this seems doubly so for Canadian films.”

The 35th edition of TIFF also marks the return of industry initiatives such as Telefilm Canada PITCH THIS!, a pitching competition open to aspiring Canadian filmmakers, and TIFF’s Talent Lab, an artistic development program that provides emerging talent with the opportunity to learn from the world's best film artists.

Titles were announced earlier today at a press conference in Toronto, Canada. Visit www.tiff.net for more information.

Our Neon City will be playing at the Winnipeg Cinematheque on Wednesday, May 19 at 7pm

Our Neon City is a short doc series directed by Kevin Nikkel for MTS TV's Winnipg On Demand, that explores five different iconic business from Winnipeg's past. The series includes a look at The Bell Hotel, The Blue Note Cafe, Dojack's, Clifford's and the Turkish Baths of the Royal Alexandra Hotel.

More info is available on the Winnipeg Film Group website.

“…And This Is My Garden”
New Documentary Highlights Success of Award-Winning Sustainable School Gardening Project In Northern Manitoba

“… And This is My Garden”, a new documentary from Winnipeg filmmaker Katharina Stieffenhofer, explores an innovative school gardening program that is breaking new ground in education and literally growing a healthier community in the process. The documentary, produced in association with Buffalo Gal Pictures, premiers with a free screening at the Gas Station Theatre on March 13, at 7:30 PM.

The film, set in the small northern community of Wabowden, Manitoba, follows schoolteacher Eleanor Woitowicz as she spearheads an education-based sustainable food movement called the Mel Johnson School Gardening Project. The initiative, based on the Frontier School Division’s science curriculum “Veggie Adventures” was introduced into the Mel Johnson School in 2006. Woitowicz teaches students how to take care of their own backyard vegetable gardens and reap the rewards of growing their own organic foods. Students develop valuable skills in sustainable food production, healthy lifestyle choices and food preparation, while fostering a sense of responsibility, pride and increased self-esteem.

Woitowicz was awarded a Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award for her educational efforts in 2009.

After attending a presentation from Woitowicz and fellow teacher Bonnie Monias at the University of Winnipeg’s Growing Local conference in February 2009, Stieffenhofer was so impressed with the gardening project she decided to spend the next year of her life producing the documentary.

“I was so inspired by what they were accomplishing with the kids,” says Stieffenhofer. “Eleanor took such a leap of faith connecting her school with the outside community. I wanted to tell the world about the success of her program, to inspire others the way she inspired me.”

The success of the Mel Johnson School Gardening project has already caught the attention of many influential organizations including the David Suzuki Foundation, Manitoba Conservation, and even the United Nations, which highlighted it at a European Economic and Social Council sustainable development conference in 2009. Stieffenhofer hopes the film will help to spread the word about the success of the project and encourage school divisions throughout North America to include it as part of their core curriculum.

“This documentary is not just about one school’s gardening project,” says Stieffenhofer. “There are much larger issues at play here. It’s about breaking new ground in education, and it has the power to change the way we live.”

Event Details

Date: Saturday, March 13, 2010
Location: Gas Station Theatre, 445, River Ave.
Time: Doors open 6:30 PM; Screening 7:30 PM

Reception to follow screening with a special performance by the Mel Johnson School Fiddlers. Teachers and students from Mel Johnson School will be in attendance. Donations gratefully accepted in support of the Mel Johnson School Gardening Project.

**Limited Seating – RSVP andthisismygardenrsvp@gmail.com or on the And This is My Garden Facebook site to reserve a seat**

Buffalo Gal Pictures is an independent film and television production company based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. www.buffalogalpictures.com

Project Partners: Manitoba Health and Healthy Living, Manitoba Northern & Aboriginal Affairs, Northern Healthy Foods Initiative, The Sustainable Innovations Fund, Manitoba Conservation, Manitoba Hydro, Frontier School Division, Heifer International, Canada Country Program, National Film Board of Canada, Film Training Manitoba

Snake River - the new Winnipeg feature film by writer/director Joseph Novak, with music by Danny Schur, earned praise from Winnipeg Free Press film critic, Randall King, in this February 20th 3-star review.

Guns a-blazin’ despite low budget

It feels like an old tale: a former Union soldier, scarred by atroci ties of the Civil War, crawls out of a bottle and seeks redemption on the humble homestead of a widow woman and her young son.

Not so old, but an equally familiar tale: a filmmaker with a dream gathers together a volunteer cast and crew and puts together a perfectly respectable feature film on an impossibly tiny budget of $5,000.

That is the story and backstory of Snake River, a labour of love — and not a little obsession — for Winnipeg writer- director Joe Novak. Mostly shot on evenings, weekends and holidays over the course of six months, the feature only rarely betrays the meagreness of its budget. Indeed, this is a surprisingly solid film that uses the minimalist trappings of the western genre to its advantage: scrubby landscapes, rough-hewn interiors, terse dialogue and fast draws.

We first find Jacob (Milton Bruchan ski) sleeping off a solitary bender. He’s in the employ of his former commanding officer, The Major (Frank Adam son), a gun for hire in an impending range war.

That war doesn’t go in Jacob’s favour and he happens to fall down wounded at the door of the widowed former slave Mia (Kimberly Rampersad) and her son Tobias (Andy Kuhn). As he is nursed back to health, he develops a fondness for this shattered family and helps around the homestead. But apparently, the district is called Snake River for a reason, as the territory is rife with belly-crawling varmints who have victimized Mia in the past and intend her harm again.

When it comes to this kind of micro budget filmmaking, Novak is going against the trend of Mumblecore movies or films such as Paranormal Activity, which use video and minimal production values to achieve an edginess and a sense of documentary immediacy. Novak is having none of that. This is very much a film in the model of the formal western, with flinty-eyed showdowns, galloping horses, and a harmonica on the musical soundtrack.

(Danny Schur, also one of the film’s producers, supplies music and a lovely gospel spiritual sung by Rampersad that would not be out of place in a big-budget western, if only they were making such things.) It is the cast that makes it work, and Novak has to be commended for cannily casting local actors in parts large and small, dovetailing their talents to suit stock western characters, particularly Harry Nelken as a snake oil salesman, Ernesto Griffith as a supportive homesteader and Jon Ted Wynne as a psychopathic killer.

Rampersad, a dancer-choreographer, acquits herself with grace as the traumatized Mia. And Bruchanski, tempted though he might have been to portray the hero as an implacable, Clint Eastwood-esque gunslinger, layers the hero with an undercurrent of melancholy that renders him distinctive from the herd of honourable cowpokes of westerns past.

Only Three Shows Left!

Saturday, February 20th: 7:00 PM
Sunday, February 21st: 7:00 PM
Wednesday, Feb 24th: 7:00 PM

Location: Cinematheque, 100 Arthur Street, Winnipeg

FREEZE FRAME INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
For Children of all Ages
SEE FILMS - MAKE FILMS
March 4-13, 2010
IMAX Theatre / Globe Cinema / Portage Place / Artspace / Cinematheque
Winnipeg, Canada

Freeze Frame International Film Festival presents an award-winning collection of films from all over the world for children and young people, post-screening discussions and hands-on workshops with international, Canadian and local guest artists. To purchase advance passes and tickets or to register for English or French workshops call 204-949-9355 1-866-543-3378 or email info@freezeframeonline.org. For a full schedule, visit our website: www.freezeframeonline.org.

The Eagle Hunter's Son / Örnjägarens Son
Sunday, March 7, 2:30 PM - Cinematheque, Artspace Building, 100 Arthur St.

Germany/Sweden, 2009 (Mongol with English subtitles), 87 mins
Director: Renè Bo Hansen
Suggested for ages 10+
Print Source - Bavaria Film International

Instead of going to school in the city, young Bazarbai begins training as an eagle-hunter in the 4,000 year old tradition of his Kazakh Nomad family.

The Letter for the King / Der Brief voor de Koning
Thursday, March 11, 10:00AM - Globe Cinema, Portage Place
Friday, March 12, 12:30 PM - Globe Cinema, Portage Place

The Netherlands, 2008 (Dutch with English subtitles), 108 mins
Director: Peter Verhoff
Suggested for grades 4 and up
Print Source: Eyeworks Egmond

The medieval quest of sixteen-year old Tiuri, who risks his future as a Knight to fulfill a promise, and in so doing discovers adventure, honor, valor and love.

SNAKE RIVER
Dir. Joe Novak | 2009 | Canada | 94 mins.

Fri Feb 19, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Sat Feb 20, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Sun Feb 21, 2010 at 7:00 PM
Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 7:00 PM

Snake River, shot entirely in Birds Hill and rural municipalities in the vicinity of Winnipeg for only $5,000.00, this revisionist Western is set in the West of 1867. Haunted by a Civil War atrocity, Jacob (Milton Bruchanski) is lost. Violence follows him and the only home he knows is destroyed by the ambitions of his surrogate "brother". Mya (Kimberly Rampersad) is a widow and a freed slave. She struggles daily to care for herself and her son, and to cope with the scards left by her past. Jacob wanders and is ambushed. He stumbles half conscious onto Mya's property, who reluctantly tends to his wounds. Together they seem to find peace. Inevitably, Jacob's pas catches up with him and it will forever affect their future.

Snake River was produced by Joseph Novak, Alf Kollinger and Danny Schur. Reel Horse Wranglers was a set supplier for the film.

TuTuMUCH
9 Girls 4 Weeks 1 Dream
tutumuchthemovie.com

A Canadian-Produced Feature Documentary Breaks New Ground As It Screens Across Canada At Over 55 Theatres

January 17, 2010 marks a special date in the history of Canadian documentary programming. On that date, at 1 PM, the arts feature documentary film, TuTuMUCH, will premiere at over 55 theatres to audiences of all ages across the country - from Quebec to British Columbia. This will be followed by a repeat screening on January 20 at 7:00pm.

Its believed that this is the first time in Canadian film history that a 100% Canadian-produced arts documentary feature has screened at this number of theatres on the same day.

Produced by Vonnie Von Helmolt and Merit Jensen Carr of Ballet Girls Inc, TuTuMUCH follows 9 young dancers behind-the-scenes as they plié and pirouette for coveted spots in an intensive 4 week ballet summer program at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional Division School. Leaving behind their families and friends, often for the first time, each girl confronts in her own way the painstaking and sometimes rewarding realities of actually living her dream.

The torturous journey of TutuMUCH began with the commission of a 3-part mini-series for Bravo! Television called BALLET GIRLS. From the outset, the producer’s plan included the production of a feature documentary. Little did they suspect that it would take over 6 years before they would see TutuMUCH on screen. Persevering through the declaration of bankruptcy of Christal Distribution (who were providing a sizeable MG), to Superchannel’s unexpected lack of funding, two editors, and over a year of editing (with assistance from Manitoba Film & Music), it wasn’t until the spring of 2009 that a champion for the film was found. That April, with assistance from Telefilm Canada, producer Vonnie Von Helmolt attended ShowCanada in Montreal, where she met with Michael Kennedy, Executive Vice President, Filmed Entertainment, of Cineplex Entertainment Inc. Michael immediately suggested that TutuMUCH would be a fit for Cineplex Odeon’s successful Special Events Program which screens live arts performances in limited, exclusive runs in theatres across Canada. Brad laDouceur, Vice President, Alternative Programming, agreed. Once Cineplex confirmed the deal for 30 to 60 cinemas, completion funding from the Telefilm & Rogers Theatrical Documentary Program and Telefilm’s Alternative Marketing Fund swiftly followed.

“This is a whole new and exciting way of bringing theatrical arts features to the audiences that want to see them. And Cineplex has been completely supportive, not only running our trailer, but even allowing us to place dance students in tutus at theatres across the country to hand out buttons and postcards promoting TuTuMUCH at every Special Events screening. They’ve been great!” say Von Helmolt and Jensen Carr.

TuTuMUCH is self-distributed by the production company, Ballet Girls Inc. For more information about the film or to talk to the producers, please contact:

Jennifer Jensen-Tracy
Publicist – Ballet Girls Inc
T: (519) 442-9179 Cel: (519)750-4725
E: jen.jensen@sympatico.ca

The Globe and Mail calls it a "brilliantly-acted caper flick" and the festival audiences in Berlin, Shanghai, Edinburgh and Toronto loved it! And on Friday, January 15, High Life opens in the city where it was made, at Winnipeg’s SilverCity Polo Park.

It’s 1983. The accidental reunion of two drug-addled and petty criminals, Bug and Dick, turns into an uproarious high jinks when the duo joins forces with a pair of hapless characters to rob an ATM machine. High Life, from Winnipeg director Gary Yates, is a tale of friendship and honour among thieves that is both edgy and hilarious. Compact, fast-paced, and wonderfully idiosyncratic, the film is a hoot.

Starring Timothy Olyphant, Stephen Eric McIntyre, Joe Anderson, and Rossif Sutherland.
Produced in association with Buffalo Gal Pictures

www.highlifethemovie.com