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1-19 of 19
- On Screen!, is a documentary series that explores and celebrates the Canadian film industry's most important cultural milestones. Each one-hour program showcases a quintessentially Canadian feature film and the work of the people who made it; artists and auteurs who blazed new paths, opened doors and set new standards for a modern generation of story tellers yet to come. Along with clips from the films, each episode features interviews with members of the cast, crew, and nationally known critics, who reveal the behind-the-scenes trials of how each movie evolved from page to screen. Occasionally sad, sometimes hilarious, but always poignant, these are the stories that changed the face of Canadian film forever.
- Claude Jutra was already one of Canada's notable directors when he made his best-loved work, a poignant portrait of growing up in a small Quebec mining town in the 1940s. His film is the story of Benoît, a young orphan who spends Christmas Eve with his undertaker uncle, Antoine, on a sleigh-bound journey through a bitter snowstorm to retrieve the body of a local boy. Drawing heavily from the French new wave filmmakers, Jutra's affecting slice-of-life tale is a bittersweet look at Quebec before the Quiet Revolution that focuses almost entirely on Benoît's nostalgic and sometimes absurd view of the townspeople. Though Jutra passed away in 1986, the film's history is traced by famed cinematographer Michel Brault, composer 'Jean Cousineau' and star Monique Mercure. Two residents of Black Lake, where the film was shot, are also interviewed alongside critics including Martin Knelman, Piers Handling and Andre Loiselle, who express the lasting impact of this undeniable classic of French-Canadian cinema.
- Adding an intriguing Canadian twist to a universally appealing story of teenage trials, writer/director Sandy Wilson's autobiographical memoir of growing up in British Columbia's picturesque Okanagan Valley in the late 1950s became a popular hit in the 1980s. Newcomer Margaret Langrick stars in the film as Sandy, a bright 12-year-old who is rescued from a summer of boredom when her older, cooler cousin Butch arrives unexpectedly from California in a bright red Cadillac convertible. Sandy and her pre-teen friends fall madly for Butch's rock 'n' roll swagger, but he's more interested in making time with the local girls and getting in fistfights. Though at first, Butch considers his Canadian cousin no more than a little kid, they eventually foster a mutual respect, and together make the summer a truly unforgettable experience. Capturing the restlessness of youth with a fresh, feminine perspective, Wilson's genuinely charming period piece is forever reaching for lost innocence as it playfully contrasts Canadian and American attitudes. Langrick, who picked up a Genie in her first big screen role, discusses her experiences on the film along with co-stars John Wildman and Jane Mortifee, while Sandy Wilson and producer Peter O'Brian reveal why My American Cousin has remained a consistent favourite for Canadians and non-Canadians alike.
- Bruce McDonald's debut feature Roadkill announced the arrival of the Toronto "new wave" with a crackle of guitar feedback and a whiff of gasoline. Truly unlike any Canadian film that had come before it, Roadkill charts the cross-province travels of Ramona (Valerie Buhagiar), a young record label intern sent out to into the wilds of Northern Ontario to find the Children of Paradise, a touring rock band that has stopped showing up for gigs after their lead singer disappeared on a spiritual quest. While attempting to track down the band, Ramona embarks on a coming-of-age journey of her own, meeting an aspiring serial killer (Don McKellar), taking charge of her life and-most importantly-learning how to drive. With his cast and crew, McDonald tackled this low-budget road movie with a gonzo, rock 'n' roll ethos, creating an unorthodox Canadian classic that sparkles with intelligence and wit. Named Best Canadian Feature Film at the 1989 Toronto International Film Festival, Roadkill helped launch the careers of director Bruce McDonald and writer Don McKellar, both of whom who appear in this episode to reveal the often hilarious stories behind the making of film, and the controversy that followed. Actors Valerie Buhagiar, Gerry Quigley, Shaun Bowring and Nash the Slash also offer their unique perspectives, as do Neal Arbic and John Borra, members of the real life Toronto rock band whose strange story originally inspired McDonald's film.
- The debut feature from Canada's most celebrated filmmaker, David Cronenberg, Shivers provided the young director with a crash course in feature filmmaking and established many of the unsettling themes explored in his later work. In the film, medical professor Dr. Hobbes (Fred Doederlein) creates a genetically-engineered organism he plans to use to bring about a more sensually aware society, but his experiments turn deadly when the aphrodisiac-producing parasite gets out of control and spreads throughout a swinging Montreal apartment complex. Despite the film's success on both sides of the border, the critical backlash against the film was used to launch a cultural attack on Canada's film funding. Since then, Shivers has outlasted its detractors and won over a significant cult following for its effective, low-budget chills and stark social allegories. Producers Ivan Reitman and John Dunning, stars Sue Helen Petrie, Paul Frampton, and makeup effects artist Joe Blasco (Members of the films cast and crew) are on hand to talk about the debut feature of Canada's most prolific and shocking auteur.
- A film that only could have been made in Canada, Atom Egoyan's haunting 1997 work The Sweet Hereafter established the filmmaker as a world-class talent. Filmed against a bleak and snowy B.C. landscape, the film stars Ian Holm as a troubled lawyer who visits a small Canadian town in the wake of a tragic school bus accident that has torn the community apart. He soon discovers that his planned class action suit hinges on the testimony of the sole, wheelchair-bound survivor, Nicole (Sarah Polley), who harbours her own deep secret. After the success of his breakout film, Exotica, Egoyan turned down an opportunity to work in Hollywood to remain in Canada and adapt Russell Banks' novel, which he acquired the rights to after a U.S. studio deemed it "not commercial enough." A fascinating journey of sorrow, guilt, and truth, Egoyan's elegant and heartbreaking drama met with popular and critical acclaim around the globe, garnering seven Genies, two Academy Award nominations, and the Grand Prize of the Jury at the 1997 Cannes festival. In this episode, executive producer Robert Lantos, Russell Banks, and Atom Egoyan talk about how unique and uncompromisingly Canadian films like The Sweet Hereafter can still make an impact on the world stage.