Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

therapy

Posted: 10 Aug 2018 09:21 AM PDT

An elderly woman eagerly awaits birthday greetings only to realize it’s up to her, and her surprising friend, to make her birthday happy.

Filmmaker’s statement

Doreen Brownstone is my dear friend and surrogate ‘Mama.’ She is 95 years old. She has starred in all three of my short films. We had so much fun making the first film, she excitedly signed on to the second, after which she pretty much insisted that we couldn’t “just do two; we have to do three.” So, I wrote therapy for Doreen.

At Doreen’s wonderful age her birthdays are a big deal in the arts community in Winnipeg. Theatres are booked and decorated, songs are written and rehearsed. She has arrived by limo. A dressing room has been named in her honour. She thoroughly enjoys the attention and fuss because it makes her feel special and loved.

When I was developing the screenplay for therapy I wanted to showcase Doreen’s acting chops. The theme of aging was on my mind (aren’t we all heading down that road if we’re lucky?). The setting of a birthday intrigued me. But what if it wasn’t a ‘happy’ birthday?

I wanted to show how happiness can be a choice, even when the circumstances may say otherwise.

About Ti Hallas

Ti spent many years working as a director, actor, playwright, general manager, stage manager and tour coordinator in theatre in British Columbia and Alberta.

She co-founded Chinook Theatre in northern British Columbia and toured plays for young people, many of which she had written or directed, to schools and communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Chinook became the founding company of Canada’s first fringe theatre festival in Edmonton, of which Ti was the first general manager.

Her career took her to Ontario where she worked on stage and taught acting and voice at Laurentian University, and drama, dance and English for the Toronto District School Board.

Since returning to her hometown of Winnipeg, she taught high school drama and English, performed on stage and in numerous independent films, and works in the Manitoba film industry as actor, actors’ assistant and tutor. She served on the board of ACTRA MB for 12 years and is the CAEA ex-officio on the Board of Performing Arts Lodge, Winnipeg.

In 2012 Ti created her first short film. The Swimming Lesson, starring then 90-year-old Doreen Brownstone, was entered in the 2013 one-shot competition of ACTRA Manitoba’s Member Initiated Productions (MIP) Festival where it won the Crocus Award for most outstanding MIP single shot. It went on to screen locally at the Gimli Film Festival, was selected for the NSI Online Short Film Festival and was broadcast on CBC TV’s Short Shots.

She wrote, directed and produced her second short, Good Fortune, in 2015.

therapy is Ti’s third short film and third collaboration with her son, Stuart Paisley, who shot and edited all three films. It stars, for the third time, iconic Winnipeg actor Doreen Brownstone, who was 95 when therapy was filmed.

Ti lives in Winnipeg with her husband Laurie Urban and their fur family, Jazzmine the corgi and Meow Meow the cat.

The post therapy appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

Pass the Salt

Posted: 10 Aug 2018 08:55 AM PDT

When two women of different faiths fall in love they must find a way for their traditional families to break bread.

Creative team

Writer: Panta Mosleh
Directors: Hayley Gray, Panta Mosleh
Producers: Panta Mosley, Hayley Gray, Kay Metchie

Filmmaker’s statement

As a bisexual female there is a possibility of eventually ending up with a female as my life partner. So I thought to myself how would the encounter with both families go and how would I hope for it to turn out, so I explored that idea.

I always try to wrap an important message with a sweet flavor of comedy. It always makes it easier to swallow the facts that way. In the case of Pass The Salt I wanted send the message of love and acceptance, and to touch on the fact that we are not born with prejudice, judgements and hate. It is something that we end up learning due to the environment or our upbringing.

I played with that idea with the adults actually learning from the kids to put their differences aside and accept each other. Well, in this case, the two families never stopped bickering but, instead, they geared towards arguing about the details of the wedding rather than the differences in their culture and religion.

Having said that, I have to nod Michael Giampa, a fantastic writer who worked with me on the script, and Hayley Gray, another female comrade in the film industry who jumped on board in my time of need and gracefully helped direct and produce the film with me.

Sending everyone love and appreciation for even taking the time to listen to my message and watch my film. Hopefully you get some laughs along the way. Thank you for your time. – Panta Mosleh

About Panta Mosleh and Hayley Gray

Panta Mosleh and Hayley Gray have both been writing, directing and producing independent content in their blossoming careers in the film industry.

Their goals are to continue to pave the way for more females to take leading roles both behind and in front of the camera in the ever changing and evolving entertainment industry.

The post Pass the Salt appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).

My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes

Posted: 10 Aug 2018 08:49 AM PDT

Filmmaker Charlie Tyrell seeks to better understand his emotionally distant late-father through the personal belongings he left behind … including a stack of VHS dirty movies.

Creative team

Writer: Josef Beeby
Director: Charlie Tyrell
Producer: Julie Baldassi

Filmmaker’s statement

Making a film that allowed me to look at my dad in a new way has been a very bizarre experience. But also one that I’m very appreciative of.

I approached My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes with several reservations. If anyone from my family, including my dad’s two surviving brothers, had a problem with the final product then I was willing to shelve it and lock it away. But that wasn’t the case at all – my entire family has been incredibly supportive and encouraging, happy to share a glimpse into our lives with anyone that cares to watch. The whole production has allowed us all to talk about him more frequently a decade after his death.

It’s a film that I’m very proud of, and my contribution to the final product is just a tiny part of the efforts of an exceptional crew that I plan to work with for a long time.

About Charlie Tyrell

Charlie Tyrell is a Toronto-based filmmaker who works in a hybrid style that often combines live-action footage with stop-motion and 2D animation.

My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2018 and is one of the most popular shorts on the New York Times Op-Docs platform. His 2015 short doc, I Thought I Told You To Shut Up!! (narrated by the late Jonathan Demme), premiered at SXSW 2015 and won Canada’s National Screen Institute Blue Ant Media Award for Best Documentary.

His narrative and documentary work has screened internationally at such festivals as SXSW, Hot Docs, LA Shorts Fest, Nashville Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Raindance, Brooklyn Film Festival and many more.

The post My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes appeared first on National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI).